Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Today, with the Lord's help, we are going to go to the prophet Amos. This is the final chapter today, Amos chapter 9. And we are going to, with the Lord's help, conclude today with the prophecy that God gave our people of all, the people of Israel, through Amos. We are reading today, Amos chapter 9. It had been a very good study of the prophet Amos. In one way, it is a sad prophecy because the vast majority of the ministry of Amos was to declare the judgment that was going to come upon Israel, the northern kingdom, the northern kingdom, who sinned against God, and who violated his word, and it made it necessary for God to bring judgment and dispersion upon his very own people of Israel.

But thank God, the ministry of Amos does not conclude with negativity entirely as it is actually ended or ending, his ministry ending with a promise of the restoration of our people Israel. So, turn with me to Amos 9 and I am reading from verse 1 all the way to the end of the chapter to verse 15. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and he said, Smite the lintel of the door that the posts may shake, and cut them in the head, all of them, and I will slay the last of them with the sword. He that fleece of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.

Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them. Though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence. And though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them. And I will set mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good. And the Lord God of hosts is he that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn.

And it shall rise up holy like a flood, and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth. He that calleth for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, sayeth the Lord? Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Kaphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.

For Lord, I will commend, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen which are called by my name, saith the Lord, that doeth this.

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that a plowman shall overtake the reaper, and a trader of grapes him that soweth seed, and a mountain shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them, and I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God. Boy, it's this amazing chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, this is the final chapter in the book, in the prophecy of Amos.

To remind you, when we began the study itself of the prophecy of Amos, we began by reading chapter 1 and verse 1, in which we read the words of Amos, Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Yoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. We began by studying the book of Amos, to be reminded that Amos was a man that grew up and lived in a place that is called Tekoa. Tekoa is in the southern kingdom of Judah, a little bit further south than the city of Yerushalayim.

This is the location where Amos lived. On the other hand, God had raised him up from this location of Judah, and he sent him to the north of Israel, and he sent him to speak to the ten northern tribes of Israel, the kingdom of Israel. In Hebrew, we call it Malchut Yisrael. Now, why was Amos called to go there? Amos was called to go to the northern kingdom of Israel, because of the sin of those ten tribes, who completely departed from the will of the Lord. Now, to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Because King Shlomo, King Solomon, sinned against the Lord and married 700 wives and 300 concubines, which led him away to worship other gods.

Because of this, God rendered the kingdom from his son, a man by the name of Rehovam, and he had given ten tribes out of the twelve to another man by the name of Yeruvam, an English Jerobam, who was not part of the tribe of Judah. So, from that time on, beloved brothers and sisters, we don't anymore have one nation called Israel. We have two nations, one called Israel in the north, and another one called Yehuda in the south. These two, you might say nations, which are actually one people, our forefathers, the children of Yaakov, who had twelve sons and their descendants, they are no longer enjoying unity together.

They broke this kingdom into two nations because of the sin of King Solomon and ultimately his son Rehovam. Sadly, we learned from 1st Kings, chapter 12, that Jerobam, the king of Israel, the king of the northern kingdom, what did he do? He built altars with golden calves upon them, and these golden calves in an area, in a city called Bet El, and in another location in the north of Israel called Dan. And he led the ten tribes of Israel to worship the golden calves instead of worshiping Jehovah, the God of Israel. That was done for many, many years until God says, the time of judgment has come.

So, he raised that man by the name of Amos. His name, Amos, Amos in Hebrew means loaded. God was loaded with righteous indignation against sin. And he sent Amos to give a message of judgment. And as I mentioned, that Amos received eight prophecies in chapter 1 and 2, and he prophesied against Israel and the other nations around. Then in chapter 3, 4, 5, and 6, Amos gave three sermons that again spoke about the coming judgment that will fall upon the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel. And finally, in chapter 7, 8, and 9, Amos is seeing five visions. And in this vision, every vision that he sees, in Hebrew we call it chazon, or chazonot in plural.

Every vision that he sees, he sees the coming judgment, the coming judgment, the coming judgment upon the northern kingdom of Israel. When Amos was preaching to them, it was about 780, 770 BC. And God was predicting the coming of the Assyrian to take the ten northern tribes of Israel unto Assyria and beyond. That occurred in 722 BC, when the Assyrian came and what we call the Assyrian captivity had begun. And the ten tribes of Israel eventually were judged by the Lord himself. Well, here we are in the last vision. Well, here we are in the last vision. This is vision number 5. And really, the vision is called here the vision of the smitten temple in the area that is called Beth El.

Not the temple that was in Jerusalem, that will be later on destroyed by the Babylonians. But these are temples that were built by Jeroboam for the ten tribes to go and worship those golden altars, those golden calves. And instead of going to Jerusalem to worship God, he worshiped those evil idols that brought the necessity of the judgment of the Lord. You will notice as we are going to trust the Lord to finalize in this ministry meeting the whole book of Amos. You will notice that though God is holy and righteous and sometimes his people deserve to be punished like you and I deserve a time to be punished when we disobey the Lord.

