I approach today’s reading with fear
and trepidation. I love the passage itself, especially after the nigh-unrelenting
negativity of the entire book up till now. After spending eight and
three-quarter chapters slapping Israel up one side and down the other, he ends
the book on a completely positive note. The prophet, probably with tears of joy
in his eyes, predicts a time of final restoration of Israel. The Lord’s wrath
will be finally and completely appeased, the people will no longer rebel
against his standards and expectations, and they'll no longer have to live in
fear. “Never again” will Israel be punished.
But before we go forward, we have to
deal with the elephant in the room, which is the cause of my hesitancy. How do we interpret this passage?
Specifically, when is/was this fulfilled? David’s tent is obviously referring
to David’s greater Son coming into his Kingdom. When is/was David’s “tent”
restored?
Most conservative scholarship falls
into two camps, answering the question in one of two ways. Let me hastily add
that a lot of very very smart people whom I respect differ with me on this, but I
should add that a lot of very very smart people also agree with me (or more
precisely I agree with them). I’d be fine with avoiding this controversy
altogether (particularly on this blog), but we really can’t discuss this
passage without also discussing how to interpret it.
One side says that all (or most) of
this was fulfilled at the 1st coming of Christ, especially as the
Church expanded past the Jews into all the world. And there’s very good reason
to do this: The apostles seem to have interpreted it as such. At the very first official
church council recorded in Scripture, the main issue at hand was how much to
demand of Gentiles coming to faith in Jesus. Some teachers proposed that they
need to basically become Jews first, that they need to get circumcised and keep
the Mosaic Law. The apostles officially
repudiated this notion; Gentiles do not have to keep the Mosaic Law. And to
prove their point, they quoted
today’s passage. So when someone claims that today’s passage was completely
fulfilled in the early days of the Church, they have evidence for it. These
people therefore claim that Israel as a nation—and the Jews as a people--no
longer have any unique place in God’s plan nor are under any special care.
Others look at Amos’s passage and
take it (and passages like it) as literally as possible. They believe that this
passage is referring to the return of Christ: When he comes back in power and
glory, David’s “tent” will be restored once and for all, all God’s enemies will
be subdued, and there will be universal peace and prosperity for 1000 years,
exactly as described in today’s passage.
Me? I think it’s partially fulfilled back in the time of
the apostles (far be it from me to question their inspired interpretation of
Scripture), and will be completely
and (mostly) literally fulfilled when
Christ returns. No, I don’t think that the Lord’s rejection of Israel (which
happened when they rejected the Messiah) is either total or final. See here
for more on this touchy subject.
Why don’t I buy into the first
group’s interpretation? There are quite a few reasons, but most of them can be
summed up in this: Quite frankly, taking passages like this as being
figuratively or spiritually fulfilled at the 1st coming or in the
Church Age make no sense to me. Trying to squeeze round pegs like “I will plant
Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given
them” into the round hole of the Church Age doesn’t seem. . . natural to me. The
most natural reading to me is the more literal one.
But no matter which side of the
fence you fall on, this passage is uplifting. Wrong will be made right. All of God’s
enemies will be punished. But thank the Lord, his preferred method of destroying his enemies is to turn them into beloved
co-heirs. And his redeemed people will live in safety, forever. Right now in
this world, to be associated with the name of Jesus Christ is to invite
suffering which ranges from mockery to torture and death. But that won’t always
be the case. The Day is swiftly coming in which to be associated with Christ
will be the best thing that happened to anyone.
Do you join with me in longing for
that Day? (Sigh)
Lord Jesus, I have lots to look forward
to when you return, but first and foremost I’m longing to see you get what
belongs to you, what’s rightfully yours. Let’s see a foretaste of the Day, in
my life, right here and now.
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