July 16, 2019: Day 80 – Joel 1

We find ourselves in a new book of the Bible: Joel.  The time of authorship is thought to be around 500BC, give or take a hundred years.  It is a minor prophet who declares  a crisis which is taking place and which includes the destruction of much of the agriculture of Israel.  Remember, Israel was an agriculturally based group of people.  Let’s look at chapter 1.

In chapter 1 we set the stage for a destruction of all that is growing on a scale that is incredibly grand.  Everyone is affected without a doubt.  All should be weeping because there is no longer anything to eat or drink.  We  look at vs.14 as the prophet declares that a time of fast ought to be called.  But then in vs.15 notice what he calls this tragedy…The Day of the  Lord.

So when we think of  the Day of the Lord, we might even call it the day of resurrection.  When we think of the day that Jesus comes back to earth and gathers us it is almost always seen in a very positive light.  When we think of the day of the Lord,  we can’t wait for it to come.  It is the carrot that is at the end of this stick that we call life.  Okay, I don’t think that way, but you have heard that said.  But  here Joel says no, don’t look forward to the day of the Lord because it is going to be desolate.  Our task is to do what we hear in vs.14 and 19.  Our job is to cry to the Lord.  I’m not sure we are going to get a good  answer to what is happening here in the prophet Joel.  Let’s keep going to chapter 2 and see what we get.  It is only 3 chapters after all.