Famine,
spiritual
Synopsis
A state of spiritual hunger arising from a failure to
experience the presence and joy of God. Scripture describes such experiences,
indicates one ultimate cause to be unbelief and points to ways in which this
famine can be relieved.
The experience of spiritual
famine
God’s word is withheld
Amos 8:11–12 (ESV) — 11
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 They shall wander from
sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word
of the Lord, but they shall not
find it.
1 Samuel 3:1 (ESV) — 1 Now
the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord
in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord
was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.
Psalm 74:9 (ESV) — 9 We
do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among
us who knows how long.
Lamentations 2:9 (ESV) — 9 Her
gates have sunk into the ground; he has ruined and broken her bars; her king
and princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no
vision from the Lord.
Ezekiel 7:26 (ESV) — 26
Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the
prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders.
Luke 23:8–9 (ESV) — 8
When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him,
because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him.
9 So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer.
God’s Spirit is withheld
Psalm 51:11 (ESV) — 11
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 107:33–34 (ESV) — 33 He
turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34 a
fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants.
Causes of spiritual famine
Sin
Isaiah 59:2 (ESV) — 2 but
your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins
have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
Unbelief
Acts 13:46 (ESV) — 46 And
Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of
God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves
unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
Acts 28:25–28 (ESV) — 25 And
disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement:
“The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the
prophet: 26 “ ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear
but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” 27
For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely
hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and
hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal
them.’ 28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God
has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
Worldliness
Isaiah 55:2 (ESV) — 2 Why
do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that
which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and
delight yourselves in rich food.
False beliefs
Isaiah 8:19–22 (ESV) — 19 And
when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp
and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of
the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the
testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they
have no dawn. 21 They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and
hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak
contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22
And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom
of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Self-satisfaction
Revelation 3:17 (ESV) — 17 For
you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that
you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Testing God
God testing his servants
Job 23:3 (ESV) — 3 Oh,
that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!
Job 23:8–10 (ESV) — 8
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive
him; 9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he
turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. 10 But he knows the way
that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
Consequences of spiritual
famine
Spiritual weakness
Psalm 119:81 (ESV) — 81 My
soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.
Psalm 84:2 (ESV) — 2 My
soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Loss of hope and joy
Joel 1:16 (ESV) — 16 Is
not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our
God?
Psalm 51:12 (ESV) — 12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Relief of spiritual famine
Relief is promised to God’s
people
Psalm 107:9 (ESV) — 9 For
he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
Psalm 85:8–13 (ESV) — 8 Let
me hear what God the Lord will
speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not
turn back to folly. 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear
him, that glory may dwell in our land. 10 Steadfast love and
faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11
Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the
sky. 12 Yes, the Lord will
give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. 13
Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.
Isaiah 58:11 (ESV) — 11 And
the Lord will guide you
continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones
strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose
waters do not fail.
Isaiah 65:21 (ESV) — 21
They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat
their fruit.
Amos 9:13–15 (ESV) — 13
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who
sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall
flow with it. 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and
they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant
vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their
fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be
uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
Relief comes through Jesus
Christ
John 6:35 (ESV) — 35
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not
hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Isaiah 9:1–3 (ESV) — 1 But
there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he
brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the
latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the
Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have
seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has
light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its
joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when
they divide the spoil.
Luke 1:53 (ESV) — 53 he
has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
John 6:32–33 (ESV) — 32
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave
you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33
For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the
world.”
John 6:48 (ESV) — 48 I
am the bread of life.
John 6:50 (ESV) — 50
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and
not die.
John 6:58 (ESV) — 58
This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers
ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
1 Corinthians 10:3–4 (ESV) —
3
and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual
drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock
was Christ.
Relief comes by the word
Isaiah 55:10–11 (ESV) — 10
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but
water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and
bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Matthew 4:4 (ESV) — 4 But
he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Deuteronomy 8:3 (ESV) — 3 And
he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not
know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not
live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of
the Lord.
Relief comes by the Spirit
Acts 2:17 (ESV) — 17
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my
Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your
young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
Joel 2:28 (ESV) — 28
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all
flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
Psalm 107:35–38 (ESV) — 35 He
turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. 36
And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; 37
they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. 38 By his
blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish.
Isaiah 35:1–10 (ESV) — 1 The
wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom
like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and
singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and
Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the
feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear
not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He
will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like
a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the
wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a
pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where
they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway
shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall
not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they
are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall
any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the
redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with
singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness
and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 44:3 (ESV) — 3 For
I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will
pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
Final relief is found in
heaven
Revelation 7:16 (ESV) — 16
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike
them, nor any scorching heat.
Isaiah 49:9–10 (ESV) — 9
saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’
They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10
they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike
them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will
guide them.
Psalm 16:11 (ESV) — 11 You
make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Revelation 21:6 (ESV) — 6 And
he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without
payment.
Conditions of relief from
spiritual famine
It is offered freely
Isaiah 55:1 (ESV) — 1
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come,
buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
John 7:37 (ESV) — 37 On
the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If
anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Revelation 22:17 (ESV) — 17 The
Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And
let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life
without price.
It is for those who desire
it
Matthew 5:6 (ESV) — 6
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be
satisfied.
Luke 6:21 (ESV) — 21
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are
you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
It is for those who pray
Psalm 107:4–9 (ESV) — 4
Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; 5
hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 6 Then they cried to
the Lord in their trouble, and he
delivered them from their distress. 7 He led them by a straight way till
they reached a city to dwell in. 8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his
wondrous works to the children of man! 9 For he satisfies the longing
soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
James 5:16 (ESV) — 16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is
working.
It is for those who repent
Psalm 81:8–10 (ESV) — 8
Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to
me! 9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to
a foreign god. 10 I am the Lord
your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide,
and I will fill it.
Isaiah 64:9–10 (ESV) — 9 Be
not so terribly angry, O Lord, and
remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people. 10
Your holy cities have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
Hosea 14:1–8 (ESV) — 1
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your
God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take with you
words and return to the Lord; say
to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with
bulls the vows of our lips. 3 Assyria shall not save us; we will not
ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.” 4 I will heal their apostasy; I will
love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. 5 I will be like
the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the
trees of Lebanon; 6 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be
like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 They shall return and
dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom
like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. 8 O
Ephraim, what have I to do with idols? It is I who answer and look after you. I
am like an evergreen cypress; from me comes your fruit.
Joel 2:13–14 (ESV) — 13 and
rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to
anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord
your God?
It is for those who have
patience
James 5:7 (ESV) — 7 Be
patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it
receives the early and the late rains.
Psalm 126:4–6 (ESV) — 4
Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like
streams in the Negeb! 5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of
joy! 6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come
home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Ecclesiastes 11:1 (ESV) — 1
Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
John 4:35 (ESV) — 35 Do
you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell
you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
James 5:16–18 (ESV) — 16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you
may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is
working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed
fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not
rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and
the earth bore its fruit.
