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Amos 8:11-12
Unfortunately, during these terrible times when God's Word is most needed to help the people come to repentance, it will be almost impossible to find: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, “that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11). When the people finally realize that God wants them to repent, it will be too late. The seeds of their destruction have been sown, and the crop is already ripe. The only truth available to them in the tumult of God's judgment is what they can remember. It is for this reason that God warns us in these times to “[redeem] the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). If our hope in the Kingdom of God, the resurrection of the dead, and sharing life with God eternally are not sufficient to motivate us to repent, perhaps fear of a terrible calamity, the Great Tribulation, the Day of the Lord, or being spewed from God's mouth as a Laodicean will move us to use the present to secure the future! God prophesies to motivate us to cling to Him and His Word right now, and He is willing to scare us nearly to death to save us. During this famine, “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, but shall not find it” (Amos 8:12). Amos probably refers to the Dead Sea and Mediterranean Sea, east to west, and adds “north to east,” describing a triangle with the south direction left out. Why would he do this? On a map of the land of Israel, the Dead Sea lies to the east, the Mediterranean to the west, and the nation of Israel to the north. What lies to the south? Jerusalem, where the truth was! In Amos' day, the truth was taught in God's Temple in Jerusalem. Israelites wanted to be known as seekers of the truth, but in reality, they did not want it. Their pride would not allow them to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the truth, for that would mean they would need to humble themselves before the Word of God. Wander in this verse can be rendered “stagger” like a drunk or “tremble” like lips quivering in agitation because one is so angry or fearful that he is unable to speak. It shows the people in a state of panic and intense agitation. They are desperately searching for what they had regarded so lightly: God, the Bible, His truth. But they cannot find them anywhere! Thus, like desperate people, they will seek any port in a storm—any religion, and many will fall prey to false ones. This scenario is already happening in modern Israel. New Age, mystical, and Eastern religions are growing steadily, and many “Christians” feel free to borrow “truth” from other religions. They even turn science and technology into religions. Additionally, in recent years, ecumenical movements have risen within a broad spectrum of religious bodies.
John W. Ritenbaugh and Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part Seven): The Prophesied Blow Falls
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