Yet God is so merciful and so gracious and he eventually intend to restore his people. We read in the prophets, it is of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed. God has the right to judge sin and yet he is willing always to restore and to forgive on the basis of those that will trust in him and repent and turn to him. Well, we are in the ministry today dealing with the vision of the smitten temple. Don't make mistake. He doesn't talk here about the temple in the city of Jerusalem, which will be destroyed a little bit later. He is speaking about this vision about the temple there in Beit El area where the golden calf was.

There this temple of worshiping idols was going to be smitten and destroyed. So now in verses 1 to 10 of Amos chapter 9, we find out the vision that Amos is seeing. What does he see? He sees the temple and he sees the Lord is upon that altar, standing upon that altar and pronouncing the destruction of the temple. But not only the destruction of the temple, but the destruction of the northern kingdom, the people of Israel who departed from his way. And as before I'm going to move into these verses, I would like to always remind you the verse that is found in 1 Peter 4 and verse 17. And if the judgment began with us, Peter said, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Judgment must begin at the house of God. So notice this. Here we find out in chapter 9, Amos 9 verses 1, 2, 3 and 4. We can see that the judgment that was going to come upon the 10 tribes, the northern kingdom of Israel who have sinned against the Lord is inescapable. Judgment must come. Judgment must come. Israel in the north will end up to face the judgment of God. So in verse 1, God is now standing as Amos presented this vision that he sees. He sees not as I saw. Notice his expression in verse 1. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar. He saw that in a vision. It's not a dream.

It's a vision. It's chazon. He saw the Lord. And the Hebrew word is machaze, chazon. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar. Now that altar, beloved brothers and sisters, again, as I mentioned earlier, it's not the altar which Israel was called to build, which was placed in the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Oh, no. This altar was an altar that was placed in a place called Beit El. And in that temple was built there to these idols, these golden calves and other idols. We see now, Amos sees now the Lord standing, notice, upon the altar. In Hebrew, it says, al ha-mizbeach. Al means upon.

Mizbeach means altar. And notice, Amos is saying, look at what it says in verse 1b, and he said, in other words, this is God he's saying. God is now saying, giving an instruction to whomever he will. He's giving an instruction, and he said, smite the lintel of the door that the post may shake. In other words, he's speaking about the temple in Beit El, and he said, smite the lintel of the door that the post may shake. These are the posts of this temple. You know, when they build this temple, it's situated upon posts. You have doors there. You have lintel there. And God is saying, smite this lintel of the door that the post of this house may be shaking, and the whole temple will eventually be destroyed.

If you, for a moment, go back to chapter 7 with me, and you turn back the page, and you notice in verse 13, we find out that Amaziah, the priest of Beth El, said to Amos, notice what he said in verse 13, prophesy not again anymore at Beth El, for it is the king's chapel, or the king's sanctuary, and it is the king's court. You see, the king, of course, is Yeruvam, this is the second Yeruvam. He's the one that now is worshipping in another temple. He is worshipping in another court. He is worshipping in another sanctuary, but not in Jerusalem. He is worshipping there in Beth El.

And can you imagine the people of God, the people of Israel, who should have been worshipping the Lord in a place where God had said for them to worship? Ending up, instead of worshipping the living God of Israel, worshipping a dead idol, a golden calf. So, God is now pronouncing once again the judgment upon this temple, this sanctuary, this house of pagan worship. So, he says, "A smite the lintel of the door, that a post may shake." And notice, he continues in verse 1, and he's now speaking about them. The them here is the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel. And he says, listen, he says, "And cut them in the head, all of them, and I will slay the last of them with the sword.

He that fleers of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered." Now, brothers and sisters, just imagine how many times the word "them" is mentioned here in verse 1. He says, "Cut them in the head, all of them. I will slay the last of them with the sword. He that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered." In other words, it's not only the temple, the building itself in Bethel, which will be destroyed at 722 BC when the Assyrian will come, but even the people of God, the people of Israel, who were worshipping a false idol, false gods.

Notice, God is saying about them, this is rather, rather sad, that he says, "None of them will escape." In other words, what he's going to bring upon them is physical judgment upon a nation that turned away from the God of Israel. The kind of judgment that God had to bring upon them. Now, I can just imagine how much it grieved his heart when he had to bring this judgment upon his people. But what could he do? He couldn't allow them to continue for years in such a way. Judgment had to come. As we mentioned again in 1 Peter 4:17, judgment must begin at the house of God.

