Amos 9:11 - Meaning and Application

The prophet ends by pointing to the day when God will do great things for his church through the Messiah. This promise fits the planting of the Christian church, and the apostles applied it that way in Jerusalem (Acts 15:15-17). The same verses also explain why the earlier judgment on the Jews was foretold, because their rejection of the Messiah would bring their own rejection.

First, in the Messiah the kingdom of David would be restored (Amos 9:11). It is called the “tabernacle of David,” meaning David’s house and royal line, which, though once strong, was in comparison with God’s kingdom as plain and temporary as a tent. The church in its present struggle can also be thought of as David’s tabernacle, living like shepherds’ tents for care and like soldiers’ tents for battle. David loved God’s dwelling and wanted to live there forever (Psalm 61:4).

These tabernacles had fallen into decay. The royal family had become weak, its honor damaged, and its power reduced to almost nothing. Many in that line had gone far from the ways of David, and in the captivity it lost its royal dignity. In the same way, the Jewish church was near ruin in its later days, losing both its purity and its outward peace.

By Jesus Christ, however, those tabernacles were raised up again. In him, God’s covenant with David found its fulfillment, and the glory of that house, which had sunk so low, was restored. The broken places were repaired, and the ruins were rebuilt as before. Even more, the spiritual glory of Christ’s family is greater than the earthly glory of David’s family ever was at its best. In Christ, God’s covenant with Israel also reached its goal, and the gospel church became the new place where God dwells among people.

This is why the first council in Jerusalem used this promise to explain the calling of the Gentiles, the nations outside Israel, and God’s taking from them a people for his name. As long as the world lasts, God will have a church in it. If it falls in one place and among one people, he will raise it up somewhere else.

Second, this kingdom would grow larger, with many nations brought into it (Amos 9:12). The house of David would possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations, that is, Christ would receive them as his inheritance, even the ends of the earth as his possession (Psalm 2:8). Those who had once been strangers and enemies would become willing and faithful subjects of the Son of David. They would be added to the church, or, as the text says, they would be those called by God’s name, those who belong to his chosen grace and are appointed to eternal life (Acts 13:48). This is true of Gentiles as well as Jews, for the chosen have received it, while the rest were hardened (Romans 11:7).

Christ died to gather together the children of God who were scattered abroad, and here they are described as those called by his name. The promise also reaches “all who are far off,” as many as the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:39). James explained this passage as a promise that the rest of mankind would seek the Lord, especially all the Gentiles on whom God’s name is called. We can trust this promise because the Lord himself says it. He does what he says, has the power to carry it out, and has already decided to do it. With him, saying and doing are one.

Third, in the Messiah’s kingdom there would be great plenty, an abundance of every good thing the land produces (Amos 9:13). The picture is of such harvest that the plowman will still be working when the reaper should already be done, because the grain is so abundant that harvest time runs into planting time. The same is true of the grape harvest, which lasts so long that even the mountains seem to drip new wine. The dry hills are soaked with the richness of the soil, as if they melt with its fatness. Compare this with (Joel 2:24) and (Joel 3:18).

This must mainly mean the abundance of spiritual blessings in heavenly things. All who are truly joined to Christ and his church are filled with the goodness of God’s house, with the grace and comfort of his Spirit. They have bread, the bread of life, to strengthen their hearts, and wine, the comfort God gives, to make them glad. In plain terms, they receive everything the word and Spirit of God bring to the soul.

These blessings had long been limited to the vineyard of the Jewish church. God’s special revelation and saving power were found there alone. But in gospel times the mountains and hills of the Gentile world would be enriched with these same gifts through the gospel of Christ, preached, believed, and received in its power. When many were converted, whole nations came to faith, and gospel preachers were made to rejoice in their success, then the plowman overtook the reaper. When the Gentile churches were made rich in every word, every kind of knowledge, and every spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 1:5), then the mountains dropped sweet wine.

Fourth, the Messiah’s kingdom would be well populated. As the land would be filled, so the cities would be filled too, and there would be people to live in them (Amos 9:14). Those carried away captive would be brought back from their exile. Their enemies would not keep them in the land of captivity, and they would not choose to stay there. The remnant would return, rebuild the ruined cities, and live in them. They would form Christian churches and establish sound doctrine, worship, and church order according to the gospel charter, by which Christ’s cities are organized.

They would also enjoy the good that comes from this life together. They would plant vineyards and make gardens. Even though the mountains and hills already drop wine, and the blessings of the gospel church are shared openly, they would still enclose fields for themselves. This does not mean they would keep these gifts for themselves alone. It means they would wisely make use of them, in fellowship with others, and enjoy the fruit of their own labor. Those who take pains in religion, as people must do with vineyards and gardens, will find both joy and profit in it.

The promise that God will bring back the captivity of his people may also point to the ending of the ceremonial law, which had long been like a yoke of slavery to God’s people. In Christ, he gave them the freedom he came to bring his church, as Galatians 5:1 says. The point is that God’s people would no longer be held down by those old outward rules, because Christ would set them free.

The kingdom of the Messiah will take such deep root in the world that nothing will ever uproot it. God says, “I will plant them on their land” (Amos 9:15). Here, God’s spiritual Israel, his true people, will be planted by God’s own hand in the place he has given them. They will not be pulled up again, as the old Jewish nation was. God will keep them from destroying themselves by turning fully away from him, and he will also keep them from being destroyed by their enemies. The church may be corrupted, but it will not completely abandon God. It may be persecuted, but God will not completely leave it. So the gates of hell, neither through lies nor through threats, will not overcome it.

Two things secure the church’s lasting future. First, God has made a gift to it: “It is the land which I have given them.” God will stand by what he has given. The portion he has given his people is that good portion that will never be taken away. He will not cancel his gift, and no power on earth or in hell can undo it.

Second, the church belongs to him. He is the Lord your God, the one who has spoken, and he will make it happen. He is yours, O Israel, and he will reign as yours through all generations. Since he lives, the church will live too.