Alright, let's look back at Amos
chapter 9. Amos' final message to Israel,
and I've entitled this message, Present Judgment, Future Blessing. Present Judgment, Future Blessing. Now this chapter, we were talking
about it earlier, this thing about understanding the And the
basic, simple message of the Bible is stated out here. As
we go through the scriptures, verse by verse, I'm sure that
there are many details of verses that you don't remember, me neither,
that's why I have to use notes and write things down. But if
you get the basic message, the most simple, basic message of
the scriptures, then that's what's important. That's what's important,
whether you remember the details or not. And what the Bible teaches
us is this, and this is an astonishing thing, you know, sometimes we
take it too lightly, but as you look back upon the history that's
recorded in the Old Testament, most of that deals with the period
of time called the Old Covenant. The Law of Moses. If you read
commentaries, some of the old writers, they would call it the
Mosaic economy. And what that was is just the
Law of Moses and the people, the nation of Israel that lived
under that time. And that lasted about 1500 years,
what we say from Mount Sinai to Mount Calvary. That's the
period of the Old Covenant. You have a lot of history before
that. There's not much of it recorded
in the Bible, but you have before that, you know, from Adam to
Abraham and on up through to Moses. But all that's history. All that's recorded for a purpose.
Then you have the history recorded in the New Testament. You have
the history of the church after that that's not recorded in the
Bible, but is to be viewed in light of the Bible and the truth
of the Bible. Well, here's the thing. Here's
the simplistic, very basic message of the Bible. All that history,
God's dealings with men in whatever form of covenant or revelation
that he gave is really given for this purpose. And that is
to show us our sin and depravity and our need of righteousness
by God's grace in Christ. Now that's the message of the
Bible. We read that in Isaiah chapter 46. That's why I like
that so much. He's talking about remembering
the former things of old. Through the prophet Isaiah, he's
calling on the kingdom of Judah to remember their history, going
all the way back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even before
Sinai. And he says, God has revealed
himself in this history. He said, I'm God, there's none
else. He said, there's not even anyone like me. You can't compare
God to anyone. In fact, the Bible tells us it's
sin to try to compare God to anyone or anyone to God. That's
really what the basic meaning of the holiness of God is. God
is holy. God is so separate. God is so
unique. Yes, he is sinlessly perfect
in nature and being every what and that but he set apart from
everything that we know Everything that we see that's why the Bible
says sanctify the Lord God in your heart set him apart Don't
look around, you know, don't look around for things on earth
to try to explain God To try to compare with God You see,
that's why he told Israel, he said, don't make any graven images
or likenesses of God. You can't do that. God is spirit
and he reveals himself. And of course, the ultimate revelation
of God is in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And then
he tells them that in this history, in verse 10 of Isaiah 46, he
says, in this history, God has determined and decreed all things. He's in control. He declares
the end from the beginning. Do you get the gist of that statement?
It doesn't say God declares the beginning from the end. You know,
I can do that. You can do that. I can know how
things begin. I just don't know how they're
going to end up. How about you? And the only reason I know how
they begin is because I can watch that happen. I know it after
the fact. But God declares the end from
the beginning. That's what the Bible calls the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. That's what that is. And then He says not only does
He determine by His sovereign counsel all things, and I know
men don't like to hear that, a lot of people don't like to
hear that, but I don't care. That's what this book says. This is
what God says of himself. He not only says that, he says,
he says, now, now my counsel shall stand and I will do all
my pleasure. He's working all things after
the counsel of his own will. So he's in control. And then
he talks about that ravenous bird from the east. I won't get
into that tonight from Isaiah 46, but that's referring to the
instrument of God's judgment against Judah. He said, I've
spoken it, I'll bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I'll do it.
And then he shows you what this is all about in verse 12 of Isaiah
46. He says, hearken unto me, you stout-hearted that are far
from righteousness. Now what does that describe?
