I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. – Amos 9:15

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 2, 2016): Amos 9

On September 3, 1947, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine put forward a paper recommending that Palestine be divided into three sections – an Arab section, a Jewish Section and Jerusalem, which would be claimed by both – and by the Christians. The report was the culmination of the severe refugee situation that had been caused by the Second World War. The Jewish people had lost the lives they had built in Europe and wanted to go home – home to an Israel that in 1947 simply did not exist. The Arab people opposed the partition, but the idea of a partition of Palestine was the first step to recognizing a Palestinian nation that had not existed for almost 2000 years, and it could be argued had not existed in 2700 years, or even 3000 years – a united Israel.

On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Gone were the Palestinian quotas and immigration limits that had existed under British control. If you were Jewish, finally there was a home that would welcome you with open arms – there was a place where you belonged.

Scholars argue over the fulfillment of the restoration of Amos 9. For some, Amos was speaking of the bringing back of the Jews after the Babylonian captivity. But the tricky point is the restoration of “David’s fallen shelter” (vs. 11) – a comment that is almost universally taken to mean the Tabernacle (after all, the Temple was built by Solomon, even though it was David’s dream.) After the exile, there was a rebuilding of the Temple, although definitely not to the splendor that had existed before its destruction as was prophesied in Amos 9, but no reconstruction of the Tabernacle – David’s fallen shelter.

Others argue that the fulfillment of Amos’ prophecy is found not in the return of Judah from exile after the Babylonian captivity, but rather in the inauguration of the Christian Church after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The fallen Tabernacle is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. Maybe, but there might be another solution.

What we seem to miss is that Amos was prophesying in a period when there was both an Israel and a Judah. Judah was restored after their exile into Babylon, but Israel was never restored – unless we argue that their restoration came in 1948. In 1948 a country was founded that claimed anyone who believed that they were descendants of the House of Jacob. Granted, most would be of the tribe of Judah, or maybe Benjamin and Levi, but the door was left open for all of the descendants of Jacob – even the descendant of the lost tribes (or more likely the culturally assimilated tribes) of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

And the Tabernacle? Maybe that hasn’t been built yet. All of Israel is dreaming of a day when they will once again have a permanent Temple, like Solomon’s, built on Temple Mount. But I still believe that a Tabernacle, a temporary edifice built to the configurations of Moses and placed somewhere else in Israel, might be a worthy stand-in until the days when the Temple can be rebuilt on Temple Mount. Admittedly, I am in the minority, but the rebuilding of the more portable Tabernacle – David’s fallen shelter - would be a perfect fulfillment of the prophecy of Amos.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jonah 1 & 2