Amos 9:8-10

Jehovah's eyes are against (Job 7:8) the sinful kingdom, whatsoever or wheresoever it be, and He will destroy it from off the face of the earth (Deuteronomy 6:15), save only, if the kingdom be that of the chosen people, it will not be destroyed by Him utterly: only the sinners in it will perish. Though the nation, as a whole, might be corrupt, and deserve to perish, it might well include many individuals who were the humble and faithful servants of Jehovah (cf. Isaiah 29:19); these, in the picture drawn by Amos, escape the judgement, and perpetuate the national existence of the people of God. There is implicit in these verses (cf. Amos 5:15) the thought of a faithful and worthy "remnant," which should survive a catastrophe, and form the nucleus of a purer community in the future, which was adopted afterwards by Isaiah, and became one of the most characteristic elements of his teaching (Isaiah 1:26-28; Isaiah 4:3 f., Amos 6:13 b&c.). The words are really a limitation of the unqualified judgement expressed in Amos 9:1, a limitation demanded partly by the justice of God, partly by His faithfulness to His covenant-promise (cf. Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 5:10; Jeremiah 5:18; Jeremiah 30:11).