We’re in Amos 7. “Let justice roll down…” is a famous quote from chapter 5. Chapter 7 contains another well-known picture:

This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer. “The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.” (Amos 7.7 – 9, NIV)

The plumb line is one of the pictures of Amos often shown. “I will spare them no more.” The plumb line reveals a problem.

I’m reminded of current attitudes toward GAS (Gambling, Alcohol, Sex). It doesn’t matter what the new societal standards are. God’s standards don’t change. They don’t change with respect to justice, righteousness, and not oppressing the poor either.

There’s more in chapter 7. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, is offended:

Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said, “ ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.’ ” (Amos 7.10, 11, ESV)

Israel (the northern 10) will go into exile, according to Amos. Solution? Get rid of Amos! Much easier than changing the way you live.

And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” (Amos 7.12, 13, ESV)

Go to Judah, where you will be welcome. After all, that’s where you’re from. (See Amos 1.1, he’s from Tekoa, a town of Judah, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem.) We have a different religion up here.

But it doesn’t matter. You can believe my words or not, but it won’t change the outcome:

Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was no prophet, nor a prophet’s son, but I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ Now therefore hear the word of the LORD.

“You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore thus says the LORD: “ ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’ ” (Amos 7.14 – 17, ESV)

Ouch. And Israel (the northern 10 tribes) did go into exile as recorded in 2 Kings 17.

The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. (2 Kings 17.5, 6, NIV)

Again, why?

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods… (2 Kings 17.7, NIV)

See the whole condemnation: 2 Kings 17.7 – 23. The Lion has roared.