As Joel
continued to share about the devastation throughout the land of
Judah, he included the destruction which came because of “fire”
in the “pastures” and “flames” that “burned
all the trees of the field”. In chapter one and verse twenty of
his prophecy, Joel mentioned “the beasts”, “the
rivers” and the “pastures of the wilderness” where
we read:
The beasts
of the field cry also unto you: for the rivers of waters are dried
up,
and the
fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
The
verse begins, “The beasts of the field cry” Joel began
with the words, “The beasts” or “cattle, animals and
livestock” “of the field” which refers to “land,
plains and home of wild beasts” “cry” or “long and
pant for”. We can imagine how the animals were wailing, moaning and
longing because of their deteriorated conditions.
The
verse continues, “ also unto you: for the rivers of waters are
dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”
Joel added, “also unto you: for the rivers” or
“channel, ravine or place of hollow bones” “of waters”
which means “water-springs, water-course and water-flood” “are
dried up” or “withered, confounded and utterly ashamed”,
“and the fire” which means “burning, hot and flaming”
“has devoured” or “burned up, eaten, consumed and
destroyed” “the pastures” which refers to “the meadow,
habitation and abode of shepherds” “of the wilderness”
or “uninhabited land, pasture and large tracts of desert”. The
places where the animals drank and fed were destroyed by the drought
and “fire” that ruined them.
When
we think through these words of Joel, we continue to see the
destruction that has occurred throughout the land of Judah. The
animals in the fields were desperate for water which was no longer
there, and the “fire” destroyed their “feeding-fields”.
We have studied through this first chapter of Joel's prophecy, and we
have likened it to the “destruction” that has occurred within
many people's lives. The answer to every devastation and ruin that
comes to a person is a relationship with Jesus Christ, and without
Him, only destruction and despair are the result.
Next
time we begin a new chapter and see where Joel cries out,
“Blow the trumpet in Zion”,
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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