A Famine of Hearing the Words of the Lord

“A Famine of Hearing the Words of The Lord”

Here and Now!

Chapter 33 Preview: It seems that many people have an explanation for the prophecy that mentions the time when there will be a famine of the hearing of the words of God. There are several explanations but they seldom use any of the context of Amos 8. This chapter explores when the famine began and when it will end using Amos’ own words. The typical explanation goes something like this: “listen to me, true “Church” (off site), while you can, and pay me your tithes, before its too late!”

INDEX

This chapter in Amos starts off peachy enough—referring to some picturesque fruit—but fresh fruit in a bad environment soon becomes spoiled. That is what appears to be alluded to as the chapter begins.

Amos 8:1 Thus the Lord [Yehovah’] showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. WEB

But why couldnt the “famine prophecy” be about the end of the nation of Israel rather than something about a church?

Amos 8:2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then [Yehovah] said to me, “The end has come on My people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. WEB

And why couldnt this be a prophecy about the destruction of the first or second temple, or even a duality about both? Why not even the coming third temple. Might it include the time when God Himself defiles the temple? (Ezekiel 9:3-11) I seriously doubt that God has done this yet. And what about the Beast’s defilement of the coming temple?

V.3 The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day,” says the Lord [Yehovah]. “The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence. WEB

Wasnt Sabbath breaking and greed the reason for the above events?

V.4-7 Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; 6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’” 7 [Yehovah] has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works. WEB

Now we see an interesting supernatural element added to the mix. When did “the land tremble” and when will it tremble again?

V.8 Wont the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt. WEB

Here is an even more distinctive supernatural event.

V.9 It will happen in that day,” says the Lord [Yehovah], “that I will cause the sun to go down AT NOON, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. WEB

Matthew (27:45) Mark (15:33) and Luke (23:44) all refer to a time when the prophecy was fulfilled, and furthermore it was at the “sixth hour” or noon, as is commonly understood to be the then current way of reckoning time. No other such event was ever recorded to have happened in the Bible but it will happen again and I surmise that it will also be at noon. Revelation 6:12 includes both of these highly unusual events: “... a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth”. So it appears that at least two of the incidents that occurred at the crucifixion of the Lamb of God will also occur during the “Day of the Lord” when the Passover Lamb returns. (Revelation 14:1 & 4)

Verse 10 describes what has historically happened at the demise of the first two temples and is certain to occur when the Beast defiles the coming temple. An eye witness recorded that the Jews were so distraught at the overthrowing of the temple in 70 AD that some threw themselves upon the swords of the enemy and others even killed each other.

V.10 I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day. WEB

But there is another clue! The statement “like the mourning for an only son”“like the mourning for an only son” alludes to a specific prophecy that spells the end of the Famine! Mourning during the famine will turn to a different kind of mourning after the famine.

Zechariah 12:10 I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to Me whom they have pierced [the Messiah]; and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for Him, as one grieves for his firstborn. WEB

Only after all this does Amos mention the famine.

V.11 Behold, the days come,” says the Lord [Yehovah], “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 [Yehovah]. WEB

Why “hearing the words”? People almost always seek a guru to speak soft words to them. There has never been a shortage of men to fill this “need” but they do not truly speak for Yehovah. This has been the case since the fall of the last temple. Most professing Saints (off site) have absolutely no use for “the temple”. Yet Jesus was continually concerning Himself with the temple. He called it His Father’s house. It did not really belong to the Jews!

The following verse seems to have a specific local application. If men were to run south they would die in the desert. If they ran west they would drown in the Mediterranean sea.

V.12 They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of [Yehovah], and will not find it. WEB

Since the time when the original Apostles were primarily finished with their work—which roughly coincides with the fall of the temple—there has been a famine of hearing. A famine is a time when food is scarce. (In this case spiritual food, as in Matthew 5:6) It would not imply a time when there is no food. The famine has extended to this very day! The conditions described in this chapter pertain to the general populace of Israel but do not exclude even “the Israel of God”, Jesus’ chosen. The first ray of hope is the Two Witnesses. In Revelation 2 and 3—a book entirely about end time prophecy—John addressed the seven divisions of the end time Assemblies (wrongly translated churches (off site). He compared the situation to his own day and age describing seven local congregations. Most of the Seven Assemblies are a sorry lot—filled with confusion, division and heresy.

