Measuring Up
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Introduction
Introduction
Measurements are used for many different methods and purposes - but the one thing all measurements are for is to measure up. To see how something compares. When building something the measurement standard matters and therefore the measurement distinguishes between that which fits and that which doesnt. While there are many different ways to measure you must use a standard or no measurement means anything. Any carpenter knows use one and the same tape measure through out a project.
Well in life people find all sorts of ways to compare themselves and see how and if they measure up. Are they as good, as funny, as smart, etc. Those who feel bad about themselves - find those who are better than they are and those who feel good about themselves find people who dont measure up to compare themselves to so that they come out on top.
Spiritually people come up with all sorts of ways to evaluate if they measure up and they use this to determine if they are good and spiritual people. By comparing ourselves to those around us we can give ourselves a false idea of measuring up more than we actually do. We are using the wrong measuring standard - each other. This leads to self-righteousness and being turned off to hearing the truth when the actual standard is being applied - God’s standard. Amos in chapter 7 goes from sermon messages to prophetic visions to speak to the nation of Israel. Amos is given 5 visions and we are going to look closely at the first three. For these first three call out to Israel that God declares that He will judge between and those that dont measure up will be judged. As we look at this message from long ago about how the nation measured up to the true standard - God’s standard let God’s word work in us to make sure we are using the correct measuring standard and for that standard to reveal how we truly measure up in our walk with the Lord.
1 The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay. 2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” 3 The Lord relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said.
4 The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I said, “Lord God, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” 6 The Lord relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.
7 He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
9 Isaac’s high places will be deserted, and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins; I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.” 10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,
11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’ ” 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living and give your prophecies there,
13 but don’t ever prophesy at Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.” 14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs.
15 But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ” 16 Now hear the word of the Lord. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.
17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.
That Which Will Not Be
That Which Will Not Be
1 The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king’s hay. 2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “Lord God, please forgive! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” 3 The Lord relented concerning this. “It will not happen,” he said.
4 The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I said, “Lord God, please stop! How will Jacob survive since he is so small?” 6 The Lord relented concerning this. “This will not happen either,” said the Lord God.
Amos as we can see is given first a vision of the Lord forming a swarm of locusts at the time the spring crop first began to sprout and after the cutting of the king’s hay. These locusts are being readied for the time after the king’s share is harvested (the first crop) and the second crop is just beginning to sprout - this is the nation’s most vulnerable time of the year. After this crop there would be no more season to harvest and grow until the next year. If this crop is lost the people would have nothing to eat until the next harvest if they could survive.
Amos at the sight of this vision saw the devastation left behind by this swarming locust - the whole vegetation of the land had been consumed. At the sight of this terrible judgment and being a farmer who could sympathize with this judgment and the devastation it would cause - Amos - cried out for the Lord to please forgive. A locust plaque so timed that survival would be impossibly out of the question - so the Lord must forgive so that they can survive.
At Amos’s prayer for Jacob to survive - the Lord relented concerning this judgment and this vision. The Lord replied “It will not happen”. Relented means to cease an activity and carries with it the implication that relenting is a gracious act. It also suggests that the turning away from a previous decision is because one has been deeply stirred by the appeal of another.
We read that Amos prayed and the Lord relented. Is it that simple? What if Amos didnt pray? We must believe that God would not have relented. We are given here a bird’s eye view of how much prayer changes things. “We may debate endlessly how this incident reflects on the issues of predestination and human responsibility, but clearly we are left with the impression that the plague either came or was held back based on the prophet’s prayer.” David Guzik Amos’s heart agonized for his people and he prayed and stood in the gap joining a group of intercessors in —Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Elijah and Paul.
30 I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.
23 So he said he would have destroyed them— if Moses his chosen one had not stood before him in the breach to turn his wrath away from destroying them.
We next read about Amos’s second vision that the Lord had given him concerning the nation of Israel. The Lord God showed Amos that God was calling for a judgment by fire. It consumed the deep and devoured the land. God showed Amos a fire - a judgement fire so great and powerful that this fire consumed the deep - the ocean as well as the land. Not even the waters of the ocean could quench this fire.
Again Amos at the sight of this complete and total judgment and consuming fire pleaded with the Lord to stop. Again because the consuming fire is unquenchable Jacob would never survive. Again the Lord relented and said that “This will not happen either.”
