Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 751. Bible Study: Joel 1 (History Repeats: Plague, Famine, Fire, War- Prophecy)

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751. Bible Study: Joel 1 (History Repeats: Plague, Famine, Fire, War- Prophecy) · Faith by annm2705

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We're starting a new book, the book of Joel.
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I realized after the fact that the book of Joel was written
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before the book of Isaiah and from my study Bible it was
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listing all the different prophets and when they reigned
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during what king. And I realized that the reason
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Joel wasn't listed is because he doesn't reference a king, so
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they can't place when it was. However, there is a general time
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frame of Joel's ministry actually in Judah and then also
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in Nineveh. So in Judah it says his ministry
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was about 835 to 796 BC and then his ministry, oh wait, I'm
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sorry, that's Joel's ministry. Then after him came Jonah.
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So anyway, he was in that little in that time frame before Isaiah
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and his book is only three chapters long.
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So it's a very short book. So we're going to cover this and
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then we'll move on to the the next prophet.
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I think I've got all of them in order now of when they were
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speaking and I'll try to do the rest follow up in order.
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There was another one too. I think it was Obadiah that was
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not listed, but I'll do that in sequence because I did find that
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part too. So I'll start by reading the
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introduction that's from the study Bible that I have and it
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says why read this book if you long to personally experience
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God's work and power. Joel Prophecies are Joel's
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prophecies will resonate with you.
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His predictions, though frightening at times, will also
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inspire you. In fact, Joel prophesied the
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coming of the Holy Spirit, linking God's work in the Old
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Testament with the birth of the New Testament church.
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Reading Joel will show you God's intense desire for intimacy with
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all His people. Who wrote the book?
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Joel, who is a prophet of God. When was it written?
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Some think Joel wrote during Jeremiah's lifetime around six O
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9 BC. Others say he could have written
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it later after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon around
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5:38 BC. But because Joel mentioned no
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king or and spoke of elders as leaders in verse one or in
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chapter 1 verse 2, still others suggest a much earlier date,
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perhaps around 835 BC when Judah had a child king.
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According to Second Kings Chapter 11 verse 21.
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What was happening at this time? Assuming the earlier date, 7
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year old Joash had just been crowned king over Judah.
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Though Jehoiadiah the high priest was the power behind the
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throne, under Joash's wicked father and grandmother, Pagan
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idol worship had flourished in Judah.
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See Second Kings chapter 8 through 11.
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To whom was it written and why? The prophet Joel wrote to the
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people of Judah, urging them to return to God.
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With Joash's wicked father and grandmother out of the way, Joel
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saw tremendous opportunity for renewal in the land.
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But he also warned Judah that judgment in the form of an
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agricultural disaster would come if they did not repent.
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What to look for in Joel? Watch for God's double barrelled
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plan for his people, a specific plan of punishment for sin, but
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also a promise to defend his people zealously.
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In both modes, look for God's passionate concern for His
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people. So just to put another
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perspective in it, it's always helpful to have timelines of
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when things certain things happened.
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So the Kingdom was divided, but after Solomon, the Kingdom
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became divided and that's when we had the 10 tribes.
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The 10 northern tribes were of that were called Israel and the
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2 southern tribes that were called Judah.
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So it was Judah and Benjamin in the southern tribe and then the
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the rest of them in the northern tribe.
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So that division of the Kingdom happened, the ministries of
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Elijah and Elijah in Israel, that already happened.
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And then came Joel's ministry in Judah.
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So we'll read the first, the first chapter is it's one of
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those prophecies that, you know, could have it happened multiple
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times. Like it's, it doesn't, you don't
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really know if it's something that happened, you know, there
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is something in the near future or the long term future.
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It really doesn't give a, a good understanding of it.
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But, but then the second one, the 2nd chapter, the 3rd chapter
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really seem like end times kind of prophecies there.
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But we'll read them and I'll do the Bible studies, questions and
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answers. So the word of the Lord that
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came to Joel, son of Pathiel, an invasion of locusts is what this
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called here? This you elders.
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So this is just like what the introduction was telling us.
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He's addressing the elders and he's not addressing a king or
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anything. So he's talking to the elders
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here. This you elders.
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Listen, all who live in the land, has anything like this
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ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?
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So I think it's the way it sounds here is that something
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just happened. And he is, he is talking, I
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guess he's explaining to it, explaining why it happened to
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the people. That's what it sounds like to
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me. But he's saying, you know, has
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anything ever happened like this?
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Tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their
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children and their children to the next generation.
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So he wants this what happened to be told generation after
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generation after generation. And obviously that is happening
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because the book of Joel was written and people, anybody who
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reads the the prophet Joel's book, it goes on for even
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further generations where they hear about this.
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So what? What the locust swarm has left,
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the great locusts have eaten. What the great locusts have left
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the young locusts have eaten. What the young locusts have
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left, other locusts have eaten. So to me, this sounds like it
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could either be a metaphor or it could be a plague.
