Amos Chapter 7

The Plumb Line

Please read Amos Chapter 7
Overview of the rest of the text

 We have gotten to the last three chapters of

Amos
 In these chapters we see that Amos has five
visions and receives 5 promises
 We see a movement from grace to rejection of
that grace, to judgment and punishment
 We begin with Amos’ first two
visions
 The first two visions are of fire and
locusts which will come upon the
land
 They are reminiscent of the
plagues on Egypt
 What is interesting is that God’s
mind is changed by Amos praying
 This happens twice
 Interesting concept for us which is
through prayer, God does change
God’s mind.
 We also see that Amos can be
compassionate and tender which
we have never seen before.
 The next vision is that of a plumb
line
 A plumb line is a standard by
which a wall’s vertical trueness is
tested.
 Today we would use a laser level
 When God measured the people
of Israel against the plumb line,
he saw that they were crooked.
 Sort of like if we measured a wall
with a level and found out it was
crooked
 So the people of Israel were
crooked (sinful)
So what is our plumb line today?
 Christ and the teachings
of Christ are our plumb
line
 How do our walls stand
against this plumb line?
 What is interesting and
reassuring is that Christ
helps us straighten our
walls
 Amaziah
 Amaziah is the High Priest at
Bethel
 Remember that Bethel is a
holy place desecrated by the
Baal religion
 Amaziah tells the King that
Amos is making plans against
him.
 In other words, there is a
conspiracy going on
 Is this true?
 No!!!
 Amaziah’s Words

 What is disturbing is that Amaziah, a priest of

God, was not only not alarmed by what God
was saying to the people through Amos but
also that he was manipulating Amos’ words
 Does this sound familiar?
 In other words, my guess is we have all been
in situations where our words have been
changed to someone’s advantage.
 Amos’ Response

 I am not a professional prophet

 At that time in Israel there were schools of
prophets where new prophets were trained and
tutored by older ones
 Amos was not in such a school
 Amos was under God’s authority
 Consequences

 The consequences for Amaziah and his family

are horrible.
 So one must be VERY careful in manipulating
the voice of God