A FAMINE OF HEARING THE LORD’S WORD

Passage: Amos 8:1-14

Key verse: 11

NIV

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(A) a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see,(B) Amos?(C)” he asked.

“A basket(D) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(E)

3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a](F) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!(G)”

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(H) of the land,(I)

5 saying,

“When will the New Moon(J) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market(K) wheat?”(L)—
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating(M) with dishonest scales,(N)
6 buying the poor(O) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(P)

7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(Q) “I will never forget(R) anything they have done.(S)

8 “Will not the land tremble(T) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.(U)

9 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.(V)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(W) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.(X)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(Y)
    and shave(Z) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(AA)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.(AB)

11 “The days are coming,”(AC) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine(AD) of hearing the words of the Lord.(AE)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.(AF)

13 “In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men(AG)
    will faint because of thirst.(AH)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(AI)—
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’(AJ)
    or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba(AK) lives’—
    they will fall,(AL) never to rise again.(AM)”

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Footnotes
  1. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
  2. Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

8 (A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, (B)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, (C)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

(D)“The end[a] has come upon my people Israel;
    I will never again pass by them.
3 (E)The songs of the temple[b] (F)shall become wailings[c] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
(G)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
(H)“Silence!”

4 Hear this, (I)you who trample on the needy
    and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will (J)the new moon be over,
    that we may sell grain?
And (K)the Sabbath,
    that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (L)the ephah small and the shekel[d] great
    and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for (M)silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

7 The Lord has sworn by (N)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (O)I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 (P)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
    and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
(Q)and all of it rise like the Nile,
    and be tossed about (R)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
    (S)“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 (T)I will turn your feasts into mourning
    and all your songs into lamentation;
(U)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
    (V)and baldness on every head;
(W)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
    and the end of it like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
    “when (X)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
    (Y)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 (Z)They shall wander from sea to sea,
    and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
    (AA)but they shall not find it.

13 (AB)“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
    shall (AC)faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by (AD)the Guilt of Samaria,
    and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As (AE)the Way of (AF)Beersheba lives,’
    they shall fall, and never rise again.”

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Footnotes
  1. Amos 8:2 The Hebrew words for end and summer fruit sound alike
  2. Amos 8:3 Or palace
  3. Amos 8:3 Or The singing women of the palace shall wail
  4. Amos 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

God sent yet another vision to Amos. This time it was of a basket of ripe fruit. God was sending a message that Israel was ripe for his judgment. He would no longer spare them because of their sin. The rich had done away with justice and trampled the poor. Justice and righteousness were gone from Israel. So, God would punish them. Their songs of supposed worship would turn to wailing, and there would be many dead bodies. God hates injustice and the trampling of the needy.

The judgment of the Lord would be more than physical and material. The judgement would also bring spiritual suffering as well. God would turn their religious festivals into mourning and their singing into weeping. He would bring about a famine of hearing God’s word. At this time people will realize they need the word of God for survival. They will hunt for it as a dehydrated person searches for water. But they will not find it. At some point, God abandons the unrepentant sinner. But God is our life. We must stay in his word.

Prayer: Father, our sin cuts us off from you. I know I cannot survive without your word. Keep me in your word each day.

One Word: Stay in God’s word