Joel 1
COMMENTARY:
: 5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. (7910 “drunkards” [shikkowr] means intoxicated, drunken, drinkers of alcohol or drinking of strong drink.)
DEVOTION: This has been a issue since the beginning of time since the flood. Noah was said to be drunk in his tent when his son came in and did something that caused him to be cursed. The two daughters of Lot gave their father strong drink until he was drunk to have improper relationships with him.
Strong drink can be a problem for God’s people. Here we find that the children of Israel were more concerned over their strong drink than their relationship to the LORD. The land was experiencing a famine and their concern was for their strong drink.
The LORD advised them to stop drinking and call for a time of fasting and prayer. This should be the activity of the church. Too often today we are seeing churches that say they preach the gospel having parties where strong drink is served. Is this wrong? Is this sinful? The answer is YES if there are people getting drunk at these events. Should the church have a drinking party? NO! Why? The reason being is that we are to not to be a stumbling block to those who have a problem with drinking. But don’t all Christians have a choice regarding drinking strong drink? YES! The problem is that what an individual does and what the church does. Individuals have to answer to the LORD for their drinking. Churches have to answer for their teaching. If the church is teaching that strong drink is OK at church events than this is a stumbling block to those who come out of alcoholic families. Each individual has to answer to the LORD regarding this habit. Throughout Scripture there is a warning given to those who have a drinking problem.
The nation of Israel was too busy serving themselves rather than the LORD. If our habits interfere with our service to the LORD, the habit must go.
CHALLENGE: If strong drink is affecting your service to the LORD or your testimony to your family: STOP. Times of fasting and prayer can change your relationship to strong drink.
: 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languishes; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. (8342 “joy” [sasown] means gladness, cheerfulness, rejoicing, exaltation, state of happiness or mirth.)
DEVOTION: Joel is given a vision from the LORD. There is a time of attack in the land by locust. They are eating all the food that would normally be harvested for people. There is sadness because there is going to be no harvest.
When harvest season comes there is usually great celebration. When a farmer brings in a good crop of grain it will feed his family and bring profit to the home. There would normally be times of gladness. There would be cheerfulness. There would be parties.
However, Joel is warning of a time of no harvest. It is a time of animals looking for food and drink and finding none. It is a time to cry unto the LORD for relief.
This day of the LORD that is coming will affect the land in the same way. It is a time of judgment. The people are not worshiping the LORD properly. They are commanded to fast. They are commanded to call a solemn assembly. They are to gather the elders together and pray to the LORD for help.
Is there coming a time of famine in our land? Are the locusts gathering? Is it a time to call for fasting and prayer? Listening to the news can sometimes take the gladness out of our lives. Should this be happening to us?
When the conditions around us are bad, we lose our gladness. Here we find that the people are sad and it affects the trees of the field. When we enter the house of the LORD this next week are we going to come with gladness on our faces? Are we going to allow the world to dictate our attitude in worship? Can we overcome the world? Should we overcome the world? Remember that we are to worship the LORD daily. How are you going to greet the LORD this morning?
CHALLENGE: When the joy is out of your life – turn to the LORD for wisdom and direction. HE promises that if we ask for wisdom from above HE will give it to us.
: 12 …. And the people’s joy has dried up with them. (NLT)
DEVOTION: Have you ever had something happen that seems to suck all the life out of you? You thought everything was going OK but then something happened. You planned a party at your house and thought you would have a lot of friend come but no one showed up. You thought you had enough money for that special thing and when you got to the store the price had gone up.
Some of those receiving these devotionals grew up poor. There were times when there wasn’t enough food to go around. Your clothes were not as good as the other students. You couldn’t go on vacations like the other kids did during the summer vacation time. You saw everyone else seeming to have fun but you were stuck at home.
Here we have the LORD sending judgment on the children of Israel because of their sin. All of their crops failed because of a locust plague the LORD sent to get their attention. The animals were even crying out for food and drink.
This took all the joy out of the life of the people. If our joy is taken away from us, what should we do? The answer is found in the next verse.
Believers should turn to the LORD for a time of fasting and prayer to ask the LORD to help them in their situation. HE has promised to give us understanding regarding our next steps. HE has promised to provide for all the needs of those who are faithfully serving HIM.
CHALLENGE: So if you have all the joy out of your life there is a need to turn around and ask the LORD for help, so that, your joy can return.
: 14 Sanctify you a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry to the LORD. (6942 “sanctify” [qadash] means hallow, dedicate, prepare, consecrate, removed from common use, or keep sacred.)
DEVOTION: The LORD has a solution to every problem that we face in our lifetime. It is given to all the followers of the LORD when they are going through a hard time. It is given to those who find that they have strayed from the LORD.
