Plumbline
Notes
Transcript
In my own personal bible study and devotional time, I have been challenged to dig a little into the minor prophets. Most of us know the story of Jonah. But what do we know about Joel, Micah, or Zechariah? There are others that may get a glance in reading as we seek to understand Israel’s fall, exile and difficult return. The Old Testament as a whole for many is a difficult part of the Bible to understand. We love the New Testament with the stories of Jesus and the stories of the start of the Early Church. However, there are thousands of years of history in the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament that are important for us to understand the nature of God. Where some in the world view our God as vengeful or full of wrath, a true reading of the text, guided by His Holy Spirit will prove to us otherwise. The text that I want us to look at today is not a happy one, it does not end well. We will not read about any redemption or grace. However, we will hopefully come away with a better understanding on why God judges as He does. Hopefully, we will be able to defend God’s judgement in our conversations with non believers.
Pray and Read Amos 7:1-9
This is what the Lord God showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings). When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, “O Lord God, forgive, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” The Lord relented concerning this; “It shall not be,” said the Lord. This is what the Lord God showed me: the Lord God was calling for a shower of fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said, “O Lord God, cease, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!” The Lord relented concerning this; “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God. This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by; the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Amos was a prophet during the fall of the kingdom of Israel. Israel was already divided by two kingdoms and had been for years. Yet, even as a single nation, they only covered a small piece of land compared to the growing nations around them. By the time of the Exile, Israel had many enemies, and the nations were already warring to be the dominate reigning Kingdom. Egypt wanted them destroyed, Greece had their eyes set to overtake them. But they were God’s people, they would be fine, right? Their armies were strong, and their leaders were smart? WRONG!
As a matter of fact, there was many things going wrong in the land of Jacob. This once great nation was divided into two, making them weaker. Their kings came and went year after year many falling prey to pride and greed. If it wasn’t the Royalty themselves, it would be the leaders and family around them that were greedy or prideful. Many had hired priest and priestess of other religions as a failed attempt to gain extra blessings and wealth. Many of God’s people fell away from the standards that God set for them and were established during the time of David and Solomon.
So then there were a rise in the number of prophets of the Lord who gave grave warnings of destruction. Yet this is not what the people wanted to hear. In many cases, these prophets were condemned as threats to the kingdom and accused of wanting to cause harm to the leaders and their way of life. Amos was one of those prophets.
Amos becomes a prophet because of his prayers. First, Amos is given words of warning to those who come against God’s people. Then he warns both nations of God’s judgement. In chapters 3 and 4, particular focus is given to the northern kingdom for their sins and their rejection of God’s correction. Amos laments for forgiveness on behalf of the sins of the Hebrew people. Yet, God declares His day will be dark and full of punishment. This leads us to where we are now. In this chapter, we see a cycle. First, God brings the locust, Amos cries for forgiveness for Israel, and God relents. Second time the vision is that God brings the fire, Amos cries for forgiveness for Israel and God relents again. Third vision is a little different; God brings a plumbline, Amos sees the plumbline and God says that He will not save them and never pass through them again.
According to the Dictionary of Biblical Languages, a plummet is a builder’s implement, i.e., a ball of tin or lead for weighing down a plumb line, for making straight and vertically true walls (Am 7:7,8+)* Measuring Line is in the Bible a few times, as God measures for His judgement. But I thought this definition was very telling because of the phrase, “make straight” which reminds me of Isaiah’s prophecy about making the path straight for the coming of the Lord in Isaiah 40:3. God drops the plumbline over His people to measure their goodness and their guilt. Are they straight on God's laws or do they waver? God is going to make them straight someday. At the end of this book of prophecy is a promised coming Son of David.
So Amos at this point cannot plead for Israel. God is right to cast such a harsh judgement. It is their own faults that have led them to destruction. It is never about God's wrath. But it has everything to do with God's judgement. God is a fair judge. This truth never changes, God's laws are the plumbline placed beside us. Are we found inline with God's laws or do we waver?
Do we have prophets today? We do! They speak of the coming destruction for the world and the coming of Jesus to judge all. No prophet just speaks of destruction and God's wrath. Instead, the job of a prophet is to warn against wrongdoing and to speak of the consequences of sinning against God. Most importantly, we are to hear their call for repentance.
A true call for repentance is not just joyful. The Holy Spirit points out our sins and exposes the wrong. Then we are to take that wrong and repent for it make a covenant to never do the wrong again. We all need to heed the call to repentance and call others to repent. But not with our words but only in the Holy Spirit can sins be revealed. I can not tell you what your sin is, but your fruit is visible. I can and I do call all of us to prayerfully consider if we measure up to the plumbline. If not, then through the grace of the cross where our Savior died for our sins and His Holy Spirit who gives us help and guidance, we can align ourselves with Christ and avoid the condemnation that is to come to the world.
Jesus is coming again soon. Just as in the times of Noah and in the times of the Old Testament Prophets, this world is broken and there are many who refuse God’s laws and guidance. We are all like small children to our Creator. As a parent instructs a child and guides them to live a good and safe life, God does for us through His Son and His Spirit. God does not just make rules and force us to live by them without cause or reason. God’s laws are for our redemption and eternal peace. His Son, the Messiah made away for us to not suffer the confusion and destruction of this world. Choosing to align with God means to chose to align with His law and His will.
So now here is your call to repentance. When you repent and then feel the love and grace of God, you will want others to know that God is for us and not against us. A person who stands upright with Christ, wants others to know the goodness of God and be blessed to be called Child of God. We, as the church are to be a part of God’s Kingdom. We are a part of God’s kingdom when we align with Him.
In the Name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
*James Swanson, in the Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).