That describes a proud, self-righteous sinner who thinks he's righteous,
but he's far from it. That's depravity. That's total
depravity. If you want to know the doctrine
of total depravity, there's a good definition. I'm far from righteousness. I know that in order to be saved
and to occupy eternal glory with Christ, I have to be righteous.
The Bible says, we've studied that in 2 Peter chapter 3, that
God's going to destroy this world and he's going to create a new
heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And then
the scripture tells me that I, by nature and by practice in
Adam and in myself, I'm far from that. I'm far from it. I'm a sinner. And that's why
God gave Israel the Old Covenant for 1,500 years. And I'll tell you that's astounding.
That's why it was given. Why was the law given? because
to show their transgression, to show moreover the law entered
that sin might abound. How much of a sinner I am? How
far I am from righteousness? I'm not even close. Christ is
the measure of righteousness. I'm not even close to Him in
my character, in my conduct, in my attitude, in any way, in
myself. But now here he goes in verse
13 of Isaiah 46, he says, I bring near my righteousness. God's
gonna bring near. See, we're far off from it, but
God's gonna bring His righteousness near. And you know what he's
talking about. He says, it shall not be far
off. And my salvation shall not tarry. It's not something that
you, it's not a goal you have to reach by your endeavorings.
That's what he means by that. It's not something you have to
reach for, to attain, like false religion teaches you. You know,
I heard on the news yesterday that they're really close to
making Pope John Paul a saint. They're really close to it now.
Well, I don't care. If they declare him to be so,
It's not so. You don't make me a saint and
I don't make you a saint. That's righteousness that's far
off. That's something to attain. You got to attain it. You got
to reach for it. All right? He says, no, no. He said, it
shall not be my right. God's righteousness shall not
be far off and it shall not tarry. It's not something you have to
wait for. Where is it? He says it right here. I will
place salvation in Zion. That's the mountain outside of
Israel. That's the dwelling place of David. That's a picture of
the church. And he said, I'm going to place
salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. That's a prophecy of
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the very righteousness of God.
You want righteousness? Look to Christ. Rest in Him. Now, that's the message of Amos
chapter 9. That's really been Amos' message
all the way through, really, hadn't it? But the people of
Israel refused to submit to the very righteousness of God. They
were like the people of Israel in the Lord's day, as described
in Romans chapter 9, that were seeking righteousness by works
of the law and not by faith in Christ. and they were zealous
in religion. These people that Amos is preaching
to here, they're zealous in religion, but there's no truth, there's
no grace, there's no Christ, there's no heart. They were trying
to be zealous in their religion, but they were ignorant of God's
righteousness, going about trying to establish one of their own,
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. What
is that Romans 10 for? For Christ is the end, the fulfillment,
the completion. of the righteousness of the law
to everyone that believeth. That's what it is. So this whole
history of man from God's viewpoint and in light of his purpose,
his promises, and his dealings with men, even in the Old Covenant,
was to show men our sin and our depravity, our need of salvation
by grace, our need of mercy, our need of a righteousness.
We cannot produce our need of Christ, God's righteousness. And Israel, they were under a
conditional covenant. That old covenant was a conditional
covenant. And you know, a lot of people
don't understand that, and they tried to project that over into
the new covenant and make it a conditional covenant towards
the sinner, that is. Well, the old covenant was a
conditional covenant toward Israel, and you know what? They failed
miserably to keep the conditions. But you know what? So would we. Do you hear me? So would we. Don't look back
upon them and say, well, I wouldn't have done that or I would have
done better. No, no, no. That covenant, that old covenant
was a testimony that any covenant God puts a person under, a sinner
under that's conditioned on the sinner, the sinner will fail.
