In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
It pictures the young and strong, fair young women and young men, fainting for thirst in the day of judgment announced against Israel, showing how severe and destitute that time will be. The thirst is not merely lack of water or bread, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord and the word of salvation in the gospel, when people search in vain for someone to proclaim and explain it. It was partly fulfilled when the ten tribes were taken captive for rejecting the Lord, and it will be finally fulfilled after probation closes, when the Spirit ceases to strive, mercy’s door is shut, and God’s servants have finished their work. Then the unsaved will wander from sea to sea seeking God’s word and favor, but will find no relief, realizing too late what they had neglected and fainting and falling never to rise again. Those who now neglect Scripture, feed on human traditions, and rest at ease while delaying to investigate truth will then long for the Word after the watchmen are gone, so teaching children God’s word now is essential.
Words and Historical Setting
Amos was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea who prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel, was accused of treason by the priests and expelled from the northern kingdom, foretelling the downfall of apostasy and pointing forward to the last days when there will be a famine of the Word. The verse describes young women and young men fainting from thirst in the day of judgment announced against Israel. That thirst is a famine of hearing the Lord's word and the word of salvation in the gospel, not merely a lack of water or bread or Bibles, for famine can mean lack of God's word as well as lack of bread, and people will search for someone to proclaim and explain it.
That even fair virgins and young men, the young and strong, faint pictures the severity and spiritual destitution of that famine. The soul famine comes from seeking idols at Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba, striking even strong young people with fainting thirst, together with material loss.
Those who swear by false gods and have forsaken God's commandments will faint for thirst and fall, never to rise again. Samaria's sin is Baal, or sun-worship, connected with Sunday, and Dan's god is Jeroboam's golden calves, applying this forsaking of God's law to professed believers who exalt Sunday while claiming it is of the Lord. In the chapter's wider warning, the wealthy heap up riches without regard for the poor, wealth is gained through their oppression, and the poor may eventually rise against the wealthy, in perilous, unsettled times of strife between labor and capital.
Prophecy and Final Fulfillment
The famine of hearing the word had a partial fulfillment when the ten tribes were taken captive for rejecting the Lord, and its ultimate fulfillment will come after probation closes, when the plagues begin and God's servants have finished their work. Those who rejected the word will then seek it, not from love for it, but to escape the consequences of their own choices.
Amos 8:1-14 stands among the prophecies of signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars that mark the coming of Christ and the end of the world as near, even at the door, to be read with Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, Isaiah 13:9-11, Ezekiel 32:7-8, Joel 2 and Revelation 6:12-17. Its fulfillment is seen in the sun darkened at midday and made black as sackcloth of hair on May 19, 1780, the full moon that night giving no light and appearing as blood, and the falling stars on November 30, 1833. These signs came immediately after the tribulation of the long centuries of persecution from 538 to 1798, and the generation that sees all these things come to pass shall not pass till all things including the coming of Christ are fulfilled.
The famine belongs to the fearful day of the Lord and its day of ruin and distress, and comes as probation is closing and salvation's day has closed. It will come when God's Spirit ceases to strive with people, while the word of salvation in the gospel will no longer be offered, though it had not yet occurred while the word remained accessible. Then the door of mercy will be closed and sinners will have no further opportunity, so that although people will search for someone to proclaim and explain God's word, no prophet or preacher will be available. Those who neglect Scripture and feed on human traditions and corrupt reading will awaken at the close of probation longing for the Word, but will search for it in vain.
In that day the unsaved will desperately seek God's word and favor and wander from sea to sea to hear the Word of the Lord, but will search for it in vain and find no relief. After treating it carelessly they will realize too late what they had neglected and plead for pardon without hope. They will faint from thirst, fall and never rise again, seeking not from love for the word but to escape the consequences of their own choices.
Warning and Present Duty
The coming famine is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, in which people will search for God's Word but fail to find it, and even young men and fair virgins will faint from spiritual thirst. Those who now neglect opportunities to learn God's Word will face mourning and regret when that thirst comes upon the young and strong and pictures utter spiritual destitution. Those who neglect Scripture and feed on human traditions and corrupt reading will awaken at the close of probation longing for the Word, but will search for it in vain. This famine comes after the watchmen have left Zion's walls, when those who delayed investigating the truth realize too late that they are not saved.
A woe rests upon those now at ease in Zion who stretch themselves indifferently upon their couches while their children drift to destruction, for afterward the young will wander from sea to sea to hear the Word of the Lord when it is too late, faint from thirst, fall and never rise again. When people are deprived of hearing the word of the Lord, young people suffer spiritual thirst and faint, and for that reason teaching children the word of God is essential.
