NORTHERN STYLE NEWSWATCH No. 35 CREDO
` The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa . . .
a wall that had been built true to plumb . . . .'
The Book of Amos is one of the Twelve Minor (or shorter) Prophets, called in the Hebrew Scriptures `the Latter Prophets'. In these same Scriptures we find that these Twelve Books, although individual and unique in each of their respective messages, are grouped together as one Book, thereby giving an understanding through the use of numbers (in this case, the number `12') of God's Governmental Perfection or Order. Today, the word `government' is more easily understood in a political sense - a group of people called out, set apart from a political party to form a Government which will seek to enforce a determined policy. A better word to use, although not in vogue these days, would be governance - a policy which is entrusted to an elite group of people from a political party to be outworked, through just laws, for the benefit of the whole nation.

Even at a secular level we can still gain an understanding of what is meant in the use of the number 12 in Scripture, which has to do with God's Governance in the heavens and on the earth through His appointed `group of people' who are called out to reveal God's will and purpose. Keeping in mind that the Book of Amos, one of the Twelve Books of Minor Prophets, was seen in the Hebrew Scriptures as one Book, we can understand that Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa and therefore a native of the southern kingdom of Judah, called to speak on and against the actions of the kings and people of the northern kingdom of Israel, was speaking to the whole nation of Israel and yet specifically to the northern kingdom which was in direct rebellion against Him. As God's Governance is unchanging, we can therefore take the `principle' seen in the Book of Amos - which was spoken to a called-out people in another Dispensation - in this Age of Grace, that is, the Church, trusting that it will lead not to condemnation but to conviction that leads to repentance.

Little is known about Amos other than that he was one of the shepherds of Tekoa, but his ministry can be literally dated for his words were spoken `of what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam, son of Jehoash was king of Israel'. The opening words, set in an historical time, gives, as we shall see, a dramatic emphasis to the words Amos spoke. A secular government is called to outwork its policies in the lives of those they govern to the point where they are seen to have occurred. How much more so is the Government of God perfectly outworked in the lives of His people! Much is made of the supposedly humble nature of Amos' work as a `shepherd', pointing to the suggestion that God can work through anyone `be he ever so humble'. Be that as it may, to major on the lowly work of a shepherd is to miss the point of what is being recorded here.

Tekoa was a small village some six miles south of Bethlehem, which was itself five miles south of Jerusalem. It was here that the sheep destined for the sacrificial offerings in the Temple in Jerusalem were herded. No ordinary shepherd was entrusted with such work for the sheep must be perfect - without spot or blemish - in order to meet the righteous requirements of a perfect sacrifice to God. These men who were called to a holy work understood the righteousness of a holy God and would be called upon at Feast days to bring the sacrificial sheep to the Temple. Such men as Amos would have been filled with righteous anger at what had occurred through the rebellion of Jeroboam against Solomon's son Rehoboam, the setting up of a religious shrine at Bethel and the accompanying sacrifices that would have been made there. Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, who knew the righteous requirements of sacrifices offered to God, was called to see and to speak of what he saw, and of the righteous anger of God.

The words we have used for our opening title come from the seventh chapter of the Book of Amos, but before we move into the text we need to look at the various names that are used here when speaking of God for each one used in the Hebrew Scriptures speaks a distinctive message. Aware that people now use a variety of translations which sometimes obscure these different meanings, we will use the King James Version where they occur. (Even then we note that on two occasions in the King James translation, in verses 7 and 8, the Sopherim, who were the custodians of the sacred text, substituted the name `Lord' [Adonai] for LORD out of a mistaken reverence for the Covenanted Name of God, speaking as it does of earthly things, that is, ` a wall and a plumb-line'.) The name `LORD' is used as the personal name of God for those He has created and called out into a Covenanted relationship for His purpose - the God of Israel and those He has redeemed. It is also shown in an even more personal way in using the name of the Lord GOD (sometimes written as `Sovereign LORD' in modern transalations). This now combines `the Lord' (Adonai) showing His Lordship over earthly things with the personal Covenanted Name of GOD - revealing what He requires of His people in the governance of His will and purpose. This may seem to be a somewhat pendantic use of words, but if held in the mind whilst we read Scripture it reveals a depth of understanding of God's purposes that would otherwise be overlooked.

