The Coming Spiritual Famine


Famine of hearing the words of the Lord Amos 8:11

The days are coming _ declares the sovereign Lord when I will send a famine thro the land. Not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

God told Amos of a time when he would send a famine of hearing God’s words and people would search in vain to hear from God. This is, in fact a state the people bring on themselves. They refuse to listen to the prophets (God’s voice during that time) so God promises that prophecies will cease.

Israel chase after other Gods as well as their comfort and prosperity so God inflicts His greatest judgement on them _ the absence of His words and His presence

Today we have God’s written word readily available.and do we take advantage of the opportunity to hear from God.We take God’s word for granted Read the Bible and ask God to speak to you.

Cynthia Sathiaraj
Chennai

The Coming Spiritual Famine

Famine For Hearing the Words of the Lord
Therefore,
Amos 8:11 is part of God’s description of judgement upon the nation of Israel. Verse 11 contains the phrase “famine for hearing the words of the Lord” that we want to understand.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.”
Amos 8:11

The first act of punishment listed is that God would send a famine. But the famine was not one of no food or no water. The people would not suffer from a lack of food or water. Instead, they would suffer due to a famine of not hearing the words of the Lord. That is, they would not hear the words of Scripture which God wrote.
The judgement would be an act of God withholding prophecy. There would not be any prophets. God would not communicate through a prophet.

The message of Amos 8:11 is a warning!
Today we do not have prophets or apostles since Jude 3 tells us that the faith “was once for all handed down to the saints.” The faith was given through the prophets and the apostles in written form. We call it the Word of God or the Bible. Since the faith was “once for all delivered” we are not expecting anything additional to be added to the Bible – nor should we. The last apostle wrote the last book of the Bible. The Bible is complete!

Therefore, how does Amos 8:11 apply to us today?
The answer is that the Bible is not being taught in depth as it should be. Many sermons are filled with stories, personal illustrations and humor. It is rare that details of a verse are explained so that believers understand all the verse says. Often pastors are more interested in application than explaining the meaning of what God said. During a sermon the passage is often just summarized. Then the pastor illustrates it and urges people to action. Often the application is not even taught in the passage.

As a result, people cannot understand how the application came from the Bible passage. How the pastor arrived at the application seems to be a mystery. Often people think the pastor has a “great insight.” The truth is he had a message he wanted to teach and used the passage only as a starting point. It is not uncommon for the teacher to not even understand the meaning of the passage. As a result, people have been trained to think that application is the meaning of the Bible verse. Verse-by-verse expository teaching of the Word of God is difficult to find these days. Some pastors have been accused of teaching a seminary class because they are explaining the meaning of every chapter, verse and some words.

Application is the norm today. Typically, we are not teaching for spiritual maturity. Today at times pastors emotionally encourage the faithful to some type of action that is not even found in the passage. But it is an application that he is eager to deliver. As a result, there is a famine for hearing the words of God today.

Many pastors and teachers are increasingly like the priests described in Hosea 4:6 who were teaching, but they were not teaching the knowledge of the Lord.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6

Notice the verse says that the priests had rejected knowledge and had forgotten the law of God. The priests themselves were not interested in studying the Law. As a result, they did not teach the Scriptures and the people were “destroyed for lack of knowledge.” It was a sign of pending judgment. The same is true for us today. Judgement is coming.

The Kingdom Restored

Amos 9:11-15
The Lord Jesus Christ will be enthroned as the King upon the throne of David. God will establish the eternal reign of David’s greater Son. The rule of the house of David was a fore gleam of the eternal, universal, dominion of God in Christ. The ultimate fulfillment of all these passages is found only in the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.

Just as we are seeing God gathering out from the nations of the world a people of His own Name there is coming a day when He will again work in the stony hearts of His own people Israel (Rom. 11:25-29).
Our sovereign God is not through with Israel. A day will come when His Spirit will draw many of the Jewish people to respond to His saving grace. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

When Christ returns He will reign as King of Kings over all the earth. Will you rule with Him in that everlasting kingdom?

The all-sufficient work Jesus Christ includes the giving of the Holy Spirit. Have you received His free gift of eternal life by grace through faith in Christ alone?

God is Sovereign. The vision of Obadiah. …
God Stands Up for His People. Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, …
When God’s People are Destroyed, It Effects Others. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, …

God is Sovereign The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”

Obadiah 1
National gods were common in the Old Testament times. Edom had her god; Israel had her God. But the statement we have here is that God rules over Edom as well.

Edom was not chosen by God like Israel but they were still included among the nations that were called to worship him. However, they did not worship or even acknowledge God.

They were not beyond the power of God and he had a word for them, a warning. Just because they didn’t believe didn’t mean that God would not exert his will upon them. This is a reminder to us that our failure to believe does not change God’s sovereign will. His existence does not depend on our belief. He is and he reigns.

✍️🦋Mrs. Kalaiselvi Balakrishnan in Jesus Christ 🦋✍️