©Michael Player
Chapter 1:15-20 (ESV) - Alas for the day!
For the day of the LORD is near,
and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.
Is not the food cut off
before our eyes,
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
The seed shrivels under the clods;
the storehouses are desolate;
the granaries are torn down
because the grain has dried up.
How the beasts groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep suffer.
To you, O LORD, I call.
For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
Even the beasts of the field pant for you
because the water brooks are dried up,
and fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.
Question to consider: What does Joel mean by “the day of the LORD is near?”
The “Day of the LORD” in scripture is not merely a future event that happens at the end of time. If this were the case, the words of the prophets would have had very little relevance to the people of their own generation, and there would have been no way to test the legitimacy of their oracles.
Instead we should understand the “Day of the LORD” as a time of judgment upon a generation. Because the LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, He is willing to suffer long, but there is a limit to His patience. At the time of Joel, the LORD used the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom and burn the pastures of the countryside of Judah.
The Day of the LORD in this case was a reference to the coming judgment on the city of Jerusalem. Because the LORD hears the lamentations of those who confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, Sennacherib was allowed to attack the city but not overcome it. The false prophets of Jeremiah’s day would see this as a sign that the LORD would never destroy His precious city, and so they proclaimed, “Peace! Peace!” when there was no peace. The city would ultimately fall to the Babylonians under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar as a result.
Ironically, the Assyrians in Nineveh seemed to understand the nature of God better than the false prophets. When Jonah preached of their destruction that was to come in forty days, they understood that if God was willing to give them a warning, He might relent from His wrath if they were to humble themselves and repent of their sin. Jonah understood this as well and tried to run away from God’s command to warn them in order to bring about their judgment. Jonah confessed it openly in his response to the LORD, “And he prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (Jonah 4:2)
If Joel could not get the elders and inhabitants of the land to lament over their sin, maybe they would reconsider their actions for the sake of their suffering herds. Sin not only brought about a curse on humanity, but its consequences have caused all of creation to groan.
Dear heavenly Father, we thank You for showing us our sin and giving us the opportunity to turn to You for mercy. We look forward to the day when there is no more sin or death, and we will honor You perfectly and eternally. Amen.