Amos now speaks out what he has seen: `This is what the Lord GOD showed me' - speaking of earthly, natural things that were to happen to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel who were in a Covenanted relationship with God and called to reveal His Governance. The following eight verses continue with three dire warnings to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel. The first warning would be a swarm of locusts that were being prepared to come upon the land `after the king's share had been harvested and just as the second crop was coming up'. This speaks of a judgement that was being prepared for each individual person living in that kingdom - no longer was God prepared to allow them to `hide' behind the king's rebellious acts . . they themselves were accountable to God for their own actions . . they had consented to and were in compliance with their leader's actions! Secure on the mountains of Samaria, surrounded as they were by fortified cities set as a ring around the borders of the northern kingdom, the people were enjoying their wealth. Settled, wealthy and secure, it was not long before they raised up their own temple and were offering sacrifices to the God of their imagination!

Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa, who knew the righteous requirements of the only sacrifices acceptable to the Lord GOD, spoke of what he saw was to happen. Swarms of locusts were being prepared which would bring famine to the people, destroying their wealth and bringing destitution to them. Even so Amos spoke no words of condemnation; although aware of the righteousness of God's coming judgement he cried out to Him using the personal name of the Lord GOD of Israel: `Forgive! How can Jacob survive? he is so small!' The cry of Amos turned the Hand of God and the disaster was averted: (Amos 7:3)

" So the LORD relented.
`This will not happen,' the LORD said. "
Next Amos saw a second judgement against the people, who needed the land in order to produce crops in order to survive: (Amos 7:4)

" This is what the Lord GOD showed me: The Lord GOD was calling for judgement by fire; it dried up the great deep and did eat up a part (of the land). "

Not only was judgement coming for the immediate generation of people; the fire Amos saw coming would dry up the life-giving water and so destroy that part of the land upon which so much idolatry had been practised. Again, the title `Lord GOD' gives understanding of His intentions in these judgements: The Lord (Adonai) shows His intentions and His authority over all the earth, and in joining to GOD (the Covenanted name of God for His people) it shows that He is using natural disasters to bring His spiritual people back into the relationship that He requires in order for them to outwork His Governance according to His purpose. Once again we hear the cry of Amos who feared that this judgement, although righteous, would destroy not only the land upon which idolatry had been practised but also the people: (Amos 7:5-6)

" Then I cried out, `Lord GOD, I beg You, stop! How can Jacob survive? he is so small!' So the LORD relented. `This will not happen either,' the LORD said. "

And so we come to the third warning of impending judgement, and we find the whole tone changing - we find it so in the almost stark use of the Covenant Name of God for His people Israel: (Amos 7:7)

" This is what He showed me: The LORD was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb-line in His hand. "

(In breaking into the narrative it is worth noting that the Name of God in this verse is shown in most if not all translations as Lord (Adonai), and it is said of the Sopherim, the custodians of the sacred script, that it is one of the occasions when they altered the `LORD' (Yaweh) to `Lord' (Adonai) out of reverence for the sacred Name of God, not wishing to use it for things of the earth, such as standing by a wall!) (Amos 7:8b)

" Then the LORD said, `Look, I will set a plumb-line among My people Israel; I will spare them no longer'. "

Amos understood . . and had no answer! The people who would hear him speak would also understand but would refuse to give an answer, and in so doing would judge themselves by their individual acceptance or rejection of the `wall that had been built true to plumb'. As Paul would later say in his Letter to the Romans of `the people of Israel': (Romans 9:4)

" Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the Divine Glory, the Covenants, the receiving of the Law, the Temple worship and the promises. "

