Tuesday, October 27, 2015

How the End is Coming (Amos 8:7-14)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2015 12:28 AM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  How the End is Coming

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Amos 8:7-14

            Message of the verses:  “7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds. 8 “Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 “It will come about in that day," declares the Lord GOD, "That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight. 10 “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.

    “11 "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 12 “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. 13 “In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst. 14  "As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Who say, ’As your god lives, O Dan,’ And, ’As the way of Beersheba lives,’ They will fall and not rise again.’”

            As we look at these eight verses we see four pictures of judgment that will come upon Israel and as we look at them some of them remind us of what the Lord is going to do during “The Day of the Lord” as described in Revelation 6-19.  The first picture is that of an earthquake as seen in verse eight.  Amos speaks of the land rising like the Nile River which could raise as much as 20 feet over its banks during the flood season.  Next we see darkness that covers the land and perhaps as Dr. Wiersbe writes this could be an eclipse for there was one in 763 BC.  This does remind us of what happened in the judgments on Egypt and also when the Day of the Lord comes as there is darkness as a judgment there too.  In verse ten we see the picture of a funeral as I have highlighted the different parts of that verse that speak of this, things like lamentations, mourning’s and sackcloth being used.  Lastly we see in verses 11-14 the picture of judgment through famine, but in this section we not only see the famine of food, or the lack of food and water, but also the famine of not having the Word of the Lord.

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes “What a tragedy to have plenty of ‘religion’ but no Word from the Lord!  That means no light in the darkness, no nourishment for the soul, no direction for making decisions, no protection from the lies of the Enemy.  The people would stagger like drunks from place to place, always hoping to find food and drink for their bodies and spiritual sustenance for their souls.”

            I am totally surprised of how many people in our society are living without the direction of the Word of God, but then again when the morals in our country are at an all time low that should not surprise me at all.

10/28/2015 12:46 AM

           

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