God's Messiah in the Old Testament by Andrew T. Abernethy

Author:Andrew T. Abernethy [T. Abernethy, Andrew and Gregory Goswell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Old Testament, Messiah—Biblical teaching;Bible (Old Testament—Criticism, interpretation, etc.);Messiah—Prophecies;REL006090;REL006210
ISBN: 9781493426867
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

That They May Possess

The anticipated extension of authority over all the nations in Amos 9:12 complements the judgments pronounced upon the nations in Amos 1–2 (inclusio) but need not refer to a restoration of the Davidic/Solomonic kingdom. In 9:12, Edom is used as a synecdoche for “all the nations,” which is best understood as an equivalent object of the verb “to possess” in the parallel structure of verse 12.45 Significantly, Edom has the same representative role in the book of Obadiah that immediately follows (Obad. 15: “all the nations”). The expression “[all the nations] who are called by my name” denotes ownership, but this does not need to be limited to former national constituents of the Davidic empire.

The Hebrew plural verb “they may possess” (root yāraš), which is not supplied with an explicit subject (Amos 9:12a), could possibly refer to future rulers of the Davidic dynasty who reassert their authority over national members of the former Davidic empire,46 but certainly no individual royal figure is in view in this passage. It is more likely, given the use of the same plural verb in Obadiah, that Davidic prerogatives are democratized and that it is the people of Zion/Jerusalem who will “possess” (yāraš) the nations (Philistia, Edom) and areas of the North (Ephraim, Samaria, Gilead; cf. Obad. 17, 19 [3x], 20).47 As in Amos 9, in Obadiah no individual Davidide is in view, so that it is best to see “they shall possess” as a democratization of Davidic promises. So too, Mic. 4:8 democratizes the promise of a renewed kingdom of David and speaks of “kingship for the daughter of Zion,” and in 4:13 it is the people of the city (not a Davidide) who will be victorious over the nations (“You [= the daughter of Zion] shall beat in pieces many peoples.”)

In summary, Zion/Jerusalem in the prophecy of Amos is portrayed as God’s capital from which he rules the entire world (1:2). The criterion of selection of the condemned foreign nations in Amos 1–2 is not membership of the former Davidic empire but the fact that they are neighboring nations of Israel or Judah. They represent God’s rulership over all nations. The allusion to David in 6:5 is as a liturgical figure, and the rebuilt “booth of David” in 9:11 is Jerusalem thought of as the site of the temple. What this means is that there is no individual messianic figure in view in Amos 9, and it is best to see the final prophecy of hope as democratizing Davidic promises. However, if the presence of a Davidic leader is to be contemplated in Amos’s picture of the end time, the portrait of David in Amos 6 suggests that such a future “David” will be the leader of worship in the renewed city of Jerusalem (such as is found in the vision of Ezek. 40–48).48 Indeed, if one reads Amos in the context of the Twelve, in which there is a recurring Davidic hope, the logic of the prophecy of Amos implies the presence in restored Jerusalem of a Davidic figure as worshiper and patron of the cult.

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