In all the Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the State of Louisiana (and many other Grand Jurisdictions) the VOSL is open at the Seventh Chapter of Amos in the FC Degree.
Why do we do this?
This practice is not universal, but ours has the sanctity of long use and sacredness. Also, since one of the working tools of a FC is the Plumb, it is appropriate to open the Bible at the story about the plumb line of God. What do we really know about this man, the prophet Amos? Do we know why the God called him to deliver His message of judgment to His people of Israel?
Solomon received from his father, David, a powerful empire. During his latter years it began to fall apart. Expensive building projects sapped the strength and loyalty of native Israelites. As the adjoining nations saw the opportunity to assert their independence they did so and Solomon was unable to prevent the disintegration of the empire.
Before Solomon’s death, the Aramaeans had severed themselves from his kingdom, and shortly after the succession by Rehoboam, a further split took place. With this breakdown of the monarchy, subject states declared their independence so that the territory once ruled by David became divided into autonomous units. That portion of Solomon’s empire north of Mount Hermon, extending as far as the Euphrates, revolted and formed the kingdom of Syria, with Damascus as its capital. South of Syria was the kingdom of the ten tribes, known as Israel, or the Northern Kingdom, with its capital at Shechem. The Northern Kingdom included the larger portion of Palestine proper, an area of about 9,400 square miles. The kingdom of Judah included the tribe of that name, a portion of Benjamin, and Simeon, which had been incorporated earlier into Judah. Kings of the Davidic line reigned over Judah until the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (587 B.C.).