Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Open your Bibles. We are going to continue today with the Lord's help to deal with the study of the prophet Amos, Amos, Amos, which we have been going through for quite a while. And today, dear brothers and sisters, I would like to look at Amos chapter 7 in this ministry meeting. We have covered already the first six chapters of the prophet Amos as he ministered, as he prophesied, as he was called by the Lord to minister the Word to the people of Israel to the northern kingdom of Israel, to the northern kingdom of Israel, who have gone astray, disobeyed the Lord, and the Lord raised this man by the name of Amos to give them a ministry, you might say, a prophecy concerning the time of judgment that was going to be at hand.

So, we are in Amos chapter 7. And I would like to read these 17 verses for us all for this ministry meeting. So, please, as you open your Bible, follow me as I am reading. Verse 1. Thus has the Lord God showed unto me, Amos is saying. And behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth. And lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. And it came to pass that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, Then I said, O Lord God, forgive I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small.

The Lord repented for this. It shall not be, saith the Lord. Thus hath the Lord God showed unto me, and behold, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and he devoured the great deep, and did it up a part. Then said I, O Lord God, cease, I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise? For he is small. The Lord repented for this. This also shall not be, saith the Lord God. Thus he showed me, and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, a plumb line.

Then said the Lord, behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them anymore. And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate. And the sanctuary of Israel shall be laid waste. And I will rise against the house of Yeruvam with a sword. Then Amaziah, the priest of Beit El, sent to Yeruvam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos says, Yeruvam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy there. But prophesy not again anymore at Beit El, for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son. But I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock. And the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest prophesy not against Israel? And drop not thy word against the house of Isaac?

Therefore thus saith the Lord. Thy wives shall be an harlot in the city. And thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword. And thy land shall be divided by line. And thou shalt die in a polluted land. And Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. And I'm stopping here in Amos chapter 7 verses 1 to 17. Now beloved brothers and sisters, just to keep your mind freshly in tune with the study of the prophecy of Amos, Amos, I would like to remind you as you look at some of the slides that I like to show you here behind. When you see here, you see this is a place that is called Tekoa.

Tekoa, if you just, I want just to read for a moment about Tekoa. Tekoa is an Israeli community settlement in the West Bank today. Located 20 kilometers north-east of Hebron, 16 kilometers south of Yerushalayim, Jerusalem, close to the Palestinian Tuko. It is under the jurisdiction of Gush Etzion, regional council with a population of 3,882 people in the year of 2018. This man, by the name of Amos, of which we read today, he was according to Amos chapter 1 and verse 1, where we read the words of Amos, Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Yoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

This is where we began our study some weeks ago, when we studied the book of Amos. So Amos was a man who lived in this town. Of course, this is a much earlier in our point of time, but Amos lived there a long time ago, at about 700 BC, because the northern kingdom of Israel were taken captive by the Assyrians. When Amos was presenting his prophecy to Israel, it's sometime around 40, 50, 60 years before the northern kingdom of Israel were taken captive by the Assyrians. Now, to remind you, brothers and sisters, the Amos was living in the land of Judah. There's another picture of the city of the town of Tekoa.

This is a little bit closer picture. When Amos lived in a little village called Tekoa, in Hebrew, Likoa means to either put peg into the ground or even to blow the shofar, we say Likoa, to sound. And we can say that he's the village from which Amos came. He came from a village that sounded the coming judgment upon the northern kingdom of Israel, because their departure from the ways of the Lord. So when Amos gave his messages, he gave eight sermons in chapter one and chapter two of the prophecy. Then he gave eight prophecies in chapter one and chapter two. Then he gave three sermons in chapter three, four, five and six.

And today we begin chapter seven. And then we're going to continue on to chapter eight and chapter nine. And in these last three chapters of the ministry and the prophecy of Amos, he received five visions from the God of Israel concerning the coming judgment upon the nation of Israel. Now, remember, and I have to remind you once again, if you would look at the map, there's a map that we often show. And you notice that there is in this map, we can see Judah in the south and Israel in the north. And to remind you that when King Shlomo died and his son Rehovam became the king of Israel, God have taken away from Rehovam, the son of Shlomo, the kingdom, and divided it into two nations.

So now we have Yehudah in the south and Israel in the north, two separate kingdoms. And you notice that Ephraim and Menasseh are prominent here because the name of Israel and Ephraim always are linked together as the northern kingdom. Now, what happened, sadly, like it happened in the body of Messiah today, the people of God do not stay always close to God. They are not always in fellowship with God. They are not always enjoying the things of the Lord like you and I many times in our own life. So, departure is coming, sin is so easily be set up, and slowly but surely we depart from the things of the Lord.

