FAMINE!

By Shirley Wiggins

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but [a famine] for hearing the words of the Lord.”     Amos 8:11 (Amplified Bible.)

Famine:  “an extreme scarcity of food.”   What would you do if you knew a famine was coming into your life? 

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” ¹

“God has always warned the world of coming judgments in order that it may not bring them upon itself.   He warned

·       Noah of the coming flood (Genesis 6:13ff.);¹

·        Abraham and Lot of the future destruction of Sodom (Genesis 18:17; 19:14);

·       Joseph of the seven-year famine (Gen. 41:30);

·       Moses of the ten plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7:1ff.);

·       Jonah of the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 1:2; 3:4);

·       Amos of the downfall of Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel (Amos 1 and 2).

Various prophets were told in detail about the final events in connection with the captivities of the chosen people, and in every case the warnings were startlingly executed.

Jonah announced the destruction of Nineveh, but judgment was postponed following repentance.  When later generations of Ninevites backslid and reverted to extreme wickedness, the warning of Nahum was carried out completely against them. 

Christ’s coming was foretold throughout the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi.  Equally plain and inevitable of fulfillment are the warnings of Jesus and the prophets concerning the future that each day comes nearer to every nation on earth.”¹

The written Word of God is preserved today in millions and millions of copies.  Yet, in some parts of the world, there is an ongoing famine of hearing the word of the Lord.  Bibles are banned and churches are being persecuted for their belief in Jesus Christ.

In America in this present day, as in many nations around the world, the Bible is still available, but many people do not avail themselves of it.  Remember:  “God has always warned the world of coming judgments in order that it may not bring them upon itself.”

The Bible is the Word of God.  Jesus Christ, the Word of God, came in the flesh to live upon the earth for a time.  His Holy Spirit is in the world today, still revealing the words of God. ²

What are we being warned about in our present generation?  Do we know what the warnings of God are for us in our own generation?  Does anyone have time for the Word of God?

“For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  Hebrews 4:12-13.

God reveals the truth to people that we may know and follow His will.³   God desires that all people be rescued from the inescapable wages of sin.  Sin has invaded the earth and all people are sinners until they come to know and believe in His only Son, Jesus Christ.⁴ 

Jesus told about the events surrounding His second coming in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.   Peter asks a most important question in 2 Peter 3:11, to remind readers of every generation of what kind of people we ought to be since  the day of the Lord’s final return will come, and there will be devastating destruction.

But, when will He come back?  The Bible teaches that no one knows the date except God Himself. See Matthew 24:36.  “Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” Matthew 25:13.

How will we know the day is approaching since we won’t know when to expect it?

Throughout the Bible we find many references to what the end times will be like and things we can watch for to know that the time is growing near.⁵ 

Paul writes in many of his Epistles of “The Day of the Lord .”⁶    Second Timothy 3 describes “terrible times in the last days,” and talks about the characteristics of the people who will be living on the earth in those days and times.

Jesus told about these same things and described what His day of return would be like.⁷    He told the disciples that first, He would suffer many things and be rejected by His generation.  Not only would He be hated and His words of love and warning be repudiated, that generation would seek to murder Him.  They would mock Him and treat Him shamefully, and spit upon Him.  “And after beating Him, they would hang Him on a cross of shame until He died.⁸  

Jesus promised them, that on the third day, He would rise from the dead.  And, He did.

He declared to them that He would return again to the earth and gather His people to Him because where He is, He wants His people to be there with Him also.  See John 14:1-6; John  17.

Jesus describes His return to earth one day as being highly visible:  “like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.”   

Jesus said that the days on earth at the time of His final return when the Son of Man is revealed, will be just as they were in the days of Noah and as in the days of Lot.

 “People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage…buying and selling, planting and building...”   However,  on “the day Noah entered the ark… the flood came and destroyed them all; ”  and that “the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from the heaven and destroyed them all.⁹

Days of busy business!  Not to mention rampant wickedness.   In the days of Noah:  “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled.”  Genesis 6:5-6.

Sounds a lot like today, doesn’t it?  People busy living life day to day, consumed with the demands of life, and so many who believe the lie that they are just too busy to have time to read the Bible, attend church, or devote time to their spiritual lives.

 For so many people today, every ounce of time and energy is being given to keeping up with what is believed to be the most important requirements of life:  physical life only.

And, yet we know that physical life can be suddenly snuffed out:  poof!  Like the blowing out of a candle, or turning off a light.  Suddenly, the physical life can go dark.

All of those busy, busy people in the days of Noah and Lot  were destroyed – suddenly and irrevocably.   Jesus gave a strong warning:  “Remember Lot’s wife!” Luke 17:32.

When we consider the story of Lot’s wife, I believe we would be wise to take the point to heart that her heart’s desire sealed her eternity.  Genesis 19:26.

Her husband, Lot, was Abraham’s nephew, and when the two had to separate their living arrangements, Lot chose to take his family and live near Sodom where “the people were very wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.”  You may read the story of Lot and his wife, and the very unwise choices they made to live in the midst of wicked people in Genesis chapters 13, 18-19.

The Lord made provision for salvation, warned Noah and Noah and all his family were saved; Lot’s family came to a tragic end, in spite of the warnings of the Lord.  God provided the way out for both men and their families, but individual choices affected their final destiny.

Jesus Christ is our Ark of Salvation.   Remember that God still warns us today that we need not bring down judgment on ourselves, our families, and our descendants.  Hebrews 2:1-4 warns us specifically to pay attention so that we do not drift away from God’s salvation and lose our eternal lives because of our inattention to the things of God.

For suddenly the day of the Lord will come and the soul’s eternity will be sealed forever, either to live forever in the bliss of heaven as God’s dear children, His own rescued people,  or in the eternal torment of hell as only His creation, those who rejected Him as Lord and Father.

Those who today reject God and His only means of salvation – Jesus Christ – His Son are as much without excuse as those who’ve rejected Him down through the ages.¹⁰

God has promised and provided rescue from sin, but we must choose to hear His warnings and to obey His word.  Remember:   “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.  The heavens will disappear with a roar;  the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and  everything done in it will be laid bare.”  2 Peter 3:9-10 (ESV.)

Do not needlessly and tragically endure a famine of God’s word.  Instead, choose the feast of His continual presence, peace, protection, and provision!

¹ Footnote  “l”, page 8 related to Genesis 6:13; and  Footnote “a, ”page 1019, related to Amos 3:7, in the Amplified Bible®. Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987, by The Lockman Foundation.

² John 15:26-16:16; Revelation 22:20. 

³ Deuteronomy 29:29. 

⁴John 3:16-21, and 14:1-6; Romans 3:21-31 and 6:23.

⁵Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37, and Luke 21:5-36 describe some “Signs of the End Times.”

⁶ 1 Thessalonians 5, and 2 Thessalonians 2.

⁷ Luke 17:20-37.

⁸ Luke 18:31-33 (ESV Bible).

⁹Luke 17:24-30

¹⁰ See the Book of Jude; and  2 Peter 2:1- 3: 18.