Thus did he shew unto me; and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand.
Amos has already seen two judgments — locusts and fire — and both times his prayer held them back. Now the vision changes. This time he sees no disaster to plead away, but a measuring tool in the Lord's hand.
This vision is the last step in a sequence. One commentator sets out the three stages.
In Amos 7 three judgments on Israel rise step by step. First (verses 1-3) come the grasshoppers or creeping locusts, then (verses 4-6) fire, and last (verses 7-9) a plumbline, which pointed to the strict measure applied to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have been sharing in the evil. These troubles came about, it would seem, through Pul, Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, who finally swept the kingdom away.
A Bible dictionary explains both the tool and what it stands for.
A lump of lead, a stone, or some other weight attached to a string. This simple device tests whether a building or other structure stands upright. It stands as a symbol of the exactness with which God brought judgement on Israel. Israel had been built up by God as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline it would be destroyed. In Zechariah 4:10, though it was a day of small things when the temple was rebuilt, the plumbline was in the hands of Zerubbabel, and the Lord of hosts was supporting him.
Notice the detail in the verse itself: the wall was built with a plumb line. The same tool that raised it now tests it — and that same tool later sat in the hand of the man rebuilding the temple.
Some translations read that the Lord stood on the wall rather than beside it. So what does the test find?
He saw the Lord standing on a wall with the plumbline to see if the wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy law shows that everything is crooked and must be condemned. So comes the announcement, "I shall pass by it no more."
Another writer draws out why Amos reached for this picture.
As the Holy Spirit directed Amos's thoughts, the picture of a plumb line came to his mind. He used this familiar tool to tell the people of Israel what God wanted them to know — that God would measure them by His standards, His Word, and no other.
The line can show a fault, but it cannot mend one. One writer learned this from a real wall.
Soon the wall appeared to me to be leaning, but I was not sure, so I got a plumb line. I found that the wall was more than a foot out of plumb. I called for the mason. He looked at the wall and said, "That wall is all right. It is quite straight." I did not say a word, but hung the plumb line on it. The plumb line showed how far from true the wall was. The mason's mouth was shut... But the plumb line could not make the wall straight; it could only show how bad it was. In the same way the law cannot make us righteous; it can only show how bad we are.
In the first two visions God held back when the prophet prayed. This one is different, and one commentator explains why.
God had waited patiently for a long time. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The intercession of the prophet — that is, of the Spirit of Christ which worked in the prophets — had held back the scourge. But now the Lord would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand, and nothing would turn Him aside. With the house of Jehu Israel would fall, and that is what happened. It may be that the earlier judgments point to the fall of Jeroboam's family and of Ahab's family. Israel was raised up again after each of those, but not after the house of Jehu fell.
- Patience — Prayer turned back the first two judgments. The plumbline comes only when God's patience reaches its end, and further delay would mean sharing in the evil.
- Line — A plumbline is a weight on a string, the picture of exactness. God built Israel up as a wall by that line, and by that line it would come down.
- Standard — God measures His people by His own Word and by no other rule.
- Verdict — Put the line against the wall, and the wall is crooked. The test shows the fault, but it cannot mend it — and neither can the law make us righteous.
- End — Once the measuring line is in His hand, nothing turns Him aside. The sentence fell through the Assyrian kings who swept the kingdom away.
And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line. And the Lord said, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel I will not again pass by them any more.
Amos has already seen two judgments — locusts and fire — and twice his prayer held them back; now God shows him a builder's tool instead, and asks him to name it. The question "Amos, what do you see?" turns the prophet from pleader into witness, and the answer God gives after it closes the door on further delay.
The plumbline is the last of three visions. It comes at the point where more waiting would no longer be patience.
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the last: first (verses 1-3) the grasshoppers or creeping locusts, next (verses 4-6) fire, and last (verses 7-9) a plumbline. The plumbline showed the strict measure applied to mark their sins. When patience had exhausted itself, further delay would have been sharing in the evil. History, it seems, carried out these troubles in Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, who at last swept away the kingdom.
The image comes from ordinary building work.
A plumbline is a simple device: a lump of lead, a stone, or another weight tied to a string. It tests whether a building or other structure stands upright. It is a symbol of the exactness with which God brought judgment on Israel. God had built Israel up as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline He would take it down. Amos 7:7-8: compare 2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 28:17. In Zechariah 4:10 it was a day of small things when the temple was rebuilt. Even so, the plummet was in Zerubbabel's hand, and the Lord of hosts was supporting him.
A wall is never judged by another wall. Here the Lord Himself holds the line against Israel.
He saw the Lord standing upon a wall with the plumbline to see if the wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy law shows that all is crooked and must be condemned. So comes the announcement: "I will never again pass by them." The high places of Isaac will be left desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste, and God will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. The judgment will completely sweep away the false worship and the monarchy in Israel.
The same standard is what makes the image usable for any reader, not only for Israel.
As the Holy Spirit directed Amos's thoughts, the picture of a plumb line came to his mind, and he used this familiar tool to tell the Israelite people what God wanted them to know — that God would measure them by His standards, His Word, and no other.
Once you know what the tool does, you also know what it cannot do. One writer found this out with a wall and a mason.