Intercession was part of the prophet’s calling. Amos in praying does not pray against judgment but against the form that he sees that Jacob would not survive. Amos pleaded against the utter destruction of Jacob and his plea was heard. Because one interceded with the Lord and stood in the gap total destruction is ruled out and hope is established.
Standard of Measure
Standard of Measure
7 He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will no longer spare them:
9 Isaac’s high places will be deserted, and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins; I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”
The next vision God gave to Amos was with Him standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The Lord asks Amos what do you see and Amos replies a plumb line. The Lord then explains what it means. God says He is setting His plumb line among His people - Israel.
A plumb line is a cord with a lead weight used by builders to make sure that walls were constructed straight up and down. A plumb line was also used to determine is walls had settled and tilted and thus needing to be torn down.
The plumb line is what will be used to see if the nation measures up. The nation was built true to plumb according to the double specification of law and grace. As those redeemed they were to obey His law, but equally as His redeemed they were under the blood and given the sacrificial code so that even in failure of obedience they could still live upright in the presence of the Lord.
It is in holding these two in balance that establishes the true life of God’s people and it also keeps the extremes in check. Legalism which makes obeying the law everything and ritualism which makes the sacrifice or ritual everything.
The nothern kingdom was also established plumb in 1 Kings 11:35-38 God called them to be established in His righteousness.
35 I will take ten tribes of the kingdom from his son and give them to you. 36 I will give one tribe to his son, so that my servant David will always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city I chose for myself to put my name there.
37 I will appoint you, and you will reign as king over all you want, and you will be king over Israel. 38 “ ‘After that, if you obey all I command you, walk in my ways, and do what is right in my sight in order to keep my statutes and my commands as my servant David did, I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give you Israel.
From the birth of the Northern Kingdom the nation was established “plumb” in God’s eyes. He had laid the foundation. He had set their course. The question would be would they maintain that plumb line or would they settle? We know from history and God’s word what they chose to do.
The plumb line is being set among God’s nation to measure how true they are to the pattern of His word and if their are upright in character and conduct.
17 And I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the mason’s level.” Hail will sweep away the false refuge, and water will flood your hiding place.
God declares according to His plumb line - Israel is out of plumb and therefore like a wall out of plumb must be torn down and destroyed. God leaves no room for Amos to intercede at this declaration and at this vision. He says I will no longer spare them. The nation was to crooked and too far gone there was no hope.
Specifically called out were Israel’s high places and sanctuaries where they worshipped contrary to God’s law.
When Jeroboam became the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel he surveyed the political situation and saw a troubling problem. The Law of Moses called for the people to worship in Jerusalem. Jeroboam did not want the people traveling to Jerusalem and begin to desire the old days, when the kingdoms were united under David’s family. Jeroboam decides to get two golden calves and setup to alternate places for worship - Bethel and Dan.
28 So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
Jeroboam - whether to convince himself or the people (probably both) used the excuse of the difficulty to go to Jerusalem to setup the false places of worship. Worship and religion for the first time had become a matter of convenience. Be careful in changing how you worship and serve God because of convenience it causes the walls to settle and lean and move out of plumb. Observing worship of God is about His plumb line of righteousness not our comfort or convenience. As the goal of religion becomes convenience, then religion also becomes non-judgmental. Jerusalem is fine – so is Bethel, so is Dan – what’s really the difference?
“Is it enough for us to have wonderful times of worship, solid biblical teaching, and a correct theology?” The answer to that question is “No!” Not if it does not translate into a transformed life that seeks to live out the call of God in our everyday life.
Not only was the church corrupt because the people and their leaders were crooked, but the government was corrupt as well.
Having failed to measure up to the plumb line the nation’s chief structures (religious - high places; and political Jeroboam’s kingdom) would be demolished.
Revealing Each One
Revealing Each One
10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words, 11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’ ”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living and give your prophecies there, 13 but don’t ever prophesy at Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuary and a royal temple.”
14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman, and I took care of sycamore figs. 15 But the Lord took me from following the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ”
16 Now hear the word of the Lord. You say: Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac. 17 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan soil, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.