That's why scripture oftentimes warned the believers, warned God's people historically, and warning God's people today that we are to stay close to the Lord. Yeshua said to the Lord, Yeshua said to the disciples, "Abide in me, for without me you can do nothing." The writer to the book of Hebrews said that we are to look to the Lord, Yeshua, looking unto Yeshua, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before us, before him endured the cross, and he suffered the shame. And now he sat down at the right hand of the majesty of God, and then there is a warning that God is giving that we are to be careful because sin does so easily beset the people of God.

And because of the disobedience of the people of God, judgment has to come. And again, if you remember, I'm always going back to 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 17. "For the time will come where judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it began at the house of God, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?" So, God must discipline his own people, but he does so out of love for his people, out of a desire to be a blessing for his own people. In the case that we are studying now, the nation of Israel, and in our case today, for the body of Messiah, those that belong to the Lord Jesus, to the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

So, in these last three chapters, dear brothers and sisters, we have five visions that Amos is going to see, and all these five visions are linked with the coming judgment. There is a judgment that is going to come, will Israel repent and turn back to the Lord? Otherwise, judgment is going to come. So, those five visions are very interesting. The first three judgment visions are mentioned in Amos chapter 7. Then we have another judgment is mentioned, a vision mentioned in chapter 8, and the final judgment vision is mentioned in chapter 9. Now, visions are very, very important to understand. There is a difference between a dream, halom, in Hebrew, and a vision, as we see here in Hebrew, the word for vision is mareh, or chazon.

It is something that the Lord is showing his servant while his servant is still awake. When it's come to a dream, they were dreaming, they were sleeping, and God revealed to them by a dream a message for the people of Israel, for the people of God. But when it comes to a vision, the prophet, or the man of God, he was not sleeping, but he saw a sight while he is still awake. For example, if you remember, in Genesis chapter 15, in verse 1, God showed a vision to Abraham, our father, Abraham, our father. In Genesis chapter 28, God saw the vision of the ladder, if you remember, to Yaakov, to Jacob, and how the angels were climbing up and down upon this ladder.

And that vision was seen by Yaakov, the father, as well, of our nation, the nation of Israel. Joseph himself, if you remember, in Genesis chapter 37, he saw those visions. And you remember, he saw those visions that his brothers were not too happy with what he saw. He saw how they will bow towards him, and that eventually he will be the one that will be the prominent among his own brethren. But God revealed to Joseph visions as well. And what about, we can just go on and go on, we can think of Samuel. In 1 Samuel chapter 3, we read of Samuel himself, that the Lord has spoken to him through visions.

And if you look, beloved brothers and sisters, in Scripture, even Moshe, Moshe Rabbeinu, Moses, our lawgiver, God has spoken to him in vision. God says in Numbers 2, I'm speaking to Moses face to face, to other men I speak, maybe through visions and dreams. But Moses was a unique man through whom God had presented himself to the nation of Israel. What about the New Testament, or Brit HaChadasha, the men of the Brit HaChadasha, before Yeshua came and after Yeshua came? If you remember, Zechariah, the father of John, Yohanan HaMadbil, John the Baptizer, he in Luke chapter 1, has seen as well a vision from the Lord. And the Lord spoke to him through a vision.

And we can go on, even Yosef, the stepfather of Yeshua the Messiah, in Matthew chapter 1, he himself was receiving information from God by a vision. And we can even add Shimon, Petro, Simon, Peter, in Acts chapter 10, that he saw the vision of that sheet coming down from heaven. And there were all kind of animals in that sheet. And then the Lord said to him, "Rise and eat." And you remember how Peter needed to learn that God is now going to work in the lives of the Gentile world, and bring many of the goyim, many of the Gentiles to be part of the body of Messiah.

And we can go on and go on about visions. Visions were one of the ways whereby God has spoken to his own people to minister to them, so they can be used by the Lord to share the message to the people of Israel. So in Amos 7, 8, and 9, we have five visions. Today I would like us to look at these three visions that are found in Amos chapter 7. So look at this. First of all, you will notice that in verses 1, 2, and 3 of Amos chapter 7, the Lord shows Amos a vision of grasshoppers or locusts, and he shows to Amos what was going to happen to Israel in a soon coming day because of their disobedience.

So notice this, and I'm reading the first three verses. Notice verses 1 and 2a. It says, Thus has the Lord God showed unto me. Notice this expression, showed unto me. In the Hebrew it says, Hir'eni or Hir'ani. He showed this to me. It was an external vision that the Lord has showed unto Amos. So he says, Thus has the Lord God have showed unto me. What? He says, Behold, he formed grasshoppers. In other translation, it says locusts. In the Hebrew, it says halakesh. In Hebrew, the word lakesh. He showed him the grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth. And lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.

