SP7. Famine of the Hearing of the Word of God

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DOES GOD'S LONGSUFFERING RUN OUT OF PATIENCE?

Num 14:18 says that "The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression;"

2 Peter 3:9 writes that God can be longsuffering but in Amos 8:11-13 given God's holiness and righteousness, there are limits to His patience with those who have made their hearts as an adamant stone

THE APOSTATE CHURCH

Today, there is the true Ekklesia of Jesus Christ next to the Apostate church which has over a billion adherents who profess Christ but include a number of unbiblical doctrine such as asking Mary, the mother of Jesus, to intercede on our behalf.  

1 Timothy 4:1 writes that "in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;" and 2 Timothy 4:3-4 states, that the time will come when 'Christians' will not put up with sound doctrine and in wanting to suit their own desires, they will call upon teachers who will preach what their carnal ears itch to hear.

The Apostate church interprets the Bible to suit its humanistic and worldly view. It wants little to do with Godly truth. As apostates deny God's truth, He denies them the hearing of the Word (Amos 8:11-13). Without spiritual revelation and the opening of eyes by the Holy Spirit, the Apostate's path to salvation is blocked and his eternal fate decided by his apostasy.

Such 'Christians' include cultural Christians who in their heart do not truly believe that Jesus went to the Cross to be a propitiation for their sins (1 John 4:10). They want the best of God's blessings and at the same time, the best of worldly lifestyle that is contrary to God's righteousness, holiness and justice. They want a life of self-serving, earthly pleasure over true Godliness. They are not entirely unaware of God's statutes and instructions but they care little about it. They will go to preachers that compromise or distort God's Word in order to satisfy their itching ears. They have become self-deceived to pursue their own paths and desires. As time goes on, will God remain silent about those who dishonor His Name? Matt 15:8-9 writes, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

APOSTATE ISRAEL

Up until today, the Gospel is falling on deaf ears on the majority of Jews globally. They first rejected the Old Testament prophets and then Jesus and had Him crucified. God Himself has blinded the Jews for a time for their stiff-necked unbelief and this can be traced back to the ministry of Jesus when He went to the Jews and His crucifixion. The ancestors of the Jews today had brought judgment upon themselves and successive generations until the times of the Gentiles is complete (Luke 21:24). The Gentiles will have dominion over the world right up to Christ's Second Coming to set up His Millennial Kingdom on earth. That is when God will open the eyes of a remnant of Jews who will call upon the Name of Jesus and be redeemed.

• "20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. 22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let Him be crucified. 23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let Him be crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children." Matt 27:20-25
• "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Rom 11:25
• "39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." John 12:39-40

God's redemption of a Jewish remnant for His possession will take place during the Great Tribulation just prior to Christ's Second Coming.  

• "1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness ...8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My Name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." Zec 13:1,8-9
• "26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Rom 11:26-27
• "For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion." Joel 3:21
• "26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God." Eze 36:26-28

UNREPENTANT UNBELIEVERS

God in His longsuffering extends His hand of reconciliation to every Jew and Gentile (John 3:16-17). According to the Guinness World Records, the Bible is the most printed book with the largest circulation in the world, and we have not even taken into account online Bibles and Bible apps. God willing, millions of people in far corners of the world are being reached for Christ. The Word is definitely not in short supply. Demand and desire for the Truth is.

Increasingly, unbelievers by their very sinful nature have become more and more hostile to believers (2 Timothy 3:1-8 and Rom 1:28-32) who uphold the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. When they do this, they are being directly hostile to Christ. God searches hearts and foreknows the decision of every person and whether his name is in the Lamb's Book of Life.

The unrepentant sinner's opportunity for salvation is gone forever and tragically, the Lake of Fire awaits his soul. God has pronounced the famine upon him and caused the Word and the Truth to cease to be heard or understood and he is not even aware of it. On whomever God witholds the hearing of the Truth, it causes that person to become deaf to the Gospel of Salvation.

• "1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Ps 14:1-3

GOD IS THE GATEKEEPER OF SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

A person can study the Bible and attain a PhD in Theology and still only possess head knowledge. Learned academics of the Bible are unable to perceive God's Truth in His Word but an uneducated peasant in a remote village can step into the light of Christ. God ultimately decides to whom He will grant wisdom and spiritual understanding. His promise is that when we are responsive in a positive way to His corrective leading, He will divinely open our eyes to spiritual wisdom and understanding. 

• "Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make My words known to you." Prov 1:23

When we speak of the 'famine of the hearing of the Word of God', let's go to the Bible to know what "hearing" in Amos 8:11-13 means. In the Hebrew Word Study and Strong's Hebrew Dictionary of the Old Testament, the word "hearing" can mean the following:

1. Hear with the ears
2. Listen closely, listen carefully, pay attention, listen with interest
3. Understand, comprehend
4. Agree with
5. Consent, yield to, obey

Let's explain from a layman's perspective the above process flow. God's Word is delivered to us by speech, on print, offline or online ie. we get to literally hear the Word or read the Word. As we pay close attention, we process and retain what we hear or read. When the Holy Spirit grants us wisdom and understanding, we can underestand and have insight into what God is saying in His Word. The Word speaks to our hearts and guides us to agreement with what is Godly, just and righteous and we are willing to yield to the Lord and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This is of course a simplistic description of the believer's journey of faith in Christ and the spiritual significance of being able to hear the Word that is revealed by the Lord.

HOW DOES GOD WITHHOLD THE HEARING OF THE WORD?

God can cause the famine of hearing of the Word in various ways and here are some of them.

1. God can thwart the wisdom of the wise and nullify the understanding of the prudent.

• "18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." 1 Cor 1:18-19

2. God can give a sinner over to a wretched mind

• "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind," Rom 1:28

3. God can bring great distress upon a man that he will be helplessly lost and is not able to see clearly.

• "And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung." Zep 1:17

4. God can use Satan to cause the sinner, who is persistently hostile to the Gospel, to become spiritually blind.

• "3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor 4:3-4

5. God can harden hearts and when this happens, God has decided the sinner's eternal fate unless God reverses His judgment. 

• "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." John 12:40

6. God can cause a sinner to be self-deceived. Think about the professing followers of Jesus who were told by Jesus that He never knew them (Matt 7:21-23)

• "10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess 2:10-12

The worst tragedy to befall any person, community or nation under the judgment of the famine of hearing the Word is that all thought of God, Jesus, repentance and salvation diminishes with time and eventually vanishes completely. Such a man is damned and even though he may profess to follow Christ, he does not even know that every step he takes is a step on the path to eternal damnation.

So I beseech you, heed the warning of Amos and turn to the true and living God who has given us Jesus as the path to redemption and salvation. Remember Acts 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

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