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promise and context

Amos 9:1-15 (JDV)

Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Hit the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
Amos 9:2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there my hand will take them; if they climb up to the sky,1 from there I will bring them down.
Amos 9:3 If they hide on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from my sight on the sea floor, from there I will command the sea snake to bite them.
Amos 9:4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.
Amos 9:5 Yahveh, the God of Armies – he touches the land; it melts, and all who live in it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.
Amos 9:6 He builds his upper chambers in the sky and lays the foundation of his vault on the land. He summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the land. Yahveh is his name.
Amos 9:7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? This is Yahveh’s declaration. Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
Amos 9:8 Notice, the eyes of the Lord Yahveh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will obliterate it from the face of the land. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob — this is Yahveh’s declaration —
Amos 9:9 Notice, because I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
Amos 9:10 All the sinners among my people who say: “Disaster will never overtake or confront us,” will die by the sword.
Amos 9:11 In that day I will restore the fallen shelter of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
Amos 9:12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name — this is the declaration of Yahveh; he will do this.
Amos 9:13 Notice, the days are coming– this is Yahveh’s declaration– when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.
Amos 9:14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. They will rebuild and live in ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce.
Amos 9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. Yahveh your God has spoken.

promise and context

The good news that the LORD is going to rebuild Israel comes in the context of the bad news that it is the LORD who is orchestrating their destruction. The sinners among his people are so sure of their secure position and the support of their political alliances that they boast “Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.” But the LORD has a sword with their name on it. The prophets remind us that our Lord’s mercy and grace comes in the context of his own severe justice.

LORD, forgive us for placing confidence in confidence itself. We run to you for cleansing and forgiveness. repair our ruins, and begin with the ruins of our hearts.