And it came to pass that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said. Now just pause here for a moment. What God was showing to Amos, he was showing to him the land of Israel. And what did he show to them? He showed to them that there is a coming day that the judgment of God upon the land, the whole land of Israel, all that which they grow, come up of the ground. God is intending to raise up the locusts, the lakesh, and these insects or these grasshoppers are going to eat all that which the land will raise up.

They will eat all the grass in the land of Israel. But it's interesting, because verses 1 and verse 2a says that it was, notice, he says, "Behold, he formed grasshoppers." It was a unique grasshoppers that God had formed for that ministry. It is always fascinating to me how the Lord is able to bring about whatever he wanted for the season. For example, if you remember when Yonah Hanavi, Jonah, disobeyed the Lord, so the Lord sent a great fish in order to meet the need that Yonah is going to be captured by that fish and swallowed up by that fish. God made, God created a fish for the season.

And then he swallowed Jonah. And then that very fish that God spoke to him, he said, "Hey, listen, now I want you to vomit Jonah onto the shore." And sure enough, Jonah was vomited on that shore. What we learn, beloved brothers and sisters, is that God can create not only a situation, but in this case, it says here, that God, behold, he formed, known as grasshoppers, in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth. And lo, it was after, it was the latter growth, after the king's mowing, and it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then said I.

So God sent, he, showing to Amos in a vision, hey, listen, here is these grasshoppers, the locusts, the lekesh, I'm going to prepare them in order to come and to take all that grass that is growing up in the land. The first portion of the grass was given to the king as taxes, but whatever remained will be taken away by the locusts. And you know what? Amos, being a man of God, being a lover of his people, the people of Israel, the people of Israel, you would think, that when he looked at the condition of Israel, he says, God, do it. Yes, do it. I would like to see Israel punished because of all their sins.

But Amos was not the kind of a man that is looking for anything evil about anybody else. Amos immediately, Amos immediately, beloved brothers and sisters, turn into a time of prayer, where he intercedes on behalf of these failing people of God, the northern kingdom of Israel. And so you notice, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 2, the second half of verse 2, that Amos now is interceding on behalf of his people Israel. Oh yes, they have sinned. Oh yes, God will deal with his people. Oh yes, he was called by the Lord to come all the way from the south, from Judah, to preach in Bethel, in the north of Israel.

But his heart was not desiring to see the judgment to fall upon his beloved people, the people of Israel. So you notice how beautiful, and I wish we will learn from Amos here. Notice that, verse 2b, and I said, when he saw that vision, he knew what's going to happen. There will be no food in the land. He knew there will be a need among his own people, the people of Israel, and immediately he is turning himself into beseeching God on behalf of his people. So he says, notice how beautiful. He said in verse 2, Oh Lord God, forgive, forgive, I beseech thee. And then he said, By whom shall Jacob arise?

For he is small. God, please, and you notice he beseeching in Hebrew, it says, Adonai, Adonai, slachna. Mi yakum yaakov kikatonhu. Lord God, forgive, please. How will Israel will arise? The small nation. God, please forgive the nation. What a wonderful reaction of this man by the name of Amos. You know, he perhaps, beloved brothers and sisters, learned from men of old in the past. Like when Moshe beseeched the Lord, when Israel failed at the entrance to the promised land, when the spies brought an evil report, God wanted to destroy the nation and to make out of Moses a nation, that he will be the one that will become that nation of Israel.

Even earlier when they, when he came down from Mount Sinai and Israel had the golden calf there and God wanted to destroy the nation. And Moses was a man of God who prayed on behalf of his failing people. And when you think about it, brothers and sisters, isn't it the character of Yeshua, Jesus, our Messiah, who even at the cross, said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Oh, we all deserve to be punished by God. But our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, he's the one that prayed right at that shameful altar, the shameful cross, where all were mocking him, where the religious leaders were mocking him, where the passerby said he saved others, himself he cannot save.

Even the thieves at his two sides railed at him. And yet Yeshua said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And of course, the Messiah hasn't come as yet when Amos was sharing the message, speaking and seeing the visions on behalf of God for the nation of Israel. But you can see, beloved brothers and sisters, the character that God is producing in the life of his people when only they submit to his authority. You remember what Yeshua said? Learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart. And you will find, you might say, you remember what he said? You will find satisfaction to your soul.

You will find grace from God to your soul. If we will only learn from him. And you might say Amos must have learned from others that came before him, like Yosef, like Moshe, and like others in the history of our forefathers, the people of Israel. And when he was ready to see the judgment of God that came, that would come upon the nation of Israel, he said, Oh Lord God, forgive. I beseech thee, forgive. By whom shall Jacob arise? No one will be lifting him up. If not you are going to lift Jacob up. Israel will never going to be able to be lifted up.

