Joel 1:1

Joel 1:1 says, The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.  This is where all true prophecy has to begin.  This is also where our proclamation of the gospel has to begin.  The word of the Lord must come to us.  As followers of Christ today, we must also acknowledge that God's word to us is going to be consistent with His written word, the Bible.  If anyone proclaims some new revelation that goes against the Bible, we need to stay away from them.  God's revelation of Himself to the world was completed in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Even though we are given some signs to look for before Christ returns, that should not be our emphasis.  Christ as Savior and Lord is our message today and always.  Verse two adds, Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?  Joel was referring to the destruction of their crops.  He was asking if the old men could remember a time when things were so bad.  Today, we hear about how bad things have gotten in the world, and the older people especially tend to say that things have continually gotten worse, especially from a moral aspect.  When the people of the world refuse to acknowledge God, the world will indeed continue to get worse.  Verse three continues, Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.  I believe that the people of Judah, who were still a part of God's chosen people, were being instructed to teach the coming generations about the destruction that comes when God's people are out of God's will.  We, all these generations later, still need to understand this. Verse four states, That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.  Joel was telling the people of Judah that their crops were going to be totally destroyed.  Though they had not acknowledged it, God had protected them from this destruction and had provided for them.  The same is true today.  God protects His people from destruction and provides for their needs when they follow His will. Anything that we sow outside of His will ultimately will be totally destroyed.  Verse five adds, Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.  Israel was called on to awake from their drunken state. They were going to be cut off from their new wine and would howl in need of it.  When we are out of God's will today, we need to awake from our stupor and quit looking to anything else to bring us peace and happiness.  Verse six continues, For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.  Not only were their crops to be destroyed, but they were to lose their freedom to another nation.  Without God, Judah was helpless.  Today, without God, we are helpless.  If we allow the things of this world to become more important than the will of God, we are likewise helpless.  We must always seek God's guidance first, or we can be overcome by the evil in the world.  Verse seven concludes, He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.  Destruction of earthly things that God's people relied on outside of following His will would be complete.  Even though we as followers of Christ have everlasting security, if we are attempting to rely on anything in this world other than God for security, whatever that is will ultimately be utterly destroyed.