The New Standard: Establishing the Plumb Line
Austin W. Duncan
Associate Pastor @ New Hope | Digital Creative: Design, Web & Video | Current Master of Divinity student at Bethel Seminary
Today we're going to be in the book of Amos. The whole book of Amos.
As you flip to it, just to help you out - if you're seeing Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, or Joel you're getting closer. If you hit Jonah or Micah you've gone too far.
So before we start diving into the text, let's just wrap our minds around who Amos was. What we know about him.
First, we're starting easy, Amos was a prophet.?
He was just this ordinary, uneducated guy.
He was called by God to be a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. He actually grew up in the southern kingdom of Judah. If you remember, after the death of Solomon (King David's son), Israel split into two kingdoms, the north, the Kingdom of Israel, and the south, the Kingdom of Judah. So Amos was from this small little place in the Judean (or southern kingdom) village of Tekoa.
As you can see, it's pretty close to Bethlehem. Actually it's about 5 or so miles southeast of Bethlehem.?Yet, God calls him to speak to the northern kingdom of Israel. What's interesting is that he isn't mentioned anywhere else in the Bible outside of this book.
So, out loud where you're sitting - just say "Ahmohs" with me.
Congratulations you spoke Hebrew. However, similar to Josh last week - I've had 30 years of conditioning to pronounce his name as Amos, so I just wanted us all to say it together, and acknowledge the right way to say it, so I can just go back to saying it the way that is engrained in me.?
His name is the same in English as it is in Hebrew - but in Hebrew, his name means - are you ready for it?
"Burden."
Of all the names to be dealt in life.
And you just thought that people were naming their kids weird things these days.
What should we name this kid?
"Well, I'm just gonna be honest here - and here me out - how about we call him 'burden.'"?
"I love it. Put it on the birth certificate."
However, his parents pretty well hit the nail on the head with that name. Because we find in Scripture that he's called up as this prophet into the northern kingdom and carries a burden for God's people.?
So he wasn't a prophet by vocation. In fact, by his own admission he basically says in chapter 7 that he felt unqualified to even be a prophet.
Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs.
Amos 7:14 (ESV)
So what does he say? "I was no prophet." "Nor a prophet's son. I didn't come from prophets, there aren't prophets in my lineage."?
An ordinary guy.
And thank God for that, because?how often do we see God calling ordinary people for His extraordinary work?
All the time.
In this case an uneducated shepherd and fig picker. Which I love because that means that he wasn't this just eloquent and insanely gifted speaker. At times he just said it like it was.
Have you ever known someone like that? They just tell you right where they're coming from? You don't have to guess. Sure it can be nice at times, but at other times it can be like Amos in chapter 4. For example, we see that he has no problem calling the women of Israel, "you cows of Bashan."?
Some translations even have it as "you?fat?cows of Bashan."
This sheep farmer fig picker is just like, "ugh - these women are cows of Bashan."?
That's just how he talks.
His ministry occurs throughout the reigning of two kings: in the south we have King Uzziah (Judah) and in the north King Jeroboam (Israel). This puts the events in the book of Amos right around 760-750 B.C. And like I said, even though his name isn't mentioned outside of his book, his ministry fits right around 2 Kings 14-15.
So now that we all have the same foundation and background on Amos, let's actually get to the text.
"The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
And he said: "The?Lord?roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers."
Amos 1:1-2 (ESV)
Now one of the parts that I want to pause and focus on occurs after the verses that wrap up chapter 1, 3-15. In these verses he wastes no time getting right to. We're not going to read all of it, but I want to give you the main gist of it. This straight shooter type of talk. He denounces 8 different nations or regions.
And he doesn't stop there. Not only does he denounce those 6 surrounding nations/regions - but he even denounces God's own people - Judah and Israel. I want to specifically read these two denouncements here in chapter 2. Read with me starting in verse 4.
Thus says the?Lord: "For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have rejected the law of the?Lord, and have not kept his statutes, but their lies have led them astray, those after which their fathers walked. So I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem." Thus says the?Lord: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals—those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted; a man and his father go in to the same girl, so that my holy name is profaned; they lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
Amos 2:4-8 (ESV)
Let's pause there.
What a picture that's painted here, right?
And just as a quick side-note, when we read "For three transgressions of Judah, Moab, Israel, etc., and for four, I will not revoke punishment," we can loosely translate that to mean, "I've had mercy for three sins. But for the fourth, I'm bringing judgment."
