Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the middle of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’ ”
Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv7–13 This vision opens more clearly to us what the…
This vision opens more clearly to us what the Prophet meant before, and what was the object of his doctrine: his intention was to show the people that what they had gained by their obstinacy was only to render God implacable, and to cause him not to spare them any longer, as he had hitherto done. The meaning is, — “God has hitherto borne with you according to his own goodness, promise not to yourselves that he will ever deal in the same manner with you; for your contumacy and waywardness has provoked him. As he sees you to be beyond measure obstinate, he must now necessarily execute on you final vengeance. There is therefore now no forgiveness provided for you; but as ye are incurable, so the Lord on his part will remain unchangeable in the rigor of his judgment, and will by no means turn to mercy.”
Interpreters explain this vision in various ways, and refinedly philosophize on the word, plumbline; and yet frigid are almost all their refinements. Were I disposed plausibly to handle this passage, I would say, that the plumbline is the law of God; for it prescribed to his people a regular order of things, which might serve as a plumbline; inasmuch as all things were directed according to the best rule. I might speak thus; but I am not disposed to refine in this manner; for I doubt not but that God meant only that this would be the last measuring; for he would punish his people without any remission and without any delay. We now apprehend the Prophet’s meaning: but all this will become more evident from the words of the passage.
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Thus he showed to me; and, behold, the Lord stood on a wall of a plumbline. The wall of a plumbline he calls that which had been formed by rule, as though he had said that it was a wall by a plumbline. God then stood on a plumbline-wall, and a plumbline, he says, was in his hand False then is what some interpreters say, that a plumbline was cast away by God, because he would no more perform the office of a mason in ruling his people. This is frivolous; for the Prophet testifies here expressly that a plumbline was in the hand of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 12 Signifying that this should be the last measuring of…
Signifying that this should be the last measuring of the people, and that he would defer his judgment no longer.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–13 Amo 7:7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the…
Amo 7:7 Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall [made] by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
Ver. 7. This he showed me, and behold] See Amo 7:4.
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The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, &c.] Here he was set, or stood firm (as the word signifieth), as not to be removed from his purpose by any entreaties: he was fully resolved upon their ruin, and it should be done exactly, ad amussim, by line and by rule, as it were, and with so much justice, and most exquisite diligence, that against it should lie no manner of exception. It is said of the Areopagites, in Athens, that their sentence was so upright that none could ever say he was unjustly condemned of them. How much more true is this of the righteous judgment of God, who must needs therefore be justified, and every mouth stopped? Mat 22:12. And he was speechless, because self-condemned, Tit 3:11, and had not what to request.
With a plumbline in his hand] To show that he would accurately examine their actions and punish their depravities, {Lam 2:8 2Ki 21:13} not sparing them as heretofore. A heavy sentence surely, Psa 130:8.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–13 Thus he shewed me: and, behold: see Amo 7:1.
Thus he shewed me: and, behold: see Amo 7:1.
The Lord; the great God, who had long tried Israel, and often spared.
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Stood upon a wall; possibly it may denote his fixed purpose now to proceed to demolish this state.
Made by a plumbline; strongly, regularly, and beautifully built, as art could build it.
With a plumbline in his hand; ready, as an artist, to take the measures of this wall, to discover all the defects of it, and how much it was varied from what it was at first built. This shall be the last measuring it, and on this measuring, whatever is faulty shall be pulled down, though to the very foundation. This was visionally represented to the prophet.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v10 One would have expected, 1. That what we met…
One would have expected, 1. That what we met with in the former part of the chapter would awaken the people to repentance, when they saw that they were reprieved in order that they might have space to repent and that they could not obtain a pardon unless the did repent. 2. That it would endear the prophet Amos to them, who had not only shown his good-will to them in praying against the judgments that invaded them, but had prevailed to turn away those judgments, which, if they had had any sense of gratitude, would have gained him an interest in their affections. But it fell out quite contrary; they continue impenitent, and the next news we hear of Amos is that he is persecuted. Note, As it is the praise of great saints that they pray for those that are enemies to them, so it is the shame of many great sinners that they are enemies to those who pray for them, Psa 35:13, Psa 35:15; Psa 109:4. We have here,
I. The malicious information brought to the king against the prophet Amos, Amo 7:10, Amo 7:11. The informer was Amaziah the priest of Bethel, the chief of the priests that ministered to the golden calf there, the president of Bethel (so some read it), that had the principal hand in civil affairs there. He complained against Amos, not only because he prophesied without license from him, but because he prophesied against his altars, which would soon be deserted and demolished if Amos's preaching could but gain credit. Thus the shrine-makers at Ephesus hated Paul, because his preaching tended to spoil their trade. Note, Great pretenders to sanctity are commonly the worst enemies to those who are really sanctified. Priests have been the most bitter persecutors. Amaziah brings an information to Jeroboam against Amos. Observe, 1. The crime he is charged with is no less than treason: "Amos has conspired against thee, to depose and murder thee; he aims at succeeding thee, and therefore is taking the most effectual way to weaken thee. He sows the seeds of sedition in the hearts of the good subjects of the king, and makes them disaffected to him and his government, that he may draw them by degrees from their allegiance; upon this account the land is not able to bear his words." It is slyly insinuated to the king that the country was exasperated against him, and it is given in as their sense that his preaching was intolerable, and such as nobody could be reconciled to, such as the times would by no means bear, that is, the men of the times would not. Both the impudence of his supposed treason, and the bad influence it would have upon the country, are intimated in that part of the charge, that he conspired against the king in the midst of the house of Israel. Note, It is no new thing for the accusers of the brethren to misrepresent them as enemies to the king and kingdom, as traitors to their prince and troublers of the land, when really they are the best friends to both. And it is common for designing men to assert that as the sense of the country which is far from being so. And yet here, I doubt, it was too true, that the people could not bear plain dealing any more than the priests. 2. The words laid in the indictment for the support of this charge (Amo 7:11): Amos says (and they have witnesses ready to prove it) Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be led away captive; and hence they infer that he is an enemy to his king and country, and not to be tolerated. See the malice of Amaziah; he does not tell the king how Amos had interceded for Israel, and by his intercession had turned away first one judgment and then another, and did not let fall his intercession till he saw the decree had gone forth; he does not tell him that these threatenings were conditional, and that he had often assured them that if they would repent and reform the ruin should be prevented. Nay, it was not true that he said, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, nor did he so die (Kg2 14:28), but that God would rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword, Amo 7:9. God's prophets and ministers have often had occasion to make David's complaint (Psa 56:5), Every day they wrest my words. But shall it be made the watchman's crime, when he sees the sword coming, to give warning to the people, that they may get themselves secured? or the physician's crime to tell his patient of the danger of his disease, that he may use means for the cure of it? What enemies are foolish men to themselves, to their own peace, to their best friends! It does not appear that Jeroboam took any notice of this information; perhaps he reverenced a prophet, and stood more in awe of the divine authority than Amaziah his priest did.
