Behold, the days are coming...

Interesting verse in Amos today.  Now Amos was one of the first prophets after King David and King Solomon.  He was alive around 760 BC and was a contemporary of another minor prophet, Hosea.

Amos 8:11(NKJV)

11    “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.

A famine of hearing the words of the Lord.  It's pretty easy to imagine that today might be the time that Amos was talking about.  When we look around at how Christian speech is being attacked world wide. 

What I find interesting here though is that God says "That I will send a famine on the land."  He isn't just letting it happen.  He is causing it to happen.  What could be the purpose of that?  I'm not sure.  I thought God's ultimate goal was that everybody has a chance to be saved.  How does sending a famine of the word work towards that goal?

Here is one thought based on the famine analogy.  A famine is an extreme lack of something, usually food.  Now what happens during a famine in regards to people's want of food?  It increases doesn't it?  They become more and more intense in their want of food, which they need to survive, as it becomes more and more scarce.  Maybe that is a bit of what God had in mind here.  People need to word of God just as badly as they need food, they just don't realize it.  Don't know if that really is God's strategy or not but it seemed to make sense to me.

What do we know?  We know that we are charged with the duty of sharing the Word with all.  As the scarcity increases, we are to be God's army out there offering what people are becoming more and more desperate for.  There is a reason churches like Valley Family Church are growing like crazy.  People are searching for the Word.  Let's do everything we can to fight the famine and provide it!