Amos

Amos 9: God promises to restore His people

Begin in prayer

Before we hear God’s promise to restore His people after judgment, please turn your family’s attention to Him. Ask Him to take away false confidence and show us the hope found in Jesus.

For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

Jeremiah 24:6

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us Your judgment and Your promise of restoration. Let us see in Jesus the King You promised to David. Give us hearts ready to leave sin and trust Your Word. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Amos sees the Lord beside the altar, declaring a judgment from which hiding and captivity offer no escape. God rules the earth and the nations, and Israel’s rescue from Egypt does not shelter its sinners. He will destroy the sinful kingdom while preserving the house of Jacob from complete destruction. He promises to raise David’s fallen tent and bring nations called by His name under its rule. The book ends with God promising fruitful land, rebuilt cities and a people whom He will never uproot.

As you read Amos 9, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God will destroy the sinful kingdom, yet He promises to restore His people.

Israel’s altar gives no shelter from the God whose command brings its destruction. His rule reaches the grave, the heavens, the sea and even the land of captivity. Israel cannot use the exodus as a reason to deny His judgment. God also directed other nations to their lands, and He sees Israel’s sinful kingdom. Yet His promise to preserve Jacob means that judgment will not erase His people. David’s fallen tent pictures his royal house brought low, which God promises to raise again. James applies this promise to God’s gathering of Gentile believers in Acts 15 verses 16 and 17. Christ gathers Jewish and Gentile believers into one people under His rule. The abundant harvests and lasting home show the fullness of the restoration God promises.

How does Amos 9 show us that God will destroy the sinful kingdom, yet He promises to restore His people?

God will find the sinners who deny His judgment.

No hiding place lies beyond God’s reach, and captivity will not prevent Him from commanding the sword. He directs the nations and sees the sin of His own people. The sinners who insist that disaster cannot meet them will die by the sword. The God who brought Israel out of Egypt is the same God who now commands the sword.

God will preserve His people through judgment.

God will destroy the sinful kingdom, yet He will not destroy the whole house of Jacob. He compares His work to sifting grain in a sieve. The grain will be kept, while the sinners who feel safe in their sin will die. The warning and the promise both stand, because both come from the same God.

God will raise David’s fallen house and gather His people.

The tent of David had fallen, but God promises to close its breaches and build it as in the days of old. The ploughman overtaking the reaper pictures harvests so abundant that one season meets the next. The restored fields and cities show life and plenty replacing the ruin sin brought. God Himself will plant His people and keep them in the home He gives. Jesus, the Son of David, is the King God raised up, and He gathers this people from every nation.

Memorise

I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches.

Amos 9:11

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what sin must I stop excusing and bring to Jesus for mercy?

God will destroy the sinful kingdom. Yet He promises, “I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen”. He will spare Jacob’s house from complete destruction. His promise reaches “all the nations who are called by my name”.

Jesus is the King through whom God keeps His promise. At the cross, Jesus paid for His people’s sins and completed their redemption by His death. His sacrifice needs nothing added to it. He is alive again, raised from the dead.

Turn from your sin and trust the King whom God has sent. Those who believe in Him will be forgiven. The God who rebuilds what has fallen will never lose anyone who belongs to Christ.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God destroys the sinful kingdom and keeps His promise to gather His people through Christ. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for gathering all who trust Christ into His household, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so invite each one to speak to God if they want to.

So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,

Ephesians 2:19

Lord God, thank You that judgment does not cancel Your promise of mercy. Please lead each of us to repent and trust Jesus. Give us hope in His completed work, and teach us to listen to Your Word. Gather people from every nation to believe in Your Son. Amen.