Joel 1:8

Joel 1:8 says, Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.  I believe that Joel was calling the people of Judah to lament, or to mourn, because they had lost the husband of their youth, or their relationship with God.  The analogy of God, or in the New Testament of Christ, as the Groom and His people as the bride should be familiar to God's people.  Judah had turned away from their covenant relationship with God, and that should have caused them to mourn for that lost relationship.  If we are outside the complete will of God, we should mourn for that lost relationship. Verse nine adds, The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn.  Since the people of Judah had rebelled against God, their sacrifices to Him were cut off.  This should have led the priests, God's ministers, to mo urn.  We must realize that just because we offer a sacrifice to God, that does not obligate Him to accept it.  If we are offering a sacrifice while not following God's will in our life, we are sacrificing in vain.  As followers of Christ, we acknowledge the priesthood of all believers, so if we see false worship going on around us, we should be in mourning.  Following God's will means putting Him first in all aspects of our lives, and not just in the words we speak.  Our words and actions must be consistent.  Verse ten continues, The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.  This is a continuation of the warning of the destruction of the land of God's people.  God had given them the land, but since they had turned against Him, they were going to lose it.  We can be sure of the same thing.  Verse eleven states, Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.  Having failed to live up to their commitment with God, their crops had failed, and they were told they should be ashamed.   When we are outside of the will of God, then anything we have looked to for success will ultimately fail, and for this we should be ashamed.  Through Christ, God has already given us victory in all situations if we rely on His strength.  Verse twelve adds, The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.  When the people were not following God, there was no true joy.  Today, our joy can only come through a right relationship with God.  Verse thirteen continues, Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.  It was time for God's people, even the priests, to genuinely repent.  When offerings were withheld from the altar of God, only genuine repentance could restore the m.  When we withhold things promised to God, we must likewise truly repent with broken hearts for our lack of faith.  Only then can we be fully restored to God.