SCRIPTURE: Joel 1:1-12
OBSERVATIONS
1. (v.1) The ‘word of the Lord’ is the LOGOS (John 1:1-2), the personal communication of God Who comes as Jesus the Messiah. It is the Spirit of Jesus speaking to and through Joel (see 1 Peter 1:10-11, Revelation 19:10).
APPLICATION: I need to see Jesus as the voice of God everywhere, in creation, in the Bible, in the wisdom that is heard all over the world, and is reflected imperfectly in all religions and cultures. Can I can hear God speaking to me through Joel?
2. (vv.2-12) Joel sees a terrible plague of locusts as a sign from God, a call to worldly ‘believers’ to seriously repent (grieve, weep, wail, despair).
APPLICATION: Do all bad situations call for us to repent? In general, yes, since they all remind us of our collective brokenness and our need for God (see Luke 13:1-5). And sometimes there is specific personal sin that we must repent of as well.
3. (vv.12) “The joy of mankind is withered away”, at the center of our being, when we live in humble harmony with God and neighbour and creation, there is joy. The absence of joy is a sign of our alienation and brokenness. Tastes of joy are glimpses of God!
APPLICATION: Where is my joy, is my lack of joy and inner peace a symptom of my alienation from God (not etermally, but in my daily walk)? Is Jesus calling me to repent?
PRAYER:
Lord, I do hear You calling me to repent, to come back to You, to seek You first. My well is dry, and You are calling me to drink from You. Here I come… Amen.
Joel 1: 1-20
Joel is describing a total calamity. Everything we need to sustain life is destroyed. It reminds me of how quickly all we take for granted can be destroyed. It’s a reminder that ultimately God is the source of life. Even our churches cannot worship in these circumstances because there are no grain or drink offerings so Joel calls for a special meeting for all to repent and cry out to God.
It reminds me that all the comforts and pleasures of this life are nothing and can all be taken away in an instant . My own life can be like a place that the locusts have chewed and munched their way through leaving desolation and meaninglessness. Joel’s declaration is an indictment of my life so often.
Lord I too must fast and cry out to you for mercy so that I can recognize the locusts in my own life and find refuge in You. You are a consuming fire and I know You are burning away the dross in my life. If it was not for your mercy who can stand on the “Day of the Lord” ?
Thank you for the cross that undid all the destructive work of the locusts and set me free!
Once again I hear the importance of telling the Story from one generation to another the praise worthy deeds of the Lord. I must continue to share with the next generations my stories of faith and what the Lord has done for me.
It seems that the people in this passage were living in luxury and had gratified their senses to the excess. Their motto was eat, drink and be merry. Happiness was only through their senses. Their dependence was not on the Lord and His goodness. The calamity of the land was the needed wake-up call for God’s people to find true happiness in Him. The ruinous effects of sin is a wake up call to His pople to bring their hearts back home to Him. Lord help me daily to see You and help me realize always that the joy of the Lord God is my strength and happiness.
We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing
chorus
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory