Not a Famine of Bread and Water

Let us take a look at the famine in the land and learn or confirm that this is not a famine of food and drink, but instead is a famine for the words of the Lord. In Amos chapter 8 verse 1 through 3, the Lord showed Amos a basket of summer fruit and asked Amos to tell Him what he saw.

2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.

Amos’s Report

Amos reported seeing a basket of summer fruit. The Lord then told Amos that the end of His people Israel is coming and that He will not be in the midst of them and walk among them anymore. When this occurs, there will be a sound of howling and suffering and there will be many dead bodies in every place in Jerusalem and Samaria. In addition, they will leave out silently.

This is to say that the Lord is going to knock down the priest of God and continue the worldwide captivity. Unfortunately, many people will die, but an end has come upon my people says the Mighty God.

If we follow the history of the children of Israel, what destroyed the nation was that they sinned against God and brought on the judgment God pronounced against them in Leviticus chapter 26. The judgment was a worldwide captivity for the nation. Two nations of the house of Jacob are in this judgment.

The Assyrian Captivity

The Assyrians, under the rule of Sennacherib, took the Northern Kingdom (the 9 tribes), who originally separated from the Kingdom of Judah after King Solomon’s death. The northern kingdom was dominantly ran by the tribe of Ephraim and they produced a constant stream of kings who did not like doing the Lord’s will.

The Babylonian Captivity

The Babylonians, under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, took the remaining kingdom, the Kingdom of Judah (along with the tribe of Benjamin, and of Levi) into his realm. The children of Israel no longer had a nation. They became a people within a people. These captivities effectively destroyed the nation of Israel from being a nation.

However, beginning with Cyrus the Great of Persia, Cyrus allowed Jews (the nation of Judah) living in his kingdom to return and rebuild the land, including a temple to the God of Israel. Why did Cyrus do this for the Jews?

Historical reports tell of his good relationship with the Jews during their captivity to the Babylonians. Whatever reason he had personally is his, but God had another reason to send the kingdom of Judah back to their land for about half a millennium.

Returning to their captivity…

The kingdom of Judah were sent back home to rebuild the nation for one reason only. It was done spiritually for the Messiah to come to the earth and die for the sins of man. He had to come through the children of Israel, specifically the children of Judah.

The Messiah was prophesied to be of the seed of David, thus Jesus had to return the Jews to their land even though they were utterly disobedient and deserve their judgment of captivity.

Once this was completed, the House of Judah would return to their captivity pronounced against them. Many of the children of Israel did not understand this, back then and even today, but it was all prophetic. Let’s get back to Amos.

Right before the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Verse nine (still in the book of Amos) it says, the day is coming when the sun will go down at noon and the Lord will darken the earth during the daytime.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

In addition to this, God said He will turn the children of Israel’s feast into mourning. The Lord will change their songs into lamentation. Unbeknownst to most Bible students, this was fulfilled after Jesus was killed on Passover, the eve before the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Not a Famine of Bread and Water… the Ninth Hour

Instead of a festive joyful feast of gladness that the children of Israel practiced every year (see Leviticus 23:4-7), the whole city (Jerusalem) was in shock and in sadness over the brutal murder of Jesus Christ by the hands of the Pharisees.

In addition, the earth was darkened at noon till about the ninth hour of the day (3pm). The Father darkened the earth (Matthew 27:45, Psalm 18:6-11). There was a massive earthquake as well in this unlikely event of nighttime at noonday. It became a day of bitterness. God said they will mourn like someone mourning for their only son.

At verse 11 it says:

11 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:

Verse 11 is very interesting, because it says that God will send a famine in the land. This isn’t your ordinary famine. It is not a famine of bread and not a famine of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. When this famine sets in, people will not hear the words of God. Instead they will hear lies and fairy tales and things that give them no profit.

This is a good reason why the world today is in the chaotic situation it is in currently. It is why it has always been in turmoil and violence. It is because the word of God is not being taught. People are living any which way, mainly against the Heavenly Kingdom.

And worse than that something else in place of the Word of God is being given to the people. There’s a famine taking place throughout the land.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

As a result, people will wander from sea to land looking for the Word of God. Yet, they will not find it. They will go from doctrine to doctrine, religion to religion, from mindset to mindset, and book to book.

They are searching for the Kingdom, for the Word of God to tell them how to get to the Kingdom, but to no avail. Why?, it is because the Lord had and has taken it away. And in that day young men and young virgins will faint for thirst and hunger for the actual Word of God.

Selah

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