So what's our hope? Well, our hope is an everlasting,
eternal, unconditional covenant towards me. Now, there are conditions
in the covenant, in the New Covenant, but they're not on me, they're
on Christ. Salvation conditioned on Him
and Him alone. Amos concludes with the promise
of God's covenant of grace according to the unconditional promise
made to Abraham And that promise fulfilled in the royal line of
David, not by an earthly king, and not in an earthly kingdom,
but in the Messiah, Christ, the King of kings in his spiritual
kingdom. Now the first ten verses, here's what they describe, the
present judgment of God against their sin. Look at it, he said,
I saw the Lord, verse 1, standing upon the altar. Now that's the
altar of idolatry. And it's an altar that he's getting
ready to destroy. The true spiritual altar of God
cannot be destroyed. That's Christ. He is our altar. Christ is the one to whom we
go in order to meet with and commune and be blessed of with
God. But this altar is the altar like
they raised up at Bethel, where, for example, that Hosea called
Beth-Avon, the house of evil, where they had the golden calf,
where they had the other things that they intermingled with the
worship of God and thought they were doing right. Well, here's
the Lord, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob standing up
on the altar. And he said, smite the lintel
of the door that the post may shake. This is referring to the
temple in Samaria. And that lintel of the door is
like that which establishes the foundation of it, that which
if it falls, the whole thing comes down. He says, cut them
in the head. Remember when the first promise
of the gospel went forth of the seed of woman. The Lord said
unto Satan that you will bruise the seed of woman, you will bruise
his heel, but he'll bruise your head. So this is a death blow. Cut them in the head, all of
them. This is a death blow. This is the just punishment that
God brings upon sinners for their sin. This is a people who have
rejected God's grace in Christ, who have rejected God's way of
righteousness and therefore are getting what they deserve. Now
think about that. Do you want God to give you what
you deserve? Because if you do, then remember
this, the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord, don't give me what I deserve. Give me Christ. Give me your
grace. Be merciful to me, the sinner. So he says, and I will
slay the last of them with the sword. He that fleeth of them
shall not flee away. You can't get away from it. You
can't escape this. He said, he that escapeth of
them shall not be delivered. There's no escape from the wrath
of God against sin. this altar of Bethel, this judgment
in spite of their religion now. And he says in verse 2, though
they dig into hell, that word hell there is literally the grave. In other words, you can't crawl
in a hole and cover up and hide from God here. That's what he's
saying. But if he meant literally hell,
listen, there's no hiding from God in hell. You know, I believe
some people think that is, you know, that's just a bad place
you go where they have a big party or something like that.
No, sir. You can't escape the judgment
of God. That is eternal. Let me tell you something about
hell. Hell is eternal separation from God. Eternal separation
from Christ. And he says, then shall mine
hand take them, his hand of judgment, though they climb up to heaven,
thence will I bring them down. You can't get high enough to
escape the wrath of God. Man cannot make his own way to
heaven. He says in verse 3, and though they hide themselves in
the top of Carmel, that's a high mountain where anybody who gets
up there is safe from anything. He says, I'll 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. I thought about the serpents that God sent upon the people
of Israel. And Moses interceded for him,
and he said, make a serpent of brass and lift it up on a pole.
And that serpent of brass was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Christ said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up. See, if we don't have Christ,
the poison of sin will kill us. That's what this represents.
He says in verse 4, he says, And though they go into captivity
before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and
it shall slay them. And I will set... Listen to this,
this is something. I will set mine eyes upon them
for evil and not for good. And the evil there is not sin
in the sense that God is committing sin. The evil there is the wrath
of God against their sin. That's what he's saying. You
know, he's talking about the omnipresence of God. You can't
get away from it. You can't hide from God. You
can't run from God. Adam and Eve tried it after the
fall in their shame of their nakedness, but they can't hide
from God. Adam, where art thou? That wasn't a question God was
asking for information. He wasn't looking for someone
he couldn't find. He was just saying, Adam, look where you
are now in your sin and your depravity, shamed ashamed of
yourself, hiding from God, where at one time you basked and had
comfort in the presence of God. David the king found safety and
comfort in the omnipresence of the Lord. But my friend, without
Christ, there'll only be wrath that you cannot escape. And so
he says, I'll set my eyes on them for harm, evil, not good. How can we expect God look of
favor and blessing in Christ. Where, you know, in Christ, you
know, here he says, I'm going to set mine eyes upon them for
evil. You know, in Christ, you know what the church is called
as the bride of Christ, as the redeemed of the Lord, as the
elect of God? They're called the apple of His eye. His love. He sees us in Christ. And He watches over us in Christ.
