Amos 7:1-17. 9/10/13. THE VISION OF A PLUMB LINE – my devotional

Amos 7:1-17                                                                                               Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 7:8                                                                                            9/10/13

“And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.”

Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the opportunity to have friendships with people of other religions. Help to show the love of Jesus to them through my life. I pray that the Network of Nations serving may open many doors for the people of KBC to enter into such friendships. I pray that you may also be with the “ENGAGE” groups at church. Help is to engage our communities, families and our world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that up open my mind and my heart to Amos 7 today. Help me to grow through it. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part1: Three Visions (1-9)

Verses 1-9 read, “This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. ² When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” ³ So the Lord relented. “This will not happen,” the Lord said. ⁴ This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. ⁵ Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!” ⁶ So the Lord relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said. ⁷ This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸ And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. ⁹ “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed    and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.”

God showed Amos three visions of judgment on Israel. The first two visions, the locusts and the fire represent judgments, so thorough that no one could survive; God relented when Amos prayed for mercy. I can learn here that we have been given power to pray and influence God’s plans. He wants to share his plans with us, for we are his servants and his friends. He is interested in our opinions and wants to listen to and answer prayer. As disciples, we have been given authority through prayer. Matthew 28:18-19a reads, “¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (ESV) Jesus has all authority. He grants that authority to his disciples, mostly to pray and make disciples. Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (ESV) We have authority as disciples of Jesus. We, as Christians are not powerless. We do not just have to sit back and be helpless. We can be very proactive with God. I need to pray for all things and at all times. I need to pray for the engage series at KBC. I need to pray for Saturday worship at KBC office. I need to pray for Art of Marriage and Ontario missionaries. I can pray for Syria and the Egypt. I can pray for my kids and those whom I love.

The third vision was a plumb line. A wall built true to a plumb line is straight and strong. The moral and spiritual plumb line is God’s word. Israel had deviated from God’s word from the beginning: the first king put an idol in Bethel. So the whole nation was crooked. Unless they repented, they would be met with destruction.

We are all measured against, Jesus Christ, the true plumb line. He is the standard. The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) 2 Corinthians 5:10 reads, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Christ is the standard. Jesus is the glory of God. Jesus is the plumb line. When we stand before Jesus we all appear crooked because of our sins. On our own, without Jesus’ grace, we would fall short of God’s standard. We would have to face eternal separation from God, eternal judgment. But though I was crooked when put up to the plum line of Christ, Jesus forgives me of my crookedness. He accepts me as his son. When I reach the judgment throne of God, I will be accepted into the kingdom of God simply because of the grace of God.  This same grace is available to any crooked sinner who repents and believes the good news.

Part 2: Amos, Go Home! (10-17)

Verses 10-17, “Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. ¹¹ For this is what Amos is saying: “‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’” ¹² Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. ¹³ Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.” ¹⁴ Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵ But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶ Now then, hear the word of the Lord. You say,“‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’ ¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: “‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,  and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will surely go into exile, away from their native land.’”

Amos was from Judah, but God sent him to preach in Israel. This was his personal calling in life. Look at verses 14-15 again, “¹⁴ Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵ But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’” Amaziah was the priest of Bethel. He assumed that Amos, too, was working for money. But Amos was a “tentmaker.” He went to Israel because God sent him. Threats could not silence him.We all need our personal callings in life. If we don’t find our calling in God, then we will miss what God wants to bring forth through our life. Because of our fear and our want for middle class security, we can miss God’s great calling in our life. Amos answered God’s call to leave his life as a shepherd and a tender of fig trees to go north and preach to Israel, which was not an easy thing to do. I pray to follow God’s leading in the various missions he has sent our way.

When people can’t see their own blind spots, God sends them missionaries from other countries or other subcultures. Let’s face it. Who discovered water? I am sure it was not a fish. You need to step outside your element in order to see the truth about the element you were dwelling in. You also may need some outsider to come and give you insight into your situation. We should also be willing to ask outsiders their opinion because they may know something that you can not see.  I pray that I may be humble enough to always accept the words of servants of God sent to me to minister the gospel to me.

Prayer: Lord, measure us by your plumb line and grant us your grace that we can be made true in your eyes.

One Word: The plumb line of Jesus Christ