Peace be with you brothers and sisters
The Scripture passage we will examine today is Joel 1:15 to 20
The title is "The Lord's Disaster"
Woe The day of the
Lord is near That day
comes like destruction from the Almighty
Hasn't the food disappeared before
our eyes Hasn't the joy and gladness
ceased from our God's temple The seed has rotted under the clods
Crimson desolation barren wasteland ruined fields destruction
Because the bones have dried up
Deep cries chaotic cattle herd
Because there is no grass the flocks are in
distress O Lord I call to you Because fire has
burned the grasslands of the wilderness The
flames have consumed the trees of the fields
The wild animals of the field pant after you
because the streams have dried up and the fire has
consumed the grasslands We have already spoken
about the fact that the Israelites should repent
Because they were rebellious
and worshiped false
gods the Lord became angry with the Israelites
then we also spoke about the priests and the
people of Israel who mourned in sackcloth
The day of solemn assembly
to pray for guidance
and repent to the Lord
At that time we also spoke
Some churches also hold serious meals
and solemn meetings although they do not
use coarse cloth and they do so during their solemn meetings and meal prayers
They also seriously reflected on their own sins
mainly telling about the shepherds and child laborers during the festival
just like in those times in Israel
the prophet Joel called on the people and the priests
This is for national prayer so how
do the churches that
hold food events now
know how to do this The church will
celebrate the festival
and no one will object
Because we all have some impure and reckless
aspects the church should
discipline so go ahead
and do it but if the
church is to repent for the
nation and society as
far as I know currently
This kind of church is run behind closed doors the content must be
kept secret otherwise some meddler might
say that this is the church
accusing the country and
society so let's see what happened in Joel's time
What are the signs that God's judgment is
near That is where it
begins Joel points out some obvious
signs that we can already see
with our eyes Verse sixteen mentions this
Hasn't the food disappeared before our eyes Hasn't the joy and gladness
ceased from our God's temple This is
because God has removed His protection
The land of Canaan where the Israelites lived
was known as a land flowing with milk and
honey a place capable of providing abundant
agricultural products and
a delicious food source
But when the protection of God was removed natural
disasters came upon them
and food disappeared before
their eyes whether it was the locust plague we have
mentioned or the occurrence of drought and flood
Agricultural products or total failure of crops
or large-scale reduced harvests the festivals that
were held every year to
celebrate the harvest could
not be held in such years of famine or disaster
Of course there was nothing worth celebrating
The failure of the harvest was not because the farmers were not working hard
Their fields were empty
And they had already sown the seeds
It's just that the seeds have rotted under the soil clods
This is absolutely not a man-made disaster
If anything it's a natural disaster
Why have the seeds rotted under the soil clods
Actually it's normal for only a small
amount to happen It was never the case that
all the seeds planted would sprout It's
just that his statement obviously meant
Seed is mostly or
entirely rotten
this is not normal of course
if you insist we can say this is
due to pests and diseases maybe
But who could allow pests and diseases to run
rampant Is it God We shouldn 't
jump to conclusions
yet Let's keep watching The cattle are in turmoil and crying out because there's no grass
The flock also suffered
hardship It seems the grass was also affected
by the same disaster There was another disaster The scripture also says Because
the fire burned the grasslands of the wilderness
The flames consumed the trees in the fields
The stream dried up
The fire also destroyed the grasslands of the wilderness
This is misfortune upon misfortune
Israel has been struck by multiple natural disasters
Sometimes it's a natural disaster something humans
cannot control sometimes it'
s pests and diseases so small
that no one can manage them these events happen at
the same time you can't say
this isn't the work of God
I find it hard to believe that we are watching
God's works just to see if there
are things that human hands
cannot do or if human hands might be able to do them
on a small scale but not on
a large and organized scale
That is something only God can do If
we observe God's actions and realize
that God's curse has already come
upon us then we should be vigilant
Be attentive to whether God has something
to say to us It often
does It's just whether
we are willing to listen If we hear it then this is what we should eat and repent
It is time to hold a serious meeting to repent
Perhaps God will regret not bringing this disaster upon us
It's also uncertain
May God have mercy on us and lead us
Amen