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II. The method he used to persuade Amos to withdraw and quit the country (Amo 7:12, Amo 7:13); when he could not gain his point with the king to have Amos imprisoned, banished, or put to death, or at least to have him frightened into silence or flight, he tried what he could do by fair means to get rid of him; he insinuated himself into his acquaintance, and with all the arts of wheedling endeavored to persuade him to go and prophesy in the land of Judah, and not at Bethel. He owns him to be a seer, and does not pretend to enjoin him silence, but suggests to him,
1. That Bethel was not a proper place for him to exercise his ministry in, for it was the king's chapel, or sanctuary, where he had his idols and their altars and priests; and it was the king's court, or the house of the kingdom, where the royal family resided and where were set the thrones of judgment; and therefore prophesy not any more here. And why not? (1.) Because Amos is too plain and blunt a preacher for the court and the king's chapel. Those that wear silk and fine clothing, and speak silken soft words, are fit for king's palaces. (2.) Because the worship that is in the king's chapel will be a continual vexation and trouble to Amos; let him therefore get far enough from it, and what the eye sees not the heart grieves not for. (3.) Because it was not fit that the king and his house should be affronted in their own court and chapel by the reproofs and threatenings which Amos was continually teazing them with in the name of the Lord; as if it were the prerogative of the prince, and the privilege of the peers, when they are running headlong upon a precipice, not to be told of their danger. (4.) Because he could not expect any countenance or encouragement there, but, on the contrary, to be bantered and ridiculed by some and to be threatened and brow-beaten by others; however, he could not think to make any converts there, or to persuade any from that idolatry which was supported by the authority and example of the king. To preach his doctrine there was but (as we say) to run his head against a post; and therefore prophesy no more there. But,
2. He persuades him that the land of Judah was the fittest place for him to set up in: Flee thee away thither with all speed, and there eat bread, and prophesy there. There thou wilt be safe; there thou wilt be welcome; the king's court and chapel there are on thy side; the prophets there will second thee; the priests and princes there will take notice of thee, and allow thee an honourable maintenance. See here, (1.) How willing wicked men are to get clear of their faithful reprovers, and how ready to say to the seers, See not, or See not for us; the two witnesses were a torment to those that dwelt on the earth (Rev 11:10), and it were indeed a pity that men should be tormented before the time, but that it is in order to the preventing of eternal torment. (2.) How apt worldly men are to measure others by themselves. Amaziah, as a priest, aimed at nothing but the profits of his place, and he thought Amos, as a prophet, had the same views, and therefore advised him to prophesy were he might eat bread, where he might be sure to have as much as he chose; whereas Amos was to prophesy where God appointed him, and where there was most need of him, not where he would get most money. Note, Those that make gain their godliness, and are governed by the hopes of wealth and preferment themselves, are ready to think these the most powerful inducements with others also.
III. The reply which Amos made to these suggestions of Amaziah's. He did not consult with flesh and blood, nor was it his care to enrich himself, but to make full proof of his ministry, and to be found faithful in the discharge of it, not to sleep in a whole skin, but to keep a good conscience; and therefore he resolved to abide by his post, and, in answer to Amaziah,
1. He justified himself in his constant adherence to his work and to his place (Amo 7:14, Amo 7:15); and that which he was sure would not only bear him out, but bind him to it, was that he had a divine warrant and commission for it: "I was no prophet, nor prophet's son, neither born nor bred to the office, not originally designed for a prophet, as Samuel and Jeremiah, not educated in the schools of the prophets, as many others were; but I was a herdsman, a keeper of cattle, and a gatherer of sycamore-fruit." Our sycamores bear no fruit, but, it seems, theirs did, which Amos gathered either for his cattle or for himself and his family, or to sell. He was a plain country-man, bred up and employed in country work and used to country fare. He followed the flocks as well as the herds, and thence God took him, and bade him go and prophesy to his people Israel, deliver to them such messages as he should from time to time receive from the Lord. God made him a prophet, and a prophet to them, appointed him his work and appointed him his post. Therefore he ought not to be silenced, for, (1.) He could produce a divine commission for what he did. He did not run before he was sent, but pleads, as Paul, that he was called to be an apostle; and men will find it is at their peril if they contradict and oppose any that come in God's name, if they say to his seers, See not, or silence those whom he has bidden to speak; such fight against God. An affront done to an ambassador is an affront to the prince that sends him. Those that have a warrant from God ought not to fear the face of man. (2.) The mean character he wore before he received that commission strengthened his warrant, so far was it from weakening it. [1.] He had no thoughts at all of ever being a prophet, and therefore his prophesying could not be imputed to a raised expectation or a heated imagination, but purely to a divine impulse. [2.] He was not educated nor instructed in the art or mystery of prophesying, and therefore he must have his abilities for it immediately from God, which is an undeniable proof that he had his mission from him. The apostles, being originally unlearned and ignorant men, evidenced that they owed their knowledge to their having been with Jesus, Act 4:13. When the treasure is put into such earthen vessels, it is thereby made to appear that the excellency of the power is of God, and not of man, Co2 4:7. [3.] He had an honest calling, by which he could comfortably maintain himself and his family; and therefore did not need to prophesy for bread, as Amaziah suggested (Amo 7:12), did not take it up as a trade to live by, but as a trust to honour God and do good with. [4.] He had all his days been accustomed to a plain homely way of living among poor husbandmen, and never affected either gaieties or dainties, and therefore would not have thrust himself so near the king's court and chapel if the business God had called him to had not called him thither. [5.] Having been so meanly bred, he could not have the courage to speak to kings and great men, especially to speak such bold and provoking things to them, if he had not been animated by a greater spirit than his own. If God, that sent him, had not strengthened him, he could not thus have set his face as a flint, Isa 50:7. Note, God often chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty; and a herdman of Tekoa puts to shame a priest of Bethel, when he receives from God authority and ability to act for him.
2. He condemns Amaziah for the opposition he gave them, and denounces the judgments of God against him, not from any private resentment or revenge, but in the name of the Lord and by authority from him, Amo 7:16, Amo 7:17. Amaziah would not suffer Amos to preach at all, and therefore he is particularly ordered to preach against him: Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord, hear it and tremble. Those that cannot bear general woes may expect woes of their own. The sin he is charged with is forbidding Amos to prophesy; we do not find that he beat him, or put him in the stocks, only he enjoined him silence: Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac; he must not only thunder against them, but he must not so much as drop a word against them; he cannot bear, no, not the most gentle distilling of that rain, that small rain. Let him therefore hear his doom.
(1.) For the opposition he gave to Amos God will bring ruin upon himself and his family. This was the sin that filled the measure of his iniquity. [1.] He shall have no comfort in any of his relations, but be afflicted in those that were nearest to him: His wife shall be a harlot; either she shall be forcibly abused by the soldiers, as the Levite's concubine by the men of Gibeah (they ravish the women of Zion, Lam 5:11), or she shall herself wickedly play the harlot, which, though her sin, her great sin, would be his affliction, his great affliction and reproach, and a just punishment upon him for promoting spiritual whoredom. Sometimes the sins of our relations are to be looked upon as judgments of God upon us. His children, though they keep honest, yet shall not keep alive: His sons and his daughters shall fall by the sword of war, and he himself shall live to see it. He has trained them up in iniquity, and therefore God will cut them off in it. [2.] He shall be stripped of all his estate; it shall fall into the hand of the enemy, and be divided by line, by lot, among the soldiers. What is ill begotten will not be long kept. [3.] He shall himself perish in a strange country, not in the land of Israel, which had been holiness to the Lord, but in a polluted land, in a heathen country, the fittest place for such a heathen to end his days in, that hated and silenced God's prophets and contributed so much to the polluting of his own land with idolatry.
