Amos 8:11-13 contains a prophecy of judgment against the northern kingdom of Israel for idolatry and rebellion against the LORD.
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
In that day, the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because of thirst.”
However, like many prophecies in the Old Testament, their meaning can speak to multiple situations.
These words describe our situation in the USA; others see the same in other nations like the UK. There is a famine in our lands of “hearing the words of the LORD.” People worldwide are thirsty for the Holy Spirit, even if they don’t recognize that this is their thirst.
I feel the LORD is saying that these words in Amos describe a condition that can be addressed. It’s not too late. The people outside the church walls have a hunger and thirst for God, but all they know is that they hunger and thirst. They eat from the banquets of entertainment but are never filled. They drink, but like salt water, it just makes them thirstier. They know they have a need but don’t recognize that need is Jesus.
And that is where Inspire comes in. As I read verse 13 about how young women and men faint because of this thirst, I know the Inspire Movement is called to be a water carrier. Paul in Romans 10:14-15 reminds us, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” The people who hunger and thirst for God in Amos can’t call on the one they have not believed in until someone who believes in God publicly proclaims God’s love to them.
As we live out the Way of Life, we partner with Jesus and invite those thirsty to come to him and drink. They will receive the free gift of the water of life, and from within them will flow rivers of living water, bringing life to others who are dead and barren (cf. John 7:37-39; Revelation 22:17; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Isaiah 44:3).
There is another promise. In Matthew 5:6 it says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” God wants to fill those who hunger and thirst for him. But he needs us, those filled with the Holy Spirit, to bring the living water to those who don’t know that he is the one they hunger and thirst for.
Prayer
Dear Father, use me to carry the bread of your word
and the water of the Holy Spirit
to those who hunger and thirst for you.
Let the beginning of the end of the famine
of hearing the words of the LORD
start with me.
May I leave my comfort zone
and share my experience of your love, mercy, and grace
with those who hunger and thirst for you?
Please lead me to those I can offer a drink of your living water.
Amen.
Brian M is an Inspire Missioner in Oklahoma, USA
