Meditate on these sobering verses.
Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you
priests! Wail, you who serve before the altar! Come, spend the night in burlap,
you ministers of my God. For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple
of your God. Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn
meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of
the LORD your God, and cry out to him there. The day of the LORD is near, the
day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be!
Our food disappears before our very eyes. No joyful celebrations are held in
the house of our God. The seeds die in the parched ground, and the grain crops
fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned. How the animals moan
with hunger! The herds of cattle wander about confused, because they have no
pasture. The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery. LORD, help us! The fire
has consumed the wilderness pastures, and flames have burned up all the trees.
Even the wild animals cry out to you because the streams have dried up, and
fire has consumed the wilderness pastures. Joel 1:13-20
This doesn’t exactly give us a joyful
picture of the future as predicted by Joel. The
day of the LORD is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How
terrible that day will be! The day of the Lord is the time we are waiting
for…the time when Christ returns. But will we have to go through all the
hardships, desolation, hunger and destruction that are described here? We don’t
have a promise that we will be spared, but we do have God’s promise that He
will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5). That is
what I hang onto daily, knowing that if I live long enough there will be
tribulations and there will be salvation. Jesus has not forgotten us…He is just
waiting for the right time—when everything is ready for His return. Even now
there is mourning—no joy. People in Australia are experiencing fires consuming
wilderness pastures...and the wild animals that have survived those fires are
surely crying out. Food has disappeared right before the eyes of those people
there.
Read on in Joel. There is a promise of
deliverance in Joel 2 for God’s people. That appears to be special for those in
Israel…the sons of Zion. God’s people will surely be blessed. He promises to
make up for the years that the locust swarmed their land and ate their crops.
Keep reading. When the end is near, God is merciful.
 |
| The Spirit of the Lord |
Then, after doing all those things, I will
pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your
old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I
will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. And I will cause
wonders in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great
and terrible day of the LORD arrives. But everyone who calls on the name of the
LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as
the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called. Joel
2:28-32
Hang onto that promise that God will pour out my Spirit upon all
people…and… everyone who calls on the
name of the LORD will be saved. All people. That is encouraging.
Are you calling on the name of the Lord?
Prayer
~ Lord, I am continually seeking You…and calling on Your name. Deliver me, my
family and friends from the destruction and devastation that is predicted for
this world. We wait with You for the promised right time and trust that You
will never leave us or forsake us.
© 2020 Text and
photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of
Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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