HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1167
Joel
I N S C I E N C E T H E R E I S a principle that says for every action, there
is an equal and opposite reaction. In daily living, we could say the
same principle applies. Everything we do, every action we take, even
every thought we have takes us toward one thing (a destination, a goal,
a character trait, a habit, a level of maturity) and therefore away from
something else.
This principle also applies to our walk with God.
What you will be
reading about
As we move closer to God, we are moving farther
away from Satan. As we read God’s Word, we are
1:1- 20
filling our mind with pure thoughts and emptyJoel predicts a plague of
locusts
ing it of evil thoughts. The more time we spend
applying the principles of God’s Word, the less
2:1- 27
Joel predicts an enemy
time we have to form bad habits or give in to
invasion
temptation.
2:28 – 3:21
The prophet Joel understood this principle. His
Joel predicts the day of
nation, Judah (the southern kingdom), was once
the Lord
a “nation under God” but was fast becoming a
nation without God, filled with sin and pagan practices. The sins were piling
up. The reaction was going to be severe. It would come first in the form of a
locust plague.
Locust plagues were common in the ancient world, but this one was unusually severe. “It is a consequence of your sin,” Joel warned. “Turn to God or
worse will happen.” Joel pleaded with everyone—common people and religious leaders alike—to repent, call on God, turn from sin. But no one seemed
to listen.
Then Joel shifts the imagery. The horde of locusts is but a foreshadowing of
a vast horde of enemy soldiers that will swoop down upon the land from the
north. Like the locust plague, this military plague would devour everything
in its path. Like the locust horde, the military horde would come as a consequence of the people’s sin. And then Joel unveils a third judgment, the “day of
the Lord,” that will be final and cataclysmic, a judgment to end all judgments.
At this time, Judah was prosperous, and that prosperity had brought complacency. Complacency bred self-sufficiency, and that self-sufficiency moved
God aside. If we have all we need, why do we need God? That seemed to be the
mood of the day in Judah.
Every act has some consequence, good or bad, small or great. Every act that
takes us away from God has an undesirable consequence. As you read Joel,
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