Now, if we make an application for us today, imagine if there is a local church, a local assembly, a local congregation, the turning away from the Bible, turning away from the Word of God, starting to introduce false teaching, false doctrine, starting to worship that which God has told them not to worship. What do you think is that going to do? What do you think God will have to do? He will have to discipline the people even if they belong to him. When they turn away from him, he is going to discipline them. And so again and again, you notice they will not flee away. And even if they will flee away, they will not be successful.

And even they will think that they have escaped the judgment of God. He said they shall not be delivered. And if you would look at history, and if you read a little bit about what the Assyrians did to our people of all, the people of Israel in 722 BC, 721 BC, the terrible, the terrible persecution of the northern kingdom of Israel that have happened, and the taking them away from the land of Israel, from Samaria, and driven them to Assyria. And the way they have behaved towards the northern kingdom of Israel was a terrible event that happened in the history of Israel. And now he continues in verses 2 and 3, in emphasizing the fact that there is inescapable judgment of God.

In verses 2 and 3, no one will escape the judgment of God, even if, and notice he is kind of exaggerating a little bit, and he is showing us that even if you are going to go to hell, you will not escape the judgment of God. Even if you are going to go to heaven, you will not escape the judgment of God. He is exaggerating, you might say. He is giving us the extreme way. Notice he says, though they dig, verse 2, into Sheol. The word here for hell is the Hebrew word Sheol. And Sheol in scripture is often has a reference to the grave. When Jacob, Jacob, when he have lost his son, Yosef, because of what happened, that his own brothers took him and told him that he died, though they sold him to the Egyptians, to the Ishmaelites who sold them to Egypt.

You remember Jacob in Genesis chapter 37, he mentioned the very same word and he called it the grave. Let me just read it. Genesis 37 and verse 35. Look what we read. Genesis chapter 37 and verse 35. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him. This is to comfort him. This is to comfort Jacob. But he refused to be comforted. He said, for I will go down into the grave. That's the same word Sheol. I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. That word Sheol, sometime in the text, the English text applied to the word grave.

Other times it applies to really hell or Sheol, the place of the departing spirit. And here you can see in the ninth chapter of the prophecy of Amos that God is saying, Even, even if you will go to Sheol, then shall my hand take them. Then he continued. He said, though they climb up to heaven, then will I bring them down. He's not talking about now eternal salvation. But what he's thinking about here, that even if you will try to escape the judgment of God, with the extreme going to the grave or going to heaven, you will not be successful, Israel, in escaping the judgment of God.

You know, I'm sometimes amazed. Sometimes people think that they can escape the judgment of God. Oh God, God will not hold, get a hold of me. I will be able to escape the judgment of God. And I can assure you, beloved brothers and sisters, as God truly is the living God, the creator of the heavens and earth, no one will escape the judgment of God. Not the unbelievers, because they're going to have to face the great white throne judgment. And not even the believers who live in sin. They will not escape the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment seat of the Messiah in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah, that every one of us may be evaluated as to how we lived our lives as believers. None will escape. None will escape. If it wouldn't be the mercy of God, we all will be deserved to be punished. We all, because of the sins that we were born into, and the sins that we have committed doing our lives. But God is so gracious. And He forgave our sins on the basis of the work of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And though here we can see, though they dig into hell, then shall mine hand take them.

Though they climb up to heaven, then will I bring them down. Verse 3. He continues. And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel. This is Mount Carmel. I actually just came from Mount Carmel. This is present-day Haifa area. Where we have Mount Carmel, where the battle of the gods took place. Where Eliyahu, Elijah, said to Israel, if Jehovah is God, worship him. And if Baal is God, worship him. And he finally could show Israel that Israel's God, Jehovah himself, is the only true and living God. And so you're going to go, even if you're going to go to the Mount of Carmel, one of the highest mountains in the north of Israel, as it says here, I will search and take them out from hence.

And then you continue in verse 3b. And though they be hid from my sight into the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. You know, when I read this verse, I was thinking of those that think that if they will burn their body, they not have a regular burial site, and they will be spread somewhere over the ocean. Cremation. They think that they will escape the judgment of God. Beloved brothers and sisters, no heaven, no hell, no depth, no height, will separate us from who God is. Unless we are believers, unless our sins have been forgiven, on the basis of the work of Yeshua the Messiah, all of us will have to face one day, the judgment of God.

And he give them a clear, clear indication to the northern kingdom of Israel, no one will escape the coming judgment of God, which they deserve to receive, because they turned away from him. And notice what he says in verse four. In verse four, even during the Assyrian captivity, Israel will experience evil because of their sinful days in the time that they were in the land. Notice verse four. And I'm sure, I'm sure Amos was grieved as he's writing and as he's proclaiming the message of the Lord. Look what he says. What the Lord is saying in verse four. Though they go into captivity before their enemies.

