Amos — Chapter 9

In die illa suscitabo tabernaculum David

'In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen.' À Lapide calls this the messianic apex of Amos. He notes its citation in Acts 15:16 by James at the Council of Jerusalem as justification for the Gentile mission—the tabernacle of David raised is the Church incorporating all nations. He quotes Cyril of Alexandria and Augustine at length. The restoration of Israel's remnant is simultaneously the establishment of the universal Church.

Ecce dies veniunt dicit Dominus

'Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and the ploughman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him that soweth the seed.' The eschatological abundance—mountains dripping sweet wine, hills flowing—mirrors Joel 3:18 and figures the inexhaustible spiritual goods of the New Covenant. À Lapide reads this messianic fertility as the grace of the sacraments, which overflow any human capacity to contain them.