AMOS, WHAT SEEST THOU?
Bro. Burgess is a Past Grand Master of Louisiana and is currently the
editor of The "Louisiana Freemason" This article was originally published in the
Louisiana Freemason and we are grateful for their permission to reprint as a
Short Talk Bulletin. Editor
In all the Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the State of
Louisiana (and many other Grand Jurisdictions) the Volume of the Sacred Law
should be open at the Seventh Chapter of Amos in the Fellowcraft Degree. Why do
we do this? This practice is not universal, but ours has the sanctity of long
use and the sacredness of the familiar. Also, since one of the working tools of
a Fellowcraft Mason is the Plumb, it is appropriate to open the Bible at the
story about the plumbline of the Lord.
What do we really know about this man, the prophet Amos? Do we know why the
Lord called him to deliver His message of judgment to His people of Israel?
Solomon received from his father, David, a powerful empire. During his latter
years, however, it began to fall apart. Expensive building projects sapped the
strength and loyalty of native Israelites. As the tributary nations saw the
opportunity to assert their independence they did so and Solomon was unable to
prevent the disintegration of the empire. Before Solomon's death the Aramaeans
severed themselves from his kingdom, and shortly after he was succeeded by
Rehoboam, a further split took place. With the breakdown of the monarchy,
subject states declared their independence so that the territory once ruled by
David was divided into autonomous units.
The portion of Solomon's empire north of Mount Hermon, extending as far as
the Euphrates, revolted and formed the kingdom of Syria, with Damascus as its
capital.
South of Syria was the kingdom of the ten tribes, known as Israel, or the
Northern Kingdom, with its capital at Shechem. The Northern Kingdom included the
larger portion of Palestine proper, an area of about 9,400 square miles.
The kingdom of Judah included the tribe of that name, a portion of Benjamin,
and Simeon, which had been incorporated earlier into Judah. Kings of the Davidic
line reigned over Judah until the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, King of
Babylon (587 B.C.)
Solomon retained control over Moab; but his successor found the Moabites hard
to keep in subjection. Moab disappeared as a political power when Nebuchadnezzar
subjugated the country.
South of the Dead Sea was the kingdom of Edom which had been conquered by
David and remained tributary during the reign of Solomon.
The three kingdoms which developed from Solomon's kingdom in western
Palestine--Syria, Israel and Judah--strove for supremacy. Wars were constant
between Israel and Judah. With the threat to both Israel and Judah from the
powerful Syrian state of Damascus, there developed a tendency for the two states
to reconcile their differences.
During the reigns of Ussiah, king of Judah (783-742 B.C.), and Jeroboam II,
king of Israel (786-746 B.C.), the sister states pushed their boundaries out to
include the territories which once belonged to Israel under David and Solomon.
Many of the smaller nations were required to pay tribute to Israel and Judah.
Both kingdoms collected tolls from the caravans that passed through their lands.
In this period in both Israel and Judah there was a transition from an
agricultural to a commercial way of life. Industries and cities sprang up which
gave rise to a class of wealthy merchants and landholders.
This new wealthy class built winter and summer houses out of hewn stone
elaborately adorned and decorated. They had couches inlaid with ivory, covered
with the tiniest imported silk, upon which they reclined while eating prime cuts
of meat, drinking wine out of bowls, and listening to strains of varied music.
But the presence of great wealth did not mean that there was no poverty in
the land. The extremely rich had obtained much of their wealth by their
merciless oppression of the poor, taking exactions of wheat from them. The
merchants used false weights and measures in their business transactions, in
addition to selling refuse wheat. Because these unscrupulous men were able to
bribe the judges, no redress was left for the innocent .
The tragedy of all this was that Israel's social structure was completely
disrupted. Israel had originally been a covenant community in which there was no
class distinction. All men were equal before the law, God, and one another. Now
all this had changed. Wealth, power, and affluence came to some in Israel. But
the affluent, rather than using their wealth to benefit all of God's people,
squandered it on luxuries and status symbols and used their newly gained power
to keep their poor brothers in subjection.
One would think that, in the light of the conditions just described, there
would have been little interest in religion in those days. Just the reverse was
true. The people were very religious, especially the rich. Religious services
were well attended; tithes and offerings were freely and punctually given;
impressive festivals were held; and pilgrimages were made to the important
religious centers. They thought they were in the favor of God and under His
protection. However, just the opposite was true. The Lord despised their feasts
and would not accept their sacrifices. Their worship was a profane travesty. It
was an act of men and women morally unclean and unwilling to submit themselves
to the searching discipline of God.
God had entered into a covenant with Israel. God had chosen Israel out of all
the families of the earth. God had given her a land and had given her people
special laws to guide them in the way they should go. It seems that Israel
believed the covenant to be inviolable and that it gave her privileges and a
license that no other nation had. But Israel broke her covenant. She used her
freedom from bondage to enslave a large segment of her own people. The gift of
the land she used for selfish purposes. She rejected the law of God and walked
after lies.
