Because the
devastation in the land of Judah was so vast, Joel the prophet called
upon the “priests” and “ministers” to “gird”
themselves and “howl” as well as “sanctify a fast,
call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of
the land” to the “house of the LORD” their “God”
for the purpose of “crying unto the LORD”. In chapter one
and verse fifteen of his prophesy, Joel shared how “the day of
the LORD is at hand” where we read:
Alas for
the day! for the day of the LORD is
at hand,
and as a
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
The
verse begins, “Alas for the day! for the day
of the LORD is
at hand,...” Joel began with the word,
“Alas” which means
“Oh! Ah!” “for the day!”
or “time, year, period and division of time”
“for the day” which means “time, year,
period and division of time” “of the LORD”
which refers to “Jehovah or Yehovah who is the existing One and the
proper name of the one true God” “is at
hand” or “near, kin, nigh, ready and
short”. After great destruction was laid out and a call to “cry
out to God”, Joel declared “the time of
the LORD is near”.
The
verse continues, “...and as a destruction from the
Almighty shall it come.” Joel added, “and as a
destruction” which means “havoc, violence, devastation, ruin,
and violence” “from the Almighty” which is the Hebrew
word “Shadday” which means “most powerful and strong, ”
“shall it come” which means “go in, enter, attain, be
enumerated, lead in, carried in, cause to gather, bring near and
upon”. The “destruction” that was about to “come” upon
Judah was from none other than the One and true Almighty and powerful
God.
When
we meditate upon these words of Joel after all the trouble he laid
out, we should be concerned about his declaration. The idea is “the
day of the anger of the LORD” is coming. It is “a
foretaste of the coming day of the Lord as Judge of all men, so it
receives the same name”. Though the locust had destroyed the land,
the annihilating “nation” was about to come upon the
scene. Judah had forsaken the ways of God, and now they were going to
suffer ruin for it. If this seems to have happened to us, we must
turn ourselves to the LORD Jesus and rely upon His ability to bring
us out of any troubles into which we have gotten ourselves.
Next
time Joel shares about the “meat, the joy and the
gladness from the house of our God”,
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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