Amaziah was the priest of Bethel and he sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel accusing Amos of conspiring against him. Amaziah took Amos’s message and instead of attributing his words to God’s declared message He said they were the words of Amos and He changed what Amos said. Amos has said - Jeroboam will die by the sword - which is not the same as what Amos said “ I (the LORD) will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword”
Amaziah has the opportunity to hear and heed the word of God proclaimed by Amos, and instead chooses to ignore and outright reject the word of the Lord.
History is full of hireling religious leaders, who were great enemies of the true leaders of God; when they could find no charge of false doctrine or immorality they instead accused them of conspiring against the government.
Amaziah then speaks to Amos directly telling him to leave and to flee. Go away you seer and flee to Judah. Earn your living and give your prophecies there. Do not prophecy in Bethel again it is the king’s sanctuary and temple. Amaziah had no interest in whether or not what Amos was saying was true. He had a good job, he was comfortable, and things seemed to be going pretty well in society. Amaziah desired to maintain his comfort level more than he desired to hear a word from God. The word of the Lord wasnt convenient for him.
There are far too many of us Christians who are like Amaziah. We are comfortable Christians and God’s word and plumb line is inconvenient. We don’t take our faith or His call too seriously. We go to church on Sunday. We give our tithes in comfort and convenience. We do our Sunday morning duty, but it is inconvenient and uncomfortable to allow the Bible to influence how we spend our money or our time. We believe in the separation of Church and everyday life, but that is a concept that is totally foreign to God and anyone who has captivated by the Gospel. So, if I am one of these casual Christians, what am I to do? Well, I can tell you what most of us do. We find folks who think like us to surround ourselves with in everyday life and we try to find a good church that will make us feel good about ourselves rather than force us to be confronted with the inconvenience and uncomfortable Word of God. This really is nothing new. Amaziah did it by trying to drive Amos out of the country. And in Paul’s day, he said that the day was coming when people would no longer put up with the God’s Word. Paul wrote to Timothy and said,
3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear.
Amos answers Amaziah and says I was not a prophet (as a profession) or the son of a prophet (trained or taught to). I was a herdsman and took care of sycamore figs - I had a job and was doing good. I hadnt chosen this calling nor trained for it. A greater Authority has called me and commanded me saying “Go prophesy to my people in Israel.” To those who measure up to the plumb line it matters what God commands. God commanded not only what Amos was to say but where he would say it. The authority was not Amaziah or Amos; the authority was and is the Lord. The Lord had spoken and Amos would obey.
Because Amaziah told Amos not to prophesy or preach - the Lord said the judgment would happen to him and his family.
Conclusion
Conclusion
the plumb line is what will be used to check the people. God isn’t going to find the brightest and best in Israel and see how everyone measures up next to them. Neither will God find the most holy in Israel and see how everyone measures up with them. God is going to use His plumb line. What is His plumb line? God’s plumb line is His Word. He had given His Word to His people and God was going to check them out to see if they were living out His call upon their lives. Just as a builder’s plumb line tests the true straightness of a wall, the Lord’s plumb line would test the true character and relationship of the people to the call of God upon their lives. This is one of the most important lessons you and I can learn. The question is not, “How am I doing compared to him or her?” or “How are we doing as a church compared to the other churches in our community?” The real question is, “Am I living out the call of God upon my life? Am I walking in obedience to God’s will for my life?” The only question we, as a church, need to occupy our minds and hearts with is this: “Are we, as a body of believers, being who God has called us to be and are we doing what He has called us to do in this community?”
notice where God is setting a plumb line. It is in the midst of His people. We, who are the people of God, living our lives under the call of God, must stop looking to society for our approval, affirmation, and validation. We must stop looking to society to see if we are on track and doing well. Our eyes are to be set on our King and our ears are to be tuned to His call alone. If we would spend as much time and energy in seeking to know God’s Word and His will for each of our lives as we do trying to win the approval of people and trying to fit into our society, then we would see our lives and our society transformed.
Had Amaziah responded differently - had he heeded the word of Amos and repented he might have been spared. He chose instead to align with an earthly monarch and asserted himself against God’s messenger. If we choose to ignore God’s word we will find ourselves revealed by the plumb line of the Lord.
God has set Jesus as the plumb line of the New Covenant - It is by Jesus we measure and are able to measure up.
Communion
Communion
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.