(2.) Notwithstanding the opposition he gave to Amos, God will bring ruin upon the land and nation. He was accused for saying, Israel shall be led away captive (Amo 7:11), but he stands to it, and repeats it; for the unbelief of man shall not make the word of God of no effect. The burden of the word of the Lord may be striven with, but it cannot be shaken off. Let Amaziah rage, and fret, and say what he will to the contrary, Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. Note, it is to no purpose to contend with the judgments of God; for when God judges he will overcome. Stopping the mouths of God's ministers will not stop the progress of God's word, for it shall not return void.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–13 Thus he showed me,.... A third vision, which was…
Thus he showed me,.... A third vision, which was in the following manner:
and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand: this "wall" was the people of Israel, who were built up as a wall, firm and strong; and so stood against their enemies, while supported by the Lord, and he stood by them. The Septuagint version is, "an adamantine wall". In their constitution, both civil and ecclesiastic, they were formed according to the good and righteous laws of God, which may be signified by the plumbline; and so the Targum renders it, "the wall of judgment". And now the Lord appears standing upon this wall, to trample it down, and not to support it; and with a plumbline in his hand, to examine and try whether this wall was as it was first erected; whether it did not bulge out, and vary from its former structure, and was not according to the line and rule of his divine word, which was a rule of righteousness.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 By a plumb-line - Strongly and beautifully built.
By a plumb-line - Strongly and beautifully built.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 Verse 7. With a plumbline in his hand.] This…
Verse 7. With a plumbline in his hand.] This appears to be intended as an emblem of strict justice, and intimated that God would now visit them according to their iniquities.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 12 Amo 7:7-9. The Lord stood upon a wall made…
Amo 7:7-9. The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line — A wall strongly and beautifully built. God’s judgments are sometimes represented in Scripture by a line and a plummet, to denote that they are measured out by the exactest rules of justice. Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel — I will exactly measure my people Israel; I will take a particular view of the whole kingdom of the ten tribes, and notice how far it is right, or how far it is out of order, and will judge and punish according to their sins. I will not again pass by them any more — I will not any longer pass over their transgressions. The high places of Isaac shall be desolate — The idolatrous altars and groves which they have erected at Beer-sheba, where their holy ancestor Jacob erected an altar to the true God, and devoutly worshipped him, shall be entirely spoiled and made desolate. And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste — All the other places in Israel, set apart for idolatrous worship, shall also be entirely destroyed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7–13 Stood upon - (Rather “over” “a wall” made by…
Stood upon - (Rather “over” “a wall” made by “a plumbline;” lit. “a wall of a plumbline,” that is, (as our’s has it) “made” straight, perpendicular, “by” it. The wall had been “made by a lead” or “plumbline;” by it, that is, according to it, it should e destroyed. God had made it upright, He had given to it an undeviating rule of right, He had watched over it, to keep it, as He made it. Now “He stood over it,” fixed in His purpose, to destroy it. He marked its inequalities. Yet this too in judgment. He destroys it by that same rule of right wherewith He had built it. By that law, that right, those providential leadings, that grace, which we have received, by the same we are judged.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7–13 Plastered. Hebrew, "wall, made by a plumb-line, with a…
Plastered. Hebrew, "wall, made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand." (Protestants) (Haydock) --- But Septuagint, Syriac, &c., seem more literal, (Calmet) "on a wall of adamant, and a diamond in his hand." Hebrew anac, (Haydock) whence a diamond was called anactites, (Orpheus) or anachites. (Pliny, [Natural History?] xxxvii. 4.) --- Saturn had a scythe of adamant, and walls of this kind were deemed impervious even to the inhabitants of heaven. Thus Virgil describes the gates of hell: Porta adversa ingens solidoque adamante columnæ,
Vis ut nulla virum non ipsi exscindere ferro
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Cœlicolæ valeant. ----- (Æneid vi.)
--- God appearing on such a wall, intimated that the separation between him and his people was complete. (Calmet) --- Hic murus aheneus esto. (Horace, i. ep. 1.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7–13 wall made by a plumb-line--namely, perpendicular.
wall made by a plumb-line--namely, perpendicular.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 7-9. The master builder with the plumb line. The…
7-9. The master builder with the plumb line. The third vision differs from the preceding two in that it does not bring to view the judgment itself but Jehovah decreeing the same. Amos sees him as a master builder with plumb line in hand testing a city wall — a figure of Israel — as to its straightness. It is found crooked, and the decree goes forth that it must be torn down.
Upon — R.V., “beside.”
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A wall made by a plumb line — Literally, a wall of a plumb line. The fact that the wall is now condemned cannot be used as an objection to the correctness of the reading. A wall may be built straight by the aid of a plummet, yet in time it may settle and become crooked. This is what happened to this wall; and if the latter represents Israel it is an accurate picture of the facts of Hebrew history (Hos_9:10; Hos_11:1, etc.).
With a plumb line — He seeks to determine whether it is still straight and may be allowed to stand.
This time it is Jehovah who breaks the silence. To understand the lesson it was necessary that the prophet should not lose sight of any feature of the picture. To assure himself on this point and to prepare the way for the explanation Jehovah asks the question,
What seest thou? — Compare Amo_8:2; Jer_1:11; Jer_1:13. The answer being satisfactory, Jehovah proceeds with the explanation, retaining the figure of the plumb line but interpreting that of the wall.
I will — Or, I am about to (Amo_2:13).
Set a plumb line — The plumb line serves as a standard by which both to build and to tear down (2Ki_13:13; Isa_34:11). Whatever cannot stand the test of the plummet is condemned to destruction. What was the result of the test in this instance is not definitely stated, but the fact that an announcement of judgment immediately follows indicates that Israel was found wanting.
Pass by them — Without noticing and punishing their guilt (compare Amo_5:17). Jehovah gives no opportunity for intercession; and the prophet, recognizing the justice of the proceedings, has nothing more to say.
Amo_7:9 describes the character of the judgment. It will strike with special force the religious centers and the ruling dynasty.
High places — See on Hos_4:13; Mic_1:5.
Isaac — A poetic synonym of Israel (next clause; compare Amo_7:16).
Sanctuaries — See on Amo_4:4; Amo_5:4; Amo_8:14. They will be utterly destroyed (Amo_3:14).
House of Jeroboam — The ruling dynasty (Introduction, p.195). Whether the judgment will come during the lifetime of Jeroboam or later is not stated (compare Amo_7:11). Hosea also announces the doom of the same dynasty (Amo_1:4). On the fulfillment of the threat see p. 18.
