DCLM Daily Manna 26 February 2026: A Drought in the Land
Text: Amos 1:1-8 (KJV)
The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said:
“The Lord roars from Zion,
And utters His voice from Jerusalem;
The pastures of the shepherds mourn,
And the top of Carmel withers.”
3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they have threshed Gilead with implements of iron.
4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,
Which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
5 I will also break the gate bar of Damascus,
And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
And the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden.
The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,”
Says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they took captive the whole captivity
To deliver them up to Edom.
7 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,
Which shall devour its palaces.
8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,
And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn My hand against Ekron,
And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
Says the Lord God.
KEY VERSE: (Amos 1:2).
“And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.”
READ OTHER DCLM DAILY DEVOTIONAL HERE
There is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo taken in 1993 during the Sudan famine. The picture depicts a famine-stricken child, crawling towards a United Nations food camp, located a kilometre away.
The vulture is waiting for the child to die, so that it can eat it. This picture shocked the whole world. No one knows what happened to the child, including the photographer, Kevin Carter, who left the place as soon as the photograph was taken. Three months later, he committed suicide due to depression arising from the guilt of his inaction.
Most people who saw the picture of a helpless child, expected the photographer to have spared a few minutes to rescue the child from apparent danger. Our world needs urgent rescue today from the current economic situation, with ripple effects ravaging the nations.
Amos was a country farmer and herdsman. His name signifies “burdened”. The Jews say he was so called, because he was burdened in his tongue, or had an impediment in his speech, and stammered.
More appropriately too, his prophecies were burdens to Israel’s northern kingdom. These prophecies were such as they could not bear, being full of reproofs and threatening; which, in this respect, agrees with his name. Prophet Amos was sent to reprove Israel for their sins, to exhort them to repentance, and threaten them with captivity, in case of impenitence; and to comfort the truly godly with promises of the Messiah’s coming and the unveiling of His kingdom.
In the few verses under consideration, he first foretells a drought in the land of Israel, in the most fruitful places, which would cause mourning among the shepherds; then the captivity of the Syrians, whose metropolis was Damascus. Next, he outlines the destruction of the Philistines, whose principal cities were Gaza, Ashdod, Askelon, and Ekron.
Today, our world faces a growing array of challenges that present both opportunities and threats to our societies’ prosperity. Looking at this on the surface, we may conclude that these difficulties stem from a range of technological, social, political, demographic, and environmental factors.
While some issues are unique to a specific region or country, as the inter-connectivity among economies continues to increase, the well-being of one economy has increasingly important implications for others.
Owing to the current insensitivity to the things of God, we hardly can see the hand of God in the current challenges facing us. We fail to recognise that the more the world drifts from godly principles and instructions, the more we face droughts. It is wisdom, therefore, for the prudent to take heed before drowning in the endless seas of earthly pestilences and famines.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
When we pay heed to the voice of God, He heals our land richly.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Corinthians 8-11
DCLM Daily Manna 26 FEBRUARY 2026