It’s no wonder that young people are so stressed:

V.13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst. WEB

The closing verse of the chapter points to the problem and to the solution! False religion prevails but it will cease as soon as the famine is over. After the Restoration Of All Things, false religions will “never rise up again.”

V.14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, [idolatry, as in “Yahweh and his Asherah”] and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives;’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives;’ they will fall, and never rise up again.” WEB

Clark’s Commentary (and the scriptural context) associates “the sin of Samaria” with idolatry.

“The men of Hamath made Ashima. - There are several cities and countries which go under the name of Hamath; but what we take to be here meant is that province of Syria which lies upon the Orontes, wherein there was a city of the same name; which when Shalmaneser had taken, he removed the inhabitants from thence into Samaria. Their idol Ashima signifies the atoner or expiator, from [Chaldee font] asham. The word [sin] is in a Chaldee form, and seems to be the same as [Chaldee font?] ashmath Shomeron, the sin of Samaria, mentioned Amos viii. 14, where ashmath is rendered by the LXX [as] propitiation. It is known to every one who has the least acquaintance with the mythology of the heathen, how strongly and universally they retained the tradition of an atonement or expiation for sin, although they expected it from a false object and wrong means.”

Apparently, the Danites worshiped a foreign god by the name of Yahweh, as well as his consort/s or Asherahs (off site). The tribe of Dan is not mentioned in scripture after Amos 8.

Things have not improved, they just change over time.

I believe that the miraculous signs that occurred following the crucifixion: the resurrections, the tearing of the temple veil, the darkness and the earthquake were only the first of such signs portending the coming spiritual famine.

According to the Talmud, the eternal flame or “the western light” in the temple was extinguished every night for forty years by an unseen hand. Furthermore, every year on the Day of Atonement “the crimson thread remained crimson” which is another miraculous event explained in Talmudic Evidence for the Messiah at 30 C.E. (off site) [It took a year for captive Israelite labor to destroy their own temple. The forty years in this link is actually 31 AD to 71 AD.] Also the temple doors swung open every night for the forty years and then there is the miracle of the lot also in the above link.

Judaism has a saying:

“We are taught that for each generation that does not experience the reconstruction of the Temple that it is as though the Temple was destroyed in that generation. Thus, one cannot condemn any generation that fails to brings the world to completion without including his own, with himself included.”—Jewish America (off site)

God expressed His displeasure with Jerusalem for forty years before the famine set in. Those who could have set things straight continued in their stubborn ways for forty years before God quit “speaking to them” each night.

Since the days of the Apostles there has been “little to write home about”. Every “prophet” out there claims to have a corner on the truth. Some teach enough that their followers may obtain salvation yet they leave many pertinent scriptures “on the table”—most dont have the minimum requirement of truth (Revelation 22:14). Why was nothing of great interest prophesied to happen between the Apostles time and ours? Whatever the reason, the “famine” is nearly over and a “marriage supper” waits on the horizon. But who is getting married at this “marriage supper”?

“Come out of her [Babylon] My people”

Here is another commonly abused scripture—twisted to state that you must leave your current sect or denomination or church. Perhaps you should but that is not the point of this warning! Some prophets, that is Biblically speaking, anyone who claims to be speaking under the inspiration of God, acknowledge that there is nothing but utter confusion in the realm of religion. Some of these men repeatedly refer to a scripture from the book of Revelation to reason with their audience to side with them against the “Babylonians”:

Revelation 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, My people, that you have no participation in her sins, and that you dont receive of her plagues .... WEB

But is this really a statement from God to choose one “church” over another? Granted, some are better than others but to claim that that is what God is concerned with here is a crazed fantasy! A little context, when understood literally, makes this a plea for end time Israel—and by this time in prophecy Israel will know who she is—to flee the area of their captivity or die in Babylon. God is as serious as when He had Lot and his family flee from Sodom. Check out the preceding verses. It concerns the end time political and military and yes religious power that will have become the “northern army”—a new superpower. No, it is not New York city or any part of the twelve nations of Israel—they are the captives not the captors! Make a note of that. In fact those who make such statements are “confused” and vainly babbling! But then, Babel means confusion in Hebrew.