Sword — Of the invader (Amo_6:14).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–13 7. upon] or leaning over (cf. Amo_9:1), i.e. (R.V.)…
7. upon] or leaning over (cf. Amo_9:1), i.e. (R.V.) beside. The prophet sees Jehovah stationed (Gen_28:13; Isa_3:13 a, Isa_21:8 b),—niẓẓâb, implying a rather more set and formal attitude than ‘ômçd, ‘standing,’—beside a plummet-wall (i.e. a wall built to the plummet), and holding a plummet in his hand: the design of the vision is thus to represent Him as a builder, whose aim is to secure that everything with which he has to do is built true. The application of the figure follows in Amo_7:8.
7–9. The third vision. The plumb-line. Here Amos does not see the calamity itself, but only the symbol that it is decreed (cf. the almond-tree, and the seething pot, in Jer_1:11; Jer_1:13).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–12 (7) Wall made by a plumbline—i.e., a perpendicular wall,…
(7) Wall made by a plumbline—i.e., a perpendicular wall, the stability of the kingdom being represented by the closely-fitting well-jointed stones of a lofty wall. Right in the heart of this strong-built city, the Lord Himself marks the extent of the desolation, the plumb-line being used in dismantling buildings, as well as erecting them (2Ki_21:13; Isa_34:11).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–13 Vers. 7-9. the third vision, the plumb line, represents…
Vers. 7-9. the third vision, the plumb line, represents the Lord himself as coming to examine the conduct of Israel, and finally deciding on its entire ruin.
Upon (rather, over) a wall made by a plumb line. The word translated "plumb line" (anakh) occurs only here. Septuagint adamav : so the Syriac; Vulgate, trulla caementarii; Aquila, ganwsiv , "brightening," "splendor;" Theodotion, thkomenon . As the word in other dialects means tin or lead, it is usually taken here to mean the plumb line which builders use to ascertain that their work is even and perpendicular (see a very different explanation in Knabenbauer, p. 314, etc.). The "wall" is the kingdom of Israel, once carefully built up, solidly constructed, accurately arranged. God had made it upright; how was it now?
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Vers. 7-9. Righteousness to the plumb line.
here has been reprieve after reprieve. The enemy of God"s wrath has been met in the breach by intercessory prayer, and, for the time, turned back. Once and again the hounds of vengeance have been cried off. But respite is not escape. There is a certain limit beyond which the system of Divine reprieves cannot go. And that limit has now been reached. The locust has been disappointed of his meal. The fire has been beaten back from the tinder. But the criminal is obdurate, and now the plumb line is applied to the bowing wall, and the word goes forth to overturn and destroy utterly. In this graphic delineation we notice
I THE WALL. This figure for Israel (ver. 8) suggests:
1. Something built. Other nations grow up as it may happen, shaped by the circumstances in which they arise. The nation of Israel was not a natural growth, but a Divine creation. "This people have I formed for myself." So with the Church. It is not a voluntary association. It is not a human institution. It is a vineyard of God"s husbandry, a house of God"s building Mat_16:18). Every stone in it is quarried and chiselled and laid by the Divine hand.
2. Something strong. A wall has substance, stability, resisting power, and is in Scripture emblematic of these things. (Eze_4:3 Isa_25:4 Zec_2:5) In regal! to these qualities Israel is a wall. God is "known within her palaces lot a Refuge." Salvation is to her for walls and bulwarks. In these things is her strength; and fortified thus, she shall not be moved". (Psa_46:5)
3. Something upright. "Made by a plumb line." God "made man upright." And he made Israel upright. Whatever comes out of his hands comes out of them free of any moral twist. It is made according to righteousness. Formed into a nation by God, Israel had a constitution, laws, and administration theoretically faultless The uprightness of this God-built wall was a main condition of its strength. In the perfection of the one was the perfection of the other. The loss of one would be the loss of both. The wall that leans is about to fall.
II THE PLUMB LINE. This is the regulating appliance, and the testing instrument with which the building must tally.
It is righteousness. Righteousness in the moral world answers to straightness in the world of matter. It is the moral rectilineal, or line of "oughtness the line along which moral beings ought to move. This is manifestly the plumb line by which to adjust the wall Israel to the perpendicular. Exemplified in the character, this righteousness is uprightness. Exemplified in the conduct, it is justice. In either case it is the ideal of rightness.
It is righteousness as it exists in God. God is universal Perfection "Love," "Truth," "the Holy One," "the righteous God," and all in ideal form. He is, in fact, the typical moral Being. Each grace exists in him in its highest form. His righteousness is unspotted righteousness, and the realized ideal of all that righteousness ought to be.
It is this righteousness as it is revealed in Scripture. Scripture is the rule of man, just as being the revelation of God. What he is our Model. What he does is our Exemplar. What he is and does and requires is the burden of Scripture a formulation of his whole will "To the Law and to the testimony," etc. By the Law must Israel be tried, its true character revealed, and its fitting destiny settled. "Those that have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law." The Law is the unerring plumb line, exposing every deviation from the moral perpendicular.
III THE TESTING. "Behold, I will set," etc. (ver. 8). This is to apply the plumb line to the wall, so as to reveal irregularity if it exists.
This is no longer to be put off. "I shall pass by it no more." The limit of Divine forbearance was now reached. No more passing by, no longer indulgence, no further forgiveness, no more postponement of the vengeance vowed. There is a last word of God to every man, and after it nothing can come but the blow.
The wall is to be tried by the rule it was built by. (Ver. 7.) "He destroys it by that same rule of right wherewith he had built it. By that law, that right, those providential leadings, that grace which we have received, by the same we are judged" (Pusey). God has only one standard, and he uses it always. Things ought to be as he made them, and he tries them to discover if they are so. The measure of divergence from original righteousness, whether in men or Churches, is the measure of guilt in the diverging party. Comparison with its own pure ideal would bring out Israel"s corruption in the strongest light.
The testing is to be one of the entire nation. "The wall is not the emblem of Samaria, or of any one city. It is the strength and defence of the whole people" (Pusey). There was general deflection, sad to discover this there will be a general plumbing. All the wall must be tested before it can be all destroyed.
IV THE DEMOLITION. The wall is found to have bowed, and the word is given to pull it down. In this destruction would be involved:
The idolatrous places. "The sacrificial heights of Isaac," all the high places at Dan, Bethel, and Gilgal, where idol worship was carried on. In the wasting of these would appear, on the one hand, the vanity of idol worship, and, on the other, God"s special wrath against it matters which it was necessary to emphasize in the mind of idol loving Israel.
Idolatrous objects. "The holy things of Israel" (ver. 9) are the objects and adjuncts of their idolatrous worship. Dan and Bethel, as rivals of Jerusalem, having been desolated, Baal, Ashtaroth, etc., as rivals of Jehovah, would be destroyed. Broken idols and levelled shrines would alone remain, a commentary on the impotence of the "lying vanities" to which blinded Israel persistently turned.
