Amos 7:7-9 — Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
I was helping Myra assemble a shelving unit for the garage this afternoon. The key to success was getting the corner posts lined up correctly — if they were out of true the unit wouldn’t really work. Maybe that’s what brought this passage to mind.
Amos was a practical man. He was a shepherd, from Tekoa. He wasn’t a professional prophet. There’s no doubt that he knew what a plumbline was, and what it was for. He knew exactly what the Lord was “promising” for Israel! The prophesy has the Lord saying three important things about Israel. First, for the first time in the Book of Amos, He claims Israel for His own — they are “my” people. Second, He notes that He has been forbearing with them — “I will not again pass them by”. Finally, by that same statement, He declares His intention, at last, to straighten them out.
The prophecy is potentially frightening for Christians in America. For many years we have claimed to be a New Testament people of God. That would be fine if our track record was all we would wish — but what if it isn’t?
The prophecy starts with a warning for the people, and a warning for the leaders.
The warning for the people speaks of the “high places of Isaac” being desolate. It seems the people have been worshiping where their fathers worshiped, depending on their fathers’ faith and not their own. Is there some part of our own faith that suffers from the same flaw? Has any part of our own worship become formulaic, not from the heart?
The warning for the leaders is straightforward. The house of Jeroboam will die by the sword. A crooked dynasty will be destroyed. In fact the destruction will be by the “sword” of Assyria, and when it comes it will mark the effective end of the Jewish monarchy. As the people turn away from God, so He brings the nation to ruin. If we are a people of God, and are “out of true”, what should we beware?