At the Jerusalem Council (Acts 19:6–21), James quotes Amos in a way that some have interpreted in a way that sees him spiritualizing promises that God made to Israel and applying them to the church. I do not think that this is what he was doing, though. James was using the plain grammatical-historical method of interpretation, which includes Amos’s original context as well as James’ context in Acts.
Here is the quote from Acts:
12 Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles. 13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: 14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 ‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the Lord who does all these things.’18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
We should start by understanding what Amos was talking about. In his context, he was announcing the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, but he also foretold that a remnant would remain whom God would restore to political prominence. The final verses of the Book of Amos describe the eventual establishment of the Messianic Kingdom (Amos 9:11–15).
Earlier in the book, Amos describes judgment against Israel’s neighbors (Amos 1:2–2:3). These territories used to be part of David’s kingdom: David conquered Damascus (2 Sam. 8:5–6; cf. Amos 1:3–5), Solomon “ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides” (1 Kings 4:24; cf. Amos 1:6–7), and so forth. With the beginning of Amos in the context, God promised:
11 “On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing. (Amos 9:11–12)
I would suggest that the original audience properly understood this passage as referring to the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom and that on that day all of the territories that were once Israel’s will be under Israel’s rule again. All the Gentiles who are called by My name will also be in the Messianic Kingdom. They will be distinct from Israel as seen in Israel’s possession of them.
That Israel will possess the nations is not bad news for the nations, as several years later Zechariah predicted, “In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you’” (Zech. 8:23b). There will still be a distinction and God will be with Israel in a way that is distinct from how He is with the Gentiles.
As Amos predicted, Israel went into exile and a remnant remained. Eventually, all twelve tribes were functioning again in the land (Ezra 6:17), but there were still Gentiles everywhere. By the time we get to the life of Christ, Israel was still looking forward to the fulfilment of the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24).
So now we get to Acts 15. The Jerusalem Council occurred because some were saying that Gentiles needed to be circumcised. At the council, Peter speaks (Acts 15:7–11) then Barnabas and Paul speak (15:12) and then James speaks (15:13–21). When James speaks, he does us a favor by summarizing Peter (15:14), then using Amos (15:15–17), then he tells his conclusion (15:18–21). We can cheat to figure out how James uses Amos by looking at how he relates Amos to Peter and his own conclusion:
14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name… 18 “Known to God from eternity are all His works. 19 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God (Acts 15:14, 18–19)
James’ point is that we do not tell Gentiles to be circumcised. God knows from eternity how He would relate to the Gentiles and part of this work is to take out of the Gentiles a people for His name. At no time in the past nor future were Gentiles required to be circumcised, so it follows that they would not be circumcised now.
How does James support this claim, that Gentiles need not be circumcised? By appealing to a passage that deals with an Israel/Gentile distinction in the future Messianic Kingdom. First James says, “And with this the words of the prophets agree” (Acts 15:15a). He is appealing to the prophets as precedent, saying the words of the prophets agree (συμφωνοῦσιν οἱ λόγοι τῶν προφητῶν). He is not appealing to the prophets to say that the conditions of Amos 9:11 are already active, but rather he is saying that the prophets agree with Peter about God calling out some Gentiles.
Man has always been made righteous through faith regardless of whether he is a Jew or Gentile. Jews were required (though their salvation did not depend on it) to be circumcised in the past and Gentiles were not. The circumcision did nothing to show a distinction between their status as righteous or unrighteous; it was entirely wrapped up in the Law to which Gentiles were not subject. Those Gentiles in Acts were justified on the same ground as Jews, but will still be distinct from Jews in the Messianic Kingdom, so there is no reason to circumcise them. Instead, James told them to abstain from that which both Jews and Gentiles are to abstain.
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