The Plumbline
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
"And, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in His hand….Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of My people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more" (Amos 7:7,8).
As
we compare the two verses of this vision, God identifies the "wall" as
"My people Israel." But what did "the plumbline" represent?
A
plumbline is a tool that is used even today by masons who wish to erect
walls that are perfectly straight. A simple weight at the end of a
string is suspended alongside the wall as it is being constructed, to
ensure that it is being built straight, and at a perfect right angle to
the gravitational pull of the earth. Construction workers know that
bowed or leaning walls are easily toppled (Psa. 62:3).
Since
our text tells us that this "wall" that represents Israel was "made by a
plumbline," we believe the plumbline to be the Law of Moses. It was the
Law that defined Israel as a nation, and its perfect code of
righteousness ensured that Israel was built in accord with the perfectly
upright standard of the very righteousness of God. Here in Amos 7, God
is re-applying 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.
Today
in the dispensation of Grace, of course, God is not dealing with Israel
or any other nation, but rather with individual members of the Body of
Christ. In the epistles of Paul we read of how in Christ we too have
been formed in accord with the perfect standard of the Law (II Cor.
5:21), and that the righteousness of the Law is given to us as a free
gift of God's grace through faith (Rom. 3:21-26; 10:4; I Cor. 1:30).
Thus when believers today wish to apply a standard to our lives to check
to see if we have drifted from who God made us in Christ, we look not
to the Law, but to the epistles of the Apostle Paul.
King James Bible
The Preserved and Living Word of God
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