Thence will I command the sword and it shall slay them. And I will set mine eyes upon them for evil. Notice, in Hebrew, and not for good, not for tova. You know, when God is turning his face against those that oppose him, and he become the enemy, even of the people he loved so dearly. Imagine what he's telling them. He's actually pronouncing, beloved brothers and sisters, what happened to our forefathers for many generations. The persecution of the nation of Israel and of the Jewish people in general. that even though, notice that, even they will go into captivity. In Hebrew, the word is shevi. To be captive.

To be taken captive by your enemies. Even if you're going to go into the captivity before your enemies, before their enemies. from thence. From thence, or thence will I commend the sword. And it shall slay them. And I will set mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good. Think about the history. There is no nation who suffered like the nation of Israel. There is no nation that experienced persecution like the nation of Israel. And I'm not saying that others did not. I'm sure there were many, many nations who suffered evil in this world. But beloved brothers and sisters, here is God pronouncing judgment upon the people of Israel who did not follow his ways.

I want you to turn with me to the book of Deuteronomy for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 28. And I want you to see that God have already mentioned them. They mentioned the coming judgment if Israel will not follow his way immediately after Israel came out of Egypt and before they enter into the promised land, into the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy chapter 28. We read these words. Very interesting. It says here in verse 58. It says, If thou will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, Jehovah thy God. Then a little bit further down, verse 63.

And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught, and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the one end of the earth even unto the other, and there shalt thou serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest, but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.

And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life." Beloved brothers and sisters, this is a description of the persecution of our people throughout the ages. From the time that the Lord made it clear to the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. when there was the dispersion, the Assyrian dispersion, including later on, 586 B.C., the Babylonian dispersion, and then later on in 70 A.D., the Romans dispersion, and so on, and so on, and in the last 2,000 years of Jewish-Hebrew-Israeli history, we can see how God have become for Israel, dealt with Israel in such a way, and the nations of the world oppose the people of Israel, the Jewish people, until finally, in a soon coming day, he will preserve and restore his people back to himself.

So Amos, in chapter 9, in his fifth vision, he emphasizes the inescapable judgment of God against the ten tribes of Israel. Later on, another prophet will speak about Judah, like Isaiah, the tribe of Judah and Benjamin in the south, they also had to be taken captive later on by the Babylonian. Very, very sad commentary to read about the judgment of God. What really is speaking to us is what God says to them, this is very sad, "I will set mine eyes upon you for evil and not for good." In other words, the very God who chose them, the very God of our fathers, have turned against his people to do them evil and not to do them good.

But thank God, we know that God is merciful, that in spite all the wrath that he deserved to pour upon his people, he always come in mercy and somehow speak and restore the people of God. So this interesting, this verse here in verse 4, while it will begin in 722 BC by the Assyrian captivity, it will continue on and eventually takes us all the way to the tribulation period. When the church age will come to a conclusion and God will intend to restore Israel, you would see, beloved brothers and sisters, that the persecution of the people of Israel, of the Jewish people, will continue during the tribulation period and it will end at the second coming of the Messiah, Yeshua, at the end of the 7-year tribulation days.

Well, now notice, as we move along in Amos 9, in verses 5 and 6, Amos is now pointing to the fact that the Lord is really, He is omnipotent, He is a God of providence. He is the one who arranged all things. You know, sometimes we think that we are in control even over our own lives. But in actuality, beloved brothers and sisters, God is in control over the affairs of this world, even in yours and my personal life. And notice what Amos is saying in verses 5 and 6, He says that the Lord of hosts is the one who is the master over all the land and over all His people.

Look at this. I'm reading verse 5. Notice what we read. It says in verse 5, Verse 5, And the Lord, God of hosts, He that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn, and it shall rise up holy like a flood, and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt. Notice what Amos is saying. He says, Really, you have to know that it is the Lord of hosts, Yehovah Tsevaot, in verse 5, He is the one that touches the land. And notice he's specifically speaking about the land of Canaan, and in the context here is the northern kingdom of Israel, the area of Samaria in the north of Israel.

It is God, the one that touches the land. Notice the interesting word here in this verse 5. The word is the, He is the one that touches the land. In other words, He is the one who is harming the land or protecting the land. But not only the land. He continues in verse 5b, And it shall melt, and all, these are all the people of Israel, that dwell therein, this is the northern kingdom, the people and the ten tribes of Israel, all that dwell therein shall mourn. And it, this is the land, shall rise up holy like a flood, and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt.

What, what is, Amos is saying, you have to understand, that God touches the land, God protects the land when it's needed, and God touches the land, and bring those that will take them captive. You know, no one can harm Israel, as long that God protects the land. No one can harm the Jewish people, the people of Israel, as long that God is protecting His people. But once He allows them, He takes His hand, as it were, off them because of their sinfulness, then He is the one that's bringing someone else to take them into captivity. Lord, the Lord of hosts, it is He that touches the land.

