Amos 8:1-14: a reflection

1Thus the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2He said, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more. 3The songs of the temple will be wailing in that day,” says the Lord GOD. “The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence. 4Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, 5saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; 6that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’” 7The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8Won’t the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt. 9It will happen in that day,” says the Lord GOD, “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. 10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day. 11Behold, the days come,” says the Lord GOD, “that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the LORD’s words. 12They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the LORD’s word, and will not find it. 13In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst. 14Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives,’ and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ they will fall, and never rise up again.”

Among the warnings Amos brings is a striking one: a coming famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. Behold, the days come, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the LORD's words. A people who had God's word freely and took it for granted, even despised it, would come to a day when they sought it and could not find it: wandering from sea to sea, running back and forth to seek the word of the LORD, and not finding it. The word they had taken for granted would become precious in its absence, and they would hunger for it. This shows the warning not to take God's word for granted, lest we hunger for it in its absence. Do not take God's word for granted; there can come a famine of hearing it. What we take for granted can become precious in its absence. Treasure God's word while you have it freely. A day may come when the word is sought and not found.

Notice the striking form this warning takes. God's judgment on a people who had despised and taken his word for granted would be, in part, a famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing his word. They had God's word freely and did not treasure it; and so a day would come when they hungered for it, sought it, wandered far to find it, and could not, the word now withdrawn and absent. What they had taken for granted would become precious precisely in its absence, when they hungered for it and it could not be found. This holds a searching warning for us. We can have God's word freely available to us, and take it for granted, neglect it, fail to treasure it while we have it. But the word is a gift, precious, not to be presumed upon; and to take it for granted is to risk hungering for it when it is not so readily found. We do well to treasure God's word while we have it freely, to receive it, feed on it, and not take it for granted, remembering that what we take for granted can become precious in its absence. Let us not neglect the gift of God's word while it is freely ours, but treasure it, feed on it, and give thanks for it. Treasure God's word while you have it freely; do not take it for granted. What is freely available can become precious in its absence. Do not neglect the gift of God's word while it is yours. Feed on God's word now, and give thanks for the gift of it.

That is worth taking to heart, for God's word is a precious gift not to be taken for granted, and we do well to treasure it while we have it freely, as Amos warned of a coming famine of hearing the LORD's words. We can have God's word freely and take it for granted, neglecting it; but Amos warned of a day when a people who despised the word would hunger for it, seek it, and not find it. Treasure it now. Do not take God's word for granted while it is freely yours; treasure it, feed on it, and give thanks, remembering that what is taken for granted can become precious in its absence. Treasure God's word while you have it freely, feeding on it and not taking it for granted, as among the warnings Amos brought was a striking one, that a coming famine would be not of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD, so that a people who had God's word freely and took it for granted, even despised it, would come to a day when they sought it and could not find it, wandering from sea to sea and running back and forth to seek the word of the LORD without finding it, the word they had taken for granted becoming precious in its absence; for God's judgment on a people who had despised and presumed on his word would be, in part, a famine of hearing it, since they had it freely and did not treasure it, so that a day would come when they hungered for it and it was withdrawn, which holds a searching warning for us, since we can have God's word freely available and take it for granted, neglecting it and failing to treasure it while we have it, but the word is a gift, precious and not to be presumed upon, and to take it for granted is to risk hungering for it when it is not so readily found, so that we do well to treasure God's word while we have it freely, receiving it, feeding on it, and not taking it for granted.

Lord, among the warnings Amos brings is a striking one: a coming famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing your words. Behold, the days come, says the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the LORD's words. A people who had your word freely and took it for granted, even despised it, would come to a day when they sought it and could not find it: wandering from sea to sea, running back and forth to seek your word, and not finding it. The word they had taken for granted would become precious in its absence, and they would hunger for it. Show me the striking form this warning takes. Your judgment on a people who had despised and taken your word for granted would be, in part, a famine, not of bread or water, but of hearing your word. They had your word freely and did not treasure it; and so a day would come when they hungered for it, sought it, wandered far to find it, and could not. What they had taken for granted would become precious precisely in its absence. This holds a searching warning for me. I can have your word freely available to me, and take it for granted, neglect it, fail to treasure it while I have it. But your word is a gift, precious, not to be presumed upon; and to take it for granted is to risk hungering for it when it is not so readily found. Take that to my heart, for your word is a precious gift not to be taken for granted. Keep me from neglecting the gift of your word while it is freely mine; help me treasure it, Lord, feed on it, and give thanks for it, remembering that what is taken for granted can become precious in its absence, and not presuming on the gift of hearing your words while it is mine.