So just to summarize a few of the topics that he speaks about:
This is the spiritual condition of Judah and Israel.
And then Amos' attention zeroes in specifically on Israel. After all, that is where he's called.
In chapter 4 verses 6-10 he's talking about how throughout this time God tried to get their attention. I'll summarize this for us, the various ways that God tried to get their attention.
God's using all these different methods to try to get their attention. "I sent famine. I sent draught. Okay - it seems like they're not getting it. Maybe they're confused. Here are some of the plague's I brought against Egypt. Maybe now they can connect the dots."
Time and time again. They didn't listen to the warning.
What was it going to take?
And that's really the question sometimes, isn't it? What's it going to take? What's it going to take for you to give God your attention?
What's it going to take to really submit ourselves before the Lord?
See, I know we've spent a while on the background of Amos and on what's going on here, but I don't want us to miss this big picture.
In Chapter 2 we see Amos showing up and describes right to Israel the spiritual condition.?
In Chapter 4 Amos is describing as a result, everything God did to try to get their attention.?
And next, in Chapter 5, God provides a remedy to everything.
"If you would just respond to me, here's how there's going to be mercy."
Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the?Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the?Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:14-15 (ESV)
So they didn't necessarily connect the dots with all the ways that God tried to get their attention. Now we have a message that's pretty hard to miss.
Seek good. Not evil.
Hate evil. Love good.
That's easy to understand right? It nearly sounds like a caveman talking, right? No way to misinterpret that right?
Here's the problem:
What if your definition for good and your definition for evil isn't the same as God's?
What if your idea of what is good and what is evil is not God's idea of what is good and what is evil?
This is Israel's problem.?
Time and time again they decided that they knew what was right. They knew what was wrong. They knew what was okay. They knew what wasn't okay. It's their definition. And there can be real danger in becoming self-defining.
So what happens when those decisions of what's good or evil don't align with God?
Well - there's not much hope for remedy in one's culture, society, or life.
So,?it starts with being on the same page as God with what's right and wrong.?That's the foundation, and that's what was plaguing Israel.
And since Amos tells it like it is - I'm going to as well. This is what's plaguing our culture too.?
It's?the very issue?staring our culture right in the face.
Because here's the thing: every single one of us in our life answers this question whether we know it or not. And here it is:
Who or what is your objective, moral standard for which you measure what is right or wrong?
The way that question is answered determines what you or I or anyone else believes is good, or evil. Right or wrong.
I'll help us out a bit with what isn't the objective moral standard.?
As followers of Christ, I believe we're already here, but here's the answer to that question.
This is what God is wanting Israel to understand through the prophet Amos. Over and over and over they made themselves the decider of what was right and wrong. Not God.?
And God's saying - If you would just get on the same page as me for what's good, what's evil. To seek good and not evil. To hate evil and love good. Then that's where we find the remedy. That's where we find hope.
And, in His mercy and grace God doesn't leave the Israelites or us without direction on how to get there. We're going to keep moving through the text to chapter 7.
This is what the Lord?God?showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, 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, please forgive!
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: behold, the Lord?God?was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land.
Then I said, "O Lord?God, please cease!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!"
The?Lord?relented concerning this:
"This also shall not be," said the Lord?God.
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This is what he showed me: behold, 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, "Behold, I am setting a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them;
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 7:1-9 (ESV)
So what do we have here? Amos describes to Israel these three visions that the Lord has given him.?
These almost seem doom and gloom, but stay with me and you'll see that they're really not. It's pretty amazing what's going on here.?
VISION 1: LOCUSTS
So the first vision, God shows Amos this impending judgment of locusts ravaging the land. Many times in the Bible we see God using locusts trying to get the attention of people. Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Joel, Amos, Nahum, 1 Kings, Revelation. So a few times. And so he shows Amos this vision of this impending doom from locusts, and what does he say to God? He cries out for mercy, saying: "O Lord God, Please forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!"?
Or loosely translated, Amos is asking, please forgive us! Don't do this to your own people! Please don't bring this swarm of locusts." And in verse 3 we see that God relents and tells Amos that "this shall not be."?
See, this vision isn't a doom and gloom vision - but it's a vision of God's mercy. Amos saw the consequence for their actions and God decided not to bring it.
Why?
Amos prayed. He prayed specifically for forgiveness. He prayed specifically for mercy.
