The New International Bible has “fallen shelter” in Amos 9:11. Elsewhere the term Sukkat/sukkah is translated booth, tent, tabernacle, hut, house, city or kingdom. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance provides additional possibilities: cottage, covert, pavilion, with the inherent meaning of the word being “thicket”. The Unabridged Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, indicates that we ought to think of a lurking-place of lions, a crude or temporary shelter (for cattle) or a feasting place at harvest time made from the boughs of trees for the festival of tabernacles/booths.
- In that day I will restore David’s fallen shelter—will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins—and will rebuild it as it used to be. (Amos 9:11 NIV)
This is what another version states that uses the word "kingdom" to describe what is meant by “fallen shelter”:
- Sinners among my people will die by the sword. All of them say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’ “The kingdom of David is like a fallen tent. But in that day I will set it up again and mend its broken places. I will rebuild its ruins. I will rebuild it as it was before. Then Israel will take over what is left of Edom and the other nations that belong to me,”says the Lord. And he will make it happen.“The kingdom of David is like a fallen tent. But in that day I will set it up again and mend its broken places. I will rebuild its ruins. I will rebuild it as it was before.” (Amos 9:10-12ICB)
This text is very instructive for it tells us about those who think they can sin as much as they like because they believe they belong to the chosen ones (doctrine of unconditional election or infant baptism) and nothing bad will happen to them. Yet the Scripture by implication warns that righteousness is required and this only comes by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Hebrews 10:38). On the day of restoration, Israel (those who rule with God) will take over the rest of the nations that belong to the Lord. The House of David will be rebuilt. Hence, there is a double prophecy here, one applying to Edom (Esau the irreligious— the Talmudic Jew) and the true Jew (circumcised of heart—Torah—Deuteronomy 10:16).
- And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
- He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:29)
The restoration of the House of David is clearly meant and we find that this is referenced by the Apostles in the book of Acts to refer to the building of the Tabernacle of David in the last days. A tabernacle that is overlooked by too many people who forget that the Old Testament are the Scriptures used by the New Testament Church as the New Testament Scriptures were being written.
- And with this the words of the prophets agree, as it is written, ‘After this I will return,and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins,and I will set it up, that the rest of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who has made these things known from of old.’ (Acts 15:15–18)
Israel is to be restored as a physical nation on Earth, and this is happening before our very eyes. Against the odds, the nation Israel exists.
The Kingdom of David is also being rebuilt on the land promised to the Fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). However, Israel was scattered among the nations and Jesus said that He came for the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Much of the seed of Israel was dispersed among the nations not only by the Assyrians but also through enterprise as Israelites traveled the globe (e.g. evidence exists of them traveling in ships to the Americas) and the children of the wives of Solomon. Today, this incorporates the Gentiles into the House of David and all who possess the same faith that Abraham possessed.
When Lord Jesus Christ returns, the House of David (David’s fallen shelter) will be fully restored. This will be the end of the Festival of Booths. For only those who are restored will be able to dwell in the booths of David. The rest will have no protection from the onslaught that is to come. And it is very close. Turmoil, more than currently exists, in nations of the West is only a decade a way. Scary times are ahead. But not for those who dwell in the booths (the shelter) of David.
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