◄ Amos 7:8 ►
"Amos, what do you see?" asked the LORD. "A plumb line," I replied. "Behold," said the Lord, "I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
Study Bible
“Amos, what do you see?” asked the LORD.
This phrase indicates a divine vision, a common method through which God communicated with prophets. The question emphasizes the importance of spiritual perception and understanding. Amos, a shepherd and fig farmer, is called to see beyond the natural and perceive God's message. This interaction highlights the personal relationship between God and His prophets, where God initiates communication and expects a response.

“A plumb line,” I replied.
A plumb line is a tool used by builders to ensure structures are vertically straight. In the ancient Near East, it symbolized judgment and righteousness. Amos's response shows his recognition of the tool's significance, indicating that God is measuring Israel's moral and spiritual alignment. The plumb line represents God's standard of holiness and justice, against which Israel is being measured.

“Behold,” said the Lord,
The word "Behold" is used to draw attention to something significant. It signals a divine declaration that demands attention and reflection. This is a moment of revelation where God is about to disclose His intentions and actions concerning Israel.

“I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel;
God is placing a standard of judgment among His people, indicating that He is assessing their faithfulness and righteousness. This act signifies that Israel is being held accountable to God's covenantal laws. The use of "My people" underscores the special relationship and covenant between God and Israel, highlighting the gravity of their deviation from His standards.

I will no longer spare them:
This phrase indicates a shift from patience to impending judgment. God's mercy has limits when His people persist in sin. The historical context reveals that Israel had been warned repeatedly through prophets about their idolatry and injustice. This declaration of no longer sparing them is a fulfillment of the covenant curses outlined in Deuteronomy for disobedience. It foreshadows the coming Assyrian invasion and exile, serving as a sobering reminder of the consequences of turning away from God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Amos
A prophet from Tekoa, called by God to deliver messages of judgment and repentance to Israel.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who communicates His will and judgment through visions and prophets.

3. Israel
The Northern Kingdom, which had turned away from God's commandments and was facing impending judgment.

4. Plumb Line
A tool used in construction to ensure structures are vertically true; symbolically used by God to measure the righteousness of Israel.

5. Vision
A divine revelation given to Amos, illustrating God's impending judgment on Israel.
Teaching Points
God's Standard of Righteousness
The plumb line represents God's unchanging standard of righteousness. Just as a plumb line ensures a wall is straight, God's Word is the measure by which we align our lives.

Divine Judgment and Mercy
God's declaration that He will "no longer spare" Israel highlights the seriousness of persistent sin. However, His warnings through prophets like Amos also reflect His desire for repentance and restoration.

Personal Reflection and Alignment
Believers are called to examine their lives against God's standards. Regular self-assessment and repentance are crucial to maintaining spiritual integrity.

The Role of Prophets
Prophets like Amos serve as God's messengers, calling people back to His ways. Their messages, though often challenging, are acts of divine love and concern.

Community Accountability
Just as God held Israel accountable as a nation, Christian communities today are called to uphold and encourage one another in righteousness.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of a plumb line help us understand God's expectations for His people?

2. In what ways can we ensure our lives are aligned with God's standards today?

3. How does the message of Amos 7:8 challenge us to respond to God's warnings in our own lives?

4. What role do modern-day "prophets" or spiritual leaders play in guiding us back to God's standards?

5. How can we, as a community of believers, support each other in maintaining spiritual integrity and accountability?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 28:17
This verse also uses the imagery of a plumb line to describe God's standard of justice and righteousness.

2 Kings 21:13
The plumb line is used metaphorically to describe God's judgment against Jerusalem, similar to its use in Amos.