And He, the land will melt. And He is the one that all that dwell therein shall mourn, and the land shall rise up holy like a flood, and shall be thrown down, or thrown as by the flood of Egypt. So, God is in full control. He is the one who is sovereign. He is sovereign. He is the one that is in control. He allows things to happen. And He is moving things around in this world. At times, He allows His people to experience judgment. At times, He does not allow anyone to touch His own people. Think of what happened historically. Historically, think about Haman. He wanted to kill all the Jewish people in the time in the days of Persian days.

And what happened? The Lord did not allow Him to touch the Jewish people. And He raised up Esther, the queen, to be used by the Lord for the protection of the people of Israel. At the time, He allowed the Babylonian, the Assyrian, and other nations to cause harm when His people do not submit to Him and go astray. In verse 6, the Lord is the one that is building everything in heaven and everything here on earth. He is in control. Notice in verse 6. It is He that builders His stories. The Hebrew word is maaloto, His lofty place. He is the one who is building it in heaven.

And has founded His troops in the earth. The Lord that calleth for the waters of the sea and He pours them out upon the face of the earth. The Lord is His name. Yehovah Shmo. The Lord is the one that is setting everything in order. He is the one that placed His glory. He is, you must say, excellently in the heaven. He is the one who set this earth, this place, the foot here on this earth, the foot of His people. Those that are belonging to Him. He is the one that's setting things in order in this world. What Yeshua the Messiah said in Matthew chapter 5 when He spoke to the disciples in chapter 5.

I want to read this to you to remind us of who the Lord is and what the Lord has done. Just look at me at chapter 5 for a moment. If you turn there, Matthew chapter 5 verse 34 and 35. Look what Yeshua said there and I want to read these two verses. Verse 34. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne. Nor by the earth, for it is His footstool. Neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Don't, don't swear by heaven, it is the Lord's throne, the Lord's heights. Don't swear by the earth because it is the Lord's footstool.

It is He who is the one who is in control over everything. He is, you might say, all-powerful, omnipotent, as the psalmist of Israel said in Psalm 139. So in the first six verses, beloved brothers and sisters of Amos chapter 9, we have number one, the inescapable judgment against the northern kingdom of Israel that will surely come to pass, predicted by Amos himself. Secondly, Amos is presenting before Israel and he's showing to Israel, listen, the fact that all things are going to happen is because God is omnipotent. He's all-powerful. Heaven is His throne. Earth is His footstool. He is in control. The judgment will surely come because you have sinned against the Lord.

Now notice as we move along, in verses 7, 8, 9, and 10, the Lord's judgment will come even when Israel will be taken captive, but yet God will preserve a remnant and He will not totally destroy His people whom He has chosen, the people of Israel. So let's go over these verses, very interesting verses that Amos is speaking by the word of the Lord. In verse 7, the Lord reminds Israel that He was the one who caused people to move and people to migrate from one place to another. In verse 7, we read, "Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians?" "Unto me, O children of Israel," God is asking His people, "You are just like the Ethiopians." Then He explained.

He says, "Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt?" "And the Philistines from Kaphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?" What He's saying to them are things that happened in Israel's history. "Israel, don't you remember, I caused you to migrate from Egypt to Knaan?" "I caused it." "I'm the one that like the Ethiopians, I moved them from one place to another." "I was the one who moved the Philistines from Kaphtor, and the Syrians from Kir." "I am the one who causing things to happen in this world." "Israel," He's saying to them. "Don't you realize? "Just the same like I caused you to come from the land of Egypt into the land of Knaan, and I brought you out and brought you in." "I will now allow the Assyrian to come to take you and move you out from the land into Assyria." "Don't you know that?" "That's why He said to them." "And you see it's appealing to them." "Are you not as the children of the Ethiopian unto me, or children of Israel?" "You are just like other nations." "I have chosen you and brought you here to the promised land." "I have caused you to come out of Egypt and enter into Knaan." "Like I did movement in the history of the Ethiopians, in the history of the Philistines, and in the history of the Assyrians." "I am in full control." "I am the one who is in charge." He continued now, and in verse 8, "The Lord reminds the sinful kingdom of Israel that He sees all things, but He also going to judge them as well." "Behold the eyes of the Lord God upon the sinful kingdom." Notice he used the word "mamlacha hachata'a" in Hebrew.

"The sinful kingdom." You see, there were two kingdoms now, in the days of Amos. The kingdom of Yehuda, Malchut Yehuda, in the south. The kingdom of Israel, Malchut Yisrael, in the north. He is specifically dealing with the kingdom of Israel in the north, in the context of Amos chapter 9 and verse 8. "But He called them a sinful, or their sinful kingdom." "Mamlacha hachata'a." In other words, this is a kingdom that there was not even one king, beloved brothers and sisters, who honor God.

