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Are You Ready For A Famine?
Are You Ready For A Famine?
“And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan and he read it…And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes” (2 Kings 22:8, 10).
The scriptures do not tell us how long Judah had been without the book of the law, but we do know that after the death of Hezekiah, Manasseh, his son, began to reign and “did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them (2 Kings 21:2-3). His reign lasted for fifty-five years. Manasseh’s son reigned another two years before Josiah came to the throne. We can readily see, as in this occasion, where within four generations a nation went from serving Jehovah to having lost the book of the law.
It may be hard for us to fathom a king, especially one of
Throughout history man has attempted to silence, destroy, or pervert the scriptures: attempts by Catholicism to hinder the translating and distribution of God’s word to the common people, and a number of individuals who have attempted to deny the reliability and inspiration of the scriptures by utilizing human reasoning and logic to support their case.
How do you regard the scriptures? Do you cherish them and thank the Father for preserving them and allowing them free course in our society? Do you take for granted the blessings you have rarely, if ever, read of what your Creator has delivered unto you? You have two choices, that is, respond in the same manner as Jehoiakim and, “cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was in the brazier,” or as Josiah, who said, “Go ye, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:13).
Jehovah has provided mankind with a Savior, and the written word that we “may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,” (Romans 12:2), without the interpretations and suppositions of mankind. If we fail to utilize that which we have been granted, how wretched we truly are!
Remember the words of Amos, saying, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, 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 Jehovah. 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 Jehovah, and shall not find it” (Amos
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