Subscribe to Ailbe Newsletters
In the face of this relentless information storm, this is no time for Christians to give up on reading. We need to equip ourselves to weather this information storm, and The Fellowship of Ailbe wants to help.
Don't let this happen to you. Amos 8.12-14
Amos 8 (6)
Pray Psalm 42.6-8.
O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
Sing Psalm 42.6-8.
(Nettleton: Come Thou Fount)
Oh my God, my soul is weary, therefore I remember You.
Let Your grace and goodness near be, and Your promise, firm and true.
LORD, when trials and fears surround me, Your commands will be my song!
When distresses sore confound me, Your great love will keep me strong.
Read Amos 8.1-14; meditate on verses 12-14.
Preparation
1. What happens to people in a famine of the Word?
2. Where do they end up?
Meditation
Jesus came to earth as a Man with a mission. He knew why He had come, what He must do, how He must comport Himself, what He must teach, and that, at the end, though He would seem to fall into death yet He would rise again. Jesus had a clear vision and purpose and He would allow nothing to deter Him—not the devil (Matt. 4.1-11) and not even His closest disciple (Matt. 16.14-23).
As the Word of God, every moment of Jesus’ life was filled with purpose, meaning, and the glory of God. And where the Word is not present in a life or a society, quite the opposite picture emerges. People wander about with no greater purpose than to satisfy their next impulse. They’re looking for something stable, reliable, and true, but because they will not resort to the Word, every choice they make is feeble and fleeting (v. 12).
They thirst for truth and cannot find it because they believe themselves to be the source of truth (v. 13), and they worship the vain idols they have adopted as their goal in life. But their idols don’t deliver (v. 14). They roam the land, from Dan to Beersheba, in search of something like the hope of eternal life (“As your god lives…As the way of Beersheba lives…”), but every moment indulged is gone and their thirst remains.
Where a famine of the Word has settled in, people are lost. They may look strong and successful, and it may appear that all is well in their lives. But, like Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2, trusting in things and circumstances ends up leaving you thirsty for the real thing. But the real thing is not available because it has been set aside, neglected, forsaken, rejected, and scorned. Souls become a desert and a culture becomes a swamp where a famine of hearing has set in.
Don’t let it happen to you.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Admittedly, Solomon had a few bad years. He went from being the wisest person on earth and living within that framework, to being a usual dolt who fell for women. Loser.
But when he was surging with God’s wisdom, he was teaching his children how to live life to the fullest; and warning them of what happens when a person turns away from God’s teaching. As we read what he wrote in Proverbs 1.23-33, we can hear the voice of God in Solomon’s thoughts. Here are some truths and consequences he put before his own offspring:
“Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused,
I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke,
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes.
When your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”
As God’s children we must heed this warning. Amos, Solomon, and a plethora of others have been warning us, “Seek the LORD and live” (Amos 5.6). Jesus warned us, “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed” (Matt. 13.14, 15). And He was repeating what the prophet Isaiah had warned of hundreds of years before (Is. 6.9, 10). On and on it goes. How long do we really think God will wait to judge?
The thing we must hear and see is this: God clearly stated that at some point people will look for His Word and will not find it; that the hardiest will faint; and those who serve idols of self and sufficiency will fall—never to rise again. A failing grade for all the faux students of the LORD God.
God is saying to us, again, through Solomon: “Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths” (Prov. 4.10 11).
Furthermore, “I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine” (Is. 43.1).
That truth fills our heart with joy. We are full. And we have the goods to give to those who are hungry.
As Isaac Watts (1674-1748) so beautifully wrote in his hymn, How Sweet and Awful is the Place:
“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”
We have heard the warning.
We are called to lovingly warn.
And to invite others to the banquet (Rev. 19.9).
Where there is no famine of God’s Word.
Reflection
1. How would you advise a new Christian to keep from falling into a famine of the Word?
2. Have you ever been helped by a well-timed rebuke? Explain.
3. Why do Christians need other Christians to keep from falling into a famine of hearing God’s Word?
It seems unnatural, that those who are vigorous, and can run to get supply for their wants, should faint: but the Prophet, as I have said, wished to show that there would be no escape, but that God would distress the strongest, when he sent such a famine, and with it the want also of drink. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Amos 8.11-14
Pray Psalm 42.1-5.
Call on the Lord to refresh your soul as you feed on His Word. Give Him praise and thanks for the Word He speaks to you today.
Sing Psalm 42.1-5.
(Nettleton: Come Thou Fount)
As the deer pants for fresh water let my soul, LORD, pant for You!
Let my soul thirst as it ought to for the Savior, ever true!
Tears by day have been my portion, tears by night have been my food,
while my foes add to my sorrow, saying, “Where now is your God?”
Now I pour my soul out in me as these thoughts come to my mind.
And I long to once again be where true worship I might find.
Oh my soul, be not despairing! Hope in God, and praise His Name!
For the LORD, your burden bearing, will restore your peace again.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Support for Scriptorium comes from our faithful and generous God, who moves our readers to share financially in our work. If this article was helpful, please give Him thanks and praise.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore
In the face of this relentless information storm, this is no time for Christians to give up on reading. We need to equip ourselves to weather this information storm, and The Fellowship of Ailbe wants to help.