Amos 08: A True Famine

Pastor Brandon explores Amos 8, examining what it truly means to struggle with the absence of God's favor. The prophet warns about a coming famine not of food but of hearing God's word—the most terrifying punishment of all.

• God sends Amos a vision of a basket of ripe fruit, symbolizing Israel's ripeness for judgment
• The people had been robbing the poor, using dishonest business practices, and enslaving the vulnerable
• God promises to turn celebrations into mourning and send darkness at noon
• The most devastating famine will be spiritual—people will search desperately for God's word but won't find it
• We should never take for granted our access to scripture
• We worship not the Bible itself but the God revealed through it
• Regular engagement with God's word ensures we never experience the spiritual famine Amos describes

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Amos 8
• 1:58 Vision of the Basket of Fruit
• 3:44 Warning of Coming Spiritual Famine
• 5:46 The Value of God's Word
• 9:06 Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, amos, chapter 8, and today's title is A True Famine. A True Famine we're going to talk about what it really means to struggle, and that is to struggle with the absence of the favor of God. We're going to get to all that in just a moment, but if you have your Bibles, I want to open it up with me to Amos, chapter 8. While you're doing that, make sure you take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. Also, make sure you leave us some feedback on there.

Speaker 1: 1:00

When people are looking for podcasts to listen to, they want to know what to expect. I do that whenever I'm looking at podcasts and so it doesn't cost you anything, takes you just a couple of minutes. Let people know how they can expect to engage with God's word every day as they join our community. Also, make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown discussion group on Facebook and you can get the links to all the things at thebiblebreakdowncom. Well, if you've been with us over the past few weeks, one of the things that we've been talking about not weeks, excuse me, days one of the things that we've been talking about is the overall idea of Amos, is this idea of let justice roll. In other words, amos is talking to the nation of Israel and what we've been saying is that's crazy, because he's not even part of the nation of Israel, he's from Judah. But he's writing to them and he is saying guys, listen, I can see the writing on the wall, and so I'm writing to you and I'm telling you be so very careful, because there is this Assyrian empire. He doesn't call them by name, necessarily, but he is saying that you're going to fall to Damascus and they are going to absolutely wreck shop because, even though you're economically so very blessed, you're becoming corrupt, you're turning away from the things of God, and so he is just warning them over and over again.

Speaker 1: 2:14

And in today's chapter, what he's going to be talking about? He's going to be talking about this idea of I want you to know what the true famine is going to be, and it's not going to be that you're going to be overwhelmed and overtaken and all the different things, as much as it's going to be losing the favor of God, and I think we sometimes take that for granted and remember that that really is the most important thing, because if we lose everything else, we still have God. We're still winners. So we're going to jump into this, we're going to talk about this and then see what God's word will say to us on the other side. So if you're ready, amos, chapter 8, verse 1, says this he's going to be talking about a vision and he says then the sovereign Lord showed me yet another vision. In it, I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. What do you see, amos? He asked I see a basket full of ripe fruit. Then the Lord said like this fruit, israel is ripe for punishment. I will not delay their punishment again.

Speaker 1: 3:10

In that day, the singing in the temple will be turned to wailing, dead bodies will be scattered everywhere and they will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the sovereign Lord, have spoken. Listen to this. You who rob the poor and trample down the needy. You can't wait for the Sabbath day to be over and for religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales, and you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor, then you enslave poor people from one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.

Speaker 1: 3:50

Now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name, the pride of Israel. I will never forget the wicked things you have done. The earth will tremble for your deeds and everyone will mourn. The ground will rise like the Nile River at flood time. It will heave up and sink again at flood time. It will heave up and sink again. In that day, says the Lord, I will make the sun go down at noon and darkness in the earth while it is still day. I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow, as if you, as if only your son wait a minute, as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be.

