The Tabernacle of David – Acts 15:13-18

This evening we review the theological aspect to James’ comments:

He said: Peter said, Paul said, Amos said, God did and God knows.

Peter described the salvation of the Gentiles to whom God had sent him.

“Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.”

Peter’s mission to the house of Cornelius was not THE first case of Gentile evangelism,

But in several ways it was A first.

There had been Gentile converts to the worship of Jehovah since the time of the Exodus.

But those people for the most part became proselytes.

Then during the ministry of Christ the gospel was presented to Samaritans, Phoenicians and others

They apparently did not become proselytes.

Then after Pentecost the gospel was again presented to the Samaritans.

The Samaritans had a special relationship to Israel, which no other people had at the time.

They claimed kinship to Jacob and professed to worship the Lord, howbeit differently than the Jews.

Philip and others simply presented Christ to them, and many Samaritans believed on Him.

Could their receptivity have been because Jesus had ministered among them earlier?

When Peter was sent to Caesarea and the house of Cornelius the situation was very different.

Cornelius and his friends may have been leaning toward becoming proselytes, but they weren’t.

They were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”

But as we saw in Acts 10 the Lord saved those people and proved it to Peter and his witnesses.

Secondly, I find it curious, but not particularly important that James did not mention that …

Paul also described the salvation of the Gentiles to whom God had sent him.

“And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.”

Paul and Barnabas reminded the brethren in that church about the work of God in Antioch.

It appears to have started as a church filled with Hellenistic or Grecianized Jews.

But to them were added more and more proselytes.

And eventually there were people being drawn to Christ straight out of heathenism.

The church in Antioch was very different in membership to the church in Jerusalem.

The Book of Galatians describes how Peter came to Antioch and enjoyed the fellowship of his Gentile brothers in Christ, until some of the Judaizers arrived from Jerusalem.

Peter had been worshipping with them and even accepting their hospitality and meals in their homes.

But he “withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.”

And so Paul was forced to withstand “him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”

What is particularly sad about this event was that it appears to have occurred AFTER the council meeting in Jerusalem.

At least Galatians 2 tells us about it after it describes the Jerusalem council.

I’m sure that Paul and Barnabas described to the Jerusalem church what God was doing in Antioch,

And then they recounted God’s blessings in Cyprus and Galatia.

There was no question about fact that God was saving heathen souls, and working miracles among them.

Do you wonder how important the testimony of Barnabas was in this meeting.

There may have been a lingering fearfulness and even hatred against Paul in Jerusalem,

But there should have been nothing but respect toward Barnabas who had been such a blessing to so many of the people there.

So Paul described God’s salvation of the Gentiles, and Peter did the same.

Then James referred to the testimony of the prophets in the same regard.

Last Sunday we read a few verses from Romans 9 where Paul quoted three or four scriptures.

Some of them spoke of God’s displeasure with Israel and her temporary retirement from God’s spot-light.

And some of those scriptures spoke of the replacement of Israel with Gentile believers.

We could make a survey of other Old Testament scriptures which teach the same things,

But our primary purpose is to think about this meeting in Acts 15,

And the historian only tells us of James’ reference to Amos 9.

Let’s read Amos 9 together;

“I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name. Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of 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 off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 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.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.”

Notice that in the first ten verses the Lord discusses His anger against the wicked of Israel.

Amos prophesied during the reigns of Jereboam II king of Israel and Uzziah King of Judah.

The Lord was preparing to send both those nations into bondage for their sins.

The first ten verses of Amos describe God’s anger against His chosen nation.

But verse 11 says that after the Lord’s judgment He would raise up the fallen tabernacle of David.

Then at some point after that would come the blessings of the Millennium.

Between the judgment of Israel and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom will be the raising up of the Tabernacle of David AND the possession of the remnant of Edom and of the heathen.

James shows us that it was understood that the overcoming of Edom was to be a SPIRITUAL conquering.

Many commentators say that it this was a common Jewish interpretation of Amos.

Whether that is true or not, James, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit tells us that Amos was not talking about military victory over the Gentiles, but a spiritual victory through the gospel.

“As it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: 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.”

Look at verse 16:

After this: after the decimation and judgment of Israel.

After the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, from which Israel has yet to fully recover,

And after the Roman destruction of the returned captives,

The sceptre departed from Judah and the lawgiver was taken away.

But at that time “I will return” saith the Lord.

It’s not that the Lord has actually gone anywhere, but He has withdrawn his blessings.

And I “will build again the tabernacle of David.”

I wonder if the Lord referred to the tabernacle instead of the house of David in order to show how the glory had departed.

There should be no misunderstanding that this is referring to the son of David, the Lord Jesus.

Listen to Ezekiel 34:23: “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.”

Have you noticed how Acts 15:16 sounds a lot like Matthew 16:18: “And I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

Then James said that Amos declared “that the residue of men might seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles.”

James interpreted Amos 9:11-12 to say that the rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David would be the coming of the Messiah, and through Him not only would many of Israel be saved, but so would many of the heathen.

James and the brethren in Jerusalem had seen the rebuilding of David’s tabernacle.

Now Peter, Paul and Barnabas were seeing the Edomites and other Gentiles coming into that tabernacle.

And it is the Lord who is doing these things.

“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.”

The Judaizers had no business being angry with Paul for saving the Gentiles, because HE hadn’t saved a single one.

It was the Lord who “doeth all these things.”

The Lord called and saved Cornelius.

It was the Lord who sent Peter from Joppa to Caesarea to given Cornelius the gospel.

And it was the Holy Spirit who told the church in Antioch, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

And furthermore, the Lord knew from the beginning of the world exactly what he was doing.

“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”

As Peter said in verse 10:

“Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

The only real Scriptural response this should either be verse 12 or verse 3:

“Then all the multitude kept silence.”

Or, “they caused great joy unto all the brethren.”