God revealed through the prophet Amos, “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.”
Why did God choose this analogy? I will answer that shortly, however, we must determine the time period that this famine will occur. The context within the chapter is clear. Amos foretells the downfall of Israel because of their wicked ways. The opening phrase of “the days come,” indicates that the event will be in the future, most likely after Christ’s mortal sojourn, but before His second coming. Therefore, between the two comings of Christ, God will send a famine “of hearing the words of the LORD.”
The subtle detail here is that the prophet does not declare a famine for the word of the LORD, it is for the “hearing the words of the LORD.” This indicates that the Lord always wants to send His word, and that His word is abundantly available to us, however, we must hear it. The symbol is twofold; first it applies generally to the larger masses of people who close their ears to God, second it applies to chosen servants (i.e. prophets) to hear and deliver the word of God. Those two are often linked as the Lord sends prophets to the masses when they are willing to hear and listen. However, a people who is not prepared to hear and listen often miss their opportunity for the words of God. There will be an absence of those willing to hear the word of the Lord, and while this results in God’s continuing word to be shut up in the heavens, it is our fault, not the fault of our God.
In the last days, there will be a famine and an absence of people and prophets who hear the words of God; but there is more to it than this. Hidden in the scriptures are symbolic answers to ending the famine. Amos used the image of a famine, to not only depict our latter-day condition, but to give us the cues to overcome it. There are five lessons and eight stories to illustrate them: Deuteronomy 11: 13-17; Jeremiah 14:10-16; Genesis 12:10; Genesis 26:1-2; Genesis 41:27, 30; Genesis 46: 3,4,6,7; 2 Samuel 21: 1-14; and 1 Kings 17:1-7, 18:40-46.
Deuteronomy 11:13-17 ties righteousness to rain, and apostasy to famine:
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and then the LORD’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
Simply put, if the people of God are righteous and obey the commandments, then rain and prosperity will be their reward. If they are wicked and pervert the commandments, then there will be no rain, famine will follow, and they will not prosper. The takeaway from this passage is the link between unrighteousness and famine. Famine is the result of closing one’s ears toward God. In the case of Amos, the people closed their ears, and hearing the words of God from heaven ceased, as much as any real famine would not yield rain.
Jeremiah 14:10-16 holds several valuable lessons for the significance of famine in the last days. In verses 10-12 we learn that the Lord sends a famine to this people because of their wickedness. However, in verses 13-16 we find that there were prophets who prophesied that no such famine would occur. The Lord replied through Jeremiah that He did not send them, and that they prophesy after the “deceits of their heart.” The Lord further states that these prophets will find destruction for using the name of the Lord in vain and pretending to speak for Him. This is critical for our understanding. Even though a famine exists because of the wickedness of the people, there will be those false prophets who say that it does not exist. They will be the ones declaring that the Lord’s church never apostatised, and that they still hold the power of God because they read the word of God. Those deceivers will eventually receive justice for their false preaching.
Now let us examine an interesting pattern of where God’s covenant people go during a famine. Genesis 12:10 says, “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.” This occurs shortly after Abram becomes God’s chosen Father of Nations. Genesis 26:1-2 says, “And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:” In this case, the covenant is promised to Isaac, and he is told to stay and find relief in his promised land. Lastly, Jacob experiences a famine. In Genesis 41:25-36 Pharaoh is shown a vision, and Joseph interprets that vision to learn that a famine will encompass the land. Later in Genesis 46: 3-7, God tells Jacob, “fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again:” From these three stories we learn that the Lord has a place prepared to save His people. Two out of the three times the covenant people found relief in Egypt.
