Amos 8:11 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, a general judgment is threatened, a spiritual famine over the whole land. It is a famine of God’s word, a loss of true messages from him, and a shortage of faithful preaching. Amos speaks of it as something still ahead: the days are coming when darkness will cover that land of light.

When Amos was preaching, and for some time after, the people had many prophets and many chances to hear God’s word, in season and out of season. They had teaching on top of teaching, line after line. God’s word was their daily bread, and it is likely they grew tired of it, as Israel once grew tired of the manna. So God warns that he will take away this privilege.

Probably, in the land of Israel there were fewer prophets when destruction came than there were in Judah. When the ten tribes went into captivity, they could no longer see their signs, and there were no prophets left to tell them how long it would last (Psalm 74:9). The Jewish church had no prophets for many ages after Malachi. Some also think this warning reaches farther, to the partial blindness that has come on Israel in the days of the Messiah, and to the veil over the hearts of unbelieving Jews. They reject the gospel and the ministers God sends to them, and they still want prophets like their fathers had, but they will have none. The kingdom of God has been taken from them and given to another people.

Notice, first, what this judgment is. It is a famine, not of bread and water, which are bad enough to lose, but a much worse famine, a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. There will be no groups for ministers to preach to, no ministers to preach, and no gift or help given to those who try to preach so they can do the work well. The word of the Lord will become rare and precious. There will be no vision, like in Samuel’s day (1 Samuel 3:1).

They may still have the written word, Bibles to read, but they will have no ministers to explain and apply it. They will have water in the well, but nothing to draw it out with. God once promised that even if people had little bread, they would still have the means of grace, that is, God’s help for the soul, in full supply (Isaiah 30:20). But here the threat is the opposite: plenty of bread and water, yet their teachers are removed.

This means, first, the loss of a great part of their glory. Their nation was great because God had trusted them with his messages. When those were taken away, their beauty was stained and their honor thrown down. Second, it showed God’s deepest anger against them. He was truly angry when he would no longer speak to them as before, and had left them without the means to turn back from sin. Third, it made every other trouble more painful, because they had no prophets to comfort them or give them hope from God’s word. At any time, and especially in trouble, we can say that a famine of God’s word is the worst famine and the heaviest judgment.

Second, this judgment would have a visible effect. They would wander from sea to sea, from the sea of Tiberias to the Great Sea, from one border of the land to another, trying to find a prophet. They would even look beyond their own country, by sea or land, hoping God might send them a messenger from elsewhere. Since they had none among themselves, they would go from north to east, running here and there like people who have lost their way and are desperate to find help. They would search for the word of the Lord, asking whether there was any prophet, any prophecy, any message from God, but they would not find it.

For some, this would seem no great trouble, but others would feel it deeply and gladly travel far to hear a good sermon. Then they would feel the loss of mercies that others had foolishly thrown away. Even those who once despised the prophets would wish for them later, like Saul longing for Samuel when Samuel was gone. People often do not know the value of blessings until they lose them.

This may also mean that even if they searched everywhere for God’s word, they still would not find it. The means of grace, God’s ways of helping people, are not fixed forever. The lampstand can be moved from its place when we least expect it (Revelation 2:5). Those who now look down on the days of the Son of Man may one day wish for them and not be able to have them.

In that famine, even the fair young women and the strong young men will faint for thirst (Amos 8:13). Those who might seem best able to bear hardship will still break down under it. Some understand the young women and young men to mean the Jewish churches and the leaders of their synagogues. They will lose the word of the Lord, the gift of God’s revelation, and will faint because they no longer have it. They will lose their strength and beauty.

Others think Amos means those who trust in their own goodness and righteousness and think they do not need Christ. They are like fair young women and choice young men in their own eyes, yet they will faint with thirst. But those who hunger and thirst for Christ’s righteousness will be fully satisfied and filled.

Finally, the prophet speaks of the special destruction of those who led the people into idolatry (Amos 8:14). They are charged with swearing by the sin of Samaria, that is, by the idol of Samaria, the calf worshiped at Bethel, not far from Samaria. They gloried in their shame, swore by the god that was really their sin, and honored what should have filled them with horror. They said, “Your god, O Dan, lives,” speaking of the other golden calf, a mute idol, yet treating it as if it were the living God. They also said, “The way of Beer-sheba lives,” swearing by the worship used there and treating it as sacred, as though it could decide disputes. In the same way, the papists swear by the mass, just as here they swore by the way of Beer-sheba.

Those who give to idols the honor that belongs to God alone will find that the God they insult becomes their enemy. Then they will fall, and the gods they serve will not be able to help them. God is jealous of his honor, and he will resent the wrong done to him. He will be victorious, and it is useless to fight against him.