Joel 1

Joel | Joel 02 →

Yahweh's word that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.

Hear this, you elders, And listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers?

Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation.

What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.

Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness.

He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.

Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth! ⁹The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh's house. The priests, Yahweh's ministers, mourn.

The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.

Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished.

The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men.

Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God's house.

Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry to Yahweh.

Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Isn't the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.

How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.

Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Joel | Joel 02 →

In this chapter, we do not yet see hope. There is no promise of restoration found here. No promise of forgiveness. Why would that be? Well can we truly seek God in repentance if we haven't really accepted our wrongdoing? This is the message of Joel in this chapter. The nation is experiencing great calamity, but they must know the reason for this calamity. It is no accident or coincidence. God is responsible for it. And it was not because He was mistaken or powerless. In fact it is because of His purpose and design. Why would God make this happen? Because of our sin. What sins? We have neglected and rejected our God (1:13). God's priests are not giving offerings to Him in His temple. God is not being worshipped. That's it? Yes, that is it. This alone is already a great offense against God, to not worship Him. Is He not worthy of our praise?

The LORD gave us the crops, and isn't He in His right to take it away with a plague of locusts if He pleases?

Lord, look how I do not make it a priority to praise and worship You. What gives me the right to treat You so? Please help me to remember, appreciate and thank You for all the wonderful blessings that you give. They are innumerable. I thank You and I praise You for You are good. What you require and deserve is a sacrifice. Please show me and enable me to be a faithful servant to You and to be a living sacrifice for You.