According to the Bible, there will be a famine in the final days, but it will not be for bread or water.
Listen to the Scripture closely.
Amos 8:11
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when 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.”
The Bible just said that this famine would be for hearing God’s Word. It is not for the purpose of preaching God’s Word. I know we’ve been taught and predicted that the hunger is for the Lord’s Word, but that’s not what the Bible says. There is no scarcity of preaching, but there is a shortage of folks listening.
Some of us should go clean out our ears, particularly our spiritual ears. We must read the Bible. Some of us should just drop out of bible college, become hooked on phonics, and learn to read!
Why? Because some things are so simple that you need someone to help you misunderstand it!
The key point to remember here is that this will happen in the final days. Furthermore, it was launched by God!
I understand that this may be difficult to accept, but please hear me, through the Spirit of God. Some may wonder how this is possible. It’s actually rather straightforward. The Creator is God. He is the Creator as well as the King. He is also the one on whom everything is predicated. God is the essence of everything LIFE! We were created by God, not by ourselves. We weren’t some amiba that sprouted legs and walked out of the ocean. All of this nonsense that the world has turned into schemes, worries, ideologies, hypotheses, and even fancies. In reality, none of the things in which we believed we were ever able to comprehend in our 8-pound brains when it comes to understanding and figuring out God.
But, some of you may be wondering, why would God do such a thing? Consider the text to discover why.
In the 10th chapter of where the context of this verse lays, we read,
“Then I will turn your festivals into mourning
And all your songs into lamentation;
And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins
And baldness on every head.
And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day.”
Not only is God going to send this famine for the HEARING of His Word,
but we also find out how He will start it.
God promised to convert festivities into sadness. It’s not that we suddenly assume we’re in a festive setting and all we can do is cry instead of laugh. He is not converting our laughter into tears, but rather our joy into sorrow. In other words, the only activities we will be able to attend will be those that will tear us down. The songs that are then played are essentially lamentations. God then drapes sackcloth over our waists.
First and foremost, our loins are our reproductive organs. This is not fleshly reproduction, carnality, or sexual reproduction. New souls are born into the Kingdom through connections. There will come a time when (due to our misallocation of concentration, pursuits, and priorities, as well as our failure to prioritize God and His Kingdom) that we will not be able to tell of the Gospel. Why? Because all we are concerned with it’s religion. It has always been religion verses relationship. It will be the end of our ability to replicate religion. How so? It is because of the sackcloth that He puts on us or covers our supposed reproduction of sinners to saints. God uses that “Sackcloth”, you see, to be worn by individuals to identify them.
In fact, all throughout the Bible we see this used to represent an expression of sadness during times of mourning. It is made of black goat hair, and it is worn for a length of time after a loss to symbolize the wearer’s lost love and emotional suffering to people around them as a public announcement.
What is the significance of this? It is because there is a distinction in the Kingdom between goats and sheep. The Bible says and states,
“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;” (Matthew 25:32)
GOD caused and is directing this famine. The covering of the loins is spiritual in nature, identifying the essence and truth of how significant this is to God. This is how God will bring about the HEARING Famine! Indeed, it will be so empowering and strong that humanity’s hair will fall out. The portrayal of what our hair represents reveals the truth and significance of baldness. This is our shield. Our covering is what shields us from the sun’s damaging rays. It also aids in identification and provides us with adorning beauty. The fact that God not only knows whether we are goats or sheep, but that He knows us to the point of counting every single hair on our head. That much he knows about us. As a result, when God removes the covering, what remains is baldness. This talks to us spiritually about our nakedness. God is going to reveal who and what we are.
This period of sadness and lamentation will be comparable to losing your own son. What a dreadful experience that will be. This is why it is so terrible towards the end, when everything comes to an end and God then causes the famine to begin. Furthermore, it is not yet nighttime. We can only see during the day. With your eyes closed, you can’t see the unpleasant reality. You will be able to view everything.
Then there’s the famine. But God says it’s not for water or bread, but for what you should and might could have been hearing all along.
Instead, you allowed things that weren’t Him to attract and engross you. But take note of what occurs. We read in the 12th verse,
“People will stagger from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord,
But they will not find it.”
It makes no difference how hard they look. They’re not going to discover it. It will also make no difference how far they search. They will stumble from one water’s edge to the next. They will not find it. Water is representation of the Word of God.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)
The fact that humanity, the inhabitants of the world, will have misplaced something and will be unable to locate it. This is referring to goats rather than sheep. This does not apply to everyone. This is occurring to a small group of people, and they are not only from the outside world, but also from the church. He stated via Paul that He will present Himself a church in all her glory. Our glory is meaningless. But if we are IN GOD and GOD IS IN US, we not only see His Glory (LIKENESS), but we also reflect it. This is how we are introduced. HIS Glory is shown to us (LIKENESS). Furthermore, His Glory is without stains, wrinkles, or any other flaw. Glory is nothing more than a reflection of His Image!
It is remarkable that the individuals who have been struck by this God-initiated famine would go from north to south.
“Awake, O north wind; and come, you south; blow on my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden…” (Songs 4:16)
Our core objective is to follow the Divine plan for growing and completing God’s image in a human spirit. And according to text, personal glory is accomplished via the use of opposing and clashing energies. “North and south” are the sphere’s of two extremities. All of the earth’s changing fluctuations reside between these two extremes. The direction from which the wind will blow determines the weather for the day. South breezes are mild and warm, whereas north winds bring cold, hail, and snow. These truths are analogous to our higher experiences. What disparities exist in the circumstances of our daily lives! This is also true in social situations.
Principles comparable to those that govern our physical existence support the life of the soul. Even in our diet, there are competing aspects. Some are alimentary, building up the body and healing waste tissue; whereas others are toxic, rendering benign or removing harmful components that, if left unchecked, would destroy the body. The “north wind” is too strong for us; thus, we need the southern breezes to replenish the soul’s diminished energy. However, spiritual athletes are not just bolstered by south breezes. “Awake, O North Wind,” we must shout. Too many professed disciples of Him “who was wealthy yet became poor for our sakes,” “who pleased not Himself,” “who had nowhere to lay His head,” are relaxing in the warmth of the southern sphere, therefore avoiding participation in the major operations of the Christian Church. This allusion to north and south can be found elsewhere in the Bible, but the one that captures the heart of what Amos is saying is,
“In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.” (Zechariah 14:4)
So, the type of people that are impacted may not comprehend what or why God is giving this famine to the people, but the true remnant and Body of Christ will not be caught off-guard.
God uses the famine He creates to separate the Bride from the adulterers. Understand that this must occur prior to the return of our Lord. In fact, it is happening in the world right now, right at this very moment. But dear friend, gather knowledge and strength, for the remnant and real saint of God will be the victor! Be encouraged that if you remain faithful to His Word and His Voice, you will not be impacted, nor will starvation strike your spirit.
Because your spirit is in HIM, and HIS Spirit is in YOU!
Grace & Peace
Dr. John Roberts THD