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Like this literally happened. And often it can be both.
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It can be a literal happening, but also symbolic meaning.
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So a little bit later, it sounds like it's also symbolic meaning,
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meaning, but it talks about, when I was reading these, I was
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kind of summarizing what these are saying it it talks about a
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famine or a plague, the plague of locusts.
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It talks about a war also, and it talks about a famine.
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Like these are things that are also talked about in the Book of
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Revelation when the seals are opened and there's like, first,
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there's a conqueror, second, there's like war, third, there's
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famine and pestilence and all those things like, and that's
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the same thing that happened when Egypt.
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There were the 10 plagues that happened in Egypt before the
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Israelites were freed from there.
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So God, it's like history repeats.
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There's a lot of things. These are when these kinds of
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things happen. It does really seem because they
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were repeated over and over in history, it does seem that this
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is God's way of sending partial judgment, not final judgment,
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but warnings to people that you know, these are consequences of
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their actions that these things are happening.
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That's that's the take away that I get with this is that when,
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when a a nation is rebellious and away from God, these things
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will happen to them. Plagues will come, war will
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come, famine will come. And it again, these things just
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seem to repeat over and over. So he's identifying that these
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locusts have come and it's it's like, has any, has this ever
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happened? You know, I kind of felt so a
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plague. And I was kind of thinking of
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that of that personally, in 2020 was when that whole COVID thing
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happened. I was thinking, did anything
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ever happened like this where it just shut down the whole world?
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Like, not in my life it didn't, you know, maybe in others lives.
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But I'm almost having the same reaction as Joel.
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It's just like, when did this ever happen?
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And of course, you know, we'll probably talk about this to
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future people. I mean, it's something that
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significantly impacted everyone who was alive at that time.
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And and it's, you know, to me that is like that is a
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pestilence that was like a plague that came about us.
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I think that was a warning from God.
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And just like these times and now, you know, we're also
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experiencing not long after that happened, I think it was in 22
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or 23, I can't remember now. 22 I think was that when Russia and
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Ukraine started at war and then in 2023 we have the Israel and
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Hamas and other countries that are at war.
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And these are also things that Jesus talked about in Matthew.
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I think it's chapter 24 where he talks about wars and rumors of
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wars and famines and plagues and earthquakes and things like
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that. Well, all this stuff is
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happening right now. So it's it's a repetition and it
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happened back, you know, in the time of Joel when apparently
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because he experienced this, because it sound like he's
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saying, you know, has anything ever happened like this before?
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And it was something extremely devastating with these locusts
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that came and just ate up everything.
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And then he's saying, wake up you drunkards and weep.
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Wail, all you drinkers of wine, wail because of the new wine,
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for it has been snatched from your lips.
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So this is kind of like, you know, there's not going to be
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any wine. You know, you're happy with the
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wine that you have, but it's gone because our, our land has
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been devastated. Then he says, a nation has
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invaded my land, a mighty army without number.
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It has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.
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It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees.
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It is stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving
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their branches white. So there was something that came
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in that was very significant and destroyed the land.
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And the Bible isn't specific about what it is.
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The study Bible has some theories on what it is, but the
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Bible doesn't really tell us, so it's only speculation.
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But we can see that he talked about a plague.
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He's talking about some sort of a war with a mighty army.
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Huge army coming in and just devastating all the land.
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Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth, grieving for the
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betrothed of her youth. Grain offerings and drink
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offerings are cut off from the House of the Lord.
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This made me also think about like sacrifices stopped.
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And that's something else that's futuristic where Daniel talked
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about it too, like the the 70th week that people talk about or
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the the final week of this age of time period that there, you
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know, there's a the sacrifices will be stopped.
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And again, this is just not. Maybe this is not the prophecy
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about that, because it does sound like this was something
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that happened in past tense Joel, but it also history
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repeats itself. The priests are in mourning
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those who minister before the Lord.
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The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up, the grain is
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destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails.
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So there's going to be a famine when all your food is
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devastated. Despair.
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You farmers whale, you vine growers grieve for the wheat and
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the barley. Because the harvest of the field
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is destroyed. The vine is dried up and the fig
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tree is withered. The pomegranate, the palm and
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the apple tree, all the trees of the field are dried up.
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Surely the people's joy is withered away.
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So again, this to me, it really sounds like the Book of
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Revelation. And I think there were a thing,
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a few things like Jeremiah 29 verse 17 talks about sword
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famine and plague, and that was like in the past Nebuchadnezzar.
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So again, history repeats itself.
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Put on sackcloth, you priest, and mourn whale.
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You who minister before the altar, come spend the night in
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sackcloth, you who minister before my God.