The Hebrew monarchy. "The house of Jeroboam" was the reigning family. It was the last dynasty of the Israelitish monarchy. In it and with it was to perish, (Hos_1:4) and did perish, "the kingdom of the house of Israel." The royal house was so identified with the national idol worship as of necessity to be involved in whatever destruction this provoked. It was specially fitting, moreover, that the family of the arch-idolater should be the one to sink in the burning grave of the idolatry he set up.
Vers. 7-9. The plumb line of judgment.
The pictorial style of Amos here sets before us in an impressive and memorable way a great truth. Whether in a dream or in a prophetic ecstasy, the prophet beheld one with a plumb line standing by a wall. He recognized in the wall the palaces, the temples, the city ramparts of Samaria; in the figure, a representation of the eternal Ruler of the nations; in the plumb line, the emblem of just and orderly procedure. And a voice explained the vision as predictive of the destruction and ruin of the capital of Israel, in execution of the decree of Divine justice against the unfaithful, sinful, rebellious, and impenitent people.
I THE SIN OF MAN MAY EXHAUST THE PATIENCE OF GOD. It must not, indeed, be supposed that the Divine nature is susceptible of capricious changes, such as men are liable to experience. But we have to consider God as the moral Governor of the nations of mankind. And we are taught that he is, as we say, in earnest in the laws which he promulgates, and in the promises and threats by which he accompanies them. He will not continue to threaten, and then falsify his own words, by withholding punishment from those who withhold repentance. With no weariness, with no irritability, but with a righteous judgment and a compassionate heart, he will execute his threats.
II THE JUST RETRIBUTION OF GOD IS ACCORDING TO UNCHANGING AND INFLEXIBLE RULES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. In human punishment there is often an element of caprice and an element of vindictiveness. From the Divine mind both are forever absent. No sinner can complain, or ever will be able to complain, that he has been punished beyond his deserts. On the contrary, he will ever recognize that wisdom and righteousness have characterized all the appointments of the eternal King. The plumb line is employed not only in construction but in destruction. And God who has made men"s moral nature, and who roles over it and in it, will not violate his principles of righteousness in the administration of his government or in the execution of his sentences.
III THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS A POWERFUL ENCOURAGEMENT TO REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE. It is a dissuasive from sin and impenitence, inasmuch as it is a guarantee that rebellion shall not go unpunished. It is an inducement to repentance, for it is part of God"s unchanging purpose that the penitent and submissive shall receive pardon and acceptance. And it is not to be forgotten that God"s purposes of mercy are as much distinguished by law as are his purposes of punishment. Mercy is in accordance with the "plumb line" of Divine righteousness, and in his gospel God appears, as he is, just and "the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. T.
Vers. 7-9. Man"s moral character.
he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand," etc. "Behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line," viz. perpendicular. "Amos." "The Lord knoweth them that are his", (2Ti_2:19) as he saith to Moses, "I know thee by name". (Exo_33:12, Exo_33:17) "He calleth his own sheep by Joh_10:3). "Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel." No longer are the symbols, as in the former two, stated generally; this one is expressly applied to Israel. God"s long suffering is worn out by Israel"s perversity; so Amos ceases to intercede, as Abraham did in the case of Sodom. The plummet line was used, not only in building, but in destroying houses. (2Ki_21:13 Isa_28:17 Isa_34:11 Lam_2:8) It denotes that God"s judgments are measured out by the exactest rules of justice. Here it is placed in the midst of Israel; i.e. the judgment is not to be confined to an outer part of Israel, as by Tiglath-Pileser it is to reach the very centre. This was fulfilled when Shalmaneser, after a three years" siege of Samaria, took it, in the ninth year of Hoshea the King of Israel, and carried away Israel captive finally to Assyria. (2Ki_17:3, 2Ki_17:5, 2Ki_17:6, 2Ki_17:23) "I will not again pass by them any more." I will not forgive them any more (Amo_8:2; Proverbs Mic_7:18). "And the high places," dedicated to idols, "of Isaac." They boasted of following the example of their forefather Isaac, in erecting high places at Beersheba; (Amo_5:5) but he and Abraham erected them before the temple was appointed at Jerusalem. But these Israelites did so after the temple had been fixed as the only place for sacrifices and worship. The mention of Isaac and Israel is in all probability intended simply to express the names which their posterity boasted in, as if they would ensure their safety; but these shall not save them. Homiletically, we may use these words as suggesting certain things concerning man"s moral character.
I THERE IS A KIND OF MASONRY IN THE FORMATION OF MAN"S CHARACTER. "Thus he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line." A plumb line is an architectural instrument; and the wall on which the Lord stood was being measured by a plumb line. Moral masonry is suggested. Man"s character may be compared to masonry in several respects.
It has one foundation. Walls are built, not upon two, but upon one foundation. So is every man"s character. There is some one principle on which it is organized, some one fount to which you can trace all the streams of human activity. The principle is the paramount affection of the man. Whatever he loves most, governs him. If he loves pleasure most, his character is sensual; if he loves money most, his character is worldly; if he loves wisdom most, his character is philosophic; if he loves God most, his character is Divine, etc.
It has a variety of materials. In a building there are earth, lime, stones, bricks, wood, iron, etc. These are brought together into a whole. Character is not formed of one set of actions, thoughts, impulses, volitions. All kinds of acts enter into it, mental, moral, muscular, personal, political, religious all are materials in the building.
It is a gradual advancement. You cannot build a house in a day; stone by stone it must advance: so the formation of character is a slow work. Men cannot become either devils or saints at once, cannot spring into these characters by a bound. It takes time to build up a Satan, and a longer time still to build up a seraph within us. Acts make habits; habits make character.
II THREE IS A DIVINE STANDARD BY WHICH TO TEST MAN"S CHARACTER. Here is the great God standing on the wall with a "plumb line" in his hand, with which to test his people Israel. What is the Divine "plumb line" by which to test character? Here it is: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." Or, perhaps more intelligibly, the moral character of Christ: "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his." That spirit is love for God and men. Without love we are "nothing." Here is a plumb line. Are you Christly? If not, your moral masonry is not architecturally sound or symmetric. He who now stood before Amos on the wall, with a "plumb line in his hand," stands today amongst men with this moral test of character.
III THERE IS A TERRIBLE RUIN FOR THOSE WHOSE CHARACTERS WILL NOT BEAR THE TEST OF THIS PLUMB LINE. "Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword." See this test applied on the day of judgment, as represented in Mat_25:31-46, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory," etc. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 The Lord stood upon a wall made by a…
Amo_7:7-8
The Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in His hand.
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God in relation to human work
All men are workers, the world is full of labour. The words suggest two facts in relation to it.
I. God has a commanding view of it. He stands upon the wall high up, so that every portion comes within His glance. He observes--
1. Its quality, good or bad.
2. Its variety, overt or occult.
3. Its influence, useful or pernicious.
Solemn thought, that Gods eye is on us in all our activities, and that the most, secret act eludes not His glance.
II. God tests the character of it. A plumbline in His hand. The mason uses the plumbline to determine the straightness of the wall, and thus God tests the character of human actions. What is Gods plumbline?
