"Warnings & Consequences Of A Plumb Line”

In Jesus Holy Name July 14, 2024

Text: Mark 6:14 & Amos 7:8b Pentecost VIII Redeemer

“Warnings & Consequences of A Plumb Line”

I imagine the Old Testament prophet Amos would agree with the title of this message.

Let me tell you about Amos. Amos was a shepherd from the wilderness area of southern Judah. He was called by God to give warning to the people of the ten northern tribes. Now, before he ever opened his mouth Amos had two strikes against him: first, he was a blue-collar preacher speaking to a white-collar congregation.

Second, Amos didn't have the proper credentials for a prophet, the official pedigree that the people preferred. You see, the people to whom Amos was preaching were having a grand time; they thought they were doing just fine, and they were content with things just the way they were.

Their king, Jeroboam, would reign for 41 years. (add a bit of history on how he came to power and God’s promise to him) refer to map in bulletin

During that time, the powerful people had prospered; a new class of wealth had come to prominence. For some, life was good. But to God, everything was overshadowed by some serious sin. True, the rich had gotten richer, but the poor had been oppressed. Even worse, the king did that which was "evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Kings 14:24).

As countless governments have done, still do, the king tried to cement the people's loyalty to him by promoting his own religion, denying the truth of the Bible. The king encouraged the people to worship Baal, a party god, a pleasure god, a deity of sensual sacrifice. Don’t worry about the Commandments, they were meant for a by gone age.

Amazingly, instead of immediate punishment… God sent Amos to set the people straight. "Seek Me and live" was God's call to repentance. God's words of warning were quickly countered by the local prophets who were content with the status quo. Their calming comments were supported by the government which said if things are so bad; and God is so mad, why hasn't He punished us before now? You see, the job of a prophet would be made easier if God stepped on sin right away. At any rate, Amos went unheard.

That's when God gave him a vision. The vision showed God standing on a wall... a stone wall, representing His disobedient people. In this vision, God asked Amos, "What do you see?" Amos said I see "a plumb line." A plumb line was a weight at the end of a cord used by builders to check that a wall was straight and solid.

In this vision, the plumb line represented God's commandments. Knowing that the people were ignoring Him, the Lord warned: "Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them." It was God's way of saying: I've been forgiving in the past, but no more.

The time is coming when the people will be punished; the day of reckoning is just around the corner; my grace is at an end. The vision of God's plumb line said the wall of God's people is way out of whack, and the wall is going to come down.

In verse nine the Lord got specific as to what that would mean. He said: The sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise with the sword against the house of the king. And His warnings of destruction upon an unrepentant people soon became a reality. (in 722 B.C. the Assyrians conquered the ten tribes)

Thoughts from Ken Klaas Lutheran Hour Amos 7 #73-44

In our gospel lesson we find that another King and those around him were also quite comfortable with their present circumstance. Yes, Herod had been warned. He had heard the words of John the Baptizer…condemning his behavior….Herod liked to listen to John; but Herodias did not. She wanted John killed for opposing their “immoral decisions.” Herodias, liked her present situation…. And she, like those to whom Amos proclaimed God’s coming judgment, was not concerned about the coming eternal judgment of God.

So what was the king's outrageous sin? The ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, like many people, found himself falling in love. But Herod's love was complicated by a few difficulties. First, Herod was already married - married to a princess whose father was understandably put out when his daughter was cast off like a worn-out, old shoe and sent back home to her father.

The other difficulty, for Herod and his new love, was the fact that she was both his niece and she was currently married to his brother, Philip. Talk about crazy family dynamics! You might rightly understand that the Lord took a dim view of Herod's double incest.