Monday after Rogate

Scripture: Amos 9:8-15 (NKJV)

9:8 “Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says the Lord.

9 “For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

11 “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old;

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the Lord who does this thing.

13 “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.

14 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.

15 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.

Devotion

Sinful Israel scorned the Word of the Lord. They scoffed at the prophet’s warnings and refused repentance. They continued to heap judgment upon themselves while the Lord tarried, boasting, “Calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.” They trusted that the temporal peace and life of ease they enjoyed would go on forever, rather than trusting in the Lord who brings peace. For this they will be destroyed from the face of the earth. The Northern Kingdom will go into exile, never to return to the land.

“Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.” The Lord will sift Israel as grain in a sieve. The ungodly “are like the chaff which the wind drives away” (Ps. 1:4). “Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.” Those who are grain, who trust in the Lord and rely upon Him, will remain His treasured possession and live. Not only will there be a remnant, but the tent of David will be restored. He will send the Messiah who will rule this remnant of Israel, along with the Gentiles who call on His name.

This promise was fulfilled at the ascension of Christ, the Son of David according to the flesh, who now rules all things. His kingdom is spiritual peace and prosperity, where His people lack no good thing. He even calls us Gentiles into His kingdom and rules over us by His Word and Holy Spirit.

We pray: O God, from whom all good things do come, grant to us, Thy humble servants, that by Thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be right and by Thy merciful guiding may perform the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.