Speaker 1: 4:33

The time is surely coming, says the Lord, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. The people will stagger from sea to sea, wander from border to border, searching for the word of the Lord. But they will not find it. Behold beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord's word, and those who swear by shameful idols of Samaria, who take oaths in the name of the God of Dan, who make vows in the name of the God of Beersheba. They will fall down, never to rise again.

Speaker 1: 5:14

Wow, what he's saying here is is he's saying these bad things are going to happen and you're going to be seeking after me, but I'm not going to talk to you. I am going to keep my distance because it is time and for all the things. And we've been noticing over the past couple of days, as we've been reading, that God has been sending these visions to Amos and he has been saying that judgment is coming, and then Amos is interceding for the people, and then God is saying, okay, I'll wait. And then he's saying I'll wait, and then, but after a while, he says no, it's not, I'm not going to wait anymore, I'm going to, I'm going to do it.

Speaker 1: 5:48

And the greatest difficulty is going to be that you're going to call to me but you're not going to hear from me. You're, you're, you're going to want my word and it's not going to be there. And that is the most terrifying thing in the world, and so what I would encourage you to do is to make sure that you never allow yourself to be thirsting or hungry for God's word and not filling back up again, because we have this wonderful joy of being able to hear God's word every day by reading his word. Being able to hear God's word every day by reading his word and the great thing is about reading his word together is we're able to continually fill back up on his word. Therefore, when we read his word, it will constantly be digging into our lives and digging into who we are and helping us to remember the right way to go. That way, when bad things come, we will know which way to go. Now we'll still have to make the choice if we're going to take it or not, but that's what Amos is saying, is he's saying the worst part of all of this is not the judgment. It's going to be the fact that you are going to want to turn back to God, but God's going to say no, I'm not going to speak to you. What a terrible thing. But we don't have to live that way because we have his word every day. So let's never take it for granted. Instead, let us treat God's word as the precious jewel that it is. And to remember and it's important to say this, to remember we don't worship God's word, we worship the God of his word. So when we read the Bible, god's word reveals who he is. That's when we call it God's word. So when I say God's word, more than I just say Bible, is because we get to know the God of the Bible.

Speaker 1: 7:30

I heard someone one time that said it was this progressive Christian which I hate to even use the word Christian behind that. But he was criticizing people like me and people like you who value God's word as much as we do and we say man, you know. He said, you know, your Trinity is not what it's supposed to be. He was trying to be superior and he said my Trinity is Father, son, holy Spirit. Your Trinity is Father, son, holy Bible. That's all you do. And you know, in my mind I'm sitting there and I'm going OK. Well, just by, very, by the very fact you said that helps me realize you have no idea what we're trying to do, like we're not. We're not worshiping the Bible, we're worshiping the God of the Bible and it's as we know his word. We're able to know him more. So the very fact that you are saying that means you don't get it.

Speaker 1: 8:23

But it is important that we say that we study God's word, not so that we can just know what the Bible says. We study God's word so that we can know God more and that we never have to be in the situation as he's saying today, and he's saying there's going to be a day when you're going to want to hear God's word, you're not going to be able to hear it. Let that never be said of us. Let us never get to the place, to where we want to hear God's word but can't get back to it, but to always stay close to his word. Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you so much for today.

Speaker 1: 8:45

Thank you, lord, that we live in a time and a place that, if someone's listening to this, that means they have access to your word. I know that there are people who live in places of the world right now they don't have ready access to your word, but we pray for them right now. We intercede for them. We ask, lord, that you will open up opportunities for them to hear your word, to get access to your word, and that, for those of us who are so blessed to be in places where we can listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos and have a Bible, that, lord, you will encourage us not to feel bad that we have these resources other people don't but to first of all celebrate it and then number two be the answer that brings these resources to other people. Help us to never forget the joy that we have of having ready access to your word.

Speaker 1: 9:30

In Jesus name, we pray Amen. And what God's word says in Amos, chapter five, verse 24,. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. Let that be our story. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for the grand finale. Amos, chapter 9.