Famine.

• 2 min. read • grade level: 10

Sent by God. Psa. 105:16¹⁶Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. (Psalm 105:16).

Often on accounts of sin. Lev. 26:21, 26²¹And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. (Leviticus 26:21)
²⁶And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. (Leviticus 26:26), Lam. 4:4-6⁴The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. ⁵They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. ⁶For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. (Lamentations 4:4‑6).

One of God's four sore judgments. Ezek. 14:21²¹For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast? (Ezekiel 14:21).

CAUSED BY

God's blessing withheld. Hos. 2:8, 9⁸For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. ⁹Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. (Hosea 2:8‑9). Hag. 1:6⁶Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. (Haggai 1:6).

Want of seasonable rain. 1 Kin. 17:1. Jer. 14:1-4¹The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. ²Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. ³And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. ⁴Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. (Jeremiah 14:1‑4). Amos 4:7⁷And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. (Amos 4:7).

Rotting of the seed in the ground. Joel 1:17¹⁷The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. (Joel 1:17).

Swarms of insects. Deut. 28:38, 42³⁸Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it. (Deuteronomy 28:38)
⁴²All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. (Deuteronomy 28:42). Joel 1:4⁴That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. (Joel 1:4).

Blasting and mildew. Amos 4:9⁹I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. (Amos 4:9). Hag. 2.17.

Devastation by enemies. Deut. 28:33, 51³³The fruit of thy land, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: (Deuteronomy 28:33)
⁵¹And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. (Deuteronomy 28:51).

Often long continued. Gen. 41:27²⁷And the seven thin and ill favored kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine. (Genesis 41:27). 2 Kin. 8:1, 2.

Often severe. Gen. 12:10¹⁰And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. (Genesis 12:10). 1 Kin. 18: 2. Jer. 52:6⁶And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land. (Jeremiah 52:6).

EXPRESSED BY

Taking away the stay of bread, &c. Isa. 3:1¹For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, (Isaiah 3:1).

Cleanness of teeth. Amos 4:6⁶And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. (Amos 4:6).

The arrows of famine. Ezek. 5:16¹⁶When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread: (Ezekiel 5:16).

Often accompanied by war. Jer. 14:15¹⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. (Jeremiah 14:15). Jer. 29:18¹⁸And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: (Jeremiah 29:18).

Often followed by pestilence. Jer. 42:17¹⁷So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. (Jeremiah 42:17). Ezek. 7:15¹⁵The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him. (Ezekiel 7:15) Matt. 24:7⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (Matthew 24:7).

THINGS EATEN DURING

Wild herbs. 2 Kin. 4:39, 40.

Ass's flesh. 2 Kin. 6:25.

Ordure. 2 Kin. 6:25. Lam. 4:5⁵They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. (Lamentations 4:5).

Human flesh. Lev. 26:29²⁹And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. (Leviticus 26:29). 2 Kin. 6:28, 29.

Provisions sold by weight during. Ezek. 4:16¹⁶Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: (Ezekiel 4:16).

Suffering of brute creation from. Jer. 14:5, 6⁵Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass. ⁶And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass. (Jeremiah 14:5‑6).

CAUSED

Burning and fever. Deut. 32:24²⁴They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. (Deuteronomy 32:24).

Blackness of the skin. Lam. 4:8⁸Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. (Lamentations 4:8). Lam: 5:10.

Grief and mourning. Joel 1:11-13¹¹Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. ¹²The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. ¹³Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. (Joel 1:11‑13).

Faintness. Gen. 47:13¹³And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. (Genesis 47:13).

Wasting of the body. Lam. 4:8⁸Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. (Lamentations 4:8). Ezek. 4:17¹⁷That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity. (Ezekiel 4:17).

Death. 2 Kin. 7:4. Jer. 11:22²²Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine: (Jeremiah 11:22).

God provided for His people during. 1 Kin. 17:4, 9. Job 5:20²⁰In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. (Job 5:20). Psa. 33:19¹⁹To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. (Psalm 33:19). Psa. 37:19¹⁹They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. (Psalm 37:19).

INSTANCES OF, IN SCRIPTURE

In the days of Abraham. Gen. 12:10¹⁰And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. (Genesis 12:10).

In the days of Isaac. Gen. 26:1¹And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. (Genesis 26:1).

In the days of Joseph. Gen. 41:53-56⁵³And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. ⁵⁴And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do. ⁵⁶And the famine was over all the face of the earth: And Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt. (Genesis 41:53‑56).

In the days of the Judges. Ruth 1:1¹Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons. (Ruth 1:1).

In the reign of David. 2 Sam. 21:1¹Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. (2 Samuel 21:1).

In the reign of Ahob. 1 Kin. 17:1. 1 Kin. 18:5.

In the time of Elisha. 2 Kin. 4:38.

During the siege of Samaria. 2 Kin. 6:25.

Of seven years foretold by Elisha. 2 Kin. 8:1.

In the time of Jeremiah. Jer. 14:1¹The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. (Jeremiah 14:1).

During the seige of Jerusalem. 2 Kin. 25:3.

After the captivity. Neh. 5:3³Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. (Nehemiah 5:3).

In the reign of Claudius Caesar. Acts 11:28²⁸And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. (Acts 11:28).

Before destruction of Jerusalem. Matt. 24:7⁷For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (Matthew 24:7).

The Jews in their restored state not to be afflicted by. Ezek. 36:29, 30²⁹I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. ³⁰And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. (Ezekiel 36:29‑30).

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

A dearth of the means of grace. Amos 8:11, 12¹¹Behold, 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: ¹²And 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).

Destruction of idols. Zeph. 2:11¹¹The Lord will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen. (Zephaniah 2:11).

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