Amos 7 reminds me of a simple carpenter’s
tool called a level. It is used to measure the perfect horizontal or
vertical needed for construction. I am reminded that our eyes can be
deceived, and without that tool, the finished product will look off,
and may not be structurally sound. The level cannot make anything
straight, but it reveals how far off from perfection we are. In
today’s chapter, Amos reveals a side of God that many
misunderstand. There are many examples in scripture where someone
prays for God to hold off on judgment and often God relents. Do not
misunderstand, God never changes His standard, He exhibits more
patience, and more mercy. The chapter begins with Amos talking about
a vision in which God was “Preparing
swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested“.
The timing would mean total devastation, “they
had stripped the land clean“.
Amos cried out to the Lord, “Lord,
forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
Remember Jacob was a conniving kid without the highest integrity,
but later God changed his name to Israel. Jacob straightened out his
ways. God answered Amos’ prayer, “This
will not happen“. Amos
describes a second vision, “calling
for judgment by fire“. A
second time Amos cried out to God, “Lord,
I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
“So the Lord relented. ‘This
will not happen either’“.
Do you have this kind of compassion for those that are a bit tilted?
Next
Amos describes “The Lord was
standing by a wall… with a plumb line
in His hand“.
He says the wall was true, meaning perfectly vertical. God told
Amos, “I am setting a plumb
line among My people Israel; I will spare them no longer“.
The people had been corrupted and ignored God’s laws and His Word.
The king (Jeroboam) had led the nation into idolatry. “The
high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel
will be ruined“. In
construction, when a wall is too far off, it is better to tear it
down and start over for long-term stability. Rejecting the level
does not make the wall any safer.
The
chapter ends with a sad exchange between Amos and “Amaziah
the priest of Bethel“. He was
supposed to be a priest of God, but Bethel was one of the centers of
wicked corruption in Israel (the Northern Kingdom). There is nothing
the corrupt hate more than someone holding them accountable with a
true measure. He cussed at Amos, “Get
out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there
and do your prophesying there“.
Remember Amos was a reluctant prophet, “I
was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd…
the Lord took me from tending the flock“.
Amos has a word for the wicked priest, “Your
wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and
daughters will fall by the sword… you yourself will die in a pagan
country.
And Israel will surely go into
exile“. God deals harshly
with those that would intentionally pull His kids away from
perfection. Friend, do you know the cross has a vertical beam
because Jesus reconciled us to God’s perfection, but it also has a
horizontal beam. The sinless Son of God made a way for us to be made
perfect by His sacrifice. The Law of God cannot make us straight,
only faith in Christ can! Jesus is both the level, and the leveler.
All who come to the cross hear the same prayer, “Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”
(Luke 23:34). If it is time for a remodel, I know a great Carpenter!