1. His law as inscribed upon the human conscience. By this He tries all men, heathen, etc.
2. Gods law as written in the Scriptures. By this He tries all who possess the revelation.
3. Gods law as embodied in Christ. By this He tries all who have the Gospel. (Homilist.)
Mans moral character
I. There is a kind of masonry in the formation of mans character. Mans character may be compared to masonry in several respects.
1. It has one foundation. Walls are built, not upon two, but upon one foundation. So is every mans character. There is some one principle on which it is organised. That principle is the paramount affection of the man. Whatever he loves most, governs him. If he loves pleasure most, his character is sensual; if he loves money most, his character is worldly. If he loves wisdom most, his character is philosophic; if he loves God most, his character is Divine, etc.
2. It has a variety of materials. In a building there are earth, lime, stones, bricks, wood, iron, etc. etc. These are brought together into a whole. Character is not formed of one set of actions, thoughts, impulses, volitions. All kinds of acts enter into it, mental, moral, muscular, personal, political, religious--all are materials in the building.
3. It is a gradual advancement.
II. There is a divine standard by which to test mans character. What is the Divine plumbline by which to test character? Here it is. Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them. Or, perhaps more intelligibly, the moral character of Christ. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
III. There is a terrible ruin for those whose characters will not bear the test of this plumbline. Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of My people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: and the high places of Israel shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword (Mat_25:31-46). (Homilist.)
A test for uprightness
Italy is a land of volcanoes, and earthquakes, and other shaking things of the sort, so that it is not easy to build tall and slender towers and yet keep them true to the plummet: There comes a shake, or the foundation yields a little, and the towers tilts--like the leaning tower of Pisa, and the two leaning towers of Turin. It is natural then that builders who have taken pains to do their work thoroughly should seek for some way to prove it, so as to show that what they have done is both upright and downright. The builders of the cathedral in Florence took a very ingenious way of proving tiffs. High up, in the centre of that beautiful building, is a lofty dome, like that of St. Pauls, with stained windows all round. On the casement of one of these windows is a small iron ring, and it is by this the uprightness of the tower is tested every year. For, on a certain day in June, at a certain hour, the sun shines through that ring, and its light falls on a brass plate let into the marble floor far beneath. So long as the sunbeam falls on a spot there, on that day and at that moment, it proves that the building is as erect as on the day it was finished; if it had tilted over so little to the one side or the other, that long ray of light would have proved it, for then it could not have fallen exactly on the right spot. (J. Reid Howatt.)
What seest thou? And I said, A plumbline.--
Straight up and down religion
Bricklayers, and stone masons, and carpenters, in the building of walls, use an instrument made of a cord, at the end of which a lump of lead is fastened. They drop it over the side of the wall, and, as the plummet naturally seeks the centre of gravity in the earth, the workman discovers where the wall recedes and where it bulges out, and just what is the perpendicular. Our text represents God as standing on the wall of character, which the Israelites had built, and in that way testing it. What the world wants is a straight up and down religion. Much of the so-called piety of the day tends this way and that to suit the times. We have all been building a wall of character, and it is glaringly imperfect, and needs reconstruction. How shall it be brought into perpendicular? Only by the Divine measurement. The whole tendency of the times is to make us act by the standard of what others do. There are ten thousand plumblines in use, but only one is true and exact, and that is the line of Gods eternal righteousness. Nothing would make times so good, and the earning a livelihood so easy, as the universal adoption of the law of right. Suspicion strikes through all bargain-making. In the same way we need to measure our theologies. All sorts of religions are putting forth their pretensions. All religions but one begin at the wrong end, and in the wrong place. The Bible religion demands that we first get right with God My text gives me a grand opportunity of saying a useful word to all young men who are now forming habits for a lifetime. A young man is in danger of getting a defect in his wall of character that may never be corrected. Oh, this plumbline of the everlasting right! God will throw it over all our lives to show us our moral deflections. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
The plumbline
Builders could not build our houses as they ought without a plumbline. Israel had been built up as a people, so to speak, with a plumbline; everything was right; God approved of them. But now Israel had become a very different people from what they were at the beginning. Very early Jeroboam began to introduce calf worship. The people thus became very wicked, and departed from the way of the Lord more and more. Amos went to warn Jeroboam the Second. But all his warnings were in vain. Amaziah the high priest told him to go away, for they did not want his services there. God comforted Amos by showing him a plumbline, and in effect saying, I have noticed how Israel, like a wall which was once upright, has been gradually giving way, and yet I have passed it by, but I cannot do so any more. This is what God says at last to every kingdom or nation that ceases to be upright and true. How many nations there have been that have begun fairly, but have got worse as time passed by! God is always with His plumbline trying our lives. What is His plumbline? The grand old Book. By this, too, we ought all to be trying ourselves. You are building up a life. Every thought you cherish, every word you utter, and every deed you perform is the building up of character and life. Bricklayers are not foolish enough to think that if they build a wall out of perpendicular it Will stand. If a man will grow up crooked, or dishonest, or untruthful, he is bound to come down sooner or later. If Jesus comes to us, He is sure to find something or other in our character that is not right, and very likely He will find a good many bulging defects. It may be selfishness, untruthfulness, unkindness, or some other sin. We must build up our life according to His law. We cannot do anything ourselves without His help; but that help He is ever ready to give. (David Davies.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v10 Amo_7:10.] The prophet opposed at Bethel on account of…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Amo_7:10.] The prophet opposed at Bethel on account of these predictions. Conspired] Heb. banded, implying that others joined. There is a charge of conspiracy and sedition; insinuates that Amos prophesies for bread (Amo_7:10-11), and in pretended courtesy advises him to remove. Say nothing against the king, let us alone in our customs, or we will suppress you by force.
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Amo_7:14. Said] Indignantly repudiated the charge against himself. He was no scholar; as a herdsman he was content with a little, did not seek a mere livelihood, but as the messenger of God he spoke with dignity and authority.
Amo_7:17. Therefore] in return for this opposition Amaziah must bear his own doom. Wife] will be violently taken by the enemy. The city] publicly and openly: she would be dishonoured at the storming of the city. Land] possessed or assigned to others. Sons] Children slain by the foe; he himself would die in exile among the heathen, and the whole nation would be carried away into captivity.
THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN PRIEST AND PROPHET.—Amo_7:10-17
These verses contain an interesting episode, and present the prophet of God undaunted in danger. We see the issue of his preaching and the requital for his pains. Amaziah, the idolatrous priest of Bethel, is greatly incensed, resolves by force and fraud to get rid of Amos.
I. The conduct of the priest. Amaziah must be viewed as representative of the system of which he was no doubt the ecclesiastical head.
1. He seeks to silence the prophet by civil power. He seems to have been intimate with the king, pretends great kindness to him, when really he consulted his own interests. If Amos prevailed, his gods would starve, and Jerusalem would have all the custom. False teachers prove most cruel persecutors. Their authority is based on the patronage of the great and the support of the state. They are uncharitable in feeling and impotent in power. Flattery may find friends, but truth alone will stand.
2. He brings false charges against the prophet’s conduct. Every word has weight, like so many daggers, to stab the prophet.
