Amos 9:4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies, there I will command the sword to slay them. “I will keep my eye on them for harm and not for good.”
As I read the second part of verse 4, Gen 50:20 came to mind: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good….” I want God to keep His eyes on me, but I want His intentions to be good, and thankfully, under the new covenant of Christ, they are.
Amos 9:8 “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord.
Gone is the old covenant of obey and you will be blessed. Disobey and you will be cursed. But even in that covenant, God strove for mercy and renewal. The disobedient Israelites didn’t get what they deserved, they weren’t treated as they treated God. His goal for them was repentance, renewal, restoration.
Amos 9:11 “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….
Precious Savior, Thank You for not treating me as I deserve. Thank You for Your fierce love and deep compassion. Thank You for the new covenant of Christ. Thank You that every day I get to try again to be a better person than I was yesterday. Forgive me when I fall short. Help me to forgive myself. Draw me closer. Amen.
Amos 9:15 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.
Have a blessed day.