As Joel the
prophet continued to share about the widespread devastation that came
upon the land of Judah, he included the “beasts, cattle and
flocks of sheep” in the destruction as well. In chapter one and
verse nineteen of his prophecy, Joel “cries” unto the “LORD”
because of the destruction of both “fire” and “flame”
where we read:
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.
The
verse begins, “O LORD, to you will I cry: for the fire has
devoured the pastures of the wilderness,...” Joel began with
the phrase, “O LORD” which refers to “Yehovah or Jehovah
who is the existing One and the proper name of the one true God”,
“to you will I cry” or “call out, recite, read and
proclaim, utter with a loud sound and call for help”: “for the
fire” which means “burning, hot and flaming” “has
devoured” or “burned up and consumed” “the pastures”
which means “abode of shepherds, habitations and meadows” “of
the wilderness” or “uninhabited and large tracts of land”.
Joel's desperate “cry” unto the “LORD” was
because of the destruction caused by widespread “fire”
that consumed even the “meadows” of the “uninhabited lands”
throughout Judah.
The
verse goes on to say, “...and the flame has burned all the trees
of the field.” Joel continued, “and the flame” which
refers to “tip of weapon, point and the head of spear” “has
burned” or “blazed and scorched” “all the trees”
which means “woods, timber, stock, planks, sticks and gallows”
“of the field” or “land that has been cultivated or is
the home of wild beasts”. We can almost imagine Joel looking at how
the “flame” of the enemy “scorched” all the “trees”
throughout Judah.
When
we think through these words of Joel, we begin to understand his
state of sorrow as he looked upon the ruin that was throughout the
land of Judah. It seems that his description gets worse and worse as
he surveys the damage that was done. Many people feel like their
lives have been “scorched” by the “fires” and “flames”
of the enemy Satan, and when he comes upon them “to steal, kill
and destroy” is his goal. We should remember Jesus' words in
light of our enemy's onslaught, “but I have come to give you
life, and life more abundantly”. Let Jesus' words prevail even
when everything in sight seems to be destroyed by the enemy's fire,
and may we learn to live the “abundant life” He promised.
Next
time we finish the first chapter as Joel shares concerning, “the
beasts”, “the rivers” and
the fire”, 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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