Spiritual Famine | Amos
By Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
From Amos 8:11-14
8:11 “The days are coming,” 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 of hearing the words of the Lord. 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. 13 “In that day “the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst. 14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”
Famine or scarcity is a social problem, where people need food but there is a supply shortage. Spiritual famine is a life issue — the human spirit is dry but there is no supply of life. The difference between the two lies in the way that spiritual famine is a problem of supply and demand. What do we mean? Today, some churches do not provide spiritual provisions. The men standing at the podium do not preach the word of God at all. They only speak of life principles and offer words of encouragement leaving their listeners’ spirits empty. In yet churches, the abundant spiritual life is preached but the listeners do not hear it. Their ears are itching to hear fables and strange doctrines. Paul warned us of this early on in the book of 2 Timothy.
Amos 8:11: “The days are coming,” 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 of hearing the words of the Lord.” The Lord says famine is coming where people will be hungry not because they have no bread nor because they are thirsty nor because they have no water, but because they are eager to hear the word of the Lord.” Men will want to hear from God, but the Lord grants no revelations. This happened once when Samuel was young. The Bible says: “In those days, the word of the Lord was rare.” In the 400-year period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, God did not reveal Himself at all.
These four verses also tell us that people used two methods to cope with spiritual famines:
1. They look for it.
Amos 8:12 “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.” People will go from sea to sea, from the north to the east just to find the word of the Lord and yet they will not find it. As a result, they faint from thirst.
2. They look for false gods.
Amos 8:14 “Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan’, or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.” They replaced the true God with idols, and they were severely punished by the Lord.
In the last days, the same thing will happen. May the Lord have mercy on us. May we listen and heed God’s words before the famine comes.
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屬靈的饑荒 | 阿摩司書
張國強牧師
阿摩司書 8:11-14
8:11 主耶和華說, 日子將到, 我必命飢荒降在地上, 人飢餓非因無餅,乾渴非因無水, 乃因不聽耶和華的話。12 他們必飄流, 從這海到那海, 從北邊到東邊, 往來奔跑尋求耶和華的話, 卻尋不著。13 當那日,美貌的處女和少年的男子必因乾渴發昏。14 那指著撒瑪利亞牛犢起誓的說, 但哪, 我們指著你那裡的活神起誓, 又說, 我們指著別是巴的神道起誓, 這些人都必仆倒, 永不再起來。
饑荒是社會的問題, 人要找食物但卻沒有供應; 屬靈的饑荒是生命的的問題, 人的靈裡枯乾但卻沒有生命的供應。但屬靈的饑荒是供與求二方面的問題, 這是什麼意思呢？現今的教會, 有些教會真是沒有任何屬靈的供應, 站在講台的人根本沒有傳什麼神的話, 只是講講一些生活的道理, 講一些鼓勵人心的話, 但聽完後靈裡卻是空空的;但也有一些教會, 講台傳講出豐富的屬靈生命, 但聽的人卻聽不進, 他們耳朵發癢, 要聽那些新奇的, 古怪的道理, 保羅在提摩太後書早就告訴我們了。
8:11 主耶和華說, 日子將到, 我必命飢荒降在地上, 人飢餓非因無餅, 乾渴非因無水, 乃因不聽耶和華的話。這節經文的原意是: 主耶和華說, 日子將到, 我必命飢荒降在地上, 人飢餓非因無餅, 乾渴非因無水, 因為他們渴想聽耶和華的話。人想聽, 但神卻沒有啟示了。在撒母耳年幼時, 這曾發生一次, 聖經說: 耶和華的話稀少。在舊約與新約之間的四百年, 神完全沒有發出啟示。
這四節的經文也告訴我們, 人用二個方法來面對屬靈的饑荒：
1.他們去找。
8:12 他們必飄流, 從這海到那海, 從北邊到東邊, 往來奔跑尋求耶和華的話, 卻尋不著。從這海到那海, 從北邊到東邊, 目的是要尋找, 但卻尋求不著, 結果乾渴發昏了。
2.他們去尋找假神。
8:14 那指著撒瑪利亞牛犢起誓的說, 但哪, 我們指著你那裡的活神起誓, 又說, 我們指著別是巴的神道起誓, 這些人都必仆倒, 永不再起來。他們以假亂真, 以偶像代替真神, 結果被神大大的刑罰。
在末後的日子, 這事要再次發生。求主憐憫我們, 要趁著饑荒未來之前, 好好聽神的話。