Amos 8:1-14 A Famine Comes
The time is near for a special kind of famine. This famine isn’t of bread or water but of “hearing the words of the Lord” (verse 11b).
We have ‘followed’ the course of time with man since God first created him. During his time on earth, God has spoken with individual people. He has sent His messages of Laws, repentance, forgiveness, restoration, judgment, and salvation throughout time. He singled out Abram and started speaking to his family specifically. And He KEPT talking to them. But He is going to STOP talking to the northern kingdom of Israel soon, because they are not listening.
The attitude of Israel hit me hard. The thing I noticed most is how they couldn’t wait for their “required time” to be with God to be finished so they could get back to doing whatever they wanted to do. Most were not serving God at all, but those who were ‘going through the motions’ couldn’t wait for it to be over. “When will the new mood be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale” (verse 5a).
I can understand wanting to get back to chores that you had to put on hold, but that wasn’t why the people wanted the time to pass. They wanted to get back to their ‘method of operation’. “That we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat” (verses 5b-6). ‘Serving God’ was cramping their style. They had to ‘be good’ during these times and it was ‘killing’ them!
It reminds me ‘Sunday Christians’. These are the people who go to church on Sunday because that is what is expected. It is often a struggle to even get there with resistance from some in the family to arguments or outright fights on the way. As soon as you drive in the parking lot, everyone puts on their ‘godly faces’ and stops fighting. All is well while service proceeds, unless it takes longer than usual. The drive home may be peaceful, but as soon as the tires hit the driveway, all pretense is gone. For the next six days, hardly a thought is given to the Lord. He certainly doesn’t influence behavior during the rest of the week.
Many ‘Sunday Christians’ don’t live horrible lives outside of Sunday but they don’t exactly live godly ones either. I have to admit to being a ‘Sunday Christian’ for MANY years. I loved God but He wasn’t my center. He was for inside the church building. Reading my bible, spending time with Him daily, and praying were not on my high priority list. Prayers were sent His way when needs cropped up. And I even felt convicted/ashamed of myself when I would do something wrong. But the sermons heard on Sunday were soon forgotten on Monday.
While I read this passage today and thought about how Israel was acting, I felt convicted again. I LOVE spending time with God, reading His word, and sharing my thoughts. But sometimes, I want it to hurry up and be done so I can go about the ‘more exciting things’ in my day. I have a puzzle that I’m currently working on. My thoughts were distracted, thinking about getting done with my time with God so I could get back to my puzzle. I’m NOT anxious to get done so I can ‘go back to a sinful life’ again. I carry God with me in all I do now.
God was done with Israel’s pretense. It wasn’t doing them any good and it was FAR from pleasing to Him. “If you won’t listen, lets see how you do when I stop giving directions. I’m not going to say ANYTHING to you anymore. THEN we will see what happens.”
OUCH!!!
God wasn’t only speaking of “not speaking” but of consequences being released that He had been holding back on. Israel had ‘banked’ a LOT of negative consequences with the way they were living. You can’t behave as they did without it coming back to bite you. That is even beyond the way they were treating God by worshiping false idols. Some of those idols called for killing their own children to gain favor. Their ‘bank of trouble’ was FULL. God had been protecting them up until that point. He wouldn’t any longer and He said He would actually bring those consequences down on them; judgment.
For 500 years, God would be silent. But He NEVER gave up on His people. He was waiting until the right time to personally step into their, and our, lives. Jesus was His words spoken to His people after that prolonged silence.
THANK YOU FATHER for ‘speaking’ again to the world. THANK YOU for JESUS! Thank You for continuing to speak in my life; even when Your words are words of correction. THANK YOU for permeating ALL of my life! For filling up ALL the empty places. For filling me so full that Your love flows out.
I know, Father, that sometimes it’s not Your love that flows out of my mouth. Please forgive me and help me cut off ALL words of hate or anger. Remove words that wound from my heart and mind. Remove them even from my memory! Make, and let, ALL I do reflect You!!!
