Are we experiencing a famine of sorts?
I was reading one of my favourite blogs today and Carla had quoted from A. W. Tozer, the quote was about trying the spirits.
This quote interested me.
Why? Because of my dad’s position on whether or not there is a God. He said to me the following… that he has not experienced Him (meaning God) in any way, and just wants God to show him that He exists by some supernatural/spiritual means. He also said that he has given over 40 years of his life in doing this, and now he has given up.
Yet Jesus said that no sign will be given except that of Jonah and that it is an evil and adulterous generation that seeks signs other than the risen Lord!
Mat 12:39-41 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.
It makes me realise that we are in a famine of sorts, a famine for the hearing of God’s Word. Amos prophesied…
Amo 8:10-12 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
The word “hearing” interestingly means…
shâma‛
shaw-mah’
A primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively to tell, etc.)
Another thing that interested me is that before this famine begins to happen; the day is actually turned into darkness…
Amo 8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day
After reading this I have many questions…have we entered into and are we living in the darkened day of which Amos speaks? Is this day just prior to the night of tribulation? Are we living in times where the light of the Word is becoming harder to find and are we fast approaching the tribulation of the night? Have some of the virgins run out of oil to light their lamps, so therefore cannot see the Truth or even the times in which we live? Are we approaching a time when it is going to be harder to find the Lord…?
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near.
While he may be found - It is implied here:
1. That God may now be found.
2. That the time will come when it will be impossible to obtain his favor.
The leading thought is, that under the Messiah the offer of salvation will be made to people fully and freely. But the period will come when it will be withdrawn. If God forsakes human beings; if he wholly withdraws his Spirit; if they have committed the sin which hath never forgiveness; or if they neglect or despise the provisions of mercy and die in their sins, it will be too late, and mercy cannot then be found. How unspeakably important, then, is it to seek for mercy at once - lest, slighted now, the offer should be withdrawn. Or lest death should Overtake us, and we be removed to a world where mercy is unknown! How important is the present moment - for another moment may place us beyond the reach of pardon and of grace! (Albert Barnes)
Isa 55:7-9 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts.
How amazing the stupidity of men who suffer their present moments to pass away unimproved, and who, amidst the gaieties and the business of life, permit the day of salvation to pass by, and lose their souls! And how just is the condemnation of the sinner! If a man will not do so simple a thing as to ask for pardon, he ought to perish. The universe will approve the condemnation of such a man; and the voice of complaint can never be raised against that Holy Being who consigns such a sinner to hell. (Albert Barnes)
We currently live in an age of Grace, though at some point the bible says this will end. The Holy Spirit who is our promised comforter and who points to the Truth and the Word manifest will be taken away. And “A Great Delusion” is sent by God Himself so that those who do not love the Truth will love the lie instead.
Is it little wonder that Christ says to the seven churches…
Rev 3:22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
If the church doesn’t hear and repent just as those living in Nineveh did during the days of Jonah, judgment will come to the house of God. They have been warned that their light can actually be removed.
Rev 2:5 Then remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works. And if not, I am coming to you quickly, and will remove your candlestick from its place, unless you repent.
And will remove your candlestick - Take away my ordinances, remove your ministers, and send you a famine of the word. As there is here an allusion to the candlestick in the tabernacle and temple, which could not be removed without suspending the whole Levitical service, so the threatening here intimates that, if they did not repent, etc., he would unchurch them; they should no longer have a pastor, no longer have the word and sacraments, and no longer have the presence of the Lord Jesus. (Adam Clarke)
What testing times we live in. Times in which we are suppose to persevere in His Word. Only then are we allowed to sit with Him on His Throne (Rev 3:21). I will continue to pray for the Church and obviously I will always pray for my dad and my loved ones without ceasing. We may think that the Lord tarries, but he only does because he is longsuffering…
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
So, as much as we say “Marantha, come Lord Jesus” another day passes which gives us another day and another opportunity to pray for the salvation of those we love.
