AMOS
CHAPTER 8
Amos prophesies the downfall of Israel—There will be a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
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:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
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:
12 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, [ Jewish tradition teaches that the "Word of the Lord" means prophecy. ] and shall not find it.
[ the rabbis believed, as did Amos, that “hearing of the word of the Lord” as well as the “word” itself, will be lost. The rabbis believed that not being able to hear the word of God or even “find” it (see Amos 8:11–12), was the result of a lack of faith. Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (1772–1810) taught that MBJ will be a key figure in restoring faith to the world. This increase of faith in the last days will be a great tool in preparing the world for the coming of Messiah Ben David. ]