Jacob’s famine is particularly symbolic and perhaps shares several components to the famine of which Amos prophesies. Joseph was separated from his brethren and was taken to Egypt (a location that God indicates is a place of refuge from famine for the covenant people). Jacob’s famine is also known beforehand, meaning God gave prophetic knowledge that such a famine would occur. For Jacob’s famine, the prophecy was given to Pharaoh and interpreted through Joseph. The latter-day famine was given to Amos. Jacob is unaware of this famine, as are the children of the covenant. Jacob is unaware that refuge will come from his lost son Joseph. Likewise, the children of the covenant are unaware that Joseph, through Ephraim, will provide relief from the famine of “hearing” the word of God. Both are unaware of the whereabouts of Joseph; Jacob believes his son is dead, and Ephraim was part of the Lost Tribes, scattered to the isles of the sea. Neither knew of the prosperity Joseph would find in their new land, Joseph in Egypt, and Ephraim in the Americas. In its time, Egypt would be the great superpower to the west of Israel, and America would become a great superpower of Western society. It must be remembered that Amos’ prophecy states that people will look to the North and to the East, but it does not mention that they will look to the South, or the West (the direction of Egypt, symbol for America). Therefore, what we learn from these episodes, is that when the covenant people are threatened by a famine, there is a specific place that will provide relief from that famine, either Egypt, or a promised land, or both.
2 Samuel 21:1-14 provides an unfortunate story of how the sins of the parents are answered on the heads of the children. In this story, a famine curses the land because of Saul’s wickedness. King David inquires how to atone for this wickedness. The Gibeonites who were wronged require the death of some of Saul’s sons. This is what lifts the famine. The key idea is that the famine was caused by the actions of one generation, and the consequences felt by another. Subsequently, the persecution of the children must be fulfilled before the wickedness of the parents are forgiven. For our purposes, this correlates with the Lamanites. For them, the unbelief and traditions of their fathers caused them to dwindle in unfaithfulness; this ultimately allowed the Gentiles to afflict and persecute the posterity of the Lamanites. However, after they were persecuted for a season, the Lord again offered them forgiveness and blessings (1 Nephi 15:17; 2 Nephi 10:18; 2 Nephi 26:15-19; Mosiah 1:5; Alma 9:16).
The story contained in 1 Kings chapters 17 and 18 displays the power of prophets over famine. 1 Kings 17:1-7 sets the stage for the famine, for the people at this time worshiped Baal. Later, in chapter 18, Elijah challenges the priests of Baal. We know this story; the fire consumes Elijah’s sacrifice, and nothing happens to the sacrifice for Baal. After this, in 18:40-46, Elijah has the priests of Baal killed, their apostasy destroyed, and then removes the famine by God’s priesthood power. There are two lessons learned here: first, wicked, apostate, heretic doctrine must be removed. It must be cut off from us as individuals, and as a people. Second, God will use a prophet to open the heavens to cause rain. Elijah had the power to seal the heavens. He could open the heavens for rain or shut them up. Obviously, the false preaching toward Baal contributed to the famine. God chose the prophet Elijah to correct the false doctrine and open the heavens for rain. In like manner, we must look to a servant of God to end the famine for the hearing of the words of the Lord.
It is no coincidence that the Lord used the image of a famine to describe the last days through the Prophet Amos. His purpose was to warn and teach. After comparing Old Testament famines, we see why. When there is a famine, it is due to wickedness, or at least a lack of righteousness. The first lesson is to understand why a famine occurred – because of our spiritual condition. Second, we are warned that there will be false prophets declaring that there is no famine. The heavens never shut, and all is well. Third, the Lord sends His people to seek refuge in a certain spot, which is either the promised land, or some great power to the West. Fourth, the actions of the fathers will be born by the children. There will be affliction and persecution because of their straying. After the punishment is satisfied, God will again have mercy on His wayward people. Fifth, God will send a prophet to guide us through all of this, as well as empower him to lift the burden and open the heavens after we stop worshiping a false god and following false prophets.
What else could this describe other than the great apostasy from Christ’s original church and the dark ages that followed? The sins of the fathers shut the heavens. There were those false teachers who professed that the heavens were not shut because of wickedness. These false prophets extended the period of apostasy. Seekers of God would ultimately find refuge by sailing West for America, a new Promised Land. There they would flourish. There was also the persecution of the descendants of the Lamanites, who remained in apostasy because of the sins of their fathers. But after a brief season, the Lord extended mercy to them and all others. The Lord again chose a prophet and empowered him with the priesthood to open the heavens, thus pouring out revelations and blessings. The prophet Joseph Smith bore this mantle faithfully. We see that the spiritual famine played out symbolically as Amos foresaw. The Lord chose to use the symbol of a famine because it would teach us why it happened, and how we may overcome it.
It hadn't occurred to me that by comparing this latter day apostasy to a famine, that it also provides us with a pattern for overcoming it. Good insight!