To the nation of Israel had been given the Law (through Moses); to them had been entrusted the Governance of God; they were called out of Egypt to reveal the Glory of the true God to the surrounding nations! The people who heard the words of Amos, the shepherd of Tekoa, would have recalled an earlier man of God, Moses, who pleaded with God not to destroy the people who had made and worshipped a golden god in the wilderness - to them had been entrusted the Word of God - and they would have remembered the words spoken by Moses as their forefathers were about to cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan. The last Book of Torah, the Book of Deuteronomy, was part of the `wall built true to plumb', and the plumb-line that was now to be set against their knowledge was also known to them: (Deuteronomy 7:24-26: 8:1: 8:19-20)

" He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No-one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them. The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction. Be careful to follow every command I am giving you this day, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD has promised on oath to your forefathers . . . . If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God."

Such words as these - `the wall built true to plumb' - show why Amos was unable to speak further, for in such words we find the name of the God of the Covenant being used. The people under Jeroboam had rebelled not against Rehoboam but against the LORD God; had separated themselves into the northern kingdom; had set up their own temple and placed within it a golden calf to worship as their god! What could Amos do but bow before the judgement the people had brought upon themselves by their rejection of God's Word which had been entrusted to them, `a wall built true to plumb', which was intended to reveal the righteous requirements of God and His Governance to the surrounding nations. All Amos could do was to declare what would happen as the LORD set the plumb-line of the people's actions against His wall `built true to plumb' and find the people's actions wanting!

" The high places of Isaac will be destroyed,
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined;
with My sword I will rise against the house
of Jeroboam. " Amos 7:9
We are still speaking here of the individual responses of the people . . . His `setting a plumb-line among My people Israel' . . . and history records the destruction wrought by the Assyrian armies which finally swept into the northern kingdom, destroying not only the ring of protective cities but the heartland of the northern kingdom, destroying the false temple at Bethel and all the high places of worship and dispersing the people out of the land they had polluted by their religious activities! To complete the judgement against idolatry the sword of treachery was used to destroy the `House of Jeroboam' as recorded in the Second Book of Kings: (2 Kings 15:8-10)

" In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for six months. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people, assassinated him and succeeded him as king. "

A dismal story . . . and yet one not without hope! Before we bring these words to a close we need to be reminded of the opening words of the Book of Amos, where it is recorded:

" . . . what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel. "

From this historical information we can know that the ministry of Amos lasted for two short years, but although short in time the words he spoke reveal the intensity of his righteous indignation of what was happening in the northern kingdom of Israel as well as in the southern kingdom of Judah, thus revealing the anger of a righteous God who nevertheless has an undying love for His people. This is seen in the words of Amos - said to be spoken during a Jubilee year in the religious calendar of Levitical Law. (Those who have studied the cycle of years culminating in the Jubilee year will remember that fourty-nine years were counted as man counts years and the fiftyeth year was a year overlaid onto the fourty-nine years of the old cycle and the first year of the new cycle. The fiftyeth year was therefore God's Year and not one as counted by men - God's Year when all things were returned to their original owners.)

This is the heart of the message Amos spoke . . . of a time when Israel's idolatry would be dealt with and the nation returned to its `Rightful Owner'! And to ensure that the people would understand this, Amos spoke during a Jubilee year and for two years before the earthquake. The insertion of those few words give an understanding of what was a well- known and well-remembered earthquake, giving weight to the words Amos spoke, for that was the date of the death of Jeroboam the Second and the end of the House of Jeroboam, as foretold by the shepherd of Tekoa. The exile of the people which Amos spoke of would not occur for a further seventy-eight years, through the armies of Shalmaneser, but they were under no illusion that what had been spoken by Amos `two years before the earthquake' would in the LORD's good time occur as surely as the fall of the House of Jeroboam had occurred!