But without Christ, it's all wrath. harm, evil, and not for
good. Look at verse 5. He says, And
the Lord, our God of hosts, that's the invincible God who cannot
be defeated, the Lord of a great army. And He's an army of one,
but that's enough. It's kind of like when I used
to teach school and my students, they wanted to vote on whether
or not to have a test. And I'd say, well, how many don't
want to have a test? Every arm in the class would raise up except
mine. And I said, well, how many want to have this? And I'd raise
my hand. I said, well, looks like I've got the majority. Because
I had the authority. And that's the way it is with
God. He's an army of one, but that's enough. He's the Lord
God of hosts. It says in verse 5, the Lord
God of hosts is He that toucheth the land. His touch, but not
His touch of favor and blessing and grace. His touch of judgment,
it shall melt. That's the burning of judgment.
And all that dwell therein shall mourn the sorrow of judgment.
And it shall rise up holy like a flood. It's a complete judgment. And shall be drowned as by the
flood of Egypt. The judgment of bondage and sin
just like Egypt. Verse 6, it is He that buildeth
His stories in the heaven. That's, you might have in your
concordance the word spheres. Well, he's talking about God
of creation here. Now this God of creation who
is so powerful and wise and good is also the God of judgment and
he founded his troop in the earth. In other words, anything that
God wants to use as an instrument of judgment, he'll use. His troop
in the earth. If he wants to call, it says,
he that calleth for the waters of the sea. If he wants to bring
a flood like he did in the days of Noah, that's his troop. If
he wants to do it by a great army, like a ravenous bird from
the east, like that emperor who was such an enemy to the people
of God, if he wants to use him, if he wants to use the nation
of Assyria, he'll use that. "...and poureth them out upon
the face of the earth." The LORD is his name. He's not changed
now. You see, now this is significant here. The LORD is his name. Now
that word LORD there, that title LORD is in capitals. That's Jehovah. When we speak of the God of love,
we're speaking of the Lord, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. But here, the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the God of love, the God of all grace and mercy in Christ, what's
He doing here? He's bringing down judgment.
Now, how many times have you heard people say, well, I like
to read about the God of love in the New Testament, but not
the God of judgment in the Old Testament? My friend, the Lord
is His name. He's the same God. And here's
the point. There is no love, mercy, and
grace from the Lord except in Christ. Outside of Christ, no
mercy, no love, no grace. Mark it down. You just don't
see that in the Bible. I don't care what preachers are
telling people today. Herein is love, 1 John 4, 10.
Not that we love God, but that He loved us and did what? Sent
His Son to be the propitiation. What is that? That's the sin-bearing
sacrifice who makes satisfaction, who pays the price. Send His
Son to be the propitiation for our sins. There's no love outside
of Christ. Mark it down. But it's the same
God. He's not changing in His nature
to bring forth judgment. And He doesn't have to change
to express His love. Because let me tell you something.
In Christ, now listen to this. In Christ, God's love provided
what His justice demands. And you see that at the cross.
You see, every believer here tonight, you have already suffered
the full penalty of God's wrath against your sins. Not in your
own person, but in the person of Christ on the cross. He was
bruised for my iniquities. He was wounded for my transgressions. The wrath of God was poured out
upon Him because He was made sin, Christ who knew no sin,
that for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. So the Lord is his name. Look at verse 7 now. He says,
Are you not as children of the Ethiopians unto me? What he's
saying there is you're just like the heathen. You're just like
the Gentile unbeliever. And he uses the Ethiopians as
an example. Many times the Lord would pick
out one nation or two nations to compare Israel to in their
unbelief. Well, you're just like them.
