Joel 2:1-11

I have to admit that I do not remember ever reading the book of Joel before, but I am wondering now why not?  I think too often I live in a dreamland, better known as denial.  There is some tough stuff in this book; some in-your-face reality that is very difficult to swallow.

When I read this text I feel like things are going to get so much worse before they get better. I know they will only get better when Jesus comes.  Reading this book helps me to understand how tough the prophet's job was, how difficult it must have been to have to keep telling people the cold hard truth.  I have lived so much of my life as a people pleaser I would never have been a candidate for prophet.

I am realizing that God is shaping each of His children for this position though; preparing us to be courageous to tell someone like it is, when they really need to hear it.  Someone has to have the courage to tell the world about the locusts; as Joel 2:1 says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—"

Yes, Joel's message is a stark contrast to the way we prefer to view the world and our place in it, but it is always better to know the truth and let that beacon light the path to tomorrow than to stumble around blindly in the darkness.

Read Joel 2:1-11 text here from Biblegateway.com.

Joel 1:1-12

The presence of bugs will usually cause us to change our ways.  If I see ants in the kitchen all I have to do is look and most likely some of the dog's food spilled over onto the floor and drew the ants inside for a meal.  If I suddenly notice an abundance of mosquitoes buzzing through the house there is most likely a window open or a screen torn somewhere allowing their entrance.  Bugs are a nuisance and we do everything we can to avoid living with them.

The text for today is about locusts, which were very prevalent in Biblical times.  According to National Geographic they occur in many parts of the world, but today locusts are most destructive in sustenance farming regions of Africa. The story of the swarming locusts in the Book of Joel is factual, and also a prophecy from God to His people.  Joel was warning his people to turn to God and stop their sinful behavior or something even worse than locusts would befall them.

Where are the swarming locusts in your life? What is threatening your well-being and very future? Is there sin permeating your happiness and robbing you of joy? A question posed in the Serendipity Study Bible I find worth pondering. Is this plague a punishment for sin, or a test of faith?

Read Joel 1:1-12 text here.