BIG IDEA:
FAILURE TO CONFORM TO GOD’S STANDARD (RIGHTEOUSNESS) CONDEMNS ISRAEL TO CERTAIN JUDGMENT WITH NO MORE DELAY
INTRODUCTION:
Warren Wiersbe: God’s law is His plumb line, and He measures His people to see how true they are to the pattern in His Word, and if they are upright in character and conduct “Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet” (Isa. 28:17, NKJV). Alas, in Amos’ time, He found that Israel was “out of plumb” and therefore had to be destroyed. This would include Israel’s high places and sanctuaries, where they worshiped contrary to God’s law, for the only place the Jews were to bring their sacrifices was to the temple in Jerusalem (Lev. 17:1-7).
Gary Smith: Just as a builder tests the straightness of a wall with a plumb line, God exposes the true state of his people’s moral character and covenant faithfulness with his plumb line. In the earlier visions guilt is implied, but this testing procedure legitimates the conclusion that it is no longer possible to delay the judgment of Israel.
Trent Butler: God had created everything perfectly. But he gave his people the gift of freedom. They can choose to live in faithful obedience to him, or they can choose to go the way of the world and ignore God. When we choose the world’s way, our lives become warped and out of plumb. We no longer mirror God’s perfect image. We no longer serve his purposes. We become useless just like an out-of-plumb wall that is about to fall. Eventually, we must be reshaped and remolded by the Master’s hand. So Amos learned in his vision that Israel had reached the point of no return. Major disciplinary action was in order: I will spare them no longer.
Gary Cohen: A plumb line is a weight hung from a string in order to measure a perfectly straight vertical line in engineering and construction work. Such a device was known in antiquity. The modern English word is derived from the Latin plumbum, “lead,” for the heavy lead weight hung at the bottom of the string. Here the words, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer” (v. 8), reveal the meaning of the vision. God is seen making careful and precise preparations for the coming punishment of the Northern Kingdom. As a surveyor He is measuring exactly where the punishment will come, how far it will extend, and the precise level of damage that it will do.
Allen Guenther: Modern interpreters disagree on the meaning of the word translated plumb line. The corresponding Akkadian (and Assyrian) word means “tin.” On the assumption that plumb bobs were made of lead, some interpreters have ruled out the idea of the plumb line (Holladay: 492-494; Stuart: 372-374). The Hebrew phrase “stone of tin,” appears in Zechariah 4:10 as a plum bob or plummet. The tin, then, stands for the plumb bob. The phrase wall of tin (Amos 7:7, Heb.) means a wall built by use of the plumb line to make it truly vertical.
Alternate View:
M. Daniel Carroll R.: All the English versions render ʾănāk as “plumb line,” a translation that apparently appeared during the medieval period. The idea is that God has evaluated the nation in terms of its obedience to the norms of the Law or its response to the prophet’s message and found Israel lacking (cf. 2 Kgs 17:13, 23; 21:10–15; 24:2); it is “out of plumb,” as it were. Their transgressions now bring judgment. This is the explanation found in many commentaries and other recent publications. It is difficult to suggest an alternative because “the traditional picture of Yahweh standing with a plumb bob in his hand, apparently testing the trueness of a wall (the wall being Israel) is one of the most familiar and best loved of all of the depictions in the book of Amos.”
Nevertheless, there are problems with this construal.
- First, it is odd that, if a plumb line is meant, other terms in the Old Testament referring to a plumb line or something akin to it were not used: qav (2 Kgs 21:13; Isa 28:17; 34:11) and mišqelet (2 Kgs 21:13; Isa 28:17).
- Second, it does not make sense for the plumb line to be placed in the midst of the people. Plumb lines are set against a wall to check if it is properly perpendicular.
- Third, setting a plumb line to test the wall does not fit in a context where the guilt of Israel is beyond doubt and judgment has already been decreed.
- Fourth, and most important, research demonstrates that ʾănāk is an Akkadian loanword for tin (the Hebrew term is bədîl; e.g., Ezek 27:12). Plumb lines would have been made of lead, a metal much heavier than tin.
The best option in this context of imminent judgment in the form of an invasion is to concentrate on the weakness of tin. In the ancient world, walls were designed to protect cities—especially the more prominent ones—where the palace, key administration buildings, and principal temples were located, and where important commercial activity was concentrated. In several passages, other metals (iron and bronze) are used metaphorically with pillars and walls (perhaps covering them) to communicate strength and impenetrability grounded in divine support (Jer 1:18–19; 15:20). In this verse, however, the wall is of tin, a soft metal!
Tchavdar Hadjiev: In 1965 the eminent Assyriologist Benno Landsberger argued that the Akkadian term meant ‘tin’ not ‘lead’. Since tin is too light to be used as a weight, ’ănāk in Hebrew could not mean plumb line. Amos, therefore, saw the Lord standing on a wall of tin, holding a lump of tin in his hand and threatening to put tin in the midst of his people Israel. The problem with this picture is that it is largely meaningless. None of the attempts to explain the symbolism of tin in the vision have been convincing enough. Moreover, subsequent studies have disproven the assertion that ’ănāk here cannot mean plumb line (Williamson 1990; Noonan 2013).
Therefore, it is best to go with the traditional translation ‘plumb line’ (cf. DCH 1.342; HALOT 1.71–72) and see the vision as announcing the transition from forgiveness to punishment. The Lord stands beside a wall that was originally straight because it was built with a plumb-line. The plumb-line he now holds in his hand signals his intention to inspect the wall and see if it has not begun to bend. If that is the case, the wall will have become dangerous and will need to be pulled down. It is not clear at this stage who or what the plumb line actually represents. The following narrative will make clear that it is the preaching of Amos himself. The statement I will never again pass them by, which means ‘I will never again overlook their offences’ (njb), signals a change in disposition from the preceding two visions. The Lord is not inclined to turn a blind eye any more. Jacob’s only chance to remain standing now is in being found to be straight and in good condition. The time of prophetic intercession has passed.