VISION 2: FIRE
So now we have the second vision. A vision of fire, fire swallowing up the great deep (or the sea) as well as their land.
Again - how does Amos respond? Prayer.?
He prayed specifically for forgiveness. He prayed specifically for mercy.
Verse 6 - the Lord relented.
Do you see a pattern emerging here? I think that there's a real tendency at times to underestimate our prayers to God. Don't underestimate prayer.?
VISION 3: THE PLUMB LINE
In this 3rd vision, we reach a part of the text that I'd like to camp out on. God is standing on a wall and he's holding a plumb line. He asks Amos, "What do you see?"
"A plumb line."
God says, "I am setting this plumb line in the people of Israel. I will not pass by them anymore."
God is saying, "I'm not going to just pass by their sin anymore. I'm setting in their midst a plumb line."?
This is a plumb line.?
It's used by masons, by builders. It's used to this day - I bought this at Home Depot. Aisle 10 bay 4. 12 bucks. Weirdly enough the string was like 4 aisles over. It would've made so much sense to just have some right with these, but that's besides the point. I also found myself going down a YouTube rabbit hole of watching masons explain how plumb lines are used. Something I never thought that I would ever watch. Ever.?
That being said - for those of you who know about construction or that sort of stuff more than I do, which I would estimate is just about everyone else in here - bear with me as I explain this. So - what these masons will do is hang this plumb line, and it lets them know exactly every time if the wall is true, or perfectly straight.
You can't just eyeball it. If you start and you don't have the plumb line, and your wall is just a little off - maybe it's not big deal to you. You decide that it's not really an issue. It's only a little bit off.?
Well, by the time you finish that wall you're going to be way off. Without the standard keeping your wall straight you're going to be off.
How many times have you tried to hang a picture up close, only to step back and realize it's crooked. Also it's not centered on the wall. Now you get to hammer another nail into the wall. Oops, same thing. This time I just need to move it up a little bit. Oh dang, that's crooked too. Just grab a level, right? It's so obvious yet, how many times in life do we just accept things as crooked?
So again, this plumb line helps masons or builders know that their work is being aligned with the plumb line to make sure that it is true. That it is straight.?
And this is what God is telling Amos: "Listen Amos - I'm inserting myself in the culture of my people that I am the plumb line. They must decide that their lives are measured against me. Their values are measured with mine that they are aligned with mine. They will understand what it wrong because they can look at this plumb line and see if they're off. They can see the standard."
I brought a cheap prop with me to use for this illustration, but the thing is this -?you're all holding the plumb line in your hands.?I don't care if it's on a phone, from the pew in front of you, or you brought it with you. You're holding the plumb line. Anything not aligned with the plumb line, is crooked. It's not true. It's off.?
Earlier I asked you:?
Who or what is your objective, moral standard for which you measure what is right or wrong?
?whether you answered that to yourself, or whispered it to the person next to you, or wrote it in your notes...God answers that question for you here regardless. He's the standard. He's the plumb line.
So across these three visions that Amos describes, we get this absolutely beautiful message being painted before us.?
If God's people would align themselves with His standard, they would be the recipients of His mercy.?
If they would define good the way God defines good, and if they would define evil the way God defines evil, and if they would love good, and hate evil - they would be aligned with the standard.?
Or they would be?vertically true.
And even though we are living on this side of the cross, this remains true for us today.?
How many of you have heard someone say - well that's from the Old Testament, we don't really use that part of the Bible anymore. There's not really much application to us today? Or, well the Bible is great and all - but it's really old. So much has changed, and people have changed so much. There's some good lessons there but I don't know if there's much application or much that we can take away from it. It's pretty dated.
I'd like to see their Bible, because it definitely can't be the same one I'm reading.?
God is the perfect standard. That was true when He spoke to Adam in the garden, that was true when He spoke to Noah, that was true when He spoke to Moses in the burning bush, that was true when He spoke to Amos - and it's true today.
What else is true, is that throughout all of those examples and to this very day - popular culture wants you to believe that man is the perfect standard.?
Let me just ask this: how many laws are made that suit the standard of man? How many laws are changed to suit the standard of man? How many times are laws made that deviate from the perfect standard established in Scripture? It doesn't have to be by much, right? How many times does our culture become a little more crooked? A little bit at a time.?
"Oh, that's just a little bit off, it's not really a big deal."
Eventually it's going to be.