(1) He makes false accusation against the character of the prophet. He was the proud pompous hierarch of a popular religion, a system upheld by prestige and patronage. Amos in his estimation was a needy vagrant, a contemptuous “seer.”
(2) He makes false accusation against the motives of the prophet. He insinuates Amos to be a mean, self-interested person, plying his vocation to “eat bread.” Self-interested persons, worldly priests, measure others by their own motives. Those who make godliness a gain, and are governed by hopes of preferment and wealth, understand not the aims of God’s servants, and think to rule others by inducements which influence them.
(3) He makes false accusation against the conduct of the prophet. He charges him with conspiracy. “Amos hath conspired against thee.” This was a most dangerous accusation, in the unsettled condition of the kingdom. This spirit has characterized a false priesthood in every age. Prophets and apostles, martyrs and reformers, and Christ himself, were all subject to the same persecution—the same artful and malicious design to excite the temporal power against them.
3. He brings false charges against the prophet’s preaching. In whatever spirit Amaziah reports the words of the prophet, he keeps back or perverts the truth. He artfully frames the language to establish his charge. He makes a base slander. The prophet had uttered the downfall of the house of Jeroboam, but not in a spirit of rebellion and treason. “Amos hath conspired against thee.” This was done openly at Bethel—think of that! “In the midst of thy people Israel.” “Commotions of the people are dangerous, O king! The people resent this. If thou dost not act they will”. “The land is not able to bear all his words.” God’s people have often been represented as enemies to the state and disloyal to princes. The true power of Christian character has been felt and hated. But “unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit” with which servants of God have spoken, recourse has been had to illegal methods, and men have not dared to appeal to reason and the word of God (Act_6:10). “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.”
4. He advises the prophet to consult his own safety. “Flee thee away.” As a seeming friend he requests him to flee away from danger.
(1) He urges him in the language of terror. It is not safe to prophesy here against the king. This is Bethel, the centre of worship and the seat of government. He could expect no encouragement or sanction in the court. He was too blunt, too faithful, to be heard. Go to Judah.
(2) He urges him in the language of threats. As a haughty prelate he assumes authority. “Prophesy not again any more,” in my parish and jurisdiction. We have enough of schism and sedition. I am resolved to suspend and silence thee. Prohibition from man will not destroy the authority of God. Peter and John were forbidden to preach, Luther and Knox were threatened, but they could not but speak. “We ought to obey God rather than men.”
II. The behaviour of the prophet. Amos was too deeply impressed with a sense of duty to be swayed by arguments like these.
1. He repudiates the personal charge. “I was no prophet,” &c. He was a humble shepherd, neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet by profession. Content to cultivate and gather figs, he would never have thrust himself into office. He was a labouring man, neither ashamed of his origin nor employ. Others may boast of rank and authority, but God chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty.
2. He asserts his Divine commission. “The Lord took me.” What the priest forbade, God commanded. “Go, prophesy.” Amaziah was in direct rebellion against God, Amos was acting in obedience to God. God often calls men from flocks and herds to stand before priests and princes. They may not be recognized by the learned scribe, the proud prelate, and the king’s court: but they are conscious of a Divine mission, and are determined to fulfil it.
3. He refuses to leave the path of duty. Amaziah might be influenced by the fear of man, Jonah may escape from Nineveh, but Amos fears not the wrath of a king. God sent him to Israel, not to Judah, and from Israel he would not go. If we are conscious of God’s sanction we shall be supported in trial and courageous in danger. This made Amos resolute against Amaziah; Nathan free with David; Elijah bold with Ahab; John faithful with Herod; and the apostles confident before the world. One prophet sent by God shall overcome the hosts of Baal, though backed by the power of king and queen. “Should such a man as I flee?”
4. He repeats his solemn message. He is not terrified by priest or king. Though forbidden to prophesy, he desists not, but denounces God’s words and bids the priest attend to the awful sentence.
(1) His wife would be dishonoured. She would be openly and publicly insulted at the storming of the city.
(2) His children would be slain by the sword. He had trained them up, and God would cut them off, in idolatry.
(3) His lands would be taken by the enemy. They would be allotted to others by line (Deu_32:9; 2Sa_8:2; Psa_16:6). Thus he would lose his heirs and his inheritance also.
(4) He would die a captive in a foreign land. He who now gloried in priesthood and position should become an exile and die in a land polluted by idols. The greatest misery that could happen to one expecting a grave in the land of promise.
(5) The kingdom itself would be destroyed. “And Israel shall surely go into captivity.” The prediction is in the very words of the priest himself (Amo_7:11), and a warning to all who oppose the servants and abuse the gifts of God. If we pollute the people of God, we shall be dishonoured ourselves. Wicked parents and ungodly ministers reap what they sow and bring a curse upon posterity. Sinners and seducers can never make void the threatening of God. The most haughty and powerful cannot defy judgments which offend them. Opposition may provoke God to contend with them as individuals, and bring ruin upon their families and estates, upon body and soul, for time and eternity.
A POLITICAL PRIEST AND A TRUE PROPHET
Let us view the transactions of this high priest, and we shall find a complete character of a false prophet, or the perfect picture of a politician.
1. They use to flatter and delude great ones, making them to believe that none are their friends but such as say as they say, do whatever they would have them do, and humour them in their sins;—that they are their foes that, like Amos, deal faithfully and plainly with them; and this is no small part of great men’s misery, that they have few about them that dare or will deal faithfully with them. They may use the Litany (in this sense) with that alteration which the poor curate used, when he saw his lord come into the Church, O God the Father of Heaven, have mercy upon us Right Honourable sinners. Their state is worse (in this respect) than that of inferior persons, who are plainly and truly told of their sins, when these are soothed up to their destruction.
2. They calumniate and belie the true prophets. They observe the rule of Machiavel—Lie lustily, somewhat will stick though it be never so false.
3. They labour with might and main to suppress and silence the true prophets. They know that their kingdom cannot long stand, if once the faithful ministers of Christ be countenanced; light and darkness, the ark and Dagon, Christ and Belial, can never subsist together. This made Amaziah use both force and fraud to rid the land of Amos
4. They labour to suppress good men before they can be heard. They must not speak nor dispute the case. Thus Amaziah clandestinely accuseth Amos to the king, when he could make no defence for himself.
5. They usually mingle some truth with their lies. As fowlers do mix some wheat with their chaff, to catch the birds the sooner; so did Amaziah mix some truth with his lies. Amos hath said Jeroboam shall die by the sword (that was false), and Israel shall surely go into captivity (that was true) [Hall].
Let us now view the true prophet of God. He is the very opposite of a timeserving, conventional priest.
1. He is Divinely called to his work. He is no mere professional servant. He does not assume office for his own interests, nor does he run before he is sent. He does not always belong to the regular order of prophets, nor is he always qualified by human learning, but God has appeared to him and uttered the word, “Go prophesy to my people.”
