Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Amos 8 Devotional

Hungry for a Silent Word

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.”Amos 8:11 (BSB)

Amos sees a basket of ripe summer fruit, and the LORD tells him that the end has come for Israel (8:1-2). Then the merchants are exposed. They cannot wait for the New Moon and the Sabbath to end so they can sell again. They shrink the measures, raise the price, rig the scales, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals (8:4-6). God swears that he will never forget any of their deeds (8:7).

The judgment that follows is unusual. God will send a famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea searching for his word and not find it (8:11-12). Those who would not listen when God spoke will search when he is silent. Jesus said that people do not live on bread alone but on every word from God's mouth (Matthew 4:4). His word is still being spoken to you, and it is worth hearing while it is near.

To think about: How hungry are you for God's word right now, and what crowds it out of your days?

About Amos 8: The Summer Fruit Vision

Amos sees ripe summer fruit in a basket, a sign that Israel's end has come. The LORD condemns merchants who cheat the poor and swears to remember their deeds, then warns of midday darkness, bitter mourning, a famine of His word, and the fall of those who take oaths by false shrines.

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