It’s Not Over Yet! Series

Subject: Restoration Will Come: It’s Not Over Yet!

Amos 9:11-15

Introduction: The Book of Amos closes with a promise of restoration from the nation of Israel.

God has promised that He would not completely destroy the house of Jacob. During the Babylonian captivity, a great number of Israelites were destroyed, yet God promised to save a remnant. To understand the reason for their destruction in judgment, we need to remember what led up to this judgment.

After the death of Solomon and the division of the twelve tribes into two kingdoms, Jeroboam, the king of the northern country, Israel, wanted to make sure that the countries stayed divided.

To do this, he introduced idol worship to Israel, so that they would not go to Jerusalem and make sacrifices to God. From then on things went downhill until the nation Israel, a result of their sin and idolatry were carried away by the Assyrians. Later Judah and Jerusalem, the southern kingdom were carried away into Babylon as a result of their national sin. For years God sent faithful prophets to proclaim the word of the Lord calling the nations to repentance with little positive results. The people refused to listen. They refused to look to God for direction. In their prosperity, they developed a false sense of independence. They had the laws of God and the sacrificial offering that they could fall back on. They tried to obey the letter of the law without understanding the spirit of the law. Their worship became mechanical and inauthentic.

They would make sacrifices to God first and then turn around and worship idols.

The people in authority found they could take advantage of the poor, widows, and the strangers without suffering any consequences. Favorable judgments and powerful position could be bought by those who had money. If the poor needed money, the rich would take advantage of this, as the poor would sell themselves into slavery for a pair of sandals. Sin and evil practices had infected all aspects of Israel for literally a hundred years. God sent judgment on his people but only after more than a hundred years of warnings.

The religious leaders were judged for permitting idolatry; the political leaders were judged for refusing to follow God’s directions; the wealthy were judged for their greed and their abuse of the poor; the judicial leaders were judged because of their abuse of the justice system. As the leaders go, so goes the people who followed these leaders.

Out of a divided nation, with years of Israel’s captivity in Assyria and Judah and Jerusalem’s captivity in Babylon, God promises to save a remnant. We get a clear picture of the brokenness of the nation in Ezekiel 37. The valley of dry bones was a picture of the nation of Israel and Judah; scattered, dry bones, bleached by the wind, sand and sun.

In our text today, God promises restoration of the fallen house of David. God will repair its broken places and restore its ruins. He will bring about a new nation that is stronger and more powerful than what was there before. A new day will come, one that is not brought forth in judgment, but in liberation. This is a day where the people can once again enjoy the goodness of the Lord and live in his presence.

God not only promises that restoration will come, but He tells them how that restoration will take place. The restoration for Israel would come in two phases. The first phase would be immediate: God put it in Cyrus’ heart to release his people and allow them to return under the leadership of Nehemiah and Ezra. The second phases would be a future restoration when Christ would return. The captivity was so painful that it was difficult for Israel to think about a future. God sent a word of restoration. How could God possible restore this People? God promises to restore his people by lifting them up

1. God Promises to Restore His People By Lifting Them Up - Am 9:11 ¶ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

The nation had lost their position of favor. They felt cast down and destroy with no hope for the future. They were out of place, completely gone astray but God comes to lift them up. “God is far more interested in who you are, than in what you do. You are human BEINGS, not DOINGS.”—RickWarren.

They would start with a clean slate as they returned. As they rebuilt they would work as equals, there was no division of classes. It was to be a new start for God’s people with a new relationship with God and with each other. The temple would be rebuilt. Sacrifices and worship would be authentic and re-established under the law. No matter where we find ourselves, when we repent, we can expect God to lift us up!