  THE BUILDER DECEMBER 1915

THE PLUMB-LINE

BY BRO. WM. F. KUHN P. G. M., MISSOURI

"Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by
a plumb line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said unto
me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, a plumb-line. Then said the
Lord, behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people
Israel; I will not again pass by them any more." (Amos, VII: 7-8.)

The Degree of Fellow Craft deals with material interests of life
and man's intellectual nature. Its object is to stimulate every
incentive to pursue and attain those things that go to make up
man's welfare and comfort in material things and in his mental
development and satisfaction. The Degree addresses itself to the
workman in the clay grounds, to the man who is engaged in the
realms of the intricate sciences, to the liberal arts, and to the
practical application of all scientific knowledge to a useful end.

The Scriptural Reading to this Degree is, often, an enigma; and the
only relation that this Reading bears to the Degree to the average
Mason, is the occurrence of the word "Plumb-Line" which somehow has
something to do with the erection of walls and buildings. To
understand this Scriptural Reading and its relations to the Degree
of Fellow Craft, it is necessary to know the history and the
application of this vision of Amos.

Amos lived and taught in the year 787 B. C. during the reign of
Jereboam II of the Kingdom of Israel. The reign of Jereboam was
chiefly characterized by mere formal religion, the arrogant
assumption of power, cruel oppression for the accumulation of
wealth for himself and Nobles. The poor could not attain justice in
the Courts, and justice became rank injustice. It was a reign of a
typical, practical politician who feasted and fattened off the poor
and oppressed. In this reign of wealth, and degradation of the
poor, Amos, the Reformer, arose and with fiery eloquence denounced
the social conditions existing. He speaks of himself as, "I was no
prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd and dresser
of sycamore." One of the ablest Commentators speaks of him as
follows:-- "Amos was the first great social reformer in history; he
was the tribune of the poor and oppressed. The rich and the rulers
and those in authority were the special objects of his attacks. By
them he was silenced as a dangerous agitator and banished from the
Kingdom."

It was to correct the abuses of the very things inculcated in the
Degree of Fellow Craft, that he laid aside his shepherd's crook to
preach righteousness and justice. He might be called the prophet of
the plumbline. Listen to his denunciations as he applies the
plumb-line to the rulers.

Alas, for those who turn judgment to wormwood, 
And cast righteousness to the ground, 
Who hate him that reproves in the gate, 
And who abhor one who speaks uprightly.

Therefore, because ye trample upon the weak 
And take from him exactions of grain, 
Houses of hewn stone have ye built, 
But ye shall not dwell therein; 
Charming vineyards have you planted, 
But ye shall not drink the wine.

They who lie on ivory couches, 
And sprawl upon divans, 
And eat lambs from the flocks 
And calves from the stalls, 
They drawl to the sound of the lyre, 
Like David, they devise for themselves instruments of song, 
And drink bowls full of wine, 
And anoint themselves with the finest oil, 
But they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

It is not surprising that he was banished from the country; truth
hurt just as much in the centuries of the past, as now. In his
final effort to arouse the people, he made use of intensely graphic
word pictures in the form of visions. In the Metric form they are
as follows:--

Thus the Lord showed me, 
And, behold, he was forming locusts, 
When the late spring grass began to come up. 
And when they were making an end 
Of devouring the vegetation of the land, 
I said, O Lord, Jehovah, forgive, I pray; 
How can Jacob stand, for he is small ? 
Jehovah repented concerning this; 
It shall not be, said Jehovah.

Thus the Lord showed me, 
And, behold, he was giving commands to execute judgment 
By fire--the Lord Jehovah. 
And it devoured the great deep, 
And had begun to devour the tilled land. 
Then I said, O Lord, Jehovah, cease I pray; 
How can Jacob stand, for he is small ? 
Jehovah repented concerning this; 
Neither shall this be, said Jehovah.

Thus the Lord showed me, 
And, behold, the Lord was standing 
Beside a wall, with a plumb-line in his hand. 
And Jehovah said to me, 
What dost thou see, Amos? 
And I answered, a plumb-line; 
Then the Lord said, behold, I am setting a plumbline 
In the midst of my people Israel; 
I will not again pass by them any more.

In placing the visions of the plague of locusts, of the drought,
and of the plumb-line in their sequence, the meaning of the last
line, "I will not again pass by them any more," is readily
understood. The Lord's hand was stayed in the first and second
vision by the prayerful and faithful Amos, and the vengeance of the
Lord "Passed by," but in the vision of the plumb-line, He set a
standard of measurement that can never be changed. The plumb-line,
the symbol of national and individual rectitude and justice, will
stand forever. "He will not again pass by any more." It will endure
and can not be stayed.

The third vision contains the very essence of true worth and
greatness. The plumb-line is the test of values. Twenty-four
centuries before Speculative Freemasonry was born, this simple
shepherd held aloft the plumb-line whose symbolic meaning was the
same then, as it is today--the standard of rectitude, justice,
uprightness, and true manhood. As such it is one of the most
impressive symbols in Freemasonry. As such it stands preeminent in
the Degree of Fellow Craft; the symbol by which the value of the
material interests of life must be gauged and by which the use of
man's intelligence must be tried. The symbolism is so plain, that
it does not need any profound philosophy to unfold it, neither is
it necessary to search for it along "geometrical lines." It stands
clear, simple, and profound.

It matters not whether the Freemason toils, as a day laborer, in
the clay grounds between Succoth and Zaredetha, or stands as the
exponent of the liberal arts and sciences. There is but one
standard for King or subject, rich or poor, educated or ignorant.
The plumbline of moral rectitude must be applied to every walk in
life.

