God’s judgment comes over this earth.
The Day of the Lord is coming! (Compare Matt 25: 10-13)
We don’t know when God spoke to Joel.
Joel reminds his people of a major plague of locusts.
There were a locust plague and a drought in the country those days (Joel 1: 4-12, 17-19).
Because mankind perseveres in guilt and sin, the LORD came, and will come with His judgments. The desert grasshoppers (locusts), which are 6 cm in size, can cause a huge plague. They are brought in by the wind. There are about 35 to 70 million of those gluttonous insects in a square kilometer. A normal swarm eats about 80 tons of grain a day. 400,000 people can live on that for a year. They eat everything that is green. The wildlife is dying. The population is forced to lead a nomadic existence. A locust swarm travels about 50-100 km per day. Whole areas are paralyzed. Grasshoppers are tiny critters, but they bring an enormous havoc. A locust plague is a curse (Deut. 28: 38,42,45).
Look what happened, Joel tells his hearers.
The vine and the fig tree, signs of prosperity for Israel, have withered.
The drunks have nothing to drink.
In Palestine, it was a real plague in Joel’s day, heralding God’s final judgment.
Joel 1:15 NASB
Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
The great end judgment is coming soon to the world. The day of revenge, of calamity and distress (Isaiah 34: 8; Jeremiah 17:18; 46: 21; Zephaniah 1: 14-18; Revelation 6:17; Luke 21:25, 26).
What horrors!
What do we do with this announcement?
Jesus has taken upon Himself the abhorrent judgment of the Lord.
He bore the punishment and overcame judgment on Golgotha.
He did this for you too, when you repent and follow Him (v.13,14).
Joel 1:13-14 NASB
Gird yourselves with sackcloth
And lament, O priests;
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth
O ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
Consecrate a fast,
Proclaim a solemn assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
To the house of the Lord your God,
And cry out to the Lord.
When we know Jesus, and live by His sacrifice, death and judgment are also swallowed up in victory for us (1 Corinthians 15:54; John 5:24).
We don’t have to live in fear. We may look forward to our redemption and to our Redeemer (Luke 21:28).
How great it is that Jesus worked out our salvation!
What a huge perspective!
Through our testimony, let many be saved from God’s eternal wrath.
Heed the call in verse 3.
Joel 1: 3 NASB
Tell your sons about it,
And let your sons tell their sons,
And their sons the next generation.
Pray that God will use you to warn many more about the day of judgment that is near.
As Israel enjoyed life, and God was forgotten, today’s society lives in the same intoxication. Like Israel. We too seem to think: “What can happen to us?”
The plague of locusts showed how vulnerable we are. The country is in mourning. There is not even food for the food and drink offering. God’s service is stagnant.
Joel puts this natural disaster in prophetic light: Whoever leaves God has to fear sorrow after sorrow. Our countrymen and children should also know this.
We live in a dying world. Many live in a daze. Sometimes it seems like we can do whatever we want…
But who hears the call of God?
There is a God who lives, and who will judge on earth!
Do we also pass this on to our fellow countryman and to future generations?
Let’s keep doing that so they too can come to Jesus!
Question: How do you experience the great day of judgment when you think of your many acquaintances who do not know Jesus?
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