The book of amos plumbline

In response to what amos replied, the lord told the prophet that he was placing a plumb line in the midst of his people israel. English standard version and the lord said to me, amos. As we see this fact being brought about in the book of amos, it should sober us in our thinking. The following lesson was adapted for a small group of children ranging in ages from 611. This summary of the book of amos provides information about the title, authors, date of writing, chronology, theme, theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the book of amos.

Here in amos 7, god is reapplying the plumbline standard of the law to israel to show amos how far his nation had shifted away from the perfect standard with which she had been constructed, and why he could no longer pass by them any more in mercy, but must rather bring the judgment that their sin demanded. But amos also knew that judgment would come, because he knew what was taking place in israel. The book of the twelve prophets was originally on one parchment roll because of the brevity of the text, and originally formed one book of the 24 books of hebrew scripture. The ingenious solution employed by these ancient architects, already by the fourth egyptian dynasty c. Gods word translation he asked me, what do you see, amos. The book begins with the phrase the words of amos and amos l. In the third vision amos saw the lord himself standing beside a wall built with a plumb line hebrew. Amos is one of those minor prophets, meaning its a shorter book, and it comes right after the book of joel and right before obadiah. A very short childrens story about amos using a simple biblical example to help children learn about jesus. However, amos preference to begin a new section of thought with an introductory formula suggests that verse 8, which begins with behold, introduces the final section of his book. Was not jesus an extremist for love was not amos an extremist for justice. Now in amoss story, the plumb line is also very important if you want to build a straight wall. Thus he showed me, and behold, the lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand.

It is a part of the book of the twelve minor prophets. The peoples hearts were crooked, and they stopped caring about what god wanted. Amos 7 niv bible this is what the sovereign lord showed. Then the lord said, look, i have set a plumb line in the midst of my people israel. The plumb line combines grace and law, and god will test us against both. God uses the illustration of a plumb line in amos to portray what he means by righteousness. Theres a joy welling up inside of you as you watch your family connect with god in a. Amos has been called the plumb line prophet because he had a vision of god standing by a wall with a plumb line in his hand.

The book of amos was likely written between 760 and 753 b. This sermon was preached at forge road bible chapel, in perry hall, md on 52012. So i scurried home and found information online that amos prophesized in israel during the reign of king jeroboam. The plumb line has been used by builders and masons since the days of ancient egypt. Amos pleaded with god to relent his judgment and, in their place, god places a plumb line.

Instead of discussing whether or not amos is theologically correct, the high priest just calls it treason. The metaphors of amos are very forcible, though homely and simple. The students discover that although amos message was very bad news to gods people because of their wickedness they would be. God was measuring israels religious conduct and behavior.

In the present post i want to discuss amos third vision. In the book of amos we see god giving a key vision to the prophet amos to share with the northern kingdom of israel. He prophesied in israel at the great cult center of bethel, from which he was finally expelled by the priest in charge of this royal sanctuary. Jul 18, 2016 she mentioned she attended a local church service that discussed the book of amos. The prophet amos employs the plumb line as a powerful metaphor for justice in society. The book of amos is written in some of the finest ot hebrew style. Amos and gods plumb line sermon by howard strickland, amos 7. A plumb line is a weight, usually with a pointed tip at the bottom for marking a point.

In the vision, the lord was like a master builder with a plumb line in his hand, inspecting the wall to ascertain whether the wall was standing straight. Amos and gods plumb line contributed by howard strickland on jul. Leviticus 19 shows that the revelation of the law is important because it is a verbal description of gods nature. A fire that destroys not only vegetation but even underground water. Jan 24, 2011 amos third vision and the plumb line posted on january 24, 2011 by claude mariottini in my previous studies on amos, i discussed his call, his first vision and the power of intercessory prayer, and the second vision and the repentance of god. Then he says something to his own people who live in israel and judah. Amos is a shepherd and a fruit picker from the judean village of tekoa when god calls him, even though he lacks an education or a priestly background. What king gets from these figures, from augustine and aquinas, but also from amos, is precisely that which amos can continue to give us today. God always uses his servants in the best possible way, and as they ought to be used. Mar 31, 2008 you cannot tell if a structure is built perfectly upright by merely looking at it, but a plumb line will soon reveal its soundness. Amos told the people of israel that the god was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. He was preparing swarms of locusts after the kings share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. A plumb line is a weight suspended from a string used as a vertical reference line to ensure a structure.

The people of israel did not see themselves as having fallen and being in need of repentance. Behold, the lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. With plumbline, prayer is something you can hardly imagine, that its this good. If either is abused, we will not measure up to the standard.

