Amos 7:8 - Exposition

Amos, what seest thou? A question asked to give occasion for the explanation of the symbol, as in Jeremiah 1:11 , Jeremiah 1:13 ; Jeremiah 24:3 . I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. As it was built by rule and measure, so it should be destroyed. The line was used not only for building, but also for pulling down (see 2 Kings 21:13 ; Isaiah 34:11 ; Lamentations 2:8 ). And this should be done "in the midst" of the people, that all might be tried individually, and that all might acknowledge the justice of the sentence, which now denounced complete ruin. Pass by; so as to spare, or forgive ( Amos 8:2 ; Proverbs 19:11 ; Micah 7:18 ). The judgment is irremediable, and the prophet intercedes no more. The final conquest by Shalmaneser is here typified.