The Moral Law

[Sung Psalm: 119:33-40]

At the end of Amos, God says to Israel: “Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel? declares the LORD. Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, declares the LORD.” (9:7-8)

That’s a real slam. Israel has been thinking that because “we are God’s people” therefore we are different from the nations. But God says, how are you different from the Philistines? Yes, I brought you up out of Egypt. So? I brought the Philistines from Caphtor! I brought the Syrians from Kir! Okay, fine, it’s true that I promised not to utterly destroy the house of Jacob. But I can destroy you! In other words, those who rebel will be destroyed: the Jew first, but also the Greek.

As long as there is one left standing, then God will have preserved the house of Jacob. And indeed, in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is one left standing! And because he is seated at the right hand of the Father, therefore, we who deserved destruction now have hope!