For he is small. Ki katanhu in Hebrew. And I remember when God, you remember the earlier days in Deuteronomy chapter 7, before Israel entered into the land, God said, I have set my love upon you. Not because you are more in number than any other nation. For you are small. But I have loved you. I have chosen you. The Apostle Paul speak to the Corinthian, as we studied in our Bible classes about the Corinthian. He says, you notice, not many are wise, not many are mighty, not many are noble, God has chosen. But you have chosen the weak things of this world, to confound that world, all the wisdom of this world, God confounded, when he have elected and chosen a people, that were weak and feeble and small, in order to be his people.

How wonderful it is to learn this, from this passage. So notice what the Lord does. Prayer, intercession, is bringing about, or you might say, appeasing God, and causing God to relent from his judgment that he was going to lend, to bring upon the nation of Israel. And notice what it says here in verse 3. And the Lord repented, for this, it shall not be, he said, saith the Lord. And you notice the word here, in the King James, is repented. In other translations, it says, relented. In the Hebrew, it says, nichem. And lenachem means, that he didn't change his mind, but he delayed the coming judgment, to see whether Israel will repent, and turn to him, and he can completely remove the judgment.

So that's why it says here, he repented, or relented, or lenachem. He listened to the voice of his servant, and God have delayed the judgment that was going to come upon the nation of Israel. And you know, brothers and sisters, this is amazing. Because God's people belong to him, but God do not want God's people to be away from him. To live a life of sin and disobedience, it's not giving him pleasure, the reason that he purchased his own people, so they will enjoy fellowship with him. And that's why we read today in 1 John 1, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to bring us back into that relationship with him, on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua, Jesus, our Lord and our Messiah.

So the Lord relented or repented for this, it says in verse 3, and then he said, it shall not be, it shall not happen, saith the Lord. So that is vision number one, and it is the vision of the locusts to come and to destroy all that which is in the land of Israel. So now, look at this, the Lord is continuing here, and is giving to Amos a second vision. And in this second vision, very interesting, in verses 4, 5, and 6, notice Amos chapter 7, verses 4, 5, and 6, the Lord shows Amos another vision, and this time is a vision of fire, which will ultimately bring drought to the land.

And so we read again, notice that verse 4, first of all, the coming judgment of the fiery drought, that is mentioned here, because in verse 4, thus the Lord God showed unto me. Notice again this expression, showed unto me. In Hebrew the word is, Hirani, Hir Eli, he showed unto me. And behold, what does Amos is seeing now? He says, the Lord God called to contend by fire, and he devoured the great deep, and did it up a part. In other words, the second vision now, is that Amos is seeing a fire that is coming, the fire of God that is coming, and that fire of God is going to produce drought in the land, and will eat up everything, at least a part of the things that are in the land of Israel.

Notice it said that devoured the great deep, and it did eat up a part. Another word is consume. You might say that, that heat that came from the fire of God consumed the crop. And you know, if you don't have any crop, you don't have food, of course, if you don't have food, there is drought. If there is no drought, people are hungry, and people are dying. Many a times there was a drought in the land of Israel, when God did not allow the rain to come down, and the drought brought about the judgment of God. And so we see here, that he saw this fire, this esh in Hebrew, esh that devoured the great deep, and did it up a part.

And this is a portion of that which was in the land of Israel. And again, beloved brothers and sisters, notice what Amos does. Amos again is a man of God, who learned from his ancestors, whether it is Yosef, or whether it is Moshe, or whether it is others in the history of Israel. He was a man of God who came from Tekoa. And here, notice in verse 5, Amos once again intercedes on behalf of his people. But notice the difference between what he said in the previous intercession. In the previous intercession, in chapter 7 and verse 2, Amos said, Oh Lord God, forgive I beseech. But now notice in verse 5, he doesn't say only forgive, because he sees the judgment is going to come very shortly.

And so in verse 5, he said, Oh Lord God, cease I beseech thee. By whom shall Jacob arise? For he is more. See now, he doesn't only say, God forgive Israel. He already said it earlier. But now in the vision, he sees the judgment is approaching. And he's coming. And it's in a sense, it didn't begin as yet, but in the vision, he sees something that is already have arrived, and it began now to eat everything. And the fire of God's judgment to fall upon the land of the northern kingdom, the land of Israel. That's why, instead of saying only forgive, he says, Oh I beseech thee, O Lord God, cease.

In other words, stop, stop the judgment that have already begun to fall upon the land of Israel. And all beloved brothers and sisters, when God brought up the judgment of 722 BC, when the people of Israel were taken captive by the Assyrians, it was an awful sight to see, had you and I been there. If you would look at the judgment that came, and God have allowed these enemies of Israel to consume the land, to take the people of Israel and make them, you might say, to treat them in such an evil way, and to pull them as, you might say, as slaves, and to disperse them among the people of the world, and to destroy all what they have had.

