Written by: Lucie Meardon
Joel 1 v 1-7
The LORD spoke his word to Joel son of Pethuel:
Elders, listen to this message.
Listen to me, all you who live in the land.
Nothing like this has ever happened during your lifetime or during your ancestors’
lifetimes.
Tell your children about these things, let your children tell their children,
and let your grandchildren tell their children.
What the cutting locusts have left, the swarming locusts have eaten; what the
swarming locusts have left, the hopping locusts have eaten, and what the hopping
locusts have left, the destroying locusts have eaten.
Drunkards, wake up and cry!
All you people who drink wine, cry!
Cry because your wine has been taken away from your mouths.
A powerful nation has come into my land with too many soldiers to count.
It has teeth like a lion, jaws like a female lion.
It has made my grapevine a waste and made my fig tree a stump.
It has stripped all the bark off my trees and left the branches white.
Notes
Joel was a prophet in the Old Testament. This book was originally written to
the people of Judah, urging them to stop sinning and turn back to God. At
the time Joel was writing, Judah was prosperous, but he had been warned by
God that disaster would strike if they didn’t repent. He warned that a plague
of locusts would invade the country, destroying everything.
The people of Judah had it good. They were a prosperous nation, but this had led to complacency and a turning away from God.
When things are going well in our lives, it is easy to forget about God and only to call on him if we “need” him. In reality, we need him every minute of every day. Take time to invite God into your life, even if it is a while since you have asked him. He is waiting for you!
Prayer
Father God, thank you that you are so willing to accept me back, no matter
what I have done or how far away from you I have gone. Amen
Joel 1 v 8-12
Cry as a young woman cries when the man she was going to marry has died.
There will be no more grain or drink offerings to offer in the Temple of the
LORD.
Because of this, the priests, the servants of the LORD, are sad.
The fields are ruined; the ground is dried up.
The grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, and the olive oil runs out.
Be sad, farmers.
Cry loudly, you who grow grapes.
Cry for the wheat and the barley.
Cry because the harvest of the field is lost.
The vines have become dry, and the fig trees are dried up.
The pomegranate trees, the date palm trees, the apple trees—all the trees in
the field have died.
And the happiness of the people has died, too.
Notes
Joel prophesied that a plague of locusts would enter Judah, destroying everything.
Because of this there would be no food - “the grain is destroyed, the new
wine is dried up” - and we are told that the people would be sad.
This seems pretty obvious. If there was no food in the country, the people would quickly become unhappy - but it runs deeper than that. At the beginning of the passage it says: “There will be no more grain or drink offerings”. Offering sacrifices in the temple was part of the covenant God had with the people of Judah. If there was no food to offer, then this would jeopardise the covenant relationship they had with him. In effect, it was like a link was broken.
Are there things in our lives that are like broken links, things that prevent us having a full relationship with God?
Prayer
Lord, I am sorry for the things I do that I know hurt you. I am sorry for the
times when I have done things that I know won’t please you. I pray that you
will show me the things in my life that are getting in the way of knowing
you properly, and help me to get rid of them. Amen
Joel 1 v 13-15
Priests, put on your rough cloth and cry to show your sadness.
Servants of the altar, cry out loud.
Servants of my God, keep your rough cloth on all night to show your sadness.
Cry because there will be no more grain or drink offerings to offer in the
Temple of your God.
Call for a day when no one eats food!
Tell everyone to stop work!
Bring the elders and everyone who lives in the land to the Temple of the LORD
your God, and cry out to the LORD.
What a terrible day it will be!
The LORD’s day of judging is near, when punishment will come like a destroying
attack from the Almighty.
Notes
If the plague of locusts came, the people could no longer offer offerings in
the temple and their relationship with God would be in jeopardy. “Everyone
who lives in the land of the Temple” is called to fast and pray, not just
the priests or leaders, showing that we all have a responsibility to work
at our relationship with God.
Verse 15 talks of the Lord’s day of judging. This means the day when the plague of locusts would be sent on the people of Judah - but it also refers to the second coming, the day when Christ will return to earth and everyone will be judged. As Christians we are prepared for this day, although we don’t know when it will be, and we know we will be judged “not guilty” because Jesus paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross.
The day of judgement could be in 1,000 years, or it could be tomorrow. Are there people you know who aren’t prepared for it; who have never heard of Jesus?
Prayer
Lord God, I pray for opportunities to share my faith with others, and for the
courage to take these opportunities when they arrive. Amen
Joel 1 v 16-20
Our food is taken away while we watch.
Joy and happiness are gone from the Temple of our God.
Though we planted fig seeds, they lie dry and dead in the earth.
The barns are empty and falling down.
The storerooms for grain have been broken down, because the grain has dried
up.
The animals are groaning!
The herds of cattle wander around confused, because they have no grass to eat;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.
LORD, I am calling to you for help, because fire has burned up the open pastures,
and flames have burned all the trees in the field.
Wild animals also need your help. The streams of water have dried up, and fire
has burned up the open pastures.
Notes
Throughout the whole of Joel chapter 1, the prosperity of the people is implied.
The devastation which a locust plague would have is multiplied because they
were going through a very good spell, both economically (verse 17) and spiritually
(verse 16). As the saying goes: “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”.
They would have been able to see their land being ravaged (verse 17), their
crops being eaten (verse 16), and they would have felt completely helpless.
