It was all Gone

Joel 1:5-20

Joel is not clear about who-done-it, was it a mighty army from a foreign nation or was it a nation of locust.  It is not clear but what is clear is the nation was awakened, much like a drunkard going through withdrawals when there is no more alcohol and no hope of getting any more.

“Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and 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 against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions' teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness.  It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white.”

Israel’s food supply is gone, can you imagine such a scene, you go to the store for food, but it is long gone.  You ask your neighbor for food, but he/she has already asked all the other neighbors, the fields and trees are gone, and there is no food!

In the time Joel is writing, the proper response to a catastrophe was grief and by wearing sackcloth, not something you would want to wear for its style or comfort.  Sackcloth is a very rough, uncomfortable fabric that irritates the skin.  We also have the priests lamenting that the offering was cut off from the temple, and also their food supply, because it came from what the people brought to the temple as sacrifices and offerings.  All the people who worked and made their living off the food supply were without work and food, it was all gone, no food for people or animals, even the fruit trees were destroyed, and it sure looks as if all will starve.

We see the priests are to remove their nice clothes and put on sackcloth and spend the night at the temple.  They are also instructed to hold a sacred fast and to gather the elders and all the residents of the land to come to the house of the Lord.  The purpose is to confess corporate guilt before the Lord.  That brings a question to mind, why do we as a church not call an assembly to confess our corporate sin as a nation before God?  How long as it been since the pastor or priest has called a sacred assembly to confess the sins of your nations before our Father?  Today is a good day to begin, and let it begin with you and me.

In verses 15-20, judgment is on them, and sin has brought judgment on all of the people, but it has also brought judgment to the animals, and even the wild animals cry out to the Lord for water and food, but none is to be found. “Woe because of that day!  For the Day of the Lord is near and will come as devastation from the Almighty.  Hasn’t the food been cut off before our eyes, joy, and gladness from the house of our God?  The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.  The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down because the grain has withered away.  How the animals groan!  The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture.  Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.  I call to You, Lord, for fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, and flames have devoured all the trees of the countryside.  Even the wild animals cry out to You, for the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice