Three Visions

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Three Visions

Date: Apr. 12, 2025

Passage

Amos 7:1-9 (ESV)

1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. 2 When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

  “O Lord GOD, please forgive!
    How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
3   The LORD relented concerning this:
    “It shall not be,” said the LORD.

4 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, the Lord GOD was calling for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. 5 Then I said,

  “O Lord GOD, please cease!
    How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
6   The LORD relented concerning this:
    “This also shall not be,” said the Lord GOD.

7 This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

  “Behold, I am setting a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel;
    I will never again pass by them;
9   the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
    and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 7:8

And the LORD said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

  “Behold, I am setting a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel;
    I will never again pass by them;

God showed three visions of judgment on Israel to Amos. In the first vision, a swarm of locusts stripped the land so clean Amos cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?” The Lord relented The second vision was of a great fire that swept over the land, devastating the whole nation, drying up the deep and destroying the land. Again, Amos cried out for mercy from God, saying Jacob could not survive such judgment. And again, the Lord relented. God makes clear that he judges sin surely and completely. We can but repent and pray for God’s mercy on us.

Then God sent a third vision to Amos. This was of a plumb line. A plumb line is a tool used to check the straightness of a wall. God used the plumb line to measure the “straightness” of Israel, and they were found wanting. They were not straight with God, but crooked. So, he would judge them. He would not relent this time, but would destroy their high places, ruin their sanctuaries, and send the sword against the house of their king. God is looking for straight walls, true to plumb. We can be true to plumb when we repent our sins and come to our Lord Jesus.

Prayer: Father, without Jesus, we are bent and broken. We cannot hope to measure up to your plumb. Thank you that because of Jesus, we are straightened.

One Word: Crooked, but straightened by the Lord

Resurrection Victory

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

Key Verse: 15:57

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today's Question

What are the sacraments of the New Testament?

See answer and references