When God gives His word in a time of crisis it is critical to sound the alarm for all to hear. This is illustrated in the book of Joel in the Old Testament. Let me suggest we do an inductive study of this brief, three chapter book.
In an inductive study you first look at what the book says. Then you work at discovering what the book’s message means. This is what we call interpreting the message. Once we have done that we need to determine what it is God expects of us in the light of what we now understand. In other words, what difference should what we have studied and determined as the meaning make in our lives, our behavior?
The word of the Lord came to the prophet Joel following a time when swarms of locusts devastated the land of Israel. Through the prophet God was giving a wake up call! Made vulnerable by the devastation of the swarms of locusts Joel warned the nation of an impending attack by enemy forces. If they thought the natural disaster was bad, the military attack would be far worse.
Joel’s message was also one of hope for the future. The way to prepare for what he was anticipating during the impending attack and afterwards was for the nation to repent while still in their present predicament.
Sounding the alarm had relevance for those Joel was addressing. It had further relevance for believers following the birth of the Christian church. And it has relevance to those living during the final conflagration known as the day of the Lord. We’ll dig deeper in our next visit.