This is a terrible sight to see. And that's why Amos sees it in a vision, and he says, Oh Lord God, cease, I beseech thee. By whom shall Jacob arise? You notice he repeating the very same thing that he said in the previous verses. How shall Jacob will be lifted up? If you are going to destroy them, how will they be sustained? And then he said again, for he is small. In Hebrew, ki katonhu. Ki katonhu. He is small. We have a very small nation. Very small group of people. God, if you are going to do this to them, how can Jacob arise? He is a small nation.

And so again, beloved brothers and sisters, notice that the grace of God, and we find out in this verse, very beautiful in verse 6, and the Lord repented, or more corrected, relented, relented. He responded to Amos' appeal, and he stopped the judgment that he had began to show Amos in this vision, in this second vision. And there is a beautiful verse, and that verse is sung in the synagogue even today, beloved brothers and sisters. And I remember that vividly, as a little boy in the synagogue in Yerushalayim with my grandfather. I'll never forget when I was looking around and see these elderly, bearded Jewish men singing that song to listen to this beautiful song that they were singing.

Exodus 33, and he said, verse 19, and he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious unto whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." And then a little bit further, in chapter 34, in Exodus 34, verse 6, "And the Lord passed by before him," that is before Moses. "And he proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord is God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." And notice how amazing God is. He is merciful.

He is gracious. He is long-suffering. He is abundant in goodness. He is abundant in truth. He is keeping mercy for thousands, and He is forgiving iniquity, and He is forgiving transgression, and He is forgiving sin when His people are repenting and turning to Him and acknowledging that they have gone astray." So back please to Amos chapter 7. And so we read in these first six verses about the first two visions that God showed Amos as He was now presenting this in the northern kingdom of Israel before the people of Israel. And now notice that in verses 7, 8, and 9, the Lord shows Amos the third vision, and this time is a vision of the plumb line on a wall, or a wall with a plumb line.

Look at this. I'm reading verse 7. "Here is the coming judgment based upon the plumb line, a straight wall to see whether Israel living a straight and honest life before the Lord." And so notice in Amos chapter 7 and verse 7, "And He showed me, and behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line with a plumb line in His hand." Now notice that for a moment, brothers and sisters. God stood upon a wall, there is a wall, and on that wall, whether to see whether the wall is straight, there is a plumb line in His hand. And what is a plumb line? Basically, a plumb line is a line that has a weight at the bottom, and when you hold it straight, it is really, you might say, 100% straight.

That's how you measure, or you see if a wall that you have built, or a fence that you have built, whether it is straight. And this wall with a plumb line at the hand of the Lord represents the truth of God to see whether His people living in the light of the truth of God. God Himself and God's Word is like a plumb line. How do we know when we live for the Lord, and when we're not living for the Lord, we just have to open the Scripture, and when we see things that creep into our life that is not in the will of the Lord, we know that we are not living in the light of the plumb line of God's Word.

And so what does He do here? He shows this wall, notice it says again, verse 7, He shows that it's that wall and that weight of stone suspended, you might say, from the top is really, is giving to us the, you might say, the reflection whether a person, whether Israel, living for the Lord. Thus He showed me, as it says in verse 7, "Behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb line," in Hebrew the word is "anach," with a plumb line in His hand. You know, it is amazing, any carpenter, any builder today will never be able to build straight anything He does unless He uses a plumb line.

Today we have this level that we hold and we look, we save that little line there in the center, if it's straight, right in the middle, we know if we have a wall that is straight or is it up and down, horizontal, or whether it is vertical, if it is plumb line, we have, that's how we build today things. We will never be able to build things truly in a straight way unless we will use the plumb line. Well, God's word is a plumb line for the nation of Israel. So God is really showing to our Moses, "Listen, here I'm going to show you a third vision." And that third vision, it is a plumb line, "anach" in the Hebrew.

Hebrew, it is, you might say, a way whereby God evaluates how do His people live. The Bible, the word of God, becomes for us a plumb line. Not what the world tells us, not what Satan instigates, not what man's opinion, but the word is a plumb line for the people of God. So he shows that plumb line to Amos and so, you notice in verse 8, the Lord question Amos and Amos is responding to him. The Lord said unto me, Amos is saying, Amos? Notice he mentioned his name here. He says, "What do you see Amos? What seest thou?" And he said, "A plumb line." Then saith the Lord, "Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel." Now, just pause here for a moment.

