“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
Men 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. - Amos 8:11-12 NIV
There were a lot of dire prophecies given to Israel and Judah. Prophecies of terrible tragedy that would engulf them and prophecies of terrible things that would happen to their enemies and their neighbors. None of these prophecies, however, are as tragic as what Amos heard from the Lord in these few verses. A time would come, when after refusing to listen to God's word, or when after hearing God's word, but refusing to change their ways, the word of the Lord would cease. There would be nothing. No condemnation. No promises. The Lord would be silent and they would be left to their own devices. They would not have to listen to him catalog their sins. They would not have to listen to his calls for righteousness and repentance. They would not have to listen to his pleading for their return. They could go their merry way and do whatever they wanted.
But, instead of the great life they envisioned without God's omnipresence, all they would have left would be famine; hunger and thirst for the word of the Lord that they had grown so tired of hearing. They could roam from sea to sea, they could search throughout the land, but they would not find the word of the Lord. They would finally get to know the true meaning of famine. All of the other dire prophecies would be nothing compared to a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
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