And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then 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. "The Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Timothy 2:19). As He saith to Moses, "I know thee by name" (Exodus 33:12; Exodus 33:17). "He calleth his own sheep by name" (John 10:3).
Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel - no longer are the symbols, as in the former two, stated generally; this one is expressly applied to Israel. God's long-suffering is worn out by Israel's perversity: so Amos ceases to intercede, as Abraham did in the case of Sodom (cf. Genesis 18:33). The plummet-line was used not only in building, but in destroying houses (2 Kings 21:13; Isaiah 28:17; Isaiah 34:11; Lamentations 2:8). It denotes that God's judgments are measured out by the exactest rules of justice. Here it is placed in the midst of Israel - i:e., the judgment is not to be confined to an outer part of Israel, as by Tiglath-pileser; it is to reach the very center. This was fulfilled when Shalmaneser, after a three years' siege of Samaria, took it in the 9th year of Hoshea the king of Israel, and carried away Israel captive finally to Assyria (2 Kings 17:3; 2 Kings 17:5-6; 2 Kings 17:23).
I will not again pass by them anymore - I will not forgive them anymore (Amos 8:2; Proverbs 19:11; Micah 7:18). I will not again pass by them anymore - I will not forgive them anymore (Amos 8:2; Proverbs 19:11; Micah 7:18).