Vines and Fig Trees Joel 1:7

As Joel the prophet continued to warn the land of Judah, he told them how “a nation” was “come up upon my land”, and he said was the “nation” was “strong, and without number”. He shared how their “teeth” were “the teeth of a lion” and their “cheek teeth of a great lion”. In chapter one and verse seven of his prophesy, Joel shared how this “nation's” invasion affected the “vine” and the “fig tree” where we read:

He has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he has made it clean bare,

and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

The verse begins, “He has laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree:” Joel began with the phrase, “He has laid” or “set, put in place, appointed and made” “my vine” which refers to “a twining vine especially like the grape” “waste” or “horror, appalled, desolate and by implication consternation”, “and barked” which means “snapping, splintering and fragmenting” “my fig tree” or “the Indian fig tree known as the Musa paradisiaca”. Joel's idea was this invading “nation” stripped not only the “grape vines” but also the “fig trees” that were in the land.

The verse goes on to say, “he has made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.” Joel continued, “he has made it clean” which it the Hebrew word “chasaph” and means “stripped, laid or made bare and drawn out” “bare” which is also the Hebrew word “chasaph” or “stripped, laid or made bare and drawn out”, “and cast it away” or “thrown, hurled, flung and shed”; “the branches thereof” which refers to “tendrils and twigs” “are made white” or “to show whiteness and purified”. As though Joel desired for the people in Judah to know how devastating the invasion of the “nation” was, he reminded them of how they “stripped” the land “clean” of it's fruitful growth.

When we think through these words of Joel, we see a glimpse of the damage done by the “nation” of which Joel wrote. When the enemy is allowed to come into a nation, that nation suffers greatly, and in this case, the devastation was widespread. We must remember that Judah had forsaken the ways of God, began to worship other gods, and left the God of the Universe. We must keep our reliance upon Jesus Christ and stay close to Him, and should we find ourselves suffering in ways such as the “vines” and “fig trees”, let us repent and return to Him.

Next time Joel shares concerning “lamenting like a virgin”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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