What is your plumb line?

Amos 7:8b: “Then the Lord said, ‘Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.’”

A plumb line is a cord that has a weight attached at one end. Suspended from a point, it will define a vertical line. This is especially important when building walls to make sure they are perfectly upright.

In Amos, the image of a plumb line illustrates God’s perfect standard. God had placed a plumb line among the people of Israel so that it could be clearly seen how much they deviated from His laws and commandments. Since Israel had persisted in sinning, and the people had not aligned themselves to God’s perfect standard, God declared that he would call judgement down on them.