“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, 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 the Lord: 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 the Lord, and shall not find it.”
Amos 8:11-12
It is safe to say that we are living in a time such as this.
There are many countries throughout the world that will imprison or even kill you for reading the word of God. In America, you might not face these consequences for owning a Bible, but there are certain states that will arrest you for gathering on a Sunday morning to worship the Lord.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Romans 10:17.
Faith comes by hearing. This is why preaching is important. We can still find preaching online, but gathering together (Hebrews 10:25) is becoming more difficult.
The famine is coming.
Then there is the problem of false teachers. The New Apostolic Reformation and charismatic churches like Hillsong and Bethel are the fastest growing sect of “Christianity” throughout the world. They have many false teachings beyond their misrepresentation of the “spiritual gifts” like speaking in tongues and faith healing. Many of them claim direct revelation from God, which is NOT the word of the Lord.
These false prophets are feeding lies to their sheep whom I believe are genuinely searching for the word of the Lord, but cannot find it in these churches.
The famine is coming.
And of course, with the 900 or so English Bible translations out there, the word of God is being lost as well.
With each new word change, each jot and tittle (Matthew 5:18) altered, each grammatical error, and each verse removed, we lose the word of the Lord.
When someone is seeking the word of God and they are handed an NIV or CEB, they are being deprived of the infallible Bible.
Many of the aforementioned false prophets feed lies to their flock by using an inferior translation.
The fruits of these Bible are not godly ministers, but false teachers and false converts.
They are not hearing the words of the Lord, but of a translating committee filled with heretics and unbelievers, or of pastors who are manipulating them.
Though they run to and fro to hear the word of God, they are not finding it.
The famine is coming.
Simmons' Opinions 