“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God,
“That I will send a famine on the land,
“Not a famine of bread,
“Not a thirst for water,
“But of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).
Pointing to a time of desperation, God has the prophet Amos make a prediction for some time in the future when God’s patience will have run out. The people will move toward a time when God’s word will have lost its power over them and when they will go after other gods.
At that point, God will send His people a spiritual famine, not a physical one. They will have so departed from His ways and will have so sunk into spiritual adultery that He will give up on them. He will remove their prophets and their opportunities for hearing His words.
That time came, just as God predicted through Amos. When God cut off His revelation to them, no amount of longing to hear His words was fulfilled—no amount of craving was satisfied.
This drastic prediction shows the depth of God’s dissatisfaction when people of any generation ignore His word and turn their backs on His instruction: there will be consequences, either in this life or in the life to come.