Revelation 11:1
The measuring of the temple parallels the idea of God assessing His people, akin to the plumb line in Amos.
Sermons
A Test for UprightnessJ. Reid Howatt.Amos 7:7-8
God in Relation to Human WorkHomilistAmos 7:7-8
Man's Moral CharacterHomilistAmos 7:7-8
Straight Up and Down ReligionT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Amos 7:7-8
The PlumblineDavid Davies.Amos 7:7-8
Man's Moral CharacterD. Thomas Amos 7:7-9
The Plumb Line of JudgmentJ.R. Thomson Amos 7:7-9
People
Amaziah, Amos, Isaac, Jacob, Jeroboam
Places
Bethel, Brook of the Arabah
Topics
Add, Amos, Behold, Line, Longer, Midst, Pardon, Pass, Plumb, Plumbline, Plumb-line, Replied, Seeing, Seest, Setting, Shut, Sin, Spare, Weighted
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Amos 7:1-9

     1469   visions

Amos 7:7-8

     7254   plumb-line

Library
Whether Irony is a Sin?
Objection 1: It seems that irony, which consists in belittling oneself, is not a sin. For no sin arises from one's being strengthened by God: and yet this leads one to belittle oneself, according to Prov. 30:1,2: "The vision which the man spoke, with whom is God, and who being strengthened by God, abiding with him, said, I am the most foolish of men." Also it is written (Amos 7:14): "Amos answered . . . I am not a prophet." Therefore irony, whereby a man belittles himself in words, is not a sin. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Scriptural Types.
1. The material world is full of analogies adapted to the illustration of spiritual things. No teacher ever drew from this inexhaustible storehouse such a rich variety of examples as our Saviour. His disciples are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill. From the ravens which God feeds and the lilies which God clothes, he teaches the unreasonableness of worldly anxiety. The kingdom of heaven is like seed sown in different soils, like a field of wheat and tares …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

The History of the Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, and Apocalypses
[Sidenote: Real character and aims of the prophets] To understand and rightly interpret the prophetic writings of the Old Testament it is necessary to cast aside a false impression as to the character of the prophets which is widely prevalent. They were not foretellers, but forth-tellers. Instead of being vague dreamers, in imagination living far in the distant future, they were most emphatically men of their own times, enlightened and devoted patriots, social and ethical reformers, and spiritual …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon.
Pliny writes, "From Pelusium are the intrenchments of Chabrias: mount Casius: the temple of Jupiter Casius: the tomb of Pompey the Great: Ostracine: Arabia is bounded sixty-five miles from Pelusium: soon after begins Idumea and Palestine from the rising up of the Sirbon lake." Either my eyes deceive me, while I read these things,--or mount Casius lies nearer Pelusium, than the lake of Sirbon. The maps have ill placed the Sirbon between mount Casius and Pelusium. Sirbon implies burning; the name of …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

The Prophet Hosea.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. That the kingdom of Israel was the object of the prophet's ministry is so evident, that upon this point all are, and cannot but be, agreed. But there is a difference of opinion as to whether the prophet was a fellow-countryman of those to whom he preached, or was called by God out of the kingdom of Judah. The latter has been asserted with great confidence by Maurer, among others, in his Observ. in Hos., in the Commentat. Theol. ii. i. p. 293. But the arguments …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

On the Interpretation of Scripture
IT is a strange, though familiar fact, that great differences of opinion exist respecting the Interpretation of Scripture. All Christians receive the Old and New Testament as sacred writings, but they are not agreed about the meaning which they attribute to them. The book itself remains as at the first; the commentators seem rather to reflect the changing atmosphere of the world or of the Church. Different individuals or bodies of Christians have a different point of view, to which their interpretation …
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

The Essay which Brings up the Rear in this Very Guilty Volume is from The...
The Essay which brings up the rear in this very guilty volume is from the pen of the "Rev. Benjamin Jowett, M.A., [Fellow and Tutor of Balliol College, and] Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford,"--"a gentleman whose high personal character and general respectability seem to give a weight to his words, which assuredly they do not carry of themselves [143] ." His performance is entitled "On the Interpretation of Scripture:" being, in reality, nothing else but a laborious denial of …
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

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