You're no different. Oh, children of Israel, who are
supposed to be the people of God. Who says this? The Lord says it. He says, have
not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? Did not I
deliver them from that bondage in Egypt? Well, he says, think
about the Philistines from Kaphtor and the Syrians from Kir. Now
here's what he's saying here. Here's great nations that were
blessed of God in a temporal way to be strong and prosperous. In a temporal way. But God took
them out. because of their sin. Now what
he's saying is, Israel, now I delivered you from Egypt and I made you
a great nation. Think about the time of David
and Solomon. Now you've rejected the Lord
God of Israel. What makes you think that I'm
going to let you go on in that sin? I took the Philistines out
of Caphtor and I crushed them. I took the Syrians out of Chur,
that great nation, and crushed them. Why? Because they deserved
it. Because of their sin. So he says
in verse 8, Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the
sinful kingdom. Israel here is called a sinful
kingdom. You know why? Because that's
what they were. A sinful kingdom. And my friends, the only hope
for a sinful kingdom is God's grace and mercy in Christ. But
he says, I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. Now,
Joe mentioned this, and you can underscore this in your Bible.
This one little line, isn't this amazing how the Lord, amidst
all this dark background of judgment and wrath against sin, He puts
in this little line here that is a shining diamond, a shining
light. He says, saving except that I
will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
There is a remnant. that are not going to be destroyed
like this. What kind of a remnant is it? Well, everything that
the Bible teaches us from Genesis to Revelation describes that
remnant as the remnant according to the election of grace. In other words, there's a people
God's going to save. He calls them the house of Jacob here.
Jacob, who is that great type picture of sinner saved by grace. And he says they're going to
be a remnant. And they're not going to get what they deserve.
Why? Because of God's sovereign mercy. He said, I'll have mercy
on whom I will, I'll have compassion on whom I will. It's not of him
that runneth, nor of him that willeth. It's not of the works
of man, it's not of the will of man, but it's of God who shows
mercy. And my friend, that salvation,
that mercy is in Christ. Jacob's hope. Jacob's ladder. Christ, the way up to heaven,
is Christ. He is the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes unto the Father but by Him. So he throws
in that light there. But then later on, he's going
to show us, he's going to give us a description of both the
Savior and the saved. Look at verse 4 or verse 9. He
concludes this judgment. He says, For lo, I will command
and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations. That's
just the way. He's going to sift them like
a sieve. He's going to scatter them through. You won't be able
to separate them out. You see, God separates his people
out. And that's why we're called the
church. The church means the called out ones brought out by
the grace and the power and the mercy of God. He separated us
out in divine election before the foundation of the world,
the remnant according to the election of grace. He separated
us out at Calvary when He redeemed us by the precious blood of Christ
bought with a price. The church of God which are redeemed
by His blood, Paul wrote of in Acts chapter 20. And He separates
us out by the power of the Holy Spirit in the new birth under
the preaching of the gospel, the called out ones. And God
does that separating. But now Israel here, because
of their sin and the judgment of God against their sin, they're
going to be sifted into the nations. You won't be able to separate
them out. And I know people talk about ethnicity and ethnics and
all that, you know, and how you can tell this one and that one.
But as far as a separation, As being the people of God, as distinguished
from the world, you won't be able to tell the difference here
because they're just like the nations. And so he says, like
as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain
fall upon the earth, the least stone fall upon the earth. What
he's simply saying there is that all things according to his will,
those without Christ, he says in verse 10, all the sinners
of my people, shall die by the sword." Now sinners there are,
that's a description of unbelievers. We're all sinners. There's sinners
saved by grace and sinners still in their sin. But what he's talking
about is unbelievers. All the unbelievers of my people
shall die by the sword which say the evil shall not overtake
nor prevent us. They have a false hope. They
have a false refuge. Their testimony is the evil shall
not overtake me. The evil shall not prevent me
from coming to God and receiving His blessing. But he says their
hope is a presumption. It's a false hope. That's why
John chapter 3 and verse 19 and 20 talks about the light that
men by nature hate because their deeds are evil. See, their hope
was in their physical connection with Abraham. Well, that's a
false hope. If that's your hope of salvation,
that's a false hope. Their hope was in their circumcision.
