In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter—I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins—and will rebuild it as it used to be ... Amos 9:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 26, 2013): Amos 9

When Charles I of England was executed on January 30, 1649 at the end of the English Civil war, life in England changed drastically. For the next decade there would be a continued time of turmoil as England struggled to figure out what kind of rule they really desired and wanted to build into the nation. And with the Puritans in charge of the country, many of the pastimes of the people simply disappeared. Holidays such as Christmas and Easter were suppressed, gambling was made illegal and going to the theater was severely discouraged. All of these things were considered to be part of the excesses of the previous regime – and the reason for the nation’s social problem.

For the next decade, both turmoil and the restriction of personal freedoms continued in England. But finally Charles II (the son of Charles I) was invited to return to the nation. And on May 29, 1660, he was received into London at the pleasure of the people. The monarchy was restored (and this period of time is officially known as ‘The Restoration’) and life, at least to a certain extent, went back to normal. But no one, except for maybe the French who were entertaining Charles II, expected that the monarchy would ever be restored in England.

God through Amos talks about the restoration of the House of David, and Israel, before even the nations fell. His plan had always been their restoration – and his plan was that there would be a son of David on the throne of Israel. As far as God was concerned, this was already an accomplished fact. A descendant of David would be put on the throne of the nation at the time that God had chosen to restore the nation. But there is something a little telling in the language that Amos uses in this passage. Amos says that God’s direction indicated that he would restore “David’s fallen shelter.” In some version of the Bible this word (cukkah) is translated as tabernacle, indicating that God bypasses the Temple in Jerusalem (Solomon’s Temple) by saying that he will restore the Tabernacle that came before. But maybe the simplest interpretation of this passage is that everything that Israel possesses was really just a temporary fixture (cukkah really just means a rude or temporary shelter) – God could destroy what was only meant to be temporary in the first place, but he could also restore.

And maybe there is not a bigger reality in our lives. Nothing that we buy is permanent – our possessions are simply rented to us for a period of time. But the beauty of this thought is that anything that can be destroyed, God can also restore. And for the good things in our lives that might be destroyed, the restoration is already being planned for.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 15