A Famine in the Land
Notes
Transcript
Reading: Amos 8
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord God. “So many dead bodies!” “They are thrown everywhere!” “Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
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.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.
13 “In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’ they shall fall, and never rise again.”
Pray
This morning, I want us to key in on verse 11:
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.
When we think of God judging his people, we usually think of punishments: things like judgment resulting in exile, or an enemy defeating them in battle. We think of judgment in the form of some harm or bad thing that happens to them as a result of their disobedience.
That’s exactly what form the first three visions in Amos 7 take: locusts and fire display God’s judgment in a natural sense, and the plumb line lays out the fact that God’s judgment is certainly deserved. Judgment is something that God does to us, and deservedly so. But the focus is almost always on what happens.
Maybe you’ve experienced God’s judgment in some form. Maybe you’ve been flat on your back in a hospital bed, realizing that you have wandered away from God. Maybe God has had to take away all kinds of things (like maybe your family, possessions, or even your freedom) to get your attention.
That’s usually the thought that comes to our minds. We view God’s judgment as what God does to us when we are wicked and go against God. But sometimes God judges not just by doing something to us, but also in what he doesn’t do. Sometimes God’s judgment comes through withholding?
That’s exactly what verse 11 shows us - God chooses to judge his people by withholding what they have been rejecting: his Word. When we listen to God’s Word, it makes an impact on us.
I did a survey through much of Psalm 119. This Psalm is anonymous - we don’t know who wrote it. But we do know this person loved the words of God. So much did he love God’s words that he wrote the longest Psalm; indeed, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible. This poem consists of 176 verses grouped into 22 stanzas. He loved God’s words so much, that this Psalmist starts every verse in each stanza with the same letter of the alphabet, and has one stanza for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet! Look at just a few of the verses and see what a difference the Word of God makes in this one person’s life:
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.
76 Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Do you hear how meaningful God’s Word is to this individual? It gives him blessing, it is his delight, it becomes the object of his desire, it guides him in wisdom, it gives him life, it strengthens and comforts him, reveals God’s promises to him, and becomes the basis for his hope. It is the means by which God created him, provides for him, protects him, instructs him, and sanctifies him. Grace and mercy come through God’s Word. The favor of God comes through God’s Word. The community of believers becomes one through God’s Word. He finds satisfaction in God’s Word. He is able to rejoice and made pure by God’s Word!
Not only does God’s Word give all these things, it also protects from so many harms: it protects from shame, impurity, sins, scorn, affliction, punishment, lies, injustice. It keeps us from loosing our heritage, from falling into the snares of evil men, from acting unjustly, from responding to wickedness with wicked words, actions, thoughts, and intentions.
God’s word does all these things! But when we reject his Word, when we turn away from it and choose our own path, Oh! The tragedy that awaits the man who refuses God’s Word! Woe to him who tunes out God’s voice!
Application to the Non-believer: TURN!
One of the judgments of God, then, is for him to stop talking to us altogether. That is a devastating judgment. In fact,
The Worst Punishment God Can Bring upon His People Is a Famine of His Word
The Worst Punishment God Can Bring upon His People Is a Famine of His Word
For God to take away his words from his people is far worse than any plague or pestilence he can send, any fire he can rage, or any act he can perpetrate.
On the banks of the Jordan River, Moses addressed the children of Israel. He had lead their fathers through the wilderness, giving them everything they needed. Moses tells them why God did all these things:
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Do you remember the story of Jesus in the desert? He was still dripping wet from his baptism, and the Holy Spirit led our Lord into the wilderness. Satan comes there, too, and tempts our Lord to, among other things, turn a stone into bread to satisfy his hunger. Jesus’ response to the temptation was to quote that verse - recognizing that bread isn’t what gives us life. God does, and he does so through his Word. God’s spoken word sustains us.
Do you value God’s Word more than food or clothing or shelter? Do you look to him to provide every need through his words? Has he not spoken? Will he not do it?
Application to the Believer: TRUST!
Amos finds himself prophesying to a group who thinks they have all they want, but who lack the most important thing of all. And it shows, because Israel of that day lacked so many good things that come via the Word of God. Let’s look at how the famine of God’s Word is impacting the Israel to whom Amos is preaching:
Without the Word of God We Have No...
Without the Word of God, We Have No Hope
Without the Word of God, We Have No Hope
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them.
3 The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord God. “So many dead bodies!” “They are thrown everywhere!” “Silence!”
Without the Word of God, We Have No Restraint
Without the Word of God, We Have No Restraint
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
Without the Word of God, We Have No Forgiveness
Without the Word of God, We Have No Forgiveness
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
Without the Word of God, We Have No Joy
Without the Word of God, We Have No Joy
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
Without the Word of God, We Have No Direction
Without the Word of God, We Have No Direction
12 They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.
13 “In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst.
Without the Word of God, We Have No Future
Without the Word of God, We Have No Future
14 Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’ they shall fall, and never rise again.”
Application for Disciples: TELL!