The words of our text are in connection with the council in Jerusalem over the matter of circumcision. What is the point James is making here? He is quoting from Amos 9:11-12, and will use that to show that there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile; that all stand on equal footing before God, and just as the Jews were no longer required to be circumcised, neither should the Gentiles be.

Up until this point in his prophecy, Amos has spoken of gloom and darkness, but with the passage quoted by James he looks ahead to the great and glorious reign of the Messiah. He noted that "the tabernacle of David ... is fallen" and would finally be restored. The old Jewish throne of David became extinct with Coniah (Jer. 22:24-30). Zedekiah was then set up as a puppet king by Nebuchadnezzar, but he was not a legitimate claimant to the throne of David. But Amos looks ahead to a time when the dynasty of David would be restored, and this was fulfilled in Christ (Lk. 1:67-69; Acts 2:36, and our present text).

There were times when the kingdom of Judah suffered at the had of Israel during the days of Jereboam and Joash. The 10 tribes were taken from under the rulership of David's house. But in the days of the Messiah the "breaches thereof" would be closed up; under the new reign of David's son, Christ, there would again be unity among all those who were receptive to the message of the Messiah. The prophet probably looks back to the days of David and Solomon as "the days of old," for these were the most glorious days of the kingdom. Then under the new economy; i.e. under Christ, the kingdom would again flourish, but it would be a spiritual kingdom.

Then Amos says (v. 12) that "they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this." James puts it this way in Acts 15:17 - "that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things." Under the new, spiritual rule of Christ, even the Gentiles would become his possession. Men of all nations would be Christ's who were willing to be called by God's name.

Now, back to our text. Some were saying that unless men were circumcised after the manner of Moses, they could not be saved (Acts 15:1). By this time most understood that the Jews were no longer required to be circumcised who obeyed the gospel. Why then should the Gentile converts be subject to the ordinance? And so James quotes the prophet Amos who predicted that Jew and Gentile would stand alike before God; what was required of one would be required of the other. What was not required of one, would not be required of the other. Those who were demanding circumcision upon the Gentile converts were making a distinction that God did not make!

At the time of the Jerusalem conference, Peter affirmed the same thing that Amos did, as well as Paul and Barnabas. Peter said the Gentile converts were "purified by faith" (Acts 15:9). When we run across a prophecy, a study of that prediction itself is of great import in understanding what is under consideration.  - Bill Moseley