TEXTS AND APPLICATION: To understand today’s devotional, it is best to remember first God’s Word to the Israelites in Amos 4:6-12. There, God reminded His people that He had continually sent preliminary judgments on them (e.g., famine, drought, etc.) to call them back to Him, yet “you [His people] did not return to me.” Much of the rest of this book is an announcement of coming judgment and exile.
At the end of the book, though, is God’s recurrent promise that He will not depart the house of David (Amos 9:8-15). Even though He would send His people into exile, still He would restore them. Listen to the certainty of these words:
Amos 9:8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob—this is the Lord’s declaration—
Amos 9:11-12 In that day I will restore the fallen booth of David: I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that are called by My name—this is the Lord’s declaration—He will do this.
Amos 9:15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them. Yahweh your God has spoken.
Yahweh has spoken. He will do what He says He will do. This is the Lord’s declaration. Here’s what we learn about God from these texts: God is a God who keeps His promises to a people who do not always keep theirs. His grace really is amazing.
PRAYER: Meditate today on God’s willingness to keep His promises to us. When I consider His faithfulness to me when I’ve been unfaithful, all I can do is thank Him and seek Him more fully.
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Chronicles 27; Isaiah 9-12