You know, it is very practical fact that we all can apply this to ourselves. You know, it is so easy. The Bible tells us, judge not, that you will not be judged. If you are going to try to take the beam, or I should say, the little piece of, from the eye, something from, a little piece of wood from the eye of your brother, first of all, make sure that the beams that cover your own eyes are being taken away. And why does the Bible teach us this? Because God knows very well that each and every one of us, whether it is Israel historically or whether it is the church the assembly today, each and every one of us somehow have our own plumb lines.

I have my standard, you have your standard, he has his standard, she has her standard, and we all have these standards that man introduces and we oftentimes set aside the standard that is given to us by the scripture, by the word of God. And so, the way to measure how do I personally, you individually, and Israel in this case, how we believe in the light of God, we must look at everything in the light of God's word. Yesterday we studied 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and we read that Apostle Paul said said to the Corinthians, the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. And what we really learn here that God is saying to Amos, Amos, look, okay, you asked me not to judge Israel when I prepared the locusts to come to destroy the land.

And I stopped it. Then you asked me, Amos, you asked me not to allow the fire and the famine to come and the drought to come upon the land of Israel, and I stopped it. But now, Amos, let's see. I'm going to have a plumb line, a wall, a plumb line, up and down, straight, and I'm going to have this, you might say, that plumb line, to see whether Israel, my people. Notice he called them in verse 8. Then that said the Lord, verse 8b, then said the Lord, behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. Notice how God calling Israel his people, even though they already built the golden calves in Beit El and in Dan, even though they had the altars that were wrong, even though they had sacrifices, and even though they had the priests that were not priests that were raised by God, even though they lived the life away from God, yet God called them my people Israel.

So, Amos, if you're going to ask me not to judge them, okay, Amos, let's you and I put this wall with a plumb line. Let's see if Israel is going to repent and turn to me. So, notice that. At this time, in this third vision, Amos is not interceding now on behalf of Israel. It says here in verse 8, the Lord said unto me, Amos, what do you see? What seest thou? And I set a plumb line. Then said the Lord, behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. And notice at the end, and I will not again pass by them anymore.

Amos, you might say the cup is running over now. I have besought the nation, my people. I have appealed to them through past prophets. I have longed to have them be restored to me. But, like we read in Genesis 15, the iniquities of the Amorite now have come full. And the cup of God, you might say judgment against the disobedient nation is now over flowed. And God said to Amos, I will not again pass by them anymore. And God is now telling Amos, the judgment has to come. I am no longer going to delay the judgment. It must come. So you notice in the next verse, look what the Lord is saying to Amos.

And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate. And the sanctuary of Israel shall be laid waste. I will rise against the house of Yeruvam with a sword. And notice what he's mentioned here in verse 9. The high places, the sanctuaries of Israel and the house of Yeruvam. And you notice this expression, the high places, for one reason or another, the King James and other translations use the word Isaac here. Now Isaac, Yitzchak in Hebrew and Yishchak in Hebrew are very similar. The word Yishchak comes from the word they played there. They played there. In a sense, what we can say that in the high places when they established idols, when they established what you call the golden calf, they were playing there.

They were, in a sense, playing the whoredom there. They were living and dishonoring to the Lord. They didn't live for the Lord in the high places where they were mocking, in a sense. Mockery was continuing, and it shall be desolate. And what about the sanctuary? The sanctuary is, in a sense, a temple. They were building temples in the north of Israel while there is only one temple, one sanctuary in the city of Yerushalayim. But they build temples there and instead of coming to worship the Lord in the city of Jerusalem, they worship the golden calf. in both, in Bethel and in Dan. And they dishonor the Lord in such a way that God was not pleased.

And all this began already years earlier before this Jeroboam was the second Jeroboam king of Israel. There was an early Jeroboam, the one who began all these things and led our people of all the people of Israel astray. Please turn with me to the book of Kings for a moment. I want to read a verse there in the 1st Kings chapter 12. 1st Kings chapter 12. Just let me read these verses for us. it says in 1st Kings chapter 12 verse 25 "Then Jeroboam built Shechem in a mount of Ephraim and he dwelt therein and he went out from thence and built Pnuel and Jeroboam said in his heart "Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David." "If these people go up to do sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem then shall the heart of the people turn again unto their Lord even unto Rechovam king of Judah and they shall kill me and go again to Rechovam king of Judah." Then verse 28 "Whereupon the king took counsel." This is Jeroboam, Yeroboam, the first Yeroboam.

