Amos 8:9-14
9 And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord God,
“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And make the earth dark in broad daylight.
10 Then I will turn your festivals into mourning,
And all your songs into songs of mourning;
And I will put sackcloth around everyone’s waist,
And baldness on every head.
And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day.
11 Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will roam about to seek the word of the Lord,
But they will not find it.
13 On that day the beautiful virgins
And the young men will faint from thirst.
14 As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria,
And say, ‘As your god lives, Dan,’
And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’
They will fall and not rise again.”
The Vision of Summer Fruits (2)
Coming God’s judgement upon the northern kingdom
This is the continuation of “the vision of summer fruits.” This vision symbolized the approaching judgment of God. In today’s passage, three judgments are spoken of.
(1) A day of darkness is coming (v 9-10). “That day (the day of the Lord)” refers to the day of the Lord’s judgment. On that day, the sun will set at midday, and the land of Israel will be covered with darkness. Festivals will turn into mourning, songs of joy into laments, and festival garments into sackcloth for mourning.
(2) Even more serious is that a famine of the word of God will come. It is a state in which there is no revelation from God no matter where one goes – in other words, “a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.” To be without the word of God means that the “fountain of life,” the very source of human existence, has dried up. People will search everywhere for a prophet who will tell them the word of the Lord, but their efforts will end in vain.
(3) God’s judgment will also fall on idol worship. On that day, young men and women, the center of the nation’s vitality, will be ensnared by the trap of false religion and perish. A nation in which its young people perish has no hope for the future. This judgment will come upon idol worship. Verse 14 teaches the emptiness of idol worship. Neither the idol of Samaria (Ashimah), nor the idol of Dan, nor the idol of Beersheba can satisfy the people’s thirst. Powerless idols can only remain silent.
The tragedy of absence of God’s word
We Gentiles, before we were saved, were “a people who did not know the word of God.” Our spiritual condition at that time was hopeless. As it says, “Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). How blessed it is that we have been made to know the gospel of Christ. Now, thinking of how we have been made blessed, let us offer thanks to the Lord. And let us earnestly seek the word of God. Let us ask for the Lord’s mercy so that “a famine of hearing the word of the Lord” will not strike this nation.
Today's prayer
Father God of Jesus Christ, Your word is the fountain of life that sustains me. Please let “a famine of hearing the word of the Lord” never come upon this nation. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.