“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11-12)
The sins of Israel and Judah were very similar. Faith had faded into formalism. The people turned a deaf ear to the prophets and priests, who themselves had ceased proclaiming the Word of God as, “thus saith the Lord.” Amos the prophet had been told by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel to cease preaching in Israel and go back to Judah and prophesy there. Amos had one more message, found in the above text.
We read of famines and see the horrible sights on television of famines in many countries around the world, with children dying of starvation and thirst. In the days after the resurrection of the saints and the rapture of the church there will be world-wide famine spoken of in Revelation 6.
With a church house on every corner, the Bible continuing to be on the “best seller” book list, with religious activities abounding, it is difficult to imagine a famine of hearing the Word of God. It is a very real possibility that such a famine as Amos described could happen in this country simply from the neglect of God’s Word in our lives, in our churches and in the halls of government. It takes very little observation to see spiritually emaciated people in our churches today. Answering correctly all the questions at the end of a “study course” doesn’t necessarily mean that we are living according to God’s Word.
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