He took counsel and he made two calves of gold and said unto them "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem behold thy gods O Israel which brought thee out up out of the land of Egypt and he set the one in Bethel and the other put he in Dan and this thing became a sin for the people went to worship before the one even unto Dan and he made a house notice this this is a sanctuary he made a temple he made there on high places and he made priests of the lowest of the people which were not of the sons of Levi and Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth

month on the fifteenth day of the month like unto the feast feast that is in Judah and he offered upon the altar so did he in Bethel sacrificing unto the kels that he had made and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made and you know I just I can go on and continue to read first thing chapter 12 and so on this wickedness have happened and dishonored the Lord and was now continuing here for such a long time which made it necessary for the Lord to bring his judgment upon Israel so beloved brothers and sisters verses 1 to 9 three visions the vision of the locust verses 1

to 3 the visions of the fire and the drought verses 4 5 and 6 and the vision of the plumb line verses 7 8 and 9 so now let's move along and in the next verses beloved brothers and sisters from verse 10 to verse 17 we have now this Amaziah a man by the name of Amaziah who was the priest of Beit El he was accusing Amos because of Amos giving him the message from the Lord so notice now in verses 10 to 17 first of all notice in verses 10 and 11 Amaziah informed Jerobam II of Amos' prophecy Amos prophecies so again notice this Amaziah according to verse 10 notice it says then Amaziah

the priest he was not a priest from the Levim he was not a priest who served in a temple in the city of Jerusalem he was a priest who was serving there in Beit El serving the pagan gods the idols and now he is charging and accusing Amos because Amos gave that message from the Lord so you know what he does in verse 10 Amaziah the priest of Beit El he sent to Yerobam the king and he said four things against Amos number one verse 10b Amos has conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel he is actually lying he is saying to the king Yerobam the king in the north of

Israel he said Amos he was conspiring something against you as if Amos wanted evil against Yerobam and against the people of Israel the opposite was correct because Amos prayed and interceded on behalf of the nation but he blamed Amos and he says he conspired he had a plan against you in verse 10 then in verse 10b at the end he said the land is not able to bear all his words I mean the whole land is not able to bear the words that the prophecy that Amos is giving against Israel thirdly in verse 11 for thus Amos says that Yerobam shall die by the sword now Amos didn't say that Yerobam will die by the

sword but Amaziah giving you might say lying about Amos and saying things that are not truthful about the prophet of the Lord and then fourthly in the very same verse 11 11 and Israel shall surely be let away captive out of their own land that was the truth because Amos by the word of the Lord said this will happen because of the evil doing of the nation of Israel so in verses 10 and verses 11 Amaziah is informing Yerobam of Amos' prophecies and he said and he said those four things about him he conspire against you the land is not able to bear what he is saying Yerobam you are going to be dying by

a sword he said that Amos said and ultimately Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land well notice that immediately the next verses again Amaziah Amaziah now is not only that he is telling this to the king of Israel the second Jerobam the king of Israel who reigned over Israel from Bethel now he is giving a warning to the prophet himself to Amos himself so notice that verses 12 and 13 Amaziah tells Amos to flee back to Yehudah to Judah because after all if you would look one more time at this map together to remind you that Amos came all the way from Judah right here here is Judah in the

south here is Hebron right somewhere here he went all the way up there and he was speaking to the people here in the northern kingdom and he was giving them a message from the Lord so now notice this and I am back to our chapter chapter 7 now notice what he says to Amos in verses 12 12 and 13 and I am reading these two verses it says in verse 12 Amaziah first of all notice he called Amos Seer he doesn't call him a prophet he called him a Seer you notice Amaziah said unto Amos O thou Seer notice the word for Seer it comes from the Hebrew word Choseh Choseh is a person who

sees vision as far as Amaziah was concerned Amos is just seeing vision he is visualizing he has all sort of things in his mind and he doesn't recognize him as a prophet of God so he said hey you Seer he said notice he said to him go flee thee away into the land of Judah flee and there eat bread and prophesy there now notice by the words that he says Amaziah a false priest who are worshipping idols who led the people of Israel astray telling to a man of God flee and you can go preach somewhere else don't come to do it here in the north of Israel like many will tell today to a

Bible preacher who want to teach the word we don't want to hear that we don't want to hear this message of the word of God we want to hear things that will be soothing to our ears like if you remember what Shaul Paul said to Timothy in 1st 2nd Timothy chapter 4 he said to Timothy and you know it is amazing how real it is today and notice what it says in verse 1 I charge thee Paul said to Timothy therefore before God and the Lord Jesus the Messiah who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom preach the word Timothy Paul is saying to him he says preach the

word he continues he says be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exalt with all long suffering and doctrine Timothy give sound doctrine give the word of God as it is don't try to please people because in verse 3 for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears Timothy you give the word of God as it is given and don't try to please men Amos give the message as I have given this to you God said to Amos let me be the one who will deal with my word for the nation of Israel but notice Amaziah a

false priest who have the audacity to worship idols and then lead the people of God astray and he is saying to Amos Amos you know he says you better flee you go away to your own land Judah don't come to here and then he said and there eat bread in other words they will pay you for preaching there because we are not going to pay you for this kind of message you see what he said eat bread there and prophesy there as as as if amos was doing what he did for gain rather than preaching the word of the Lord and notice he continue in the next verse and it says here notice he says

