Plumb line
Posted by Jeffrey Smith March 15th, 2016 2,011 Views 0 Comments
Amos 7:8-9: 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.
Galatians 1: 6-7: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Jeroboam was a divider of Israel. The Lord placed him in power as their king, after Solomon led the 12 tribes into the worship of other gods and idols. God gave this power to Jeroboam with the one condition, that he (Jeroboam) follow Him ( the Lord) and His ways.
Jeroboam started off righteous, and then became drunk with power and politics. He built high places for idol worship just like Solomon. You see, both Solomon and Jeroboam became distorted in their ways of the truth, and what happened is the people suffered for it. The Lord was about to pour out wrath upon all the people. This was a very difficult time as all of Israel was divided between Judah and Benjamin ( 1 Kings 12:21), which consisted of the promise of God to have a line of David on the throne, with the rest of the tribes of under the rule of Jeroboam. That division caused so much unrest and so much idol worship that God had no choice but to bring down judgment on them. The prophecy was given to Amos, and yet because Amos interceded on behalf of Jacob ( Israel) The Lord relented a plague of locusts on the crops, and relented His wrath of fire to dry up all the water in the land ( Amos 7:1-7). The Father had mercy because of Amos, and yet He tells Amos that judgment will come. He shows Amos the plumb line. In essence, the Lord is saying that this is the line that I am showing you. This is the true line. A plumb line is often called "true" in construction. This line shows the correct line of something vertical. What I am saying is, that when our alignment is vertically true, when our focus is on God, we don’t ever have to be concerned about wrath and judgment. When we are in "plumb" with Jesus, then we never have to worry or fear about it. You see, Jesus completed what can never be accomplished by man. You see, the law that was established for our righteousness was contingent on the leader being either righteous or evil. The punishment was poured out on the people or the blessing was poured out on the people based on the performance of the king. With Jesus, He is always true. When we align ourselves with Jesus, we will only experience blessings.
Paul tells us in Galatians that when we get out of alignment with Jesus, then that distorts the gospel of grace. Man, the enemy, whatever you call that perversion will try and take you out of the grace of Jesus Christ, into the cross-hairs of wrath and punishment. That plumb line that was established is the truth, the true leadership that is absent of idols, that is absent of wrath, that is absent of death, destruction, famine, and sickness. It is full of success, love, wholeness, and wellness. We only have to see Jesus as our king, our leader. Regardless of who is in power in this nation, or in this world, as long as we align ourselves with Jesus, then the blessing of Jesus is on us. Any other assertion is a perversion of the truth. That line to the Father, the plumb line, is Jesus. It is direct, it is true, and it is straight vertical. Regardless of what we do in our behavior is not even in the equation. It is based on our following Jesus as our king, our leader, and our high-priest. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords. As He goes, we go. He is our truth. Believe it and thrive regardless of what is trying to divide your thoughts. He is true, and we are free!
Thank You Lord. We praise You for Your Son Jesus Christ whom You sent to be our truth, life, and way. We will follow You Jesus. In Jesus name, amen.