Famine in the Land

The contemporary church is plagued by famine for hearing the words of God, but a famine that is a self-inflicted wound.

Many credible men of God have warned that the Church of Jesus Christ will experience a “famine for the word of God.” I initially took this as a prediction that the Bible itself would be suppressed even in Western-style democracies as governmental authorities persecuted the Church. The reality is rather different.

These men of God cite a passage in the Book of Amos to validate their prediction: “The days are coming when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh” - (Amos 8:11).

[Photo by Amy Tran on Unsplash]

This prophecy was given to the Kingdom of Israel. The key phrase - “the words of Yahweh” - referred to the words of God spoken through His prophets to the nation. As God withdrew His hand from Israel, His prophetic declarations became few and far between. This “famine” is the reality today and in ways faithful to the original passage.

Paradoxically, this “famine of hearing the words of God” is raging when access to the Bible is easy and inexpensive, and tens of thousands of “prophets” and “apostles” claim to speak for the Lord. In Amos, it was Yahweh Himself who withdrew His spoken word. However, that did not mean the disappearance of every so-called “prophet,” only the cessation of His words through the mouths of prophets true and false. The People of God refused to hear, so He chose not to speak.

There are genuine prophets today, but to find one and hear genuine words from the Lord you must slog your way through the vast swamp of deception that has overwhelmed our churches. The man who knows and faithfully communicates the word of God is the rare exception that proves the rule.

The cause of today’s “famine” is not the suppression of the Bible by the State but the ignorance of Scripture that prevails in our pews, and its twisting by the deceivers occupying our pulpits. Many believers know little of what the Bible says, let alone how to study it themselves. They welcome false teachers who “tickle their ears,” the money-grubbing hustlers who propagate sweet-sounding “doctrines of demons.” They have transformed Charismatic Christianity into a profitable business devoted to Mammon.

So-called “Prophetic” leaders steer us away from reliance on the Bible. Instead of clinging to Scripture, we are encouraged to pursue subjective personal experiences and “revelation” from the “spirit realm.” Why labor to learn the Bible when you can receive instant “downloads from Heaven” through dreams, visions, and angelic visitations?

This is a tragedy of our own making. We prefer exciting experiences and easy “words” from Facebook “prophets” over the written Word of God. In Amos, God Himself withdrew His words from the nation. If we continue our present course, He may do the same in our day. If we, like ancient Israel, refuse to hear His clear words in Scripture, why bother communicating with us any longer?

Jesus warned that many deceivers would come and “deceive many.” His stress was on the term “many.” So, it has come to pass in our day. As Paul warned:

• Many choose not to “endure sound doctrine; instead, having itching ears, they have heaped to themselves teachers after their lusts, and turned aside their ears from the truth, and turned instead to fables.”

The Apostle left instructions on how to avoid deception and apostasy, by “holding fast the traditions you received from us.” That Apostolic Tradition is preserved for our benefit in the New Testament. If we fail to take advantage of the present opportunity to learn the Word and make it our own, not only will deception continue to prevail in our churches, but it will be too late when the storms of persecution do arrive.

The “words of Yahweh” will save us, not the words of false prophets who “disguise themselves as angels of light” and tell us what we want to hear.

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RELATED POSTS:

• Ignoring Scripture - (Was the Apostle Paul serious when he told Timothy to appoint elders and ministers who were above reproach?)

• Mysteries Revealed - (God’s mysteries are unveiled in Jesus, especially in his Death and Resurrection. Are we looking for revelation in the right places?)

• Stand Fast in the Tradition - (To avoid deception and apostasy believers must cling to the apostolic traditions, lest they drift away)