2. He is often persecuted and opposed in his work. He predicts judgments which some cannot bear. He is called an enthusiast and “a mover of sedition,” denounced, reproached, and hindered in his work. If open violence does not answer, secret fraud is devised (Jer_11:19; Jer_12:6). Hence men display their personal spite and vile ingratitude. But they will find it perilous to fight against God and persecute his servants.
3. He is always faithful in doing his work. Truthful men are valiant. Cowards fear and creep behind. God’s servants stand their ground and are faithful to their trust. They are not deterred by false friends nor threatening foes. Fidelity to conscience and God often costs them their life. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
The sins of Amaziah.
1. Contradicting God’s command. “Prophesy not against Israel”
2. Slanderous report of God’s servant. “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.”
3. Frustrating God’s purpose. (a.) In seeking to crush the truth, (b.) In tempting the messenger to flee from duty. The prophet’s defence proved the nature of the charge. Amaziah hears his doom, like Peter telling Ananias, “Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
Amo_7:10. Not able to bear all his words. Truth often an offence—always a power in the land. The world is compelled to confess their impotence against it.
Amo_7:12. Worldly advice to God’s servants. “Flee,” &c. This given by Pharisees to Christ (Luk_13:31). It is folly to declare alarming truths before the great; impiety to oppose established customs and eminent dignitaries; and insolent to preach the gospel in king’s chapels. Smooth things and popular heresies must pass current with some, and royalty must pass undisturbed to destruction.
This was fit advice for the priest of Bethel. Carnal men do not rise above carnal motives; but true prophets consult not flesh and blood, have higher motives than safety, bread, &c. Apostles, Reformers, and Missionaries took no counsel with advisers like Amaziah. Duty before temporal interests. Pray for help to discharge it. This advice proves—
1. Selfishness,
2. Timidity, and
3. Disobedience.
Amo_7:13. Observe, this priest of Bethel claims honour for it, not because it is the Lord’s sanctuary, but because it is the king’s sanctuary, and not because it is the house of God, but the house of Jeroboam. All claims of reverence for a Church simply and merely as a national establishment, independently of Divine institution, are no better than these assertions of Amaziah. The first royal propounder of what is now called Erastianism, as far as we know, was Jeroboam I.; the first priestly advocate of it, as far as we know, was Amaziah [Wordsworth].
Amo_7:14. Herdman. One of that class to which Abraham, and Moses, and David had belonged; but not rich in fields and herds, in men-servants and maid-servants, like the first; nor learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians, like the second; nor with any, the most distant, intimations that he might one day be the shepherd of a people, like the third [F. D. Maurice].
1. God loves to appear to men diligent in their calling. Moses keeping sheep, David following the ewes, and Saul seeking the asses, &c.
2. When God calls we must be ready to forsake all. Amos leaves his herds, disciples their nets, and Abraham his country. Grace makes men able to do and willing to suffer what God commands.
3. The sphere must be left with God to appoint. Whatever the lot may be, we must be satisfied. Other places may seem better, but God knows best.
4. When once the place is fixed we must not quit it without Divine guidance. Nothing warrants unlawful fear in the performance of duty or neglect of it. Providence must never be construed to sanction flight or withdraw us from our work. We may apparently do little good, be permitted to prophesy in another place and be more successful. But we must abide in our calling, never give way to corrupt principles, and shun not to declare the whole counsel of God.
Amo_7:17. Opposers of God’s word examples of his justice and indignation. Amaziah led God’s people into idolatry, and his wife is an harlot in the city. He destroyed the souls of the people, and his own family fall by the sword. Given to the world, he was the chief cause why Israel was despoiled of their inheritance, and his land is divided among the conquerors. He was the chief cause of Israel’s exile, and would not let them believe it, the threatening was verified upon himself, and without recovery died in a polluted land [Hutcheson].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 7
Amo_7:10-11. Latimer spoke his mind before Henry VIII. and was complained of by his enemies. One of them kneeled before the king and accused him of seditious doctrines. Latimer turned first to his accuser and asked, “What form of preaching would you appoint me to preach before a king?” No answer was given to this and several other questions. Then he turned to the king, confessed his unworthiness to preach, declared that he was called to it, but would give way to his betters. “But if your Grace allow me for a preacher, I would desire your Grace to discharge my conscience, give me leave to frame my discourse according to mine audience.” The king was pleased with Latimer’s words, who was congratulated by his friends, and told with tears in their eyes that they looked for nothing but confinement in the Tower for him [Whitecross].
Amo_7:14. Herdman. In Palestine at the present day none but the very poor consent to be herdmen, and only such gather sycamore fruit or use it [The Land and Book].
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv8–9 Symbol of judgment according to righteousness.
plumbline
Symbol of judgment according to righteousness.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v10 The Prophet at Bethel
The Prophet at Bethel
v. 10. Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, the high priest in charge of the sanctuary of idolatry at Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel, in its religious center, namely, by announcing the coming punishment of the Lord without fear or favor; the land is not able to bear all his words. This is a common charge against the teachers of truth to this day, that their preaching creates a disturbance in the land.
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v. 11. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, for this was actually included in the statement of verse 9, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. Amaziah purposely stated the threat of the Lord in its severer form in order to provoke the king’s wrath.
v. 12. Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah and there eat bread, earning some sort of a livelihood, and prophesy there,
v. 13. but prophesy not again any more at Bethel, where his words naturally made it very uncomfortable for Amaziah; for it is the king’s l, a sanctuary established by the king, and it is the king’s court, the chief place for the cult ordained by the king for his entire kingdom. His argument was that for this reason it was altogether improper for Amos to continue his threatening sayings.
v. 14. Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, in defending himself against the high priest’s insinuations, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son, that is, he was not born to that honor nor did he attend any school of the prophets, but I was an herdman, a shepherd of humble position, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit, that is, of the sycamore-fig-tree;
v. 15. and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, giving him a direct call, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel.
v. 16. Now, therefore, bear thou the word of the Lord, Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel and drop not thy word, Cf Eze 21:2-7; Mic 2:6-11, against the house of Isaac.
v. 17. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, dishonored by the enemies at the storming of the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, in the slaughter of the same attack, and thy land, his own landed possession, shall be divided by line, allotted to the invaders, and thou shalt die in a polluted land, as a prisoner among the heathen; and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. With people who are unwittingly caught in the meshes of a false religion one may have patience, but the leaders of false religions must be rebuked with all severity, for it is their leadership which results in the loss of souls, and the leaders are rightly held responsible.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 9, 10, 12 plumb line
plumb line
thin rope with a weight at one end used in building to make sure walls stand straight up and down
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what do you see?
Yahweh uses a question to teach Amos. AT: "tell me what you see." (See: Rhetorical Question)
I will put a plumb line among my people Israel
Judging the people and determining they are wicked is spoken of as if the Israelites were a wall, and Yahweh determines the wall is not straight by using a plumb line. AT: "my people Israel are wicked. They are like a wall that is not straight up and down" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
lord
people of God
Israel
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7–13 7:7-9 This vision begins like the previous two (7:2-3,…
7:7-9 This vision begins like the previous two (7:2-3, 4-6), but this time the Lord allows no intercession. The abrupt shift in outcome contributed to the power of Amos’s message.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.