It pictures the young and strong, fair young women and young men, fainting for thirst in the day of judgment announced against Israel, showing how severe and destitute that time will be. The thirst is not merely lack of water or bread, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord and the word of salvation in the gospel, when people search in vain for someone to proclaim and explain it. It was partly fulfilled when the ten tribes were taken captive for rejecting the Lord, and it will be finally fulfilled after probation closes, when the Spirit ceases to strive, mercy’s door is shut, and God’s servants have finished their work. Then the unsaved will wander from sea to sea seeking God’s word and favor, but will find no relief, realizing too late what they had neglected and fainting and falling never to rise again. Those who now neglect Scripture, feed on human traditions, and rest at ease while delaying to investigate truth will then long for the Word after the watchmen are gone, so teaching children God’s word now is essential.
Words and Historical Setting
Amos was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judea who prophesied at Bethel in the reigns of Uzziah king of Judah and Jeroboam II king of Israel, was accused of treason by the priests and expelled from the northern kingdom, foretelling the downfall of apostasy and pointing forward to the last days when there will be a famine of the Word. The verse describes young women and young men fainting from thirst in the day of judgment announced against Israel. That thirst is a famine of hearing the Lord's word and the word of salvation in the gospel, not merely a lack of water or bread or Bibles, for famine can mean lack of God's word as well as lack of bread, and people will search for someone to proclaim and explain it.
That even fair virgins and young men, the young and strong, faint pictures the severity and spiritual destitution of that famine. The soul famine comes from seeking idols at Bethel, Gilgal, and Beersheba, striking even strong young people with fainting thirst, together with material loss.
Those who swear by false gods and have forsaken God's commandments will faint for thirst and fall, never to rise again. Samaria's sin is Baal, or sun-worship, connected with Sunday, and Dan's god is Jeroboam's golden calves, applying this forsaking of God's law to professed believers who exalt Sunday while claiming it is of the Lord. In the chapter's wider warning, the wealthy heap up riches without regard for the poor, wealth is gained through their oppression, and the poor may eventually rise against the wealthy, in perilous, unsettled times of strife between labor and capital.
Prophecy and Final Fulfillment
The famine of hearing the word had a partial fulfillment when the ten tribes were taken captive for rejecting the Lord, and its ultimate fulfillment will come after probation closes, when the plagues begin and God's servants have finished their work. Those who rejected the word will then seek it, not from love for it, but to escape the consequences of their own choices.
Amos 8:1-14 stands among the prophecies of signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars that mark the coming of Christ and the end of the world as near, even at the door, to be read with Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, Isaiah 13:9-11, Ezekiel 32:7-8, Joel 2 and Revelation 6:12-17. Its fulfillment is seen in the sun darkened at midday and made black as sackcloth of hair on May 19, 1780, the full moon that night giving no light and appearing as blood, and the falling stars on November 30, 1833. These signs came immediately after the tribulation of the long centuries of persecution from 538 to 1798, and the generation that sees all these things come to pass shall not pass till all things including the coming of Christ are fulfilled.
The famine belongs to the fearful day of the Lord and its day of ruin and distress, and comes as probation is closing and salvation's day has closed. It will come when God's Spirit ceases to strive with people, while the word of salvation in the gospel will no longer be offered, though it had not yet occurred while the word remained accessible. Then the door of mercy will be closed and sinners will have no further opportunity, so that although people will search for someone to proclaim and explain God's word, no prophet or preacher will be available. Those who neglect Scripture and feed on human traditions and corrupt reading will awaken at the close of probation longing for the Word, but will search for it in vain.
In that day the unsaved will desperately seek God's word and favor and wander from sea to sea to hear the Word of the Lord, but will search for it in vain and find no relief. After treating it carelessly they will realize too late what they had neglected and plead for pardon without hope. They will faint from thirst, fall and never rise again, seeking not from love for the word but to escape the consequences of their own choices.
Warning and Present Duty
The coming famine is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord, in which people will search for God's Word but fail to find it, and even young men and fair virgins will faint from spiritual thirst. Those who now neglect opportunities to learn God's Word will face mourning and regret when that thirst comes upon the young and strong and pictures utter spiritual destitution. Those who neglect Scripture and feed on human traditions and corrupt reading will awaken at the close of probation longing for the Word, but will search for it in vain. This famine comes after the watchmen have left Zion's walls, when those who delayed investigating the truth realize too late that they are not saved.
A woe rests upon those now at ease in Zion who stretch themselves indifferently upon their couches while their children drift to destruction, for afterward the young will wander from sea to sea to hear the Word of the Lord when it is too late, faint from thirst, fall and never rise again. When people are deprived of hearing the word of the Lord, young people suffer spiritual thirst and faint, and for that reason teaching children the word of God is essential.