Amos: Seek The Lord and Live预览

What a magnificent picture. The Lord promises to renew His creation in the future. Here is a depiction of the New Creation that God will create when Christ returns. Amos takes the language of blessing from Deuteronomy 28 and exaggerates them wonderfully. The picture is of blessing overtaking judgment. Before the farmers can harvest their crops, others come along and plant the next crop. Before the vineyard owners can process one season’s grapes, the next season is ready to grow. Indeed, there’s so much wine it flows down from the hills like a river. No doubt the quality of it would make the finest wines of the 21st century taste like vinegar. This is an unheard of, impossible, unprecedented plenty. 

In these days there will no more talk of austerity in the news, and no more fears that bust will follow a boom. This peace and prosperity cannot come to an end. Not only is this a reversal of Israel’s catastrophic destruction by Assyria in 722 BC, but it is a permanent state of affairs. Perhaps the best line in this promise is verse 15: ‘I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted’ (my italics).

We need to know that this future is guaranteed to those trusting in Jesus Christ. We need to know that future prosperity is guaranteed in order to liberate us from a materialism that tries to accumulate wealth now. We need to know that God will bless us in ways never seen on this earth so that we don’t try and build heaven now. Never, not once in the New Creation, will we ever think sacrifices made in this life were not worth it. We will enjoy our permanent home with our spectacularly generous God and be thrilled for all of the ways we have served Him in this life.

Reflection

Dwell upon this picture of the New Creation until you have a massive smile on your face and a song in your heart! How will this truth liberate you to serve the Lord today?