The Husbandmen and the Vinedressers Joel 1:11

The prophet Joel shared the details of the devastation that came upon Judah including how “the field is wasted, the land mourns, the corn is wasted, the new wine is dried up, and the oil languishes”. In chapter one and verse eleven of his prophesy Joel shared how the destruction affected “the husbandmen” and “the vinedressers” where we read:

Be ashamed, O you husbandmen; howl, O you vinedressers,

for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.

The verse begins, “Be ashamed, O you husbandmen; howl, O you vinedressers,...” Joel began with the words, “Be ashamed” or “dried up, withered, confounded and shameful” “O you husbandmen” which refers to “plowmen, farmers and those working the land, yet not owning any of it”; “Howl” or “wail or yell with a boisterous noise” “O you vinedressers” which means “ones who tend vines or vineyards”. The “farmers” and the “vine tenders” were to be “confounded” and “wailing” over their conditions.

The verse goes on to say, “...for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.” Joel added, “for the wheat” or “grain or flour” “and for the barley” which refers to “the grain, plant or meal of barley”; “because the harvest” which means “crop or reaped boughs and branches” “of the field” or “land, plain, country or soil” “is perished” which means “vanished, gone astray and destroyed”. Not only were the “fields” and “lands” affected in Judah, but also the crops of “wheat” and “barley” were in ruins as well.

When we think through these words of Joel, we begin to get an idea of how widespread the devastation was in Judah. “Farmers” and “vinedressers” were no longer able to function normally because their “wheat” and “barley” were destroyed. When the destroying “nation” came in to ruin Judah, their damage included the “fields” and “crops” among which the people lived. Jesus Christ knows when people have been overtaken by the “enemy” of their souls, and like the devastation that occurred with the “fields” and “crops” of Judah, many have areas in their lives which are destroyed. This is where Jesus Christ is most needed and available. He comes in where the enemy has stolen, killed and destroyed, and He offers “life more abundantly” in return.

Next time Joel shares about the destruction of the “vine, fig tree, pomegranate tree, palm and apple tree”, 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.