That's a false hope. Their hope was in the fact that
they kept the law. That's a false hope. Where's
your hope? Where's my hope? You see what I'm saying? Is your
hope in anything but Christ and Him crucified and risen again?
His blood and righteousness? Dare not trust the sweetest friend?
Where's your hope? Where's your assurance? Where's
your peace? Where's your salvation? Where's your righteousness? Where
is it? The Lord asked the question,
where is your faith? And you go looking around for
it. It's not there. I'll tell you where my faith
is, it's in Christ. That's where my faith is. I believe
in Him. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. My faith is not where that preacher
I heard on TV today say, in my untapped potential. I'm sure I've got a lot of untapped
potential. And I'm going to die with untapped potential. There's
a lot of untapped potential here that should stay untapped. How
about that? But that's not my hope. My hope
is in Christ. My hope is in His blood. My hope
is in His righteousness. My hope is in the one who arose
from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father
making intercession for me and who's coming again. That's where
my hope is. That's where my faith is. That's
God-given faith. Well, the last verses show the
future blessing of spiritual Israel. Now, listen to the language.
This will bless you. Verse 11. In that day will I
raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen. Now, let me give
you some information. He's not talking about a physical
temple. There. He's not talking about
a physical tabernacle like they had in the wilderness. He's talking
about Christ, who is the tabernacle of David. John chapter 1 and
verse 14, the word was made flesh and dwelt, that word dwelt is
what? Tabernacled among us. What was the tabernacle? It was
the dwelling place of the Shekinah glory of God. It didn't contain
God. You can't contain God. But it was the revelation of
the Shekinah glory of God. That's what the tabernacle was.
And that's what he said. Read it in Exodus chapter 25.
He said, there above the mercy seat, which was the center of
that whole tabernacle was built to house the ark of the covenant
and the mercy seat. And that's the Shekinah glory
of God, which is the greatest revelation of God that can be
given. The effulgence of God, the fullness of God. And that's
what that tabernacle was. Well, where is that effulgence,
that Shekinah of God today? It's in Christ. For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you're complete in
Him. He's the tabernacle of David
in the sense that he was made of the seed of David according
to the flesh. He's in the royal line of David,
the tribe of Judah. He's the scepter of Judah. He's the eternal king. So the
scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. He's
Shiloh. He's the peace that exists between God and his people. Christ
is. He's the reconciler. He's the
mediator, the one mediator between God and men. He's the king of
kings, the potentate of potentates, Lord of lords. That's who He
is. And He is the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, and He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
All of this, that's the tabernacle of David. Everything in that
Old Testament tabernacle pictured some aspect of the person and
finished work of Christ and the salvation that would come to
all His people through Him. So in that day will I raise up
the tabernacle of David that is fallen." When did he fall?
He fell at the cross. He died. And he was buried. But he didn't stay dead. He arose
again the third day. God says, through Amos, I'll
raise up the tabernacle of David. And he said, and close up the
breaches thereof. That literally means hedge it
about. In other words, where there's any hole in the wall
or any kink or any imperfection, through this tabernacle of David,
whom God raises up, He'll close it all up. What's he talking
about there? A perfect righteousness in which God can find no flaw. How would you like that? Well, enter the tabernacle of
David. Enter Christ. Be washed in his blood and clothed
in his righteousness. And he said, I will raise up
his ruins. We were ruined in Adam. But we're justified in
Christ. And I will build it as in the
old days. Christ said upon this rock himself, I will build my
church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
And verse 12, now listen to this. This is something here. See,
God promises to restore David's royal line, but not fulfilled
in an earthly king and an earthly kingdom, but through Christ the
Messiah and a spiritual kingdom. And he's talking about salvation
by grace. Notice who's doing the work here.