What is the solution? This verse informs those who have a famine problem that they need to call for a fast. What is a fast? It is a time when God’s people stop eating food or drinking water to ask the LORD for cleansing and direction.
In the New Testament couples are told to fast and prayer if they are making a major decision. They are not to let it last too long or Satan will come and tempt them.
It was required of ministers in the Methodist church to fast two days a week. The Pharisees fasted to be seen of men. So there are good ways to fast and bad ways to fast. If you are doing it to be seen of the people around you, you are doing it wrong. If you are doing it to allow yourself no distractions so that you can go into the presence of God for instruction you are doing it for the right reason.
CHALLENGE: During times of fasting and prayer there is confession of sin and a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit on your life. The children of Israel needed it and we need it too.
: 19 O LORD, to YOU will I cry: for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field. (398 “devoured” [‘akal] means to destroy completely, to devour, consume, ruin, cause destruction of objects, or devastation of land.)
DEVOTION: The children of Israel were a farming community and they depended on the crops to help them have enough to eat and sell to others. Here we have the LORD judging the nation because of their worship of false gods. HE wanted to get their attention and it could only happen if they didn’t have enough to eat.
It is the same today in our world. The LORD wants to get our attention and it only happens, it seems, with bad times are around. If there were good times than people don’t seem to think about God and all HIS provision for us or in the case of the children of Israel in the Old Testament times.
We are supposed to be dependent on the LORD just like the children of Israel were supposed to be depend on HIM but too often they thought that they could worship false gods and the LORD would provide for them. They were wrong.
We are wrong today as we sometimes think that everything is going well because we have money in the bank and friends around to give us times of enjoyment. But if, we are not looking to the LORD for guidance those times will end and we will wonder what is happening in our lives.
The children of Israel had to face judgment regularly because of their lack of worship of the LORD. Today our nation seems to be going through times of judgment because of our not thinking too much of genuinely worshiping the LORD regularly.
If the LORD send judgement we wonder why but if we looked closely at our lives we would see that we are acting just like the children of Israel. We want the blessings of the LORD but at the same time we don’t want to worship HIM in spirit and in truth on a regular basis. We can’t have both.
The children of Israel didn’t have the blessings of the LORD because of their actions as a nation and we will not have HIS blessings if we practice the same.
CHALLENGE: Revival is necessary in the lives of believers. If we don’t do it on our own HE will send hard times our way to get our attention even today.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
God’s servants were to call for a fastverse 14
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Prayer for helpverses 14, 19
Cry to the LORD
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Meat offeringsverses 9, 13
Drink offeringsverses 9, 13
House of the LORDverses 9, 13, 14, 16
Gather the elders
Gather the inhabitants of the land
Joy and gladness taken from
LORD’S ministersverse 9
Priests mournverses 9, 13
LORD’S ministersverse 9
Ministers of the altarverse 13
Gird yourselves
Lament
Howl
All night in sackcloth
Priests lament verse 13
Meat and drink offering withholdenverse 13
Cry to the LORDverses 14, 19
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible
Word of the LORDverse 1
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 1, 9, 14, 15, 19
Control of animal kingdomverses 4-7
House of the LORDverses 9, 13, 14
LORD’S ministersverse 9
Godverse 13
House of your Godverse 13
House of the LORD your Godverse 14
LORD your Godverse 14
Cry unto the LORDverse 14
Day of the LORD is at handverse 15
Almighty will bring destructionverse 15
House of our Godverse 16
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign, Plural name)verses 13, 14, 16
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Nationverse 6
Joy is withered away from the sons of menverse 12
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Drunkardsverse 5
Drinkers of wineverse 5
Be ashamedverse 11
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Hearverse 2
Tellverse 3
Awakeverse 5
Weepverse 5
Ministersverses 9, 13
Joyverses 12, 16
Lie all night in sackclothverse 13
Sanctify a fastverse 14
Call a solemn assemblyverse 14
Cry unto the LORDverses 14, 19, 20
Gladnessverse 16
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Joel – the prophetverse 1
Pethuel – father of Joelverse 1
Fields wasted – land mournsverse 10
New wine is dried upverse 10
Oil languishesverse 10
Husbandmen ashamedverse 11
Vinedressersverse 11
Harvest of field perishedverse 11
Vine dried upverse 12
Trees of the field dried upverse 12
Eldersverse 14
Barns broken down – corn is witheredverse 17
Beasts groanverse 18
Herds of cattle are perplexedverse 18
Flocks of sheep are made desolateverse 18
Fire has devoured the pastures verse 19
Flame has burned all the trees of the fieldverse 19
Beasts of the field cry to the LORDverse 20
Rivers of waters are dried upverse 20
Fire has devoured the pastures of the wildernessverse 20
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Day of the LORDverse 15
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