God Was Silent

Bible Study

Amos 8:11-14 MSG

In addition to Malachi’s words of warning about the time of silence from God a word was given to Amos as well. The word to Amos came in the form of a warning.

In Amos 8:11-14, the Prophet said, “These are the words of my Master God. “I’ll send a famine through the whole country. It won’t be food or water that’s lacking, but my Word. People will drift from one end of the country to the other, roam to the north, wander to the east. They’ll go anywhere, listen to anyone, hoping to hear God’s Word—but they won’t hear it. “On Judgment Day, lovely young girls will faint of Word-thirst, robust young men will faint of God-thirst, Along with those who take oaths at the Samaria Sin-and-Sex Center, saying, ‘As the lord god of Dan is my witness!’ and ‘The lady goddess of Beer-sheba bless you!’ Their lives will fall to pieces. They’ll never put it together again.”

I would love to be able to interview the people of Israel when Amos said these words.

I’ve been a newspaper editor and I learned many things about interviewing. Getting a feel for something that happened years ago is no easy task. I am not questioning the text. I wonder what the people of Israel said and thought about the words Amos spoke.

I wonder if the people of Israel passed on the information about the time of great silence to come to their children and grandchildren.

There was a time of great silence unlike anything that had happened before. After the last prophet Malachi died for 400 years there was silence.

Then according to Malachi 4:5-6, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

As is often the case many times the word the prophets hear, see, and speak comes in the form of an example.

Elijah the prophet was an example of the prophet coming. Who would he be like? The one who actually came after the 400 years of silence was John the Baptist.

John, called the Baptizer came proclaiming the arrival of Jesus. John the Baptizer did not grow up or live near Judea where Jesus grew up. The likelihood that John met Jesus during their early years is slim to none.

We know from John 3:13-17, Jesus’ first meeting with his cousin John was at the Jordan River. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

John the Baptizer was much like Elijah the Prophet. The coming of John the Baptizer ended the 400 years of silence.

Deborah/ acrazyjourney.com