In verse 11, God says, will I do it? I'll raise it up. I will
raise up his ruins. I will build it. Not you. This
is not a covenant condition on the center. And look at verse
12. He says, "...that they may possess the remnant of Edom."
A remnant of Edom? You know what Edom was? We're
going to study that when we get to the next book, Obadiah, here.
Obadiah pronounces judgments against the nation Edom. You
know who Edom was? That was the descendants of Esau,
Jacob's brother. And you remember Esau, what did
he do? He despised his birthright. Literally, that means he despised
the gospel. He despised the grace of God.
He despised the blessing of God. He didn't care for it at all.
That's what he despised. But even out of Edom, the great
enemies of Jacob, the great enemies of Christ and the people of God,
there's going to be a remnant. Who's he talking about? He's
talking about God's elect among the Gentiles there. They're gonna
possess the remnant of Edom. They're gonna be part of this.
What's he talking about? He's talking about spiritual
Israel, a remnant of Jacob and a remnant of Edom. And he says,
and of all the heathen... How do you know he's talking
about the elected? Look at it, look at it. He says that they
may possess the remnant of Edom and of all the heathen which
are called by my name. Who's called by God's name? His
people. He named us. And he says, saith the Lord that
doeth. It's the same God. Verse 13, Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper. Now
think about what he's saying here. What he's talking about
here is the promise of blessing in abundance for spiritual Israel
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1, 3, We're blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. And I thought about this, too. You know, back over in Isaiah
46, he said, My righteousness shall not be far off, and it
shall not tarry. It's gonna come right now. I
mean, listen, when you have Christ, you have righteousness. You don't
have to wait for it. You don't have to work for it.
You don't... Listen, it's right there. It's as near as He is. And this line here, he says,
The plowman shall overtake the reaper. Now, usually what happens
in farming... I'm no farmer, but you all correct me if I'm
wrong. You plow first, and then much later on you reap. Isn't
that right? That's a later time you reap.
You plow and plant, all that, and then later on you reap. And
it takes some time there, doesn't it? Not here. He says the plowman
shall overtake the reaper. There's going to be so much growth
and abundance, and it's going to happen so quickly in Christ
that the plowman's going to bump into the reaper. That's the picture. Blessings will come quickly when
the plowman shall overtake the reaper. That's what he... My
righteousness shall not be far off. It shall not tarry. I bring
it near. It's as near... How far is righteousness
from you? Well, if you're trying to be
saved and made righteous by your works and efforts, it's way far
off. And you'll never get it. But
my friend, it's as near as Christ. in the preaching of the gospel.
And then he says in verse 13, he says, "...and the treader
of grapes, him that soweth seed, and the mountains shall drop
sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt." Normally these vines
over there, they didn't grow in mountains, so what he's saying
here is blessings will come in unexpected places. Normally these
vines don't grow well in mountains or high hills, but here, "...even
the mountains shall drop with sweet wine, and all the hills
shall flow with it." God's going to save people in some of the
most unexpected places you could ever think of. He's got a people
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. Verse 14,
he says, I'll bring again the captivity of my people Israel,
people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit
them. This is the rebuilding of the
church. And they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine
thereof. That's the new wine. And they shall also make gardens
and the fruit of them. And 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." Blessings
will come in great quality, the new wine. And blessings will
come with much joy. And here's the last thing he
says. These blessings of joy and peace
and prosperity will be eternal. They'll never be taken away.
You know why? because we have these blessings,
we receive these blessings in Christ, who's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. You know, to believe the gospel
is to be part of an eternal, unchangeable, everlasting covenant
of salvation in Christ. And whoever he's talking about
here, he's talking about spiritual Israel, believers, They'll never
be plucked up. They'll never be taken out of
that spiritual kingdom in which God plants them, which they have
so much blessing and so much abundance. All right.