Soon the wall appeared to me to be leaning, but I was not sure, so I got a plumb line. I found that the wall was more than a foot out of plumb. I called for the mason. He looked at the wall and said, "That wall is all right. It is quite straight." I did not say a word, but hung the plumb line on it. The plumb line showed how far from true the wall was. The mason's mouth was shut; he could not say a word. The plumb line laid bare his pride and self-confidence... But the plumb line could not make the wall straight; it could only show how bad it was. So the law cannot make us righteous, but only show how bad we are.
Twice the prophet had stood in the way of judgment. With the plumbline, that ministry ends.
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The prophet's intercession had held back the scourge. That intercession was the work of the Spirit of Christ in the prophets, and it owed its power to His sufferings (see Psalm 18). But now the Lord would rise to judgment, with the measuring line in His hand. Nothing would turn Him aside.
The sentence took effect on a king named Zechariah, the last link in his royal line.
Zechariah, the last link in this chain, is in fact already rejected. He reigns only six months, and God turns away from him and his successors, according to His word: "I will never again pass by them" (Amos 7:8; Amos 8:2).
- Patience — prayer stopped the locusts and the fire. The plumbline comes only when waiting longer would mean sharing in the evil.
- Measure — the tool is exact. God built Israel up as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline He takes it down.
- Standard — God measures His people by His Word and no other, and His Word found nothing in the wall straight.
- Exposure — a plumbline shows the lean, it never corrects it; the law can convict us, but it cannot make us righteous.
- Verdict — "I will never again pass by them" was no empty threat. It fell on the sanctuaries, the high places, and the house of Jeroboam, and ended with the kingdom swept away.
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolated, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will arise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
God has just shown Amos a plumbline held against a wall. This verse is the verdict that follows: Israel's places of worship and her ruling family will both come down. It asks when God's patience with a people runs out, and what He strikes first when it does.
This verse ends the third of three warnings in the chapter. Each warning comes by a different instrument, and the last is a measuring tool:
Amos 7 sets out three judgments on Israel, each heavier than the last: first (verses 1-3) by the grasshoppers or creeping locusts, next (verses 4-6) by fire, and last (verses 7-9) by a plumbline, which showed the strict measure used to mark their sins. When patience had worn itself out, waiting longer would have meant taking the side of evil. These troubles seem to have come true in history under Pul, Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, who finally swept the kingdom away.
The tool itself carries the point. The line that built the wall is the line that condemns it:
A simple device: a lump of lead, a stone, or another weight tied to a string. It tests whether a building or other structure stands upright. It pictures the exactness with which God brought judgment on Israel. God had built Israel up as a wall with a plumbline, and with a plumbline it would be pulled down.
The verse names two targets: the shrines and the royal house. Both fall by the same test:
He saw the Lord standing on a wall with the plumbline to see if the wall was straight. The test by God's Word and God's holy law shows that everything is crooked and must be condemned. So comes the announcement: "I shall pass by it no more." The false worship and the monarchy in Israel will be completely swept away by the judgment.
The shrines fall first, and that fits the whole book. One writer traces every other sin in Israel back to her corrupt worship:
"Hear this word" begins Amos 3, Amos 4 and Amos 5. All of them are warnings to His guilty people, whose false worship was the mother sin behind all their other sins. Amos 6 is a woe on the security they felt in themselves and on their luxury, like nations that do not know God. The Lord Jehovah had turned back destroying judgments at the prophet's prayer. Now He would take the measuring-line in hand and lay waste the people and the king (Amos 7).
Twice in this chapter Amos pleads, and God holds the blow back. At the plumbline, nothing turns Him aside:
God had long waited patiently. More than once He had been on the point of giving Israel up to judgment. The prayer of the prophet — that is, of the Spirit of Christ working in the prophets — had held back the punishment. But now Jehovah would rise up to judgment, with the measuring-line in His hand, and nothing would turn Him aside. With the house of Jehu, Israel would fall. That is in fact what happened. Israel had been raised up again after earlier falls, but not after the house of Jehu had fallen.
The sentence on the royal house landed on the last king of the line, and it landed where God had already said it would:
Zechariah, Jeroboam's son, was the fourth generation granted to the house of Jehu by the Lord (2 Kings 10:30). But Zechariah, the last link of this chain, is in fact already rejected. He reigns only six months. God then turns away from him and his successors, just as He had said: "I will not again pass by them any more" (Amos 7:8; Amos 8:2). Hosea says the same: "They have set up kings, but not by me" (Hosea 8:4).
The verse threatens the sanctuaries, and Bethel's own priest had a name for his shrine: the king's sanctuary. That one phrase gave the game away:
It is remarkable how his language betrays him. Religion in Israel was a political arrangement, despite their effort to copy God's ritual. So here Amaziah speaks of the king's sanctuary as naturally as of the king's court. In the same way, people name their religious groups after their country, after an invented system, or after a favourite doctrine. No one thinks of a divine source and authority, except as decoration for the structure — not as something the heart must submit to and obey.
- Measured. God built Israel as a wall with a plumbline, and He measures her by the same line. This judgment is not temper. It is exact measurement against His Word.
- Root. The shrines fall before the throne, because false worship was the mother sin behind every other sin in the book.
- Limit. Prayer held back locusts and fire. At the plumbline, patience had run out, and waiting longer would have meant taking the side of evil.
- Fulfilled. The sword reached Jeroboam's house in his son Zechariah. His six-month reign closed the line of Jehu, and Israel was never raised up again.
- Exposed. A religion run by the state has no room for God's authority. Bethel's priest spoke of "the king's sanctuary" as easily as of the king's court.