"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."
Amos 9:13-14
This chapter is talking about the scattering and gathering of Israel overall. The part I found intriguing here is the idea of the plowman overtaking the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth the seed... imagining how that could be so. To me, it sounds like amazing, wild growth... maybe a return to a Garden-of-Eden type of environment where there is abundance, and no weeds or other impediments to growth... so things are growing more than they are being harvested, and there is more than we need.
There's a double meaning here as well, because the last verse talks about planting people, which will "no more be pulled up out of their land" (verse 15), so the idea includes abundance in plants/food *and* in people. That seems like the Millenium to me, although it's unclear here if more than one time is being spoken of, since the gathering of Israel, the waste cities, and then the restoration of everything are all spoken of in different ways and different places. For today though, let's rest in the hope of that future day when the plowmen will overtake the reaper, and there will be enough for all. :)
I love that idea, that we will be able to work from a place of abundance rather than worrying about scarcity. ... And it makes me wonder if, in God, that is the way it always is, and scarcity is the illusion. Today, let's trust in God's abundance and look unto him in our need.
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