"All the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel depart from the will of the Lord." "While some of the kings of Yehuda, Judah, have really honored the God of Israel." "And so He called them a sinful kingdom." "And you notice what He said?" "Behold the eyes of the Lord are upon." "The eyes of the Lord." "He sees everything." "He's all seeing." "Earlier He's all powerful." "Now He presents Himself as the one who sees everything." "He is in full control." "And He sees all that which is going on among this sinful kingdom." "You know, God sees everything." "God is the one that sees all that is going on." "There is a verse in Psalm 34." "And

I'm going to read that." Psalm 34:15 "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous." "And His ears are open unto their cry." "But then notice, the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." "To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." "You see, God sees everything." "He sees everything." "He says, my eyes." "The eyes of the Lord is upon this sinful kingdom." "Had they only turned to Him." "Had they only repented and said," "God, be merciful." "We're wrong." "We have gone astray." "We shouldn't have doing." "We shouldn't have carried on this type of lifestyle." "God will accept them." "And the basis of the sacrifice." "And the blood that was shed."

"That is a picture of Yeshua's, the Messiah's death and resurrection." "He would forgive their sins." "But no." "They continue on in their own evil way." "And they are called here in verse 8." "A sinful kingdom." "I will destroy." "In verse 8b." "And I will destroy it from off the face of the earth." "I'm going to destroy the kingdom." "The northern kingdom of Israel." "And if you read here and stop here." "You would think that that's it." "This is the complete destruction of Israel." "And Israel has no future restoration at all." "But thank God." "Notice that in verse 8." "In the second half of verse 8." "I love that." "Because God has a plan." "God has

a program." "God has a desire that he had for himself." "Notice in verse 8." "Saving." "Not a saving." "As it says here." "The Hebrew word is Ephes." "Though," he said, "That I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob." "Sayeth the Lord." "I'm going to remove them out of the land." "Many of them will die physically." "Many of them will be scattered around the world." "Will experience persecution and hatred from the nations of the world." "But he also promised." "Beloved brothers and sisters," he said, "Saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob." "Sayeth the Lord." "The same God who spoke about the necessity to punish his own people and bring the Assyrian

to take them away." "The very same God said," "I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob." "Sayeth the Lord." "There's always a preservation of the Jewish people or the people of Israel for a future day in which God is intending to restore them to fellowship with himself and to be a light to the nations of the world." "He continued." "Notice that." "He continued in verse 9." "Amos is now pointing to the worldwide dispersion." "He's going beyond the Assyrian captivity of 722 BC." "And he's taking us now, beloved brothers and sisters, into what we would call today even the tribulation days that are mentioned in Daniel chapter 9 and elsewhere." "He's taking us now to

the tribulation period." "Notice what he says." "For lo," "I'm reading verse 9." "Lo, I will commend and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations." "Notice now." "He's using the word all nations." "No longer only Assyria." "But all nations beyond the border of Assyria to all the nations of the world." "I will sift the house of Israel." "And the word for sift is the Hebrew word hanioti." "Lehania" means to move.

"He is the one who is in control." "I will move the house of Israel among all nations like as a corn is sifted in a sieve." "You remember I was looking for that expression, the word for sifted." "The word for sifted." "What is to be sifted?" "It means to sift, to separate the chaff from the wheat and the tares and so on." "To separate, to sift them." "So what is God intending to do is intending to disperse the nation of Israel." "In the context here is the northern kingdom, the ten tribes of Israel." "And to scatter them among all the nations of the world and then to sift them." "Some will be judged.

Some will be preserved." "Just think about it." "I mean just think about it today." "Since 722 BC until today, over 2700 years have passed by." "And you have of the people of Israel in every corner of the world." "Israelis, Jewish, Hebrews, whatever you want to call them." "I scattered all of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." "I had a visit when I was just recently in Israel with a family member who is now over 90 years of age." "And she told me the story of my grandparents and great-grandparents." "And she couldn't tell me anymore because she only knew those, but who came from Yemen." "From Sana'a." "And there in Sana'a, they were there, the

Jewish community in Sana'a." "Now again, when we use the word Jewish and Israel in a sense, it is one and the same." "Because the ten tribes of Israel, many of them have migrated back and mingled with the tribes of Judah." "And today all the people who have called themselves Jewish may very well be part of all the twelve tribes of the people of Israel." "And they migrated to Israel in the late 1800s." "And they lived in the land of Israel, but they always maintained the fact that they are Jewish, that they are Hebrews, they are Israelis." "Just look around." "And under every country has some who belong to the people of Israel." "Some years ago,

the people from Ethiopia, the Jewish people from Ethiopia who were called by the Ethiopian Falashe Jews." "They called and said Beit HaYisrael, the house of Israel." "While they were there in Ethiopia, and still many today, they believed that they belonged to the house of Israel, to the family of Jacob." "And they were, many of them were brought back to the land of Israel." "Think about the Russian Jewish people who lived in Russia for many years in a communist Russia." "When I went to visit Russia years ago, in the 90s, to do some outreach among our own Jewish people." "There are many, many Jewish people who knew they were Jewish." "And many times, many of them

became, you might say, atheists, didn't believe in God." "But one thing they knew, that they are Jewish." "And by God's grace, many of them became believers in Yeshua the Messiah." "And many of them immigrated to the land of Israel and still live there today." "So you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, God said, I will sift the house of Israel." "Among all nations." "And then," he says, "like a corn is sifted in a sieve." "He will sift them." "He will, you might say, divide between the chaff and the wheat." "And he will sift them." "Does it belong to him that he is intending to restore?" "Then will ultimately be brought to himself in the future day."