but prophesy not again here notice here in verse 13 anymore at Bethel don't prophesy here we don't want to hear the word of God here it is the king's chapel or the king's sanctuary and it is the king's court we don't want to hear what you have to say by the word of the Lord we have our own castle we have our own sanctuary we have our own God to worship don't bring us your God we have our own God go back to where you come from now you notice he's a priest he's supposed to represent the God of Israel but he was appointed to be a priest he was not even a levy from

the tribe of levy he was a false priest who accusing the godly men the true prophet of Israel and tell him go back home don't give us this prophecy here eat bread in your town don't come to our town you remember what we read what Yeshua said a prophet is not without honor it is own city it is own town and notice how even he is people of God the people of Israel should have listened to the word not refuse the word of the Lord and now we are at the climax at the end and notice how Amos conclude here in the last passage here Amos is a man of God and so in the

next messages in the last verses 14 15 16 and 17 those are the last verses of this chapter first of all Amos is responding to Amaziah to Amaziah demand and notice what he tells him he said to him in verse 14 then answer Amos and said to Amaziah Amaziah I was not a prophet neither was I a prophet son but I was a herd man and a gatherer of sycamore fruit Amaziah I was not a prophet I did not I was not in a school to learn to become a navi or prophet to give a ministry I was not I was simply a herdman shepherd and I was a gatherer of sycamore fruit that's all

my father was not a prophet I was not a prophet I was simply a shepherd is there living in Judea in the town of Tekoa and if you look at these fields you can just imagine in this picture for a moment you can just see the field he must have been one of these shepherds who was walking in the field there in the south of Jerusalem the south of Bethlehem and and then and then some of the trees he was picking up fruit from a sycamore tree he said that's all what I was doing I was simply a herdman and I was a gatherer of sycamore fruit but here is what happened to me Amaziah

in verse 15 the Lord took me as I followed the flock look at this it's so beautiful you know every time in the Bible when you have those men of God in the biblical history of our people Israel many of them were just simply shepherds David was a shepherd Moshe was a shepherd you look at the history of our people the Lord Yeshua the Messiah is called the shepherd of the sheep I am the good shepherd the good shepherd give his life for the sheep John chapter 10 wonderful to see I was simply following the flock I was taking care of the flock my father sent me to take care of the flock that's all

what I earned that's all what I was doing he said to them but the Lord took me he took me up from following the flock and the Lord said unto me go go prophesy unto my people Israel brothers and sisters listen the true prophets are those that God raised you don't learn it in school you don't get diploma from that you don't earn it because of your father or your grandfather your great grandfather those who want to serve the Lord are people who are humble before the Lord broken before the Lord recognize that on their own they are nothing and God raised them I was simply a shepherd I was gathering sick among a tree

but the Lord he took me from following the flock and he said unto me speak prophesy and notice once again to my people Israel my people those were the people of God who have gone astray that Amos was called to serve so while Amaziah told him you better go back to your own land to your own to the town of Judah to the southern kingdom to your own area where you came from Amos says I cannot do that God called me to come to here and I am going to obey God rather than you it is better to obey the Lord to submit to the Lord than to listen to the opinion of men and

so look at the conclusion bear with me beloved brothers and sisters now Amos is pronouncing judgment upon Amaziah himself and he pronounced the Lord judgment upon Amaziah in verses 16 and 17 he says thus in verse 16 he said therefore hear thou the word of the Lord thou sayest prophesy not against Israel and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac again the word for Isaac here is the word Beit Yishak is the house of mockery and playing and then he said you telling me not to speak but hear notice what he said to the false prophet to the false priest he said in verse 17 therefore thus says the Lord thy wife shall

be in Harlot in the city thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword thy land shall be divided by line and you Amaziah thou shall die in a polluted land and then he said at the end and Israel shall surely go into captivity north of his land and north of his land was Assyria the Assyrian came in 722 BC and have taken captive the people the northern kingdom and carry them to Assyria where they scattered them in so many places there in the north area of the land of Israel and Amaziah according to this passage he must have died in a polluted land in a land where the land was polluted by paganism

by that which was contrary to the word of the Lord beloved brothers and sisters and amazing when you think about the message that Amos was called to preach to Israel Amos was a man of God and he gave the word of the Lord but he cared for his people he was not happy to see Israel punished that's why he interceded for his own people the nation of Israel so he gave that message and now as he continued he received two more visions which we're going to talk about it in our next meeting together where ultimately the judgment of God came upon his beloved nation well may the Lord help us as we study the word

of God and teach us and cause us to be drawn closer to the Lord Jesus our Messiah can we say amen to that