September 20, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of us might tend to avoid spending time in the prophetic literature of the Bible, mainly because a lot of it is obscure and difficult to understand. But we find in these texts so much about who God is, who we are, what God has done and is doing to save us, and how we are to respond to Him in obedience! As we spend the next 3 days together in the book of Joel, ask the Lord to help you understand what He is trying to communicate through these visions of destruction, judgment, mercy, and restoration. Ask Him to help you to see the bigger picture of His Kingdom that He is trying to paint for us in this book!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first chapter of Joel describes a plague of locusts that has left the land in utter desolation. This locust invasion has comprehensively decimated the good things of the land, leaving the people in a state of famine so severe that even the animals have nothing to eat. In poetic language, the prophet describes this swarm of locusts as an army, devouring all in its path and leaving absolute destruction in its wake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there is no indictment of any specific sin the people have committed that would result in such judgment, the prophet\u2019s call to repentance and his designation of this event as a \u201cday of the LORD\u201d makes it clear: this destruction is a judgment from the hand of God. The people of Judah had in some way or another drifted from their loyalty to their God, and He had sent this swarm of locusts in order to get their attention and lead them to repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This \u201cday of the LORD\u201d which Joel describes is what theologians call a type<\/em>, which essentially means that it is a picture or representation of something greater which is to come in the future (the antitype<\/em>). Understanding this is pivotal to understanding the message of the book of Joel as a whole; the great day of the Lord\u2019s judgment is indeed coming, and it will come like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). The prophet calls the people to repentance before that day arrives!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We see the destructive consequences of sin all around us. In many ways, the world around us lies in desolation, and we perceive the destruction and death that rebellion against God\u00a0always<\/strong> produces. As we await the day of our Lord\u2019s coming, the day when His judgment and salvation will be fully revealed, may we repent as a people from any rebellion against God which we have participated in, and may we be a prophetic voice in our culture calling others to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ before it is too late!<\/p>\n\n\n\n