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For the green offerings and the drink offerings are withheld
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from the House of your God. Declare a holy fast, call a
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sacred assembly, summon the elders and all who live in the
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land to the House of the Lord your God and cry out to the Lord
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at last for that day, for the day of the Lord is near, it will
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come like destruction from the Almighty.
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Now this is something that he's, it seems like he is just saying
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like this is horrible and he's feeling like the day of the Lord
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is near because the day of the Lord is usually the final day of
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judgement. And it does seem like the next
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couple of chapters that are in Joel do talk about end times.
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But I think he's kind of comparing the devastation they
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were experiencing, thinking that the day of the Lord is near.
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And and that's happened a lot in multiple generations where
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things got so bad that people were thinking, this is it, you
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know, like the Lord is coming back.
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And it seems like he was also thinking that, but he also talks
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about more things like prophetically.
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Then he says, has not the food been cut off before our very
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eyes? Joy and gladness from the House
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of our God. The sheep, the seeds are
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shriveled beneath the clods. The Storehart horses houses are
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in ruins. The granaries have been broken
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down for the grain has dried up. How the cattle moan, the herds
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mill about because they have no pasture.
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Even the flocks of sheep are suffering to you, Lord, I call
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for the fire. For fire has devoured the
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pastures in the wilderness, and flames have burned up all the
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trees of the field. Even the wild animals pant for
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you. The streams of water have dried
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up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
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So it seems like they've been devastated by fire also.
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And that's the end of Chapter 1. So again, we could also relate
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to that like we've had in the United States have had and in
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other countries there have been these massive fires.
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There's been massive fires in Canada and I don't remember all
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the other countries. I haven't paid as much attention
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to them, but I know that there's lots of fires.
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We certainly had them in the United States in a variety of
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areas where these fires were devastating the lands.
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And it's just weird or interesting that all of these
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things that God uses as judgement are reoccurring like
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these really awful storms that we are having, this really bad
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weather that we are having these, you know, just strange
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weather. There are earthquakes too, that
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are happening in various places, just like Jesus said.
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And the, the last days, there will be those things and they,
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they have been increasing in, in frequency and devastation.
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And I was doing some research on this a few years ago, just when
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I, it kind of triggered a question in my mind, are these
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increasing? Are these really happening?
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Like checking it out And apparently that these things
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used to be published, but now they were taken offline because
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it started concerning people too much because they aren't they
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are showing that earthquakes are increasing in the number and
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frequency of them. And and so that caused people to
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concern. It's like, OK, little don't
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let's not get everybody. It's really strange, you know,
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like we'll put fear in people for some things, but then other
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things we want to hide. But that supports what the Bible
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says. So maybe that's why it was
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hidden. But anyway, there are there are
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certainly things that are happening right now that seem to
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be a little bit of judgment on us.
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And it's probably a wake up call for all of us to refocus,
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recommit to the Lord, or commit for the first time to the Lord
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to turn to Him and to seek him while he may be found.
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Because at the time when Jesus returns, that's going to be too
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late. So now is the time to turn to
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Him. I'm going to read what the Study
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Bible says about this chapter and then wrap it up.
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So who were these elders? During the time each community
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in Judah was governed locally by a group of respected elders, The
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type of government was known as a Regency.
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Joel appealed to the community reader leaders rather than to
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the king. When were these predictions
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fulfilled? The plague of locusts probably
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occurred not long after the writing of Joel.
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Some also think in addition to the locust plague, Joel was
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predicting a military invasion. It is believed that the
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Scythians, a tribe from the Black Sea region, were the
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vehicle by which God punished Judah.
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Several centuries later, the Scythians put an end to the
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career of Alexander the Great. Why fear a locust?
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The locust is an aggressive type of grasshopper.
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An army of these insects can devastate entire fields of crops
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within minutes, bringing economic ruin and destroying
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food supplies. A locust can consume every green
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thing in its path, all the while making a loud, terrifying noise
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with its wings. Was drunken drunkenness a
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problem in Judah? Yes, apparently Judah's upper
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classes consumed great quantities of wine.
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Times were prosperous, and perhaps out of boredom or a
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twisted sense of competition to outdrink each other, they
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shamelessly drank themselves into oblivion.
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What was new wine? It was the newly pressed juice
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of of the grape. It contained less flavor and
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less alcohol because of the short aging process.
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What? What nation was this?
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Joel used this metaphor to describe the swarms of insects
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that would later invade Judah. Some believe it also refers in a
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second, secondary sense to the Scythians, a tribe from the
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Black Sea region who would later invade from the north.
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Why ask for a holy fast and sacred assembly because of
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impending doom? Joel told Judah to show God
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their seriousness by declaring a national day of fasting and
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prayer. What is the day of the Lord?
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This refers to any time God deals with the nation or
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generation so that it will return to its spiritual senses.
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The final day of reckoning, however, will be when Christ
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returns. And that's the end of chapter
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one from the book of Joel.