Amos: Seek The Lord and LiveНамуна

Here a different sort of judgment is described. It seems to be describing events after the calamitous judgment upon Israel depicted in 8:7–10. When people have lost everything and there is nowhere else to turn, then they will attempt to seek God’s Word (v. 12) – yet in vain. 

It’s not that all the Bibles have been stolen, but rather there will be ‘a famine of hearing the words of the Lord’ (v. 11). There will be no faithful preachers. God’s judgment upon a nation who had rejected His Word is that He will withdraw faithful preaching. 

The young (v. 13) are particularly highlighted as being vulnerable as a result. This may be emphasising that even the strongest in the nation will faint and fall. Yet I wonder if there’s also an element of gullibility. When there’s a famine of the Word of God, the vacuum normally gets filled by other forms of religion or spirituality. Young people are perhaps particularly susceptible to trying new things and seeking out new experiences and adventures (that’s generally a strength and a weakness). Here the young are prepared to ‘swear by the sin of Samaria’ – probably a reference to the pagan god worshipped before Israel arrived (2 Kgs. 17:30–33). Some worshipped the golden calf at Dan if they wanted physical, tangible religion they could see and touch. 

Although it seems likely that this passage follows on in time from 8:8–10, the fact that Amos describes ‘days’ in verse 11 rather than ‘the Day’ hints that perhaps this can happen at other times in history. It’s certainly the case that up and down our land there seem to be many churches where there is a famine of hearing the Words of God faithfully proclaimed.

Reflection

Do you cherish the preaching of God’s Word, when you hear the Words of the Lord? If you take it for granted, can you see how devastating it would be if the Lord sent a famine of it?