Scripture
1“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread or water
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to border
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13Beautiful girls and strong young men
will grow faint in that day,
thirsting for the Lord’s word.
Amos 8:11-13
Observation
In his own words, Amos described himself as a shepherd and farmer and not a “professional prophet” (Amos 7:14-15) like many of his contemporaries who made money off of telling King Jeroboam and others what they wanted to hear. Amos wasn’t making money on this but He couldn’t ignore the Word of the Lord and had to leave his home in Judah to address Israel. These people who had once been slaves in Egypt were now making slaves of their own poor. God is a God of justice and righteousness (Amos 5:24) and if Israel did not turn back in repentance they would come under judgment. The problem is they enjoyed their false gods of sex (ashram), war (anat), and wealth (baal) because they required very little whereas God required much in terms of how his people treated each other. A true relationship with God is reflected in our relationships with each other and they didn’t want to take the time required for true obedience. Thus, the consequences of ignoring God’s Word came to pass 40 years later when the Assyrian armies came and took them captive (2 Kings 17). Long before their captivity to a foreign army they were already captive to their lies. They were feeding on the endless buffet of the false prophets that fed their flesh while spiritually starving as their faith grew more emaciated by the day (as described in the verses above). They didn’t want to feel guilty about how they treated their neighbors so they just tuned in to those who agreed with them. They had ignored God’s words in the present and would not be able to find His words in their future foreign captivity. At the very end of the book though, Amos gives them a promise to hold on to: “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory…The Lord has spoken, and he will do these things.”(Amos 9:11-12). If only they had listened to what He had been saying prior to the judgment. If only they had treated their fellow man with the respect they deserved instead of like slaves. Now they themselves would be made slaves once again. The people of God would hold on to this promise like a starving man holds on to a crust of bread and a thirsty man savors the last drops of water. They could have ended the famine by feeding on the Word of The Lord and walking out His will.
Application
We are living in a time of famine. A famine of “hearing the words of the Lord.” Notice it’s not that God has stopped talking. It’s just that we’ve stopped listening and obeying. It’s time to end the famine. It’s time to feed ourselves on the Word of the Lord. Just as we daily feed our bodies we need to daily feed our spirit on His Word instead of the empty calories of the words around us. Research says we hear between 30,000 and 100,000 words a day. We have been feeding ourselves on the 24/7 news cycle and it’s left us wanting more. We have been feeding ourselves on the social media posts and feeds of friends and enemies and it’s left us empty and angry. We have been living in an echo chamber of our own opinions and biased viewpoints and after months and months of this, we are finding ourselves spiritually emaciated. Like Amos, God is speaking to us in the middle of our homes and jobs and we cannot, must not ignore His voice. As a church, The Fathers House is committing to take the second half of 2020 to be in God’s Word every day. New Hope Oahu had a t-shirt a while back that I absolutely loved. On the front of the t-shirt, it said in big letters “Hungry?”. On the back, it said, “Feed Yourself. End the Famine. Amos 8:11”. I think we need to bring that shirt back. I think we need to stop the news feed and start feeding ourselves on the Word of the Lord. If you’d like to join us in this journey you can download The Fathers House App or visit www.thefathershousesd.org and click “Life Journal”. Let’s end the famine together!
Prayer
My life changed when I began to hear Your voice through Your Word and Spirit. The worst thing I can imagine happening is waking up one morning and no longer being able to hear Your voice, sense Your leading, know Your presence. Forgive me for feeding on so many other words while ignoring Your words. This wake-up call to Your Church is a call to listen and then live out what we hear. You don’t want more words. You want love put into action, “23Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.” (Amos 5:23-24) Like a river brings life wherever it goes Your people should do the same with every person we come in contact with. People don’t need my words they need Yours. You alone have the words of life!
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