SPIRITUAL FAMINE

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord GOD, that 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” (Amos 8:11 NKJV).

Here in this verse, Amos is giving the Israelites a very serious message. It was a message about the judgment of a spiritual famine. Thus, we want to note the cautioning about the judgment, the character of the judgment, and the coming of the judgment.

Cautioning about the judgment – “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord GOD.” Here we see the grace of God being displayed as He warns of coming judgment. The warning is to give people time to repent and thus avoid the judgment. God is ever giving us warnings. The trouble is that we seldom heed the warnings. But when judgment comes, no one can complain; for God has duly warned mankind of the coming judgment.

Character of the judgment - “I will send a famine . . . of hearing the words of the Lord.” Usually, we think of a famine as a lack of physical food. But this judgment is a famine of spiritual food. This judgment will remove the preaching and teaching of the Word of God from the land. This judgment will remove the Scriptures from society. It will take the Bible away from man. It is one of the worst judgments for mankind.

Coming of the judgment - This judgment finally came to Israel because they did not repent. God’s prophets as well as the Word of God were removed from the scene. People walked in spiritual darkness in Israel. The same is happening in our society. The Bible is ruled out of school and society by our courts, and the minister no longer majors on preaching and teaching the Word. Rather, he is a public relations man, and someone to have handy to marry and bury people. The pulpit is empty, and the Sunday school classrooms are staffed by people who do not know the Word and cannot teach it. The church program majors on entertainment, not on Bible exposition. Ignorance of the Bible prevails. It is time to repent and turn back to God and His Word.

(Adapted from Butler's Daily Bible Reading 2)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior!”

John Robert Walmsley Stott (1921 – 2011)

English Anglican Cleric and Theologian

Word Study

Entry (reception)

In 1 Thess. 1:9 we read, “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God!” (NKJV).

Entry (reception) is the Greek word eísodos (εἴσοδος = ice'-od-os). The word means access, entrance, entering. Literally, it means a way in or entering in and is used to describe a way, entry (access), or approach to a place or building. Eísodos also describes a reception given, an acceptance or a welcome extended to a person on the occasion of a visit.

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you” (2 Chron. 20:17 NKJV).

Did You Know…

During their wilderness journey, the Israelites would only take up the tents and move camp “whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle” (Num. 9:17-23).

Bible Quiz

In the Parable of the Sower, what happened to the seed that fell on the rocky (stony) ground?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: Where did people place the sick when the Lord Jesus entered a town or village? “In the market places” (Mark 6:56).

Names For the Lord Jesus in the Bible

“BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR”

"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star!” (rev. 22:16 NKJV).

1. Meaning – BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR speaks of the Lord Jesus as the Star of the Dawn, the Promise of a new day.

2. Insights – In Biblical times, to call someone a star was to exalt him (cf. Dan. 12:3). Further, in extrabiblical Jewish writings, the coming Messiah was called a star. As the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Bright Morning Star, the light of salvation to all. And although Balaam was a greedy prophet for hire, God nevertheless used him to make an accurate prediction of the coming Messiah: “A star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Num. 24:17). As the morning star heralds the arrival of the day, so the Lord Jesus’ coming will herald the end of the darkness of man’s night, and the glorious dawn of His kingdom.

Did You Know – Christian History

Kenneth Lee Pike was born June 9, 1912, in Woodstock, CT. He was an American linguist and anthropologist.

In 1928, when Pike was sixteen, his father contracted an infection and nearly died. At the time Pike, who was working at a supermarket, promised God that he would become a minister if only his dad lived. When his dad got better, Pike knew he must keep his promise.

Pike was accepted at Gordon College and worked in the kitchen to pay his way. Soon he became more at ease with social interaction and was even given charge of the kitchen crew. However, when he applied for the China Inland Mission, he was turned down. Too nervous, said the board. He also failed their linguistics test.

Wycliffe Mission offered a phonetic class. Intrigued, Pike enrolled and was fascinated. Cameron Townsend, Wycliffe leader, saw something in Pike that no one else did. He asked Pike to be ready to teach phonetics next year. Pike studied Mexican languages. He longed to share the gospel with Mexicans. But flea bites that would not heal tormented his body. Forced to leave the mountains, he happened upon a copy of Language by the famed anthropological linguist Edward Sapir. This formed his thinking. The next summer he taught at the Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Townsend asked Pike to write a book on phonetics. Halfheartedly, Pike agreed, but did not keep his promise. Then he snapped a leg. Examining his conscience while recovering, he realized he had not kept his word to Townsend. Despite a case of Malaria, he buckled down, writing and testing 125 pages on phonetics. His obedience in writing the book became a crucial step in his eventual success: success that led an honorary degree from the University of Chicago.

Pike was also awarded honorary degrees by a number of other institutions, including Huntington College, University of Chicago, and Georgetown University. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), the Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States (LACUS), and the American Anthropological Association. He served as president of LSA and LACUS and later was nominated for the Templeton Prize three years in a row. Pike’s linguistic work enabled non-experts to systematically crack foreign languages.

A Little Humor

During the pastor’s sermon, a large plant fell over right behind the pulpit, crashing to the ground. Acknowledging his reputation for being long-winded, the pastor smiled sheepishly and said, “Well, that’s the first time I actually put a plant to sleep.”

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Jesus is God spelling Himself out in language that man can understand!”