Because here's the thing: this isn't unique to just our own era. It's not unique to our culture today. I know we talk about our society, our culture, the?current state of things a lot - which there's great benefit to that - but this is a common theme from every generation to exist.?
Our instinct is to be at the center of our own world. If you don't think so, just remember what I'm saying the next time you're on a plane and someone is trying to shove a bag into that overhead compartment that's clearly too big for the space. As the whole line is patiently standing behind them for a couple of minutes, just remember "our instinct is to be at the center of our own world."?
But on a way more serious note, when we put ourselves at the center of our own world - which is the temptation, right - we ultimately end up deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong.
Scripture defines generations that that place man at the center as a, and get this, "crooked" generation. That's the actual language that is used.
And we don't see this language used in just one place in the Bible, either. We see it in places like:
For I will proclaim the name of the?Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him;
they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
they are a crooked and twisted generation.
Deuteronomy 32:3-5 (ESV)
and
The way of the guilty is crooked,
but the conduct of the pure is upright.
Proverbs 21:8 (ESV)
and
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Philippians 2:14-15 (ESV)
and
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself."
And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
Acts 2:38-40 (ESV)
Do you see what God is saying, throughout the Scriptures??
"If you are a follower of mine, I want you to align yourselves with me. I am the standard. I'm the plumb line of your life."
The call for you, the call for me, the call for every single one of us are to be reflections of this plumb line in a crooked and in a twisted generation. Shining a light as a follower of Christ.?
We do this be aligning our lives with God and His Word, this is how we help others find hope in Jesus Christ in a crooked and twisted generation.?
Ultimately what we're seeing here in Amos is both a warning and a call.
The warning - and I'm going to strip it down like we had for love good hate evil. Here it is: Our generation is crooked. Every generation has been crooked. Don't be crooked with it.
The call - Live your life in a way that is reflective of Philippians 2:14-15. I can tell you first hand, I'll be working on it right there with you. That grumbling part. Yeah. So to boil this down, shine forth Christ.?
The warning: Don't be crooked. The Call: Shine forth Christ.
The call is to be an example. The call is to be vertically true.?
Do you see what God is saying, throughout the Scriptures??
"If you are a follower of mine, I want you to align yourselves with me. I am the standard. I'm the plumb line of your life."
The call for you, the call for me, the call for every single one of us are to be reflections of this plumb line in a crooked and in a twisted generation. Shining a light as a follower of Christ.?
We do this be aligning our lives with God and His Word, this is how we help others find hope in Jesus Christ in a crooked and twisted generation.?
Hanging a Picture
If you start hanging up pictures in your house, and you're eyeballing it - and that first one ends up crooked. The next one, measured against the first, will be crooked as well.?
Similarly - don't give in to the morals, philosophies, habits, social ideas, or actions of this generation if they isn't aligned with the plumb line. Don't set the moral standard person next to you, your family member, your friend, your coworker, or yourself. Rather, the standard, the plumb line is right here. This is what we're to be aligned to. Now that's way easier said than done, I'm aware. It's easy for me to sit here on a stage in a church and say this to you. To be out in the world - face to face with it all - and to resist can be a different story all together. But don't give in. Again, I return to my question:
Is God the objective moral standard in your life? Is God the plumb line in your life?
Are you willing to let the way you speak, the way you interact with others, the way you carry yourself, the way you treat your spouse, the way you raise your children, the way you manage your money? Do those things represent that plumb line??
God Can (and Does) Use Us
And I wouldn't blame you at all if you're sitting here this morning thinking to yourself, "you don't really know me - you don't know my past. You don't know what I'm going through. Who am I to be an example to anyone else? Who am I for God to use me?"
The point is - God doesn't require a job interview. He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses, because He's more our Father than our boss. He's not prejudiced, as we learn all of the Bible and again in the book of Amos today, he's not deaf to our cry, and He's not blind to our need. As much as we may try to do things ourselves, and our way, God's gifts are free when He's the plumb line.
It's Satan that tells us that we're not enough. He tells us that we're not worthy, or that we can't be used by God for whatever reason. I'll be fully transparent with y'all - and tell you that when I moved into this role on multiple occasions I've had thoughts like, "who are you to be teaching anyone anything about the Bible? You're not going to change anything. You're not going to be enough."
Jesus says, "So what? I am."
Satan wants us to look back on our lives and?only?see our mistakes, failures, and shortcomings.
God wants us to look back and see the cross. To align ourselves with Him. To be vertically true.