Amos 9:13–15

“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.

The book of Amos closes with a glorious view of blessings. The plow is associated with planting; the plowman overtaking the reaper is an image of planting the next crop immediately after the one is harvested. That’s unreasonably quick, but nothing compared to the next image.

Grapevines take a long time to mature. You don’t tread grapes for many years after planting seed. The treader of grapes overtaking him who sows seed is absurd. So is, “The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.” This is almost an image of Eden—or of heaven.

But, most importantly, their return from exile will be permanent. “And no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them.”

Being ruled by Rome does not contradict this. They were not pulled up from the land. A remnant remained and remains to this day. It was a close call though—but that’s typical of the way God reduces Israel to just a remnant.

Israel had two more close calls much more recently. After WWII, the UN designated land for the Israeli nation. The Arabs didn’t like this agreement and that led to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/arab-israeli-war

Israel won their independence, but that wasn’t the end of it. Their Arab neighbors were anything but placated, and another war broke out in 1967. Though greatly outnumbered and outgunned, Israel won this war in only six days.

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) has made a first class documentary detailing the, shall we say, “coincidences” that led to this incredible victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ah9bLW3Rh4

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.