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God of the Kingdom

And all kingdoms. Amos review.

Amos Review (6)

Pray Psalm 72.1-4.
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
He will judge Your people with righteousness,
And Your poor with justice.
The mountains will bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, by righteousness.
He will bring justice to the poor of the people;
He will save the children of the needy,
And will break in pieces the oppressor.

Sing Psalm 72.1-4.
(Martyrdom: Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed)
O give the King Your judgment, LORD, and righteousness Your Son;
and let Him judge by Your good Word the need of everyone.

Let now the mountains ring with peace, the hills in righteousness.
Let justice rise, oppression cease, and all the needy bless.

Read Amos 9.1-15; meditate on verses 11, 12.

Preparation
1. How did God assess the kingdom of Israel?

2. What Kingdom did He promise to raise up?

Meditation
Three kingdoms are cited in this concluding chapter of Amos. First is the kingdom of Israel. This has been the primary focus of Amos’ prophecies. God is bringing this rebellious kingdom to its end, erasing the tribes who began it and determining that it shall be no more (vv. 1-10). This is what every kingdom can expect which will not seek the LORD to abide in His Law. The path of history is littered with what appeared to be great and powerful kings, empires, and nations, all of which have come to naught because they did not hold to the Word and wisdom of the LORD.

The second kingdom, mentioned in passing, is that of Judah, the southern kingdom of the Jews. Judah has been mentioned briefly in Amos’ book, and always in terms of judgment. Here the kingdom of Judah is envisioned as “fallen down” (v. 11). Judah, like Israel, would be overrun and taken captive, never again to be restored as previously constituted.

But a third Kingdom is also mentioned, a restored and rebuilt Kingdom of David, a Kingdom that not only re-unites the tribes of Israel but that incorporates “all the Gentiles who are called by My name”, says the LORD (v. 12). Compare verses 13-15 with Psalm 72, a psalm of the coming Messianic Kingdom, ruled by David’s great Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. His coming had been prophesied as far back as Genesis 3.15 and 49.8-11, where He is ”Shiloh”, the One for Whom the Kingdom is prepared and with Whose coming the Davidic dynasty ceases.

God is the God of kingdoms. All kingdoms. He rules from within His own Kingdom, over which He has set His Son as King and through Whom the full extent of His rule will be realized (Ps. 110; Is. 2.6-9). That Kingdom is coming on earth as it is in heaven, and we are called to seek it. What greater project or prospect could be set before us?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
God is saying:
I will raise up Jesus to
repair the blind
rebuild the Kingdom and make it accessible to Jews and Gentiles—
all those called by My Name—Christians, Christ Ones, believers.
I AM the LORD Who can do this thing—
this resurrection and resuscitation of all My people (Amos 9.11, 12).

“Thus says God the LORD” about His Son, Jesus:
“I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the Gentiles,
to open blind eyes,
to bring out prisoners from the prison,
those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
I AM the LORD, that is My Name;
and My glory I will not give to another,
nor My praise to carved images.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them” (Is. 42.6-9).

And Jesus said about Himself:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed;
to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Lk. 4.18, 19; Is. 49.8, 9; 61.1, 2).

James quoted Peter, when he used his words as a talking point, regarding the salvation offered to both Jews and Gentiles. He clearly stated that the prophets of old agreed when they carefully wrote God’s words:
“After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; so that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, even all the Gentiles who are called by My Name, says the LORD who does all these things” (Acts 15.15-17).

Then he added this powerful statement of truth:
“Known to God from eternity are all His works” (Acts 15.18).
His restoration plan has been from the beginning… “so that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD” (Acts 15.17); those who “once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2.10).

What a glorious and gracious God—
This God, our Savior, Restorer, Redeemer, and Ruler of His Kingdom.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
World without end. Amen, amen.
("Gloria Patri")

Reflection
1. How have you experienced the repairing and restoring work of Jesus?

2. Where in your life do you need Him to do more such work?

3. How might Jesus use you in this work in the lives of others today?

Though then the kingdom had for some time fallen, this does not militate against the other predictions. This then is the right view of the subject: for Christ at length appeared, on whose head rests the true diadem or crown, and who has been elected by God and is the legitimate king, and who, having risen from the dead, reigns and now sits at the Father's right hand, and his throne shall not fail to the end of the world; nay, the world shall be renovated, and Christ's kingdom shall continue, though in another form, after the resurrection, as Paul shows to us; and yet Christ shall be really a king for ever. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Amos 9.11-15

Pray Psalm 72.16-19.
Pray that God will give you a clearer vision of His Kingdom, together with the strength to seek it as the defining priority of your life.

Sing Psalm 72.15-19.
(Martyrdom: Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed)
Let Christ be praised and all the gold of Sheba be His right;
let blessings to His Name be told, and prayers made both day and night.

And let the earth abound with grain, let fields His fame proclaim;
and may our King forever reign and nations bless His great Name.

Now bless the God of Israel Who wondrous works performs.
And bless His Name, His glory tell both now and forevermore!

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.

And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
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