THREE VISIONS

Passage: Amos 7:1-9

Key verse: 8

NIV

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(A) He was preparing swarms of locusts(B) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean,(C) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?(D) He is so small!(E)”

3 So the Lord relented.(F)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.(G)

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;(H) it dried up the great deep and devoured(I) the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!(J)”

6 So the Lord relented.(K)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.(L)

7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[a] with a plumb line[b] in his hand. 8 And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(M) Amos?(N)”

“A plumb line,(O)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(P)

9 “The high places(Q) of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries(R) of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(S)”

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Footnotes
  1. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

Warning Visions

7 (A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, (B)he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!
    (C)How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
3 (D)The Lord relented concerning this:
    “It shall not be,” said the Lord.

4 (E)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling (F)for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!
    (G)How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
6 (H)The Lord relented concerning this:
    “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

7 (I)This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with (J)a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, (K)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting (L)a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel;
    (M)I will never again pass by them;
9 (N)the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
    and I will rise against (O)the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

God showed three visions of judgment on Israel to Amos. In the first vision, a swarm of locusts stripped the land so clean Amos cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?” The Lord relented The second vision was of a great fire that swept over the land, devastating the whole nation, drying up the deep and destroying the land. Again, Amos cried out for mercy from God, saying Jacob could not survive such judgment. And again, the Lord relented. God makes clear that he judges sin surely and completely. We can but repent and pray for God’s mercy on us.

Then God sent a third vision to Amos. This was of a plumb line. A plumb line is a tool used to check the straightness of a wall. God used the plumb line to measure the “straightness” of Israel, and they were found wanting. They were not straight with God, but crooked. So, he would judge them. He would not relent this time, but would destroy their high places, ruin their sanctuaries, and send the sword against the house of their king. God is looking for straight walls, true to plumb. We can be true to plumb when we repent our sins and come to our Lord Jesus.

Prayer: Father, without Jesus, we are bent and broken. We cannot hope to measure up to your plumb. Thank you that because of Jesus, we are straightened.

One Word: Crooked, but straightened by the Lord