Living Fully - Restoration of the Fallen Tent

Restoration of the Fallen Tent

“`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, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name,’ declares the Lord, who will do these things.

“`The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, `when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills, and I will bring my people Israel back from exile.

“`They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 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: 11 – 15 NIV)

When I sat down before my computer to write this morning the first thing I did was write in my daily journal, “Father, I just want to worship you. May all I do come out of worshiping you. Help me write today all out of worship. May all I do be in joy, thanksgiving, and worship.” Please, so not think this comes from holiness or purity or a sense of worthiness on my part to come before God. These thoughts and attitudes come more from a sense of need for the presence of God and a realization that I really can do nothing without Him.

Anyway, those thoughts reminded me of the passage in Amos that I quoted above. The restoration of the Tabernacle of David is really about the restoration of worship. May I share with you what I think is the most significant thing about this prophecy? There are several phrases in this passage that indicate that God is going to do what Amos is prophesying: “I will restore;” “declares the Lord, who will do these things;” “I will bring my people Israel back from exile;” “I will plant Israel in their own land,” and “says the Lord your God.”

I am a Gentile, as far as I know. I don’t need to think foolish thoughts about being a descendent of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Jesus died for me and has made one out of Jew and Gentile in Christ. We have seen in our day the fulfillment of this passage in Amos in multiple ways. In 1948 Israel was established in what we now call “Palestine” and they never again will be uprooted. I have visited the current nation of Israel and surely the abundance of the land fits the prophecy of Amos. We rejoice in this because it is the work of God among us.

But there is another sense in which this prophecy is fulfilled. All over the world we are learning what it means to worship again. Through worship we come into the very presence of God. Through worship we build a place in the spiritual realm and invite God to come and dwell with us. Worship is actually entering into the spiritual realm all about us otherwise invisible to us. What I have discovered in this realm of worship are the effects of worship in my life. The effects of the restoration of the fallen tent of David are outlined in Amos:

“`They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”

I have made mistakes. You might find that hard to believe, but take my word for it. I am in debt. I owe more than I can pay. The reasons for my debt are because of unbelief in the power of God to supply and trusting in other sources that I thought necessary at the time. I have realized my mistake and have repented of it and God has forgiven me. We have taken up worship, thanksgiving, and joyful living in place of doubt and fear. Now, because I have entered into worship; because I have allowed God to restore the fallen tent of David in my life; because I am in fact a child of Abraham; and because I have entered into all the blessings of Abraham; God is, in fact, showing me ways to get out of debt and enter into the prosperity He has supplied for His daughters and sons.