unwitting accomplices

Posted on August 12, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
people wearing green and brown camouflage military suit while standing holding rifles

Photo by Somchai Kongkamsri on Pexels.com

Joel 2:10-11 (JDV)

Joel 2:10 The land quakes before them; the sky1 shakes. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars cease their shining.

Joel 2:11 Yahveh makes his voice heard in the presence of his army. His camp is very substantial; those who carry out his command are powerful. In fact, the day of Yahveh is terrible and dreadful – who can endure it?

unwitting accomplices

Whoa, what happened? Right in the middle of predicting a terrible invasion by an unstoppable army, the prophet seems to have changed topics. Is he now talking about the eschatological day of Yahveh – the day of rescue and judgment of the nations?

What Joel is saying is that in this coming invasion, these enemy troops are unwitting accomplices to God’s plan, and he himself is giving the command. They may think they are destroying God’s people, but they are really paving the way for the revival of God’s people. The flesh must be dead before a resurrection can happen. This part of the prophecy is setting the stage for the prediction of an outpouring of God’s Breath to animate the corpse of a destroyed people (2:28-32).

Lord, we are grateful today that all the power in the universe is yours. You control even the actions of our enemies. What they do unwittingly, we choose to do consciously. We want to do what you command.

1שָׁמַיִם

Posted in discipleship, obedience, plan of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

until the storms are over

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
gray battle tank during daytime

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Joel 2:6-9 (JDV)

Joel 2:6 Nations convulse1 before them; all the people’s faces are drained of redness.

Joel 2:7 They attack like warriors attack; they scale walls like men of war do. Each marches on his own path, and they do not change their course.

Joel 2:8 They do not push each other; each marches on his own path. They dodge the arrows, never stopping.

Joel 2:9 They rush into the city; they run on the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like thieves.

until the storms are over

Time and distance might rob us of the effect this passage intends. The sheer terror of being in the path of a disciplined, invincible invading army is enough to drain the color from anyone. The nation knows that there is nowhere to hide. They knew how invasive and all-consuming the locust storms had been. Now, the prophet tells them that the next invasions will be enemy warriors! What is more – they will be unstoppable.

What do you do when God’s news is bad news like this? Pray for protection, survival of the nation, and strength to stay with God until the storms are over.

Lord, we ask you to bless us and our nations and families. But if there is disaster in our destiny, we choose to faithfully endure our fate, trusting you to make your good, pleasing and perfect will evident at last.

1חוּל

Posted in conflict, courage, perseverance, plan of God | Tagged | Leave a comment

six minutes

Posted on August 10, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
police army commando special task force

Photo by Somchai Kongkamsri on Pexels.com

Joel 2:3-5 (JDV)

Joel 2:3 A fire consumes in front of them, and behind them a flame devours. The land in front of them is like the garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like an open wasteland; there is no escape from them.

Joel 2:4 Their appearance is like that of horses, and they run like war horses.

Joel 2:5 They pounce on the tops of the mountains. Their sound is like the sound of chariots, like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble, like a numerous army lined up for war.

six minutes

When I was a soldier, someone told me that since we were stationed very near the enemy border, my unit was expected to last about six minutes. Our objective was to take the immediate onslaught with the hope that reinforcing units would be able to muster and engage the enemy after we were all dead. I don’t think that information did much for my brigade’s morale.

I can imagine feeling similar thoughts if I had been a citizen of Joel’s nation, They had little hope of survival. If Joel was right, they were going to be consumed by the enemy.

Lord, we do not know what our fate is in this life. But we are grateful that you have promised us a resurrection and a permanent life with no threat of disaster.

Posted in dependence upon God, eternal life, resurrection | Tagged | Leave a comment

when the dominoes start falling

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
addiction deck dominoes gambling

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Joel 2:1-2 (JDV)

Joel 2:1 Blow a ram’s horn bugle1 in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the people living in the land tremble, because the day of Yahveh is coming; in fact, it is near –

Joel 2:2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a substantial2 and numerous people appears, such as has not existed from a past age and I will not do it again until the years of generation after generation have lapsed.

when the dominoes start falling

This was not what the nation wanted to hear from its prophet. They had already experienced a terrible four-stage locust invasion, and they wanted relief. The last thing they needed was an invasion of warriors too numerous to count. But Joel tells them to start blowing their Shofar, because that is exactly what is going to happen.

Sometimes the bad news happens in bunches. Sometimes one disaster is just the first domino in a series of unfortunate events that rip through your life with no time to repair any of the damages. When that starts happening, remember that God always knows what you are experiencing. He has a plan, and even if that plan does not call for your immediate relief, it is still best to trust him.

Lord, help us to trust you when the dominoes start falling.

1שׁוֹפָר

2רַב

Posted in plan of God, suffering | Tagged | Leave a comment

disaster and destiny

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
earth desert dry hot

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Joel 1:15-20 (JDV)

Joel 1:15 Tragedy on that day! You see, the day of Yahveh is near and will come as a destructive storm from the Almighty.

Joel 1:16 Hasn’t the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and happiness from the house of our God?

Joel 1:17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings. The storehouses are in ruin, and the granaries are broken down, because the grain has dried up.

Joel 1:18 How the animals moan! The herds of cattle wander in confusion since they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep and goats are held guilty.1

Joel 1:19 I call to you, Yahveh, because fire has consumed the pastures of the open country,2 and flames have burned up all the trees of the orchard.

Joel 1:20 Even the wild animals cry out to you, because the river beds are dried up, and fire has consumed the pastures of the open country.

disaster and destiny

There is a lot of good news in Joel, but we have not yet gotten to it. Joel is predicting a serious disaster right when his nation is suffering the after effects of a terrible locust invasion and its corresponding drought. His language pictures the devastation in such