“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,” declares the LORD, who will do these things.
Amos 9:11-12
These are the words after judgment. Words of mercy and restoration. God is not a god of unwarranted anger. He is a God who rebuilds and renews. And what is the restoration of David’s line? It’s Jesus, the forever King in the line of David.
For Israel, the surprising truth of Amos’s prophecy is that when God restored them, they would become balm for their enemies. “Possessing the remnant” doesn’t imply dominance or payback. The Hebrew word for “possess” might also be translated “seek.” When James quotes Amos in Acts 15, he says, “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord…” That is a word of purpose. The purpose for Israel’s restoration is that others will seek the Lord.
And so Amos’s prophecy ends with this hope: God will put Jesus on David’s throne in order to tear down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, .
How about when God restores our fallen tents? Can the broken places and ruins of our lives be used to draw others to the Lord? Yes. Even our enemies? Yes. That is the hope of God’s redemption.
I like this a lot. So much of my life has come to pieces…career, health, and more…but there is something rising from the wreckage, something I don’t yet recognize…but it’s shining in the light of a new dawn.