"And you know, brothers and sisters, even, look at this." "Even today, when there are nearly eight million Jewish people in the land of Israel." "This is not the land that God or the people whom God still will restore ultimately." "Because even these Jewish people will have to be scattered once again." "When the Antichrist will rise up in the middle of the tribulation period." "And Yeshua the Messiah said in Matthew 24," "Ye which are in Judea, flee into the mountain." "Those that live today, who will have to face the time when the rise of the counterfeit Messiah will come in the future day." "And they will have to go to undergo this, what is known to

be the dispersion of the tribulation period." "Until finally, the Messiah Yeshua will come at the end of the seven-year tribulation." "And he will restore Israel back to himself." "That's why verse 9 of Amos chapter 9, Amos 9:9 has to do with beyond the 722 B.C.

days of the Assyrians, but it's beyond it. "Among all nations, like a corn is sifted in a sieve," the Lord is saying about his people, the people of Israel. "Now notice once again, just the same like in verse 8b, he says, 'I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,' says the Lord." "Verse 8b, now notice verse 9b." "Again he's promising to retain a remnant, those that will eventually will enter into a blessing." "Notice again, verse 9b." "Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." In other words, those that are what we call them grain here, they will not fall upon the ground, he will preserve them.

And they will be ultimately looking forward in a future day, the one that will be restored back to the Lord in a future day. So he used twice the word "save" in verse 8b and "yet" in verse 9b, because "yet" there is a future that is awaiting for Israel, the nation. No longer a divided nation, ten tribes and two tribes, but a whole total nation that eventually will be restored to the Lord. But notice, in verse 10, he says, "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us." In other words, there are those who say, "No, no, no, evil is not going to come upon us, you know, we are okay, evil is not going to come." No, those that sin and continue in sin among my people of Israel will eventually will face the judgment of God.

And I want you to see these beloved brothers and sisters, he calling them my people. My people. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, they said, "The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us." This is amazing. When you really think of what Amos, the revelation that Amos received. Now, let me just quickly go over the last five verses. One of the most wonderful verses that are found in Scripture concerning the restoration of Israel. And you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, verses 11 to 15 of Amos chapter 9, we have the promised future restoration of the people of Israel. People might not understand that, might not like it, might not want it, but God has a plan.

And he is the one that's going to bring his plan to pass. And so you notice what he says. In that day. Notice verse 11. In that day. That expression, "Bayom ha-hu." In that day. It's always applied to the future and final days of tribulation and ultimately the messianic kingdom. Notice what he says. In that day. What in that day? Verse 11 of Amos 9. "I raise up the tabernacles of David that is fallen. And close up the breaches thereof. And I will raise up his ruins and I will build it as the days of old." You know that word tabernacle of David in Hebrew is sukkat David.

God is promising that in that day, at the end of all the time that Israel will experience in dispersion. First of all by the Assyrian. Later on by the Babylonian. Later on by the worldwide dispersion through the Romans. The Romans in 70 AD and so on. All those days will come, will pass. And in that day, he is now going all the way to the end of the tribulation period. I will raise up the tabernacles of David that is falling down. That is falling. That is falling. In other words, David's tabernacle. The word here is sukkat David. The tabernacle of David. The tent of David. The authority of David as the king of Israel.

He's diminished since his son Shlomo have departed from the Lord. The kingdom was divided. Rechovam, his grandson, is no longer reign over all Israel. Only over two tribes. And the sukkat David, the tabernacle of David, had fallen. And from time after time after time, years passed by. And you can see that David and the promise for David and David's greater son hasn't come to pass as yet. Israel is still dispersed among the nations of the world. It hasn't been fulfilled. Because God said, I will raise it up. And he said, I will close up the bridges. There's no longer going to be divisions there. And I will raise up his ruins.

And I will build it as in the days of old. And I'm going to restore what I promised to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7. That on his throne someone will sit and will reign over my people, the people of Israel. God made this promise. Now, brothers and sisters, this promise was given to David. And I want you to notice that when Yeshua, the Messiah, was born, in Luke chapter 1, we read in verse 30. Listen to the words here. Because Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, when she was with a child, she didn't quite understand what was going on. And so the angel came unto her and he said, Hail thou that are mighty or highly favored.

