Daily Devotions
Amos
"I will bring back the captives of My people Israel"
Text: Amos 9:14
RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
The prophecies of Amos ended on a note of encouragement to the nation of Israel. There will be restoration of the nation! The following text is a reference to the physical restoration of Israel after the captivity of the nation was fulfilled.
“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD,
‘When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,’
Says the LORD your God.”
Amos 9:13-15
1. “Behold, the days are coming”
a) This was a prophecy of the restoration of the nation of Israel.
b) This word would be fulfilled in its own time.
c) Israel did come back to their own land after the Babylonian captivity.
2. “I will bring back the captives of My people Israel”
a) God will personally see to this.
b) He will still regard Israel as “My people”.
c) They will be captives no more.
3. “I will plant them in their land”
a) This is a wonderful promise of the Lord given to Israel.
b) Note the wonderful description of how the land would be blessed.
i) The farmers would have fruitful seasons.
ii) The builders would rebuild successfully the waste cities.
4. “No longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them”
a) Israel may dwell securely in the land which God had promised them.
b) The LORD God Himself would see to the fulfilment of this prophecy.
THE RETURN OF ISRAEL IN THE REIGN OF THE PERSIAN KING CYRUS
The historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah described the return of captives to their homeland. Cyrus also gave extensively towards the rebuilding of a new temple for Israel (Ezra 1). God’s word would always be fulfilled!