Amos 7:8
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: 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:
The plumbline set in the midst of Israel is God's exact and unfailing standard by which He measures and tests His people. That measuring is not limited to Israel, but extends to every nation and every individual, with each assigned a place in His great plan and each measured without error. By their own choices men and nations determine their destiny. At the same time God overrules the events of history to accomplish His purposes. Prophecy binds those events together across the ages to show where each generation stands in the procession of time, what has been foretold having been fulfilled in history and what remains to come taking place in its appointed order.