Shaking Up For Salvation

Amidst a message of divine judgment, God gives a message of hope to His people. The day of blessing comes to Israel as God’s Spirit brings them to faith in Jesus Christ (the only Anointed One - Messiah) of God to save them! [1]

Amos nine opens with a vision of the temple shaken by the Angel of the Lord which falls and buries Judah and Israel under its ruins. However, instead of being swallowed up by the Gentile nations Israel would be sifted by the familiar imagery of a harvester shaking a sieve. [2] A purified remnant will be preserved. The dust and the dirt will fall to ground, and the kernel of grain will be left. God’s end-time’s people shall be purified from all chaff and impurity.

At the Jerusalem Council, the Apostle James interpreted Amos’ prediction of a renewed kingdom as fulfilled in the preaching of the Gospel. [3] He appealed to Amos 9:11-12 to show them that all Gentiles are saved who have believed on Jesus as the anointed of God.

At the Jerusalem Council James declares that the Lord has chosen a people for Himself from among the Gentiles! God revealed to the apostle Peter that Gentiles are equal partners in the kingdom. [4] In the end-times, God’s people will consist of a restored Israel from David’s “booth” and Gentiles who profess faith in Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. The mutual salvation of Jew and Gentile is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.

God extends His grace to all the nations and then once again He turns to Israel and raises up again the tabernacle of David. “After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My Name.” [5]

God has not forsaken Israel. “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.’” [6]

Just as God gathered out from the nations a people of His own Name there is coming a day when He will again work in the stony hearts of His own people Israel. [7] Israel will embrace, profess, and serve Jesus Christ (the only Anointed One - Messiah) of God to save them.

[1] Amos 1:2; Amos 9:11-15
[2] Amos 9:7-10
[3] Acts 15:13-18
[4] Acts 10-11
[5] Acts 15:16-17
[6] Romans 11:25-26
[7] Romans 11:25-29

This blog was excerpted and edited from a longer article. Please click on this link for the full article: http://www.abideinchrist.com/messages/amos9v11.html