Amos worries about the smallness of Israel. Indeed, that is how it is for all of us and for all nations of this world: before the wrath of the sovereign God, we are all so incredibly small that we do not stand a chance! Think of the flood. Think of Sodom and Gomorrah. The final judgment will show the same thing as never before!

But Amos asks the question, How can Jacob survive? He asks that same question twice. There is a plea in that question: O Lord, do not move forward with those plans of vengeance because if you do, Jacob simply will not survive! He is most concerned for the survival of Jacob. Why? Because Jacob (Israel)—as corrupt as it has become—is still God’s special kingdom in this world! Jacob is still that people through whom the great Messiah was supposed to come.

On both occasions Amos pleads God to hold back, and on both occasions God does. He is very angry—and rightly so—but at the same time he still holds himself back. Why? For the sake of the survival of Jacob, and thus for the sake of the survival and future of his saving kingdom. Yes, for your sake and mine, so that today we may be part of God’s saving kingdom and have a future and hope in the midst of a broken world.

This world that we live in provokes him to wrath in so many ways, and one day that wrath is going to break out. The devastation will be fearful! But to this day he holds himself back so that his people may be gathered into his kingdom.