Revelation 18:2-3 He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.” WEB

Read the entire chapter. It concerns the real capital city of the coming empire.

Revelation 18:21-24 ... Thus with violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, and will be found no more at all. 22 The voice of harpists, minstrels, flute players, and trumpeters will be heard no more at all in you. No craftsman, of whatever craft, will be found any more at all in you. The sound of a mill will be heard no more at all in you. 23 The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 In her was found the blood of prophets and of Saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth. WEB

Daniel also prophesied about this end time superpower. He called it “the King[dom] of the North”. It will be a European based superpower that will be warring against a confederation of Arab nations known as “the King[dom] of the South”. At a point in time the the Beast in charge of the Northern Army will make a “temporary” base of operations. I believe that place will be a “palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain”. Saddam Hussein actually began to rebuild old Babylon and placed many fine buildings there.

The people of Edom, Moab and Ammon (modern Jordan) will be allied with the Beast and therefore be spared. Later both modern Jordan and Judah will be punished together by God (Jeremiah 9:25-26). Eventually Israel will control Jordan (Isaiah 11:14). But should anyone flee to Jordan [say to Petra] for safety before the twelve tribes of Israel control the area (during the Everlasting Kingdom) they will be sorely disappointed! Yet for some there is a place of refuge.

Daniel 11:40-45 At the time of the end shall the king of the south contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through. 41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch forth his hand also on the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 44 But news out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him; and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to sweep away many. 45 He shall plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. WEB

There is a parallel account of the fall of this fall of Babylon. Again notice that this is not a plea to change churches. Coming out of a religious body that teaches fairy tales rather than God’s Law is absolutely something that you should do as soon as you know to do it. But coming out of the prophesied Babylon is not something that you can do unless you are literally in captivity!

Jeremiah 51:6-8 Thus says [Yehovah]: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind. 2 I will send to Babylon strangers, who shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her around. 3 Against him who bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and dont spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army. 4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets. 5 For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, of his God, of [Yehovah] of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. 6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; dont be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of [Yehovah’s] vengeance; He will render to her a recompense. 7 Babylon has been a golden cup in [Yehovah’s] hand, who made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. WEB

Perhaps using the phrase “Come out of her My people” would be a good metaphor for coming out of false religion were it not for the fact that so many people use the phrase who are totally oblivious to the harsh literal reality of the coming captivity. If even one captive goes out looking for a new church, when he should be fleeing his Babylonian captors—when the time comes—then it will be due to the bloody hands of these ministers. Unfortunately, the vast majority will be acting on false information.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children. WEB

Even the 144,000 Israelites, who are precious to God, will have to endure the Great Tribulation due to a lack of knowledge.

Revelation 7:4 & 14 I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel .... 14 ... These are those who came out of THE Great Tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood [during their sore trial]. WEB

This is not just any Tribulation, it is the only reference to “THE Great Tribulation”!

And yes, Hosea was talking about about our generation as much as he was for the first captivity:

Hosea 4:1-3 ... Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land. 2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. All living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die. WEB [as in Revelation 8:9]

The Apostle John spoke of the same devastating time as did Hosea, in fact he left clues linking Revelation to the prophecies of Hosea—here’s one:

Hosea 10:8 ... They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!” WEB

Revelation 6:16-17 They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and ‘hide us’ [Literal Greek: “by covering us”] from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of His wrath has come; and who is able to stand?” WEB

Modern Israel cant handle the truth, yet the day of reckoning draws ever closer:

Hosea 9:7 The days of visitation [from God] have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great. WEB

[“The prophet”—Machmad—in Hebrew and Arabic, may be a play on words as it is also an apparent reference to Mohammed—yet Israel has always disputed the sanity of her true prophets.]

Food For Thought

John Swinton, preeminent New York journalist circa 1880 said to the press:

“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.”