He writes about the terrible things that they have done. Here in amos 7, god is reapplying the plumbline standard of the law to israel to show amos how far his nation had shifted away from the perfect standard with which she had been constructed, and why he could no longer pass by them any more in mercy, but must. The bible amos, judgement of god on kingdom of judah. Then said the lord, behold, i will set a plumbline in the midst of my people israel. Then the lord said, im going to hold a plumb line in the middle of my people israel. Let his vision come before us, as though we saw it ourselves. We have previously discussed the potential parallels between the book of amos and the recent attacks on the united states.

Unlike the first two visions given to amos, this vision is not one of complete destruction, but it is rather more ominous. Lessons from the book of amos part vi steps to life. It is the third of the minor prophetic books and was written by the prophet amos in the reign of jereboam ii of israel c. A plumb line is a string with a weight at the end of it. Amos 7 new international version niv locusts, fire and a plumb line. Amos and the crumbling kingdom bible story lifekids youtube. The bible never lets us escape from the fact that there is a judgment coming, and we are held morally accountable.

There was a mystery about the vision, but the vision itself was not mysterious. The book of amos is the third of the twelve minor prophets in the tanakhold testament and the second in the greek septuagint tradition. Amos mission is directed to his neighbor to the north, israel. The students discover that although amos message was very bad news to gods people because of their wickedness they would be punished. Manuscripts, sword of the spirit, fire, hammer, manna, truth, bread of life, love letter, two edged sword, book of life, torah, pentateuch,tanakh, but today i want to look at the synonym plumb line.

The book of amos was written during the era of divided kingdoms of israel but in an age which is much prosperous than the previous times especially the northern kingdom of isreal with ruler jeroboam ii reached at such a level of growth and prosperity as was not seen after david and solomon. Even though the book is shorter, gods word is not deminished in. We have previously discussed the potential parallels between the book of. Amos, an older contemporary of hosea and isaiah, was active c. So i scurried home and found information online that amos prophesized in. Amos 7 locusts, fire and a plumb line this bible gateway. If we rely on his grace without law, or on his law without grace, we will not pass the test. Then the lord said, behold i am about to put a plumb line in the midst of my people israel. Jul 11, 2018 was not jesus an extremist for love was not amos an extremist for justice. The twelve include hosea, joel, amos, obadiah, jonah, micah, nahum, habakkuk, zephaniah, haggai, zechariah, and malachi.

Amos was a sheepbreeder of tekoa in judah, who delivered his oracles in the northern kingdom during the prosperous reign of jeroboam ii 786746 b. The book of amos is great stuff, and as the schedule here at the chapel happens to break out, for better or for worse, you and i will be together. We have already seen in the book of amos how the religious houses, which should have modeled how covenant grace was supposed to operate among the people of god, had instead become shrines of. Amos the plumb line prophet disciplers bible studies. Amos was a sheepbreeder and tender of sycamore trees. The plumb line was the reason amos could not protest gods judgment. In my previous studies on amos, i discussed his call, his first vision and the power of intercessory prayer, and the second vision and the repentance of god. The purpose of this brief article is to make suggestions concerning sermons which may be preached from the book of amos. Amos was from tekoa, a small town in judah about 6 miles south of bethlehem and 11 miles from jerusalem.

A weight attached to a string a builder uses to measure how straight a wall is. He confesses he is a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit wild figs. The lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. Amos and gods plumb line sermon by howard strickland. When the cord is held in such a way that the weight can dangle freely, an exact vertical can be determined. In this text god is speaking through the prophet amos about the. And the lord replied, i will test my people with this plumb line. Amos and the crumbling kingdom bible story lifekids. Open your bibles with me today to the old testament book of amos, and chapter 7. Amos, whose name means burden, gives no family pedigree, hence we can assume he was not of noble or prominent stock, like isaiah or zephaniah. When you pray, things actually change, you change as you feel a deep sense of knowing youre becoming like you want to be. For, as king rightly notes, if we do not have justice as a plum line, then the. The book of amos is great stuff, and as the schedule here at the chapel happens to break out, for better or for worse, you and i will be together like this 3 times in the next 6 weeks, so i thought we would use that time to do a short three week series in the book of amos. That simply means that the book of amos is shorter in length, than isaiah, jeremiah, or some of the others, but it is not minor in content.

Preaching from amos will afford the preacher with a challenging opportunity and a staggering responsibility to proclaim some old truths in relation to new situations. God also asked me this question which resulted in an exhaustive study from genesis to revelation on the subject of walls and plumblines. A plumb line, also called a plummet, is a cord with a nonmagnetic weight attached to one end. Amos begged for gods mercy and god responded to amos plea. Christian standard bible the lord asked me, what do you see, amos. The thirtieth book in the bible is the book of amos. It provides a standard against which one can measure what he has built. So i scurried home and found information online that.