Brad Mills: The Plumb Line
- The Standard of Inspection (7)
- The Failure of Inspection (8)
- The Outcome of Inspection (9)
I. (:7-8A) VISION OF A PLUMB LINE – INSPECTION MEASURES CONFORMITY TO GOD’S STANDARD
A. (:7) Vision Revealed – God Determines the Standard for Righteousness
“Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall,
with a plumb line in His hand.”
Trent Butler: The prophet received a third vision. God himself stood beside a wall with a plumb line in his hand. He was determining whether the wall was straight or not. If not, he would have to knock it down and build it again.
Explanation of a plumb line:
The plumb-line is a weight, usually with a pointed tip on the bottom, suspended from a string. Plumb lines (aka plumb bobs), are used as a vertical reference line, or datum. Their accuracy is absolute.
Plumb-lines always find the vertical axis pointing to the center of gravity. The plumb-line ensures a structure is centered and aligned. The Latin word “plumbum” is the root of the English word “plumb line.” It is translated to liquid silver.
By aligning their measurement to the immutable force of gravity, Plumb lines are never inaccurate.
https://becauseofgrace.wordpress.com/2021/08/07/leadership-plumb-lines/
B. (:8a) Vision Received – God’s People Must Acknowledge God’s Standard
“And the LORD said to me, ‘What do you see, Amos?’
And I said, ‘A plumb line.’”
Billy Smith: The Lord’s question required Amos to concentrate on the vision in order to identify its contents. “What do you see” is more accurately “what are you seeing,” since the verb is a participle. The prophet was in the process of observing what God was showing him. How Amos understood what he was seeing seems to be the intent of the Lord’s question.
II. (:8b-9) CROOKEDNESS DEMANDS JUDGMENT ONCE GOD’S PATIENCE HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED
“Then the Lord said,”
A. (:8b) Day of Accountability Approaching
“Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel.”
Billy Smith: God was checking his own people, who had been built true to plumb, to see if they would stand the test or have to come down. On the basis of that test the Lord announced a new policy of the end of grace: “I will spare them no longer.” Israel could not stand the test. The Lord’s threatened intervention would not be directed by arbitrary motives but by an incorruptible test, the plumb line.
B. (:8c) Delays in Judgment Have Ended
“I will spare them no longer.”
Trent Butler: No longer could the prophet pray and expect God to “relent.” The day of compassion was past. Israel was untrue and faithless before God. The day of judgment had been announced. Israel’s days were numbered. God is in the business of hearing prayers and showing compassion, but he is also in the business of measuring his people and bringing judgment on those who do not stay true to him.
Now the prophet’s role changed. Intercession and mediation became useless and impossible. The prophet had to switch from representing the people before God to representing the God of judgment before the people.
C. (:9a) Designated Focal Points of Idolatry Targeted for Judgment
“The high places of Isaac will be desolated
And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste.”
Allen Guenther: The king’s palace and the temple frequently adjoined the city wall and were located at the most defensible part of the city. The construction engineer in the vision is standing on (7:7, Heb.; not by or beside, as in NIV/NRSV) the wall, holding the plumb line that all may see how seriously the wall is out of plumb. The danger is evident; their most formidable point of defense is tottering. Enemy sappers might easily undermine the wall at its weakened point and permit their assault troops access to the city through the beach. Or an earthquake could bring the wall crashing down.
Israel is that leaning wall. The religious centers, whether local cult high places or sanctuaries in major fortified cities – all will fall to the enemy. The royal family will go down in defeat. The prophecy does not spell out the reasons nor the time; the fact is sufficient. In preventing intercession (7:8b), the Lord ensures the fulfillment of this prediction.
Tchavdar Hadjiev: the religious and political hierarchy of the nation. All these will be dismantled by the direct military action of the Lord.
Billy Smith: Nowhere could religious purity be found, neither in established sanctuaries nor in the high places where the people resorted to worshiping pagan deities.
D. (:9b) Devastating Judgment Carried Out
“Then shall I rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
James Mays: The announcement contains an eloquent correspondence to the symbol of the plumb line; devastation will fall upon the principal structures of the Israelite state, its religion and its dynasty. Yahweh has measured the shrines and the ‘house’ of Jeroboam and found them of no use. ‘Your highest and holiest shall perish’ (Well-hausen). Isaac is used as a name for the northern kingdom (cf. 7.16) High places and sanctuaries are inclusive of all the religious sites in the nation. The high place (bāmā) was a shrine on a hill in open country; usually they were equipped with altar, sacred grove and trees, pillars, etc. Many had been in continuous use by the residents in local areas since Canaanite times. The sanctuary (miqdāš) was a holy place, usually a temple. The sanctuaries are the official religious centres of the northern kingdom, Bethel (7.13) and Dan, established by Jeroboam I. The instrument of devastation and death will be ‘the sword’ (cf. 9.1, 4). Amos names no historical protagonist, only the divine one. The fall of Israel’s national existence will be Yahweh’s act; Israel’s God has become his executioner.
Billy Smith: At any rate, “judgment, terrible and drastic” was on its way, “certainly not because God wills it, though he does, but because the people deserve it and their persistently wicked behavior demands it.”
Gary Smith: The vision abruptly ends without any prayer of intercession or any message of hope for Amos’s audience.