Famine of the Word

​Amos 8:11 ~ “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD God, ‘when 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’.”
 
The world suffers from a dearth of hearing the Scriptures proclaimed. Many Christian outposts facilitate programs and structure their days with a plethora of activities, but who is offering the word of God? Communities perish for a lack of food and water, and they will go to great lengths to find the basic necessities of life. But how quickly do the Scriptures get dismissed with seeming indifference. Let me ask you this, as we press into our text for today: if the Bible was taken from you and you no longer had access to the words of God, would your life change in any way? Would you feel the hunger pangs of the soul, craving the spiritual food that the LORD has given to His people? 1 Peter 2:2 tell us to, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” What a precious thing it is to have the word of God, for its removal is a judgment from the LORD.
 
And this is where we begin, as the text for today states that this “famine” is from the LORD. God Almighty has the authority to withhold His own word. He will keep silent, even removing those who proclaim it, as a judgement against the nations. Consider what the LORD said in Jeremiah 8:9, “The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom is in them?” Those in this world who are considered wise, and yet have rejected God’s word, cannot have any wisdom in them at all—for they have rejected the very source of Divine wisdom. How dreadful it will be upon a society that upholds as great thinkers those who have forsaken the Scriptures.
 
This warning from God must be heeded with great interest. Imagine you were convinced a famine of food and water was declared for the future. It was a certainty, and you were given fair warning. What would you do? Would you not store away all the necessary commodities in order to weather out the days of deprivation? Even as Joseph did for Egypt, “And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine” (Genesis 41:35-36). Should you not take warning from the LORD and store up in the reservoir of your memory the very words of God? Would this not be a good time, while we still have opportunity, to listen often to the preaching of the Scriptures? If we are in a day of plenty, let us not set upon our beds of ease but actively engage our lives in the word of God.
 
For, as our text today says, “behold, the days are coming.” Have those days arrived? As we gaze out upon the world and consider the various societies and communities where we live, it is easy to see the drought of hearing the words of the LORD. Like looking at a river when there’s been no rain, the once rushing torrent has become merely a trickle of water. There is still a stream, but it is fast becoming dry. Jesus our LORD said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). If there is a drought of God’s word, could it be that it is caused by the lack of true belief in Christ according to Scripture? Let us then be God’s people and believe on the LORD Jesus according to His word and not according to our imaginations. The rivers are running dry and a drought is coming on the land. Let us be as Psalm 84:6 describes, “As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.” The Valley of Baca was an arid place, and yet as the faithful pass through they will make it a place of springs. As we pass through this barren world, should we not flood the land with rivers of living water—the word of God? If in God’s sovereign judgment there is to be a famine and drought of hearing the words of God, let us not be the cause.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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