Today’s passage: Joel 1:1-20
Helpful thoughts:
- Little more is known about the prophet Joel than what is written in this short book.
- His name means, “Yahweh is God.”
- It’s quite possible that he lived and served in Judah during the period of the divided kingdoms. But, this is not certain.
- Joel’s main message in this book is that the “Day of the Lord” is coming. The “Day of the Lord” is a phrase referring to God’s judgment against sin which, in the end, will be followed by gracious blessing and life for God’s people.
- Today’s passage refers to a time of judgment during Joel’s lifetime.
- The right response of the people was to cry out to the Lord in repentance.
- God is the one to whom we must go for forgiveness, and only God could restore a nation’s physical well-being after the devastation described in this chapter.
Questions to consider:
- What is significant about verses 2-3? What must we do with the word that God has given us? What would indifference to God’s Word result in? How do we show a right reverence and healthy fear of God and also respond appropriately to His love for us? (James 1:22-25)
- What was the means of distraction for the drunkards in verse 5? What was going to happen once their distraction was taken away? Did their problems actually just start for them once they were sober, or were the problems already there and being ignored in their drunkenness? What are some ways you might be tempted to “distract” yourself from dealing with problems or the need of repentance?
- What does the necessity of crying out to God remind us of? Knowing that we are all sinners, what is our hope of rescue? Living in a world that will one day see the Day of the Lord, to whom must we look, and point others toward, as we persevere in the faith (Hebrews 12:1-2)?