THURSDAY, JANUARY 5
Scripture: Amos 9:13-15

Amos 9:13-15 says, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,’ Says the Lord your God.” In verses 13-15, Amos was given the understanding that years of sowing and reaping were going to be sped up. He learned that for all the years that Israel was not in the land, whenever God brought them back into the land, that is how quickly they were going to prosper and grow into a mighty and dramatic nation. We have certainly seen that happen today. That had to be encouraging for everyone who heard it. So as difficult as Amos’ message was, he was able to finish his race on an awesome note of restoration of God’s love and looking to the day of tremendous blessing where even the plowman shall overtake the reaper. And for all the years of devastation, there would be sudden growth and the awesome blessing of God. With Israel’s statehood in 1948, a number of us have lived to see that in our day and can personally testify of the validity of Amos as a prophet as we have seen part of his word come to pass. And the rest of his word in verses 11-12 is equally exciting and we can use our faith to see the fulfillment in the days ahead.