EXPERIENCING a FAMINE of GOD’s WORD in the FUTURE!
September
23 Bible Reading: Amos Chapters 7-9
EXPERIENCING a FAMINE of GOD’s WORD in the FUTURE!
"Behold, the days are coming,"
says the Lord God, "that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall
wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro,
seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it." (Amos 8:11-12)
The vision
of the summer fruit in Amos chapter 8 shows that Israel is ripe for judgment,
which will come very soon. One aspect of the judgment will be that people will
long to hear the word of the Lord, but it will be withheld from them. Famine
and drought (of God’s word) will prevail. This curse actually originates from
the covenant law (see Deut. 32:20; Hos. 3:4). We see this curse in effect
during the period of the judges when sin abounded (Judg. 21:25) and “the word of the Lord was rare” (1 Sam.
3:1).
We need to
understand that from the beginning, Israel had expressed its contempt for God’s
Word by trying to mix the worship of God with idolatry. When God sent His
prophets, they were not welcomed (see 7:10–13). Now, God will grant Israel’s desire.
He will not impose His Word on them and they will find that very troubling.
They will run everywhere to seek the word of God but will not find it. Their
search would be in vain because God would not send them a prophetic word during
their time of calamity.
It is very
important to remember that God’s Word is our spiritual nourishment (Matt. 4:4;
1 Pet. 2:2), and there can be no substitute. When we reject God’s Word by
refusing to read it and meditate it on a daily basis, a day is coming when God
will take away His Word from us, which will leave us hungry and unsatisfied. Oh, that we may find time to dwell on God’s
Word today and everyday!
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Col 3:16)
