REPAIRING DAMAGE -- Monday:
Amos lived during a time of religious (external) and spiritual (inward) deterioration. It was of such magnitude that God expressed how He was repulsed by the religious activities of the people. "I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments" (Amos 5:21-23).
I suppose there are some who cannot conceive of God being capable of such things. Is it possible for the Lord to actually hate the observance of feast days He Himself commanded? Or, not to savor "assemblies" He had mandated? Is it possible for God to reject things offered to Him that He required? Or, to regard beautiful religious music as mere "noise," which He refuses to hear? Indeed it is!
David had conceived of a place in which God could dwell. He did not feel comfortable having a luxurious house for himself, and only a tent for the Lord (2 Sam 2:7). While God did not allow David to build that dwelling, He let Solomon, his son, do it. The complete plans for that dwelling were provided by God to David, who gave them to Solomon (1 Chron 28:11-12). In an unprecedented manner, that temple was dedicated to the Lord, and even filled with His glory (1 Kgs 8:22-61).
But, alas, things went down hill from there. In the words of our text, the "tabernacle of David" had fallen, was damaged, and lay in ruins. While the temple had endured at least two destructions, our text is not speaking of the physical temple, but of the devotion, prayer, and worship with which it was associated.
With the eagle eye of faith, Amos' vision peers into the future. God gives him to see a coming restoration, when His service would not lie in ruins. He was speaking of "the day of salvation," the Mediatorial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this is the case because of a significant occasion reported in the book of Acts. In the fifteenth chapter of Acts, believers confronted zealous Judaizers who were binding circumcision upon Gentile converts. The "Apostles and elders came together to consider this matter" (15:1). During their deliberations, Peter, Barnabas, and Paul reported of the acceptance of the Gentiles through their ministries. They told how they had been undeniably accepted of the Lord apart from the rite of circumcision.
While deliberating on these marvelous reports, James, a principal member of the assembly, summoned the people to listen to him. Referring to this passage in Amos, He said, "And with this the words of the prophets agree" (Acts 15:13-18). Thus, in the acceptance of the Gentiles, we see spiritual repair and the raising up of what was "ruined" by lifeless Jewry. The fervency of the Gentiles confirmed that God had turned His face toward them, rather than away from them as He had those of Amos' day. Recovery for men was realized, and worship in spirit and truth offered to God. The desire of David for a place in which God could dwell was answered in a larger and truer sense. He now took up His habitation in the hearts of men, where He desired to dwell. The Lord Jesus had reconciled men to God!
PRAYER POINT: Father, through Jesus Christ, I thank you for being aggressive to save.