As Joel the
prophet desired the people of Judah to consider their current
conditions, he called upon the “old men” and “the
inhabitants” to review their history to compare to the
difficult times they were facing. He told them, “the palmerworm,
the locust, the cankerworm and the caterpillar” had
progressively “eaten” all their vegetation throughout
their land, and in chapter one and verse five of his prophesy, Joel
calls upon the “drunkards” and the “drinkers of wine”
to “awake”, “weep” and “howl” where
we read:
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.
The
verse begins, “Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you
drinkers of wine,...” Joel began with the word, “Awake”
which means “wake up, arouse and show signs of waking”, “you
drunkards” which refers to “intoxicated ones as a state or
habit”, “and weep” which means “bewail, cry and shed
tears in grief and humiliation”; “and howl” or “wail
and yell with a boisterous voice”, “all you drinkers”
which means “imbibers and banqueters” “of wine” or
“banqueting winebibbers”. The anguish of their conditions was so
horrible that the “drunkards” were to “arouse, wake up
and wail” and the “drinkers of wine” were to “wail”
because of the destruction within their land.
The
verse continues, “...because
of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.” Joel
goes on to add the reason the “awakening”,
“weeping”
and “howling”
was solicited “because of the new
wine”
which is one Hebrew word “`aciyc”
which means “sweet wine, unfermented and pressed out juice”; “for
it is cut off”
or “eliminated, killed, hewn, chewed and taken away and destroyed”
“from your mouth”
which refers to “the opening and orifice in the front of the face”.
No more were the people of the land of Judah going to enjoy “wine”
because it was “eliminated and destroyed” from among them.
When
we meditate upon Joel's words, we begin to understand how these
troubles were so vast throughout the land of Judah that even those
who usually were intoxicated with alcoholic beverages were called to
attention. Some think of “drunkards”
as those who attempt to disappear from their troubles, and “drinkers
of wine” as those who need to
escape or settle down within them. The difficulties within the land
of Judah were so horrific, that either case could not eliminate their
effect. Let us remember, Jesus Christ came into the world to “save
sinners”, and many times these “sinners” live in conditions
from which they attempt to “escape”. May the Lord Jesus by His
Holy Spirit help us to be aware of His constant attempt to not only
“awake” people
concerning their conditions, but also to save them within their
troubles.
Next
time Joel shares concerning “a nation that has come upon”
his “land”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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