Even the livestock wouldn’t have known what was going on (verse 18)!
Joel’s response reminds us what we should do in desperate situations: “Lord, I am calling to you for help”. He realised that the only way anything good could come from this dire situation was for the people to turn to God and plead for his help.
Often we go through times in our lives when everything seems to be crashing down around our ears, but this passage reminds us that, in good times or in bad times, we need God.
Prayer
Father, I thank you for your providence and pray that when times are hard I
will never forget the one from whom comes every good and perfect gift. Amen
Joel 2 v 1-6
Blow the trumpet in Jerusalem; shout a warning on my holy mountain.
Let all the people who live in the land shake with fear, because the LORD’s
day of judging is coming; it is near.
It will be a dark, gloomy day, cloudy and black.
Like the light at sunrise, a great and powerful army will spread over the mountains.
There has never been anything like it before, and there will never be anything
like it again.
In front of them a fire destroys; behind them a flame burns.
The land in front of them is like the garden of Eden; the land behind them
is like an empty desert.
Nothing will escape from them.
They look like horses, and they run like war horses.
It is like the noise of chariots rumbling over the tops of the mountains, like
the noise of a roaring fire burning dry stalks.
They are like a powerful army lined up for battle.
When they see them, nations shake with fear, and everyone’s face becomes pale.
Notes
In verse 1, the Lord instructs Joel to warn the people about what is going
to happen. Even in judgement, God is merciful and loving. The next few verses
are a description of the locust invasion, and they are likened to an army
advancing. It is a very poetic description, increasing the drama of the moment.
The locusts were very real. They weren’t just a way of illustrating the day
of judgement, but they did point towards the even greater reality of that
day. If the nation “[shook] with fear” at the sight of the locusts, how much
more scared would people be when the final day of judgement came?
Do we warn people enough about the consequences of not following God? Today’s study doesn’t seem to have anything positive to say, with all this talk of doom and darkness and judgement, but it is important to remember the first verse where God asks Joel to warn the people. God gave them, and gives us, a way out, a way of coming back to him. For them, it was to mourn and repent, with prayer and fasting.
For us, our “way out” is Jesus, God’s son who came down from heaven and lived a perfect life, and then gave up that life for you and me. He was punished for all the sins we have committed and are yet to commit, so that we can be forgiven.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for sending your son to die for us, and for warning us of what
will happen if we don’t follow you. Thank you for loving us so much. Amen
Joel 2 v 7-11
They charge like soldiers; they climb over the wall like warriors.
They all march straight ahead and do not move off their path.
They do not run into each other, because each walks in line.
They break through all efforts to stop them and keep coming.
They run into the city.
They run at the wall and climb into the houses, entering through windows like
thieves.
Before them, earth and sky shake.
The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars stop shining.
The LORD shouts out orders to his army.
His army is very large!
Those who obey him are very strong!
The LORD’s day of judging is an overwhelming and terrible day.
No one can stand up against it!
Notes
The army described here is unstoppable: “They break through all efforts to
stop them and keep coming”. There was no way of standing up against this
army of locusts if it came; they were directed by God. The only way the people
of Judah could stop the army was to repent and turn back to God, and restore
their relationship with him.
Often we come up against situations in our lives which we think are impossible, but God is in control of everything and can help in every situation. Matthew 19 v 26 says: “God can do all things”. This is such an encouragement when things seem too hard to cope with. If you are facing something that seems too hard to stand up against, pray to God for strength, and for wisdom and understanding of the situation.
Prayer
Father God, I know that you are sovereign and are in control of everything.
Help me have more faith when I face difficult times, and help me to remember
that you want the best for me and will help me always. Amen
Joel 2 v 12-17
The LORD says, “Even now, come back to me with all your heart.
Go without food, and cry and be sad.”
Tearing your clothes is not enough to show you are sad; let your heart be broken.
Come back to the LORD your God, because he is kind and shows mercy.
He doesn’t become angry quickly, and he has great love.
He can change his mind about doing harm.
Who knows? Maybe he will turn back to you and leave behind a blessing for you.
Grain and drink offerings belong to the LORD your God.
Blow the trumpet in Jerusalem; call for a day when no one eats food.
Tell everyone to stop work.
Bring the people together and make the meeting holy for the LORD.
Bring together the elders, as well as the children, and even babies that still
feed at their mothers’ breasts.
The bridegroom should come from his room, the bride from her bedroom.
The priests, the LORD’s servants, should cry between the altar and the entrance
to the Temple.
They should say, “LORD, have mercy on your people.
Don’t let them be put to shame; don’t let other nations make fun of them.
Don’t let people in other nations ask,
‘Where is their God?’”
Notes
What an amazing passage! This shows God’s incredible mercy and love for his
people. He invites everyone to come back to him, from the elders to the babies
that still feed at their mothers’ breasts - no one is excluded.
But he has conditions. Verse 13 says: “Tearing your clothes is not enough to show you are sad; let your heart be broken”. God requires a radical change of heart and mind from them - to stop sinning and doing as they pleased, and to come back to him and obey him.
It is the same today. God requires us to live a new life - to destroy the old patterns of sin and disobedience. When people look at us as Christians, they should be able to see God’s nature reflected in us.
Prayer
God, you have so much mercy and love for me. Help me to show the same love
to other people. Amen
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes