What is the meaning of Amos 8:13? In that day • The phrase marks a specific, divinely appointed moment of reckoning, not a vague future. • It recalls earlier warnings such as Amos 5:18 “Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD!” and Zephaniah 1:14, underscoring that God’s timetable is certain. • The context (Amos 8:11-12) speaks of a “famine…not of bread…but of hearing the words of the LORD,” showing that this day is the climax of judicial withdrawal—God’s word withheld because His people refused it. the lovely young women • Amos singles out the most vibrant and admired segment of society; beauty will offer no protection when God judges. • Jeremiah 6:2 likens Zion to “a lovely and delicate woman” whom enemies will strike, echoing the theme that outward attractiveness cannot shield from divine discipline. • Lamentations 2:10 pictures young women sitting on the ground in mourning, reinforcing the point that joy and vigor vanish when God’s hand is against a nation. the young men as well • The phrase balances the picture: both genders, the cream of youthful strength, are equally vulnerable. • Isaiah 40:30 notes, “Even youths grow weary and faint,” emphasizing that human stamina cannot withstand the removal of God’s sustaining favor. • Psalm 33:16-17 reminds us that no amount of physical strength or military might can deliver when the Lord decrees judgment. will faint • “Faint” conveys collapse, helplessness, and total exhaustion. • Lamentations 2:11-12 records children fainting in the streets for lack of food, a vivid parallel showing that the removal of God’s provision leads to public, visible weakness. • Isaiah 51:17 describes Jerusalem staggering because of the cup of God’s wrath, pointing to divine causation, not mere natural hardship. from thirst • The thirst is both physical (drought) and spiritual (absence of God’s word). • Amos 8:11-12 directly connects the coming thirst to a famine “of hearing the words of the LORD,” so the outward drought mirrors the inward, greater loss. • Psalm 42:1-2 portrays the soul panting for God “as the deer pants for streams of water,” highlighting that true life depends on communion with Him. • John 4:13-14 shows Jesus offering “living water,” reminding us that only Christ can quench the deepest thirst God’s judgment exposes. summary Amos 8:13 paints a sobering, literal picture of a coming day when even the most attractive and strongest will collapse because God withdraws His sustaining word. Beauty, youth, and strength will fail; spiritual and physical thirst will overwhelm. The verse calls every generation to cherish and obey Scripture now, lest the Lord give them over to the emptiness they have chosen. |
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