The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Luke 1 verse 28. When she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Miriam. For thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his name Yeshua. Jesus in Hebrew, Yeshua. Notice verse 32. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord, listen to this, the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever.

And of his kingdom there shall be no end. But wait a minute, brothers and sisters. It didn't happen. When Yeshua came, he did not reign over Israel. Israel did not accept him at his first coming. Israel did not accept him at his first coming. So obviously, it hasn't happened. And it's still not now. And some people apply that to the church as if the church now replace Israel. And you see the Lord is reigning. And you see the Lord is reigning. Well, the Lord is not reigning. He is still rejected today. Even his church is so far away from what they should be. That takes us all the way to the Messianic kingdom.

We assure the Messiah is going to come at his second coming. And he will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. And as the angels said, he shall reign forever. And he's going to reign over the house of Jacob forever. Not for a season, not for six weeks or six months, but forever. He takes us all the way to the Messianic kingdom. He shall give unto him the throne of his father David. That's why Yeshua is called in scripture, Ben David, son of David, son of David. Many don't understand that he had to come to die at his first coming. To pay for the sin of this world.

But he has to come to reign at his second coming. To rule and reign over Israel and over all the nations of the world. God is going to bring this to pass. In Acts chapter 15. There was a problem in the local assembly in Jerusalem. They didn't understand that the Gentile world is now accepting the Messiah. And so they came to Jerusalem, to the leaders in the city of Jerusalem. And here James, Yaakov, had to explain to the local believers. The Jewish believers in Jerusalem. That going to the Gentile world to preach the gospel is to happen today. But later on, God is going to restore Israel.

And Jacob is quoting Amos chapter 9 and verse 11. And listen to this. James is speaking in Acts chapter 15. And I'm reading verse 13. And after they had held their peace. Yaakov, James, answered saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simon has declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And to disagree the words of the prophets. Prophets, plural, not singular, plural. All the prophets agreed to that as it is written. And now he's quoting what Amos wrote in Amos chapter 9. After this, after this, I will return and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down.

And I will build again the ruins thereof. And I will set it up. They needed, even these local brothers and sisters in Yerushalayim in those early days of the church. They needed to understand, wait a minute. How come Israel do not accept the Messiah? And how come the gospel is going to all the nations of the world? What about the Jews? What about Israel? Well, Yaakov explained. The gospel is going to go to all the nations of the world because Yeshua said you should be my witnesses. But after this, when the church age will come to its conclusion, I'm going to rebuild this tabernacle of David, which is fallen down.

And I will restore my people Israel. And they may notice that I'm reading just these last verses. That they may possess the remnant of Edom. And of all the heathen which are called by my name, sayeth the Lord, that doeth this. This is verse 12. In verse 13, 14 and 15, look at the finality of the future restoration of Israel. Behold, the days come, sayeth the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the trader of grapes, him that soweth seed. And the mountain shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity. Notice that. I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel.

And they shall build the way cities and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and drink of the wine thereof. They shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. And the last verse of the prophecy of Amos is verse 15 of Amos chapter 9. And I will plant them, namely Israel, upon their land. This is the land of Canaan. "And they shall no more be pulled out of their land which I have given them, sayeth the Lord thy God." Israel will be restored back to the land, to their land which God had given to them. Not because they are good, it's because God has a plan for his beloved nation of Israel.

And that's what we need to learn to accept. Over the years since I became a believer, I heard many who said, "God, finish with Israel." God has no more plan for the Jewish people. They did not accept the Messiah. God had put them away, and there is no future for Israel because of what they have done. And yet, the Bible is clear. The scripture is very clear. The day I will plant them in their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given unto them, sayeth the Lord thy God." You know, brothers and sisters, just in conclusion, even today, our people are in the land of Canaan, the land of Israel.

But you know what? They are still not enjoying what God has in mind for Israel. There are still rockets being shot into Israel. There are still conflict from without and conflict from within. And yet, God is looking to a time in that day where his people of Israel will enjoy a full restoration. But that restoration will never happen until Israel turn their hearts to the Lord. Until Israel accept Yeshua, the Messiah. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. Zechariah says in Zechariah 12:10, "And they shall mourn." And they will repent. And when Israel repent, God's heart will draw them back to himself. And a fountain of the grace of God will be opened towards Israel.

And Israel will eventually be restored nation. And God will use the people of Israel to be a light to the nations of the world. "For all the nations of the world in thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed." God promised this to our forefather Abraham. And God is intending to bring this to pass in the future day when my people of Israel will be brought back out of captivity. And be restored back to the Lord himself. We're looking forward for this day. We pray, we long for that day. And we wish that the Lord will hasten that day.

And bring it as soon as possible. That this world will enjoy a final time of blessing of the Massianic Kingdom. Can we say amen to that? Amen.