Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Amos 9:11-15 October 29, 2023

Message: “David’s Fallen Tent!” by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. Today we come to our last message from the Book of Amos. If you remember, Amos was a shepherd from Judah whom God called to go and preach to the northern kingdom of Israel and warn them that He was going to judge them.

a. God compared Himself to a roaring lion about to pounce on His prey. He told them to prepare to meet their God.

b. God told Amos to go and preach in the city of Bethel, close to the border of Judah, where King Jeroboam had set up one of his places of worship.

2. Here they had built an idol and set up a priesthood so the people in Israel would not go to Jerusalem to worship God in the place that God had chosen..

a. Amaziah was their priest, and he was very angry with Amos for coming and upsetting all the people who came to worship at the king’s sanctuary.

b. In Amos 7:12, Amaziah told Amos to “get out “ and “to go back to the land of Judah… Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel.”

3. I share this because this is what Satan is doing all over the world today. God’s people are being told to get out and stop preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. Amos knew as soon as he left, those left behind would be placing themselves in the path of God’s coming judgment.

a. In Amos 9: 8, it says: “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on this sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth – but I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob.”

b. In vs. 11, God adds: “In that day, I will restore David’s fallen tent.” That is the subject of today’s message.

A. Consider what happened.

1. The ten northern tribes of Israel were attacked by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. And the people were scattered over the face of the earth. They became known as the ten lost tribes.

2. Meanwhile the southern kingdom of Judah, where the temple was located, lasted another 140 years. Because of their sins, they also went into captivity, this time at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Sadly, that is when God’s temple was razed to the ground.

a. But as Amos told Amaziah, Judah, which repre-sented the house of Jacob, would not be totally destroyed. Seventy years later, the Jews returned to their own land. Over time they even rebuilt the temple, but it was small in comparison to Solomon’s temple that had been destroyed.

b. For 586 years, other kings ruled over the Jews. That is why Amos described David’s kingdom as a “fallen tent.”

B. But God still had plans for David’s kingdom!

1. King David was from Bethlehem in Judah. In Is. 11: 1, God prophesied: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from His roots, a branch will bear fruit.” Jesse was the father of King David.

a. In God’s time, Jesus was born from the descend-ants of David. But God’s kingdom was like a stump in the ground that had been cut down.

b It was like “a fallen tent” that seemed of little value. Rome had all the power, not the Jews. After Jesus was born, His parents had to flee for their lives.

c. In fact, Jesus was born like a shoot growing out of that stump. He was born in Bethlehem, one of the smallest towns in Judea. He was born in a cattle shed because there was no room for them in the inn.

2. In Is. 53: 2, Jesus is described as a “root growing up in dry ground” that had “no form nor comeliness” that anyone “would desire Him.”

a. In fact, when He came to His own people, in John 1:11, it says that “His own received Him not.” Instead, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief” (Is. 53:3).

b. That is how far the “tent of David” had fallen. Jesus. David’s son, grew up like someone of no importance until the time came for Him to be revealed to Israel.

3. Let us look at the promise given to Amos more closely: In Amos 9:11-12, it says: ‘“In that day, I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it like it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that (will) bear my name,’ declares the Lord who will do these things.” Notice this stress on Gentile nations.

a. At first glance, you might think this means Jesus would defeat the Romans and conquer the world.

b. But Jesus came to do something more radical. He did not come to defeat the Romans. He came to defeat Satan and the power of sin. He came to die on the cross. He came to build a kingdom in the hearts of men that would include people from all over the world.

4. That is how the early church understood this passage. It all began when Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach His Gospel.

a. This began in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit was poured out on His church. From there it spread to Judea, then to Samaria, and finally to the uttermost parts of the earth.

b. Cornelius and his household were the first Gentiles to be saved. Peter was also sent into the desert to lead the Ethiopian eunuch to the Lord.

c. But Paul was especially saved and sent to reach the Gentiles. As God used him to do this very thing, questions arose. A church council was called, meeting in Jerusalem, to discuss this whole issue.

5. That is when James, the brother of Jesus, spoke up: “Brethren, listen to me. Peter has described to us how God at first showed His concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for Himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written” in Amos 9:11-12.

a. Then James quoted this passage about David’s fallen tent, and concluded by saying: “It is my judgment, therefore, that we do not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” ( Acts 15:19).

b. Some of the Jews wanted to insist that the Gentiles be circumcised and keep all the laws of Moses in addition to simply believing and living for Jesus. But the council disagreed.

6. Salvation is “by grace, through faith in Christ alone, not of works lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). Does that mean we can sin and God will forgive us any way? Absolutely not! That would be like mocking what Jesus did when He died for us.

a. No! God expects us with His help to change and become more and more like Him. But God did not expect the Gentiles to keep all the laws given to the Jews. Many of them were fulfilled in Christ when He died for us. That included circumcision. It was not required of the Gentiles.

b. And so the Gospel has continued to be preached through the entire N.T. era, bringing Jews and Gentiles to Christ from every nation, just as Amos predicted.

In Conclusion: That is how “David’s fallen tent” has been raised up so that in our day there are Christians all over the world under the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ. Someday soon, I believe Jesus will come again. That is when He will set up His eternal kingdom where we will live and reign with Him forever. Amen.