Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith 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 words of the LORD…

Something we tend to do is put the things of the Bible in the past or in the future. To put them in the present would “put us out on a limb”. Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest Amos 8:11 could be coming to pass in the present. That might sound a little “out-there” because the USA is overflowing with Bibles. I also acknowledge that many people in other parts of the world would love to have their own copy of the Holy Scriptures.

So, it looks like feast or famine in the world today.

So, how can we have a famine like the one mentioned in Amos 8:11? One way is by many people buying modern versions of the Bible that, I believe are produced by the “will of man”. I’m even reading that certain districts of a major denomination is requiring that their ministers preach from newer versions. Some are surrendering their credentials rather than switch. Unfortunately, many are switching. I believe they are giving up accuracy for so-called simplicity for the sake of their congregations. We are being told that children can’t understand the KJB, or we don’t speak that way anymore, or that the KJB in antiquated and full of mistakes. Whatever the excuse is, it is due in large part to laziness.

If the majority of Christians are using modern translations and forsaking their KJB, I can see where this prophecy can come to pass in the present. Those of us who are sticking with the KJB need to be stedfast and firm. It’ll cost us. But, in the end it will be worth it.

Your thoughts ---

I believe that is a major factor in the fulfillment of that verse - watering down the Word of God more and more as each new modern version comes out. Another factor is that more and more churches/professing Christians are becoming more ecumenical and are watering down the truth to do so. So not only are people getting a corrupted form of the Bible in their churches, the contents of the Bible are being neglected or deliberately overlooked. The average person walking into a church nowadays, looking for the truth, will find themselves sorely disappointed in many cases. Praise the Lord for those churches that still teach all the counsel of God's Word - and that stand for God's Word (ie. the King James Bible)!

[Diligent]

Originally Posted by jerry

So not only are people getting a corrupted form of the Bible in their churches, the contents of the Bible are being neglected or deliberately overlooked. The average person walking into a church nowadays, looking for the truth, will find themselves sorely disappointed in many cases.

Amen, Bro. Jerry.

Last weekend we went to a local Christian bookstore to get our recently purchased KJVs engraved with our names. It's a huge bookstore and there were plenty of people there looking at all of the modern versions (thankfully the KJV still sells well, so a good amount of wall space is for KJVs). I was just thinking how these people obviously thirst for God's word, because they are spending anywhere from $50 to $150 on a "bible" bound in leather that will last them a long time. But they are quickly deceived into buying something false. It's bad enough the NAS and NIV sell well, but to see someone pick out a TNIV really gets me. (I never thought the TNIV would sell well, even I was surprised at how quickly people "got over" the obvious problems with making a "gender neutral" "bible".) I mean, they are going to the trouble of spending their money on something so obviously they do care, but they end up with a complete counterfeit that isn't going to help their walk at all.

It would be interesting to go into a christian bookstore and find out what bible that they would suggest when one is looking for one. Most likely the modern translations would be more advised to people, but it is still good to know that there are those that still consider the KJV.

According to the verse it says The Lord will send the famine, so does that mean He is responsible for the mv's out there. I don't think so! Could it possibly be talking about the 400 years of silence between the testaments? What do you guys think?

[bibleprotector]

"Behold, the days come, saith 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 words of the LORD: 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 the LORD, and shall not find it." (Amos 8:11, 12).

The famine is concerning "hearing". It is concerning the willingness of people not to hear. It is not saying that the truth is absent, but that people are in darkness. And the famine is sent by God as much as God sent the plagues on Egypt or woes on the beast/antichrist. Even though Satan's operations have been to scatter the power of the holy people and cast truth down to the ground, you will know that there are holy people with power, and that truth is still present. The Antichrist operations cannot eliminate it, but they do their utmost. God is using this, because as people choose to follow their own lusts, and allow themselves to be deceived, they are putting themselves into the curse. There are those who are bringing forth their fruits in season despite the famine, and are not careful (e.g. hiding the truth) even though there is a drought.

Well then would it refer to the trib? Look at the context of the whole passage. For instance verse 9 of Amos 8.

Amo 8:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

Rev 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

[bibleprotector]

In the historicist view, the sixth seal came to pass long ago.

The darkness does not seem to be the prophecy of the future tribulation period (leading to Armageddon), but of the near at hand troubles when Gog and Magog (Russia with her confederates) come into Israel with his hordes, as shown in Joel 2:2. When Gog is in Israel and falls, there is no opposing force under the Antichrist present. You will notice that God the Father Himself comes to strike Gog down in some way. Some people say that Gog will be destroyed by a nuclear attack.

This is obviously an event near at hand, and the famine of hearing prophecy relates to today, this Laodicean time.

So you believe the sixth seal is past? How? I believe that in Rev. 2 the trib starts. If that's the case how could the sixth seal be past?

Your thoughts?

[bibleprotector]

Maybe you have never heard of historicist prophecy. That says that the book of Revelation is in the process of being fulfilled from the time of John all the way through to the (near) future, e.g., that the seals related to events of the downfall of the pagan Roman Empire, and then the trumpets as various invasions, etc.

The fifth trumpet is interpreted to be the Saracens, and the number of days matches the number of years of their power.

The sixth trumpet is when the Turks crossed the Euphrates, and the timeframe of a year, month, day and hour is the exact amount, when a day = a year, of time from the year they crossed Euphrates all the way to 1453 when they captured Constantinople.

And the vials relate to events concerning the French Revolution and beyond. So we are now in the sixth vial, waiting for the Euphrates (Turks/Islam/Russia/Gog and Magog) to come to their fall.

You can read these interpretations in commentaries such as Clarke, Gill, Calvin, or in books by Isaac Newton, Joseph Mede, etc. The historicist view was held by the Reformers and Puritans. The futurist view was popularised by the holiness movements.

Most present Futurists and Historicists "hate" each other. However, I am of the view that there is a harmony of both, because of the law of multiple interpretation of prophecy. Therefore, once the historicist prophecies are finished, the futurist one will begin with the translation of the saints.

The better futurists also recognise that when Gog and Magog come to Israel that this is before and different to Armageddon. Some put it before the seven years tribulation, and this is correct, and it also happen to match with the historicist view.

The (pre-mil, pre-trib rapture) futurist view has the tribulation beginning from Revelation 4, and has Revelation 1-3 dealing with the Church Age.