“Famine in the Land!” – FBC Morning Light (6/28/2024)

Well, a good Friday morning to you. We are wrapping up the month of June this weekend. Can you imagine that? Can you believe that? This year is almost half over, and we are coming to a weekend. So this coming Lord's Day, we're gathering together to worship in the morning for the morning service, Sunday school time together.

At our church on Sunday afternoon, we're planning a picnic, weather permitting, and looking forward to a good time of food and fellowship on Sunday afternoon. If you're in this area, you're welcome to join us, and trust you will.

Famine of Hearing the Word of the Lord

Well, today in our Bible reading plan, we're finishing up the book of Amos, chapters six through nine, and again, just a couple of observations. So in chapter eight, let me ask you this question. What do you think would be the worst form of judgment that God could send upon a nation, upon a people?

What do you think it would be? You might think of something like devastating hurricanes, or repeated earthquake rattling things and splitting, tearing down cities, and all the rest of that stuff. Maybe some terrible pestilence that wipes out all the crops in the farmlands, and things like that.

Extreme flooding. Well, certainly all of those things would be serious, and they would be severe, and they would be terribly difficult to deal with. And in chapter eight, the Lord does tell Israel, I'm going to send some of this kind of stuff upon you.

He says the land is going to tremble, in verse eight, for your sin, for your pride, the land's going to tremble for it, everyone's going to mourn over it, it will swell like the river and heave and subside like the river of Egypt.

He's talking about the flooding in the land of Egypt. He says in that day, the sun, I will make the sun go down at noon, I will darken the earth in broad daylight, I will turn your feasts into mourning, I will bring sackcloth upon every waist, and baldness on every head, I will make it like mourning for an only son.

But what is it that is especially grievous? Well, he tells us in verse 11, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will send a famine on the land. Oh, you say, well yeah, that would be really, really terrible, if we had a famine on our land, you went to the grocery store and there wasn't anything to eat, no produce in the produce section, you go to the bread aisle, there's no bread on the aisle, you go to the meat department, the cases are empty, there's nothing there, no canned goods, no nothing.

You say, man, that would really be terrible, but that's not what the Lord's talking about. Not that kind of famine, he says. He says, not a famine of bread nor thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

They shall wander, he says in verse 12, from sea to sea and from north to east, they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it. The Lord is indicating that the most devastating form of judgment that's coming upon Israel is that his word is going to be shut up.

There's not going to be any proclamation of his word. There will be nothing from the Lord. This is a serious form of judgment, and it's not limited to Old Testament Israel. I really believe that when a people as a whole turn away from hearing God's word and make it clear they don't want to hear it, then God will withdraw the proclamation of his word.

It'll become harder and harder to hear the truth, and that's happened in countries around the world. There are places right now that used to be very prolific in terms of churches preaching the gospel, preaching the truth, and now many of those churches are shuttered.

Those that aren't, very few people attend. There's just no interest whatsoever. There's a famine in the land. Let's take heed that we don't shut our ears to the preaching and the teaching of God's word, lest God finally withdraw it from us.

The God Who Cannot Be Escaped in Judgment or Presence

So that's one observation. The other observation is in chapter 9, verses 1 -4. These prophets, they say a lot about judgment, and that's distressing. That's not like, man, come on, Brian, pump us up, encourage us.

You know, we need, well, I think there can be encouragement when we hear warning of judgment. The encouragement is, don't go there. Don't let this come upon us. Well, in chapter 9, verses 1 -4, I find an interesting, contrasting parallel.

Let me explain. In verse 1, the Lord is talking about judgment that's coming, and he says, He who flees from them shall not get away, and he who escapes from them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell or into the grave, from there my hand shall take them.

Though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Mount Carmel, from there I will search and take them. Though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent and it shall bite them.

Though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it shall slay them. Now, that's awful stuff. What's the emphasis? The emphasis is a contrasting emphasis from what you read in Psalm 139.

I'll get to that in a second. The point here is, when God is determined to send his judgment, you're not going to escape it, no matter where you go. You can go as high as you want, as low as you want, as far away as you want, you can't escape it.

Now, I said there's a parallel, it's a contrasting parallel to Psalm 139. And with this, let's close, because this is the encouragement that you wanted, right? Psalm 139, verse 7, where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in the grave, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the outermost parts of the sea, even there shall your hand.

Now, here the psalmist says, lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. Yes, if you are the Lord's, he will hold you. He will lead you, no matter where you go, no matter where you find yourself. You cannot get away from his ongoing, continual presence.

You're living for the Lord and you love him, endeavoring to serve him. And this is a great, the presence of the Lord is a great promise and encouragement. If on the other hand, you're shaking your fist at him, you're defying God and you're saying, I'm going to do what I want to do, no matter what, well, you can't escape his chastening, his punishment, or his judgment either.

The Lord is there. The Lord is here. Our Father and our God, we thank you. We thank you for those of us who are your children, that you are here. That you are present and we never, are never outside of your watchful eye and your present care.

Encourage us with that, we pray today and we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. All right. Well, again, have a good rest of your Friday, a wonderful weekend and wrap up the month of June well.

See you in July. God bless.