Reading:  Joel 1-3
Posted:  September 19, 2014



Joel is one of those small books (only three chapters) that has a clear and powerful message to deliver.   Not much is known about the prophet, because apart from being mentioned in Acts, there are no other references to him in the rest of the Bible.   Also, since the book of Joel is so short, there aren't references to what current events are taking place...so we really can't say for sure when it was written.   It's popular to place it before the exile, because the plagues and famine would have been signs to Israel to repent before God took the extra measure of allowing the country to be overrun by the enemy.   There is a chance that it is after the exile, but that would mean that the people who came out of the exile didn't repent and change.

Joel talks of hoards of locusts devouring the crops.  We can't be sure what stripping and cutting locusts are, but if we accept the book literally, then the locusts are simply destroying all the crops.     The lesson should be clear:  All bounty comes from God.   Nothing you plant is caused to grow by you.   None of the money you earn, or knowledge you retain or "natural abilities" that you have are truly under your control.   God is in charge of it all, and He orchestrates all things to work out blessings for those who obey, and difficulties for those who refuse Him.

Of course, there are times when God allows bad things to happen to people who seemingly don't deserve it...but it isn't to punish them, as we see here.   When God allows those sort of things, its generally to illustrate a point, or to reveal a shortcoming in character or practice.   In any case, whatever God does can be trusted.

In Joel, God has removed the harvest, so that the people will recognize that the idols they have prayed to (for the harvest) cannot help them.   If they will turn and pray to God, then the harvest will return, and they will once again give glory to the real "Lord of the Harvest".    Sadly, they do not repent.

Chapter 2:13 says "rend your heart, and not your garments..."   It reminds me that God is looking for worshipers who will worship in "spirit and in truth" (like He tells the samaritan woman).   It isn't enough to put on an ACT, you must be genuinely moved in your heart.     If your heart is moved, then whatever you do externally will be received.

This is why you can't wait until the last seconds of your life and accept Christ.  Your heart has to be moved, and only the Holy Spirit can move it.  When God calls on you....and He calls on everyone, it's your job to respond.  Do so quickly and completely because you don't know how much time you have.

2;25  "I will repay you for what the locusts have eaten"  says the Lord.  God alone is able to restore.   Who else could promise to restore harvests?   Could the king?   This is work that only God can do, and He promises to do it; if only His people will turn from their wickedness and once again be faithful to him.

I think 2:28 is looking forward to the time when Jesus Christ is on the earth, specifically (as it mentions in Acts) to the time when He ascends to back to heaven and the Holy Spirit comes.     Then it seems to me that the next passage looks forward to a time that hasn't arrived yet.   It could be the final battle in the valley of Armageddon.   (If you look for "Armageddon" on your Bible map you won't find it.   The name is an adaptation of "Har Megiddo"   which means mount of Megiddo.    Alongside Megiddo is an enormous plain where many battles have been fought.   Alexander the Great once said as he overlooked the site "all the armies of the world could battle here")    Here's another little "tidbit".   the word "har" means a mountain or a series of large hills, like a mountain range.    Another word we see used for "hill" is "tel", as in "Tel Aviv".  A tel is a man made hill that is constructed of one city after another being built on the same site.   They didn't reuse the materials from each city apparently.   So over thousands of years, these cities are now higher in elevation.   Jerusalem is good example of this.  The city streets from the time of Jesus are more than 50 feet below modern day street level in many places.


Ironic that Alexander would say such a thing,  since one day all the armies of the world will do just that.     (Full disclosure:  I couldn't find Alexander's quote quickly with a google search, it was relayed to be by a guide when I visited Tel Megiddo. )  

PR