What was God going to do in the face of Israel's sin? Would he ignore it?
Would he wink at it? Or would he stop turning away the punishment from Israel?
The answer was "No," he would stop turning away the punishment from Israel. The
end had come upon Israel.
Was there no hope for Israel? Was there no way to escape the impending
judgment of God? There was only a slight possibility--only that possibility
found in the sovereignty of God. Here is where we begin the story about Amos.
Very little is known about the man Amos. He is never mentioned by any other
biblical writer. All the information we have about him comes from the little
book which bears his name. Amos' name probably means "burdened" or
"burden-bearer."
Amos lived in Tekoa, a village in Judah about 11 miles south of Jerusalem and
18 miles west of the Dead Sea. Tekoa was located in a barren rockbound region
surrounded on three sides by limestone hills and a breath-taking view of the
Dead Sea.
Amos was a shepherd or herdsman and dresser of sycamore trees (wild figs). He
was probably a very poor man since his sympathies were with the poor against
their rich oppressors. Although he was a shepherd and one who performed menial
tasks, he was by no means uneducated. His formal training might have been nil,
but he was a keen observer of the ways of God and men. Awareness and sensitivity
characterized the man. His literary style was free and pure.
Amos lived in the time of the earthquake, just as the Northern Kingdom of
Israel was coming to a close. Seemingly before anyone else in his generation,
Amos heard the lion's roar of God's wrath. He is generally recognized as the
first of the writing prophets in Israel. He introduced a new element into Old
Testament prophecy. He was the first to preach a message of judgment that meant
the end of the kingdom of Israel.
At about 760 B.C. God called Amos to deliver His message of judgment to the
people of Israel. In spite of his humble background, he was the one God chose to
preach His message of repentance and warning to a rebellious nation. Amos
possessed a sense of unquestioned obedience and a clear proclamation of God's
message. He was committed to the Lord and His principles of holiness and
righteousness.
Amos began his ministry with biting words of judgment against the six nations
surrounding the land of Judah and Israel. Next he announced Cod's judgment
against Judah, but Amos was only warming up to his main objective: a vivid
description of God's judgment against the nation of Israel. Amos condemned the
people of Israel for their oppression of the poor; worship of idols; rejection
of God's salvation; and defilement of the Lord's holy name.
Twice Amos saw the judgment of God coming and interceded for Israel, and God
turned away his judgment. But with the third vision of the plumbline, we come to
the title of this dissertation.
"Thus He showed me: and behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by a
plumbline, with a plumbline in His hand.
"And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, a plumbline.
And said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people
Israel:
"I will not again pass by them any more. ' ' Amos 7:7-8
The prophet Amos was the prophet of righteousness and he saw the Lord God as
judging Israel by means of the plumbline, signifying the unchanging standards of
that righteousness.
Let us look further at this plumbline.
What is a plumbline? It is a simple tool made of a cord with a weight
attached to one end. It is used by brick masons and other builders to test the
verticality of a wall or other structures. If a wall or a foundation leans, it
is out-of-plumb.
Why did God say, "I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel?"
Because the plumb admonishes us to walk uprightly in our several stations before
God and man. The people of Israel had sinned and in spite of the warnings of
Amos, they had not reentered the fold. God made it very plain that each man must
try himself by the unerring standard of the plumbline. The plumbline is the
symbol of uprightness of character, of integrity, of honest and fair dealings
among persons. To plumb one's life and actions is to test them by the eternal
laws to God. In all these tests, the people of Israel had failed. That's why He
said, "I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel."
So it is with Freemasonry. The real worth of a Mason can never be measured in
the opinion of his fellows or in the Masonic honors he has attained. The
standard by which a Mason must be judged is by his own evaluation of his conduct
and by the principles which he knows to be the unerring and unchanging ones.
What can a Freemason expect to get from Freemasonry? The rewards of
Freemasonry and the wages of Masons are endless, so long as a man is willing to
strive for them. If he is content to be a "button Mason," paying his dues merely
for the privilege of wearing a pin, this is just what he will get out of
Masonry. If he is content to be a "knife-and-fork Mason," showing up at his
lodge only when there is some type of banquet, he will receive only this from
Masonry.
If, however, he measures himself by the plumb, and sets his standards
accordingly, he will benefit from Masonic education, Masonic philosophy and from
the association with the finest men in his community.
The standard by which a man judges himself as a Mason is the same unerring
principle by which he judges himself as a family man, as a churchman, as a
businessman, and as a citizen. He will learn to walk uprightly in all his
endeavors, learning from the plumb the lesson of rectitude of conduct. Each man
must stand by the plumbline which is set in the midst of God's people.
back to top | 
