BRO. BLISS : Please to give your view of Amos ix, 11, 12. Has the tabernacle of David, that was fallen, been rebuilt; or is its erection still future?
Sheldon, Vt., Dec. 6, 1859.
The text to which reference is made reads thus : "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 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."
The context of this scripture indicates the epoch to which the phrase, "in that day" refers: "For, lo," saith the Lord, "I will command, 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." Vs. 9, 10. This is what precedes, to which the phrase, "in that day" refers. It is in the day when all the sinners of God's people are slain, that the tabernacle of David, now in ruins, is to be rebuilt.
A word by way of explanation of the verses last quoted: to "sift the house of Israel among all nations," is a metaphor expressive of the dispersion of Israel among all nations; and the simile, "as corn is sifted in a sieve," illustrates the effect of that dispersion.
In the sifting of corn, there is a constant moving of the grain over the different meshes of the sieve; the result of which is that the good grain, the ripe plump berries, are separated from the chaff and worthless. Not to fall on the ground, as applied to grain, signifies that it is not lost: so that the expression here illustrates that in the dispersion of Israel among the nations, and the trials to which they would then be subjected, not one of God's people among them would fail of final participation in the blessings in store for them.
As this refers to the entire dispersed nation, it cannot be limited to any one generation of their number; but the good grain of all the generations would share equally in the good promised; which makes it conclusive that the fulfillment of this prophecy, can be only in the resurrection. And as all the sinners among them are to perish, it follows that the "grain" that shall not fall to the earth, are the pious only. So that unconverted Jews are not included in this promise; and the pious Jews have a part in it, only by the resurrection of those who will come up to everlasting life, or by the translation of the pious Jews who are alive at Christ's coming.
The epoch of the resurrection, of Christ's coming and of the restitution, is, therefore82"that day," to which allusion is made, and in which God "will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen."
The "tabernacle of David," is evidently put by a metonymy for the family of David, in the person of his Kingly successor; and its being raised up, with its breaches and ruins closed and rebuilt illustrates the establishment of David's greater Son, as the supreme ruler over the restored of the house of Israel; which as we have seen, includes only the pious of Israel in their immortal and incorruptible state.
The antecedent of "they," in verse 12 is "the house," i. e., the family of David in verse 11; so that "they" who "may possess the remnant of Edom," are the restored family, or reigning persons in that family. And the "remnant of Edom and of all the heathen," are explained to be those of them "which are called" by God's name—i. e., the pious or converted of all nations, who, alike with the pious of Israel, will be subjects and heirs of the Son of David, when the fallen tabernacle of that decayed family shall be re-erected.
As this prophecy thus plainly teaches that a remnant of the heathen will be called by God's name, it is a clear prediction of the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, preparatory to the restoration of the throne of David. And thus has the New Testament interpreted it. For when Simon, or Simon Peter, declared to the other apostles at Jerusalem how God had chosen that the Gentiles should hear the word from his mouth and believe, James replies (Acts xv, 15–17) that "to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, 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."
The clear meaning of this comment is, that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles, and that "after this" God would return and rebuild the tabernacle of David that is fallen down; which therefore is not till the close of the Gentile dispensation.
"The residue of men" to which James refers are the same as the "remnant of Edom and of all the heathen." They are the whole number of the Gentiles who should seek after the Lord, and be called by his name; so that they might be his subjects and be possessed by him, "in that day" when all the sinners of his people should be slain with the sword, and all the "good seed" among them be recognized as "the children of the kingdom." "Then shall the righteous," of all nations "shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of his Father." Matt. xiii, 43.
And that this is a permanent restoration of the pious of Israel to Judea, and therefore by the resurrection, is evident from the closing paragraph of the prophecy of Amos, in which God says, "I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God."