As Scripture is a living word, we know that this was a foreshadowing of another of `God's Years' during which time God's Messenger - this time not a shepherd of Tekoa but the Righteous Shepherd of Israel, the Messiah - found that His words were also rejected! It led to the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the people and rulers and the scattering of the remainder into the nations of the world by the Roman armies of Titus. To ensure the people understood what had happened there was again an earthquake, which we find recorded in Matthew 27:51:

" At that moment the curtain of the Temle was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. "

This dispersion of the people most certainly occurred, but yet to come is another of `God's Years' when the words of Amos will be totally fufilled during the time of the Great Tribulation! We find this `Day' recorded in the visions given to the prophet Zechariah, and particularly in chapter 14:

" A day of the LORD is coming . . . Then the LORD will go out and fight . . . On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two . . . You will flee as you flew from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah . . . On that day there will be no light no cold or frost. It will be a unique day . . . On that day living water will flow out of Jerusalem . . . the LORD will be King over the whole earth . . . "

With these thoughts in mind we would turn to the times in which we live and the situation we find ourselves in within the Church which is deeply embedded into the life of the western nations. We need not major on the shortcomings of the Church: wealth and security have proved to be a `golden calf' of idolatry and rebellion which has become the proud father of consent, that is, compliance with the standards of the world by His people. As surely as the LORD GOD of Israel showed Amos in that earlier Dispensation of what lay ahead, then without any doubt the same Lord God has been speaking in these days. Idolatry and rebellion were dealt with by removing the means, through locusts and fire, of the ability of the people to stay in the land, and only the cries of Amos stayed His Hand! Through rejection of the words of Amos, the people, and finally, the leaders, brought about their own judgement and were taken from the land, abandoned by God for a period of time. Those days, in this Age, are surely upon us. The warnings of `famine and destruction of the land' have been ignored . . the voice of the true prophet has been stilled in the western nations for many years for there is nothing more to be said of the idolatry of the people and the rebellion against His Plumb-line, the Word of God! What follows next can only be the destruction of `the high places of Isaac, and the sanctuaries of Israel ruined' in whatever form that takes in the countries in which we live. His dealings with false leaders who have led His people into such situations should be left to God as surely as He dealt with the `House of Jeroboam'. What we can be sure of is that once these events have taken place, as they surely will, `In that Day I will restore David's fallen Tent'! Like Amos, we are content to wait for that glorious Day!

So that there would be no misunderstanding that the words Amos spoke were from God, there was placed in the opening words a stark announcement of an historical event that would occur two years later - `an earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel'. God always warns before He acts . . . His mercy always precedes His judgement. Although difficult to always keep in mind, living as we do in a secular world, we need to understand that those ancient people lived their lives in a continuous cycle of religious activities, and when that earthquake occurred and the House of Jeroboam indeed fell they would recall the words Amos had spoken - and some would tremble, for a while. Therefore, as we have seen, the prophet's words can be `carried over' into further fulfillment in a different Dispensation, and provided the prophet's principles are in context understanding will come that before the Lord deals with the idolatry that has permeated the `western Church' there will be an event occurring of earth-shattering magnitude that will bring us back to the Word of God and into that relationship with Him to enable His Governance to be outworked.

Without wishing to be sensational, we merely pose the question: Is this what we are waiting for, an earth-shattering event by which we shall know that what has been spoken will occur? Yet as we know, the Book of Amos ends on a sure note of total deliverance for all His people, and in chapter 9 we find the promise of the ultimate restoration of God's people Israel partially fulfilled in this Dispensation of Grace, yet pointing forward to its fulness in the Millenium reign of Christ Jesus, the Righteous Shepherd of God. And so, as we find that the words of Amos spoken to God's people in the Dispensation of Law `cross over' into this Dispensation of Grace, and finally `cross over' into the Kingdom reign of Christ Jesus when David's Tent will be restored in its fulness, we should be aware of what this `example' (as Paul says) reveals to us.

In this Age of Grace God's unchanging Word `built true to plumb' has been entrusted to His people as surely as it was entrusted to the nation of Israel in the Age of Law, and to the Church in this Age the words of God spoken through His shepherd Amos still ring out, warning of impending judgement brought about by the people of God through their own rejection of His plumb-line. Idolatry and rebellion in His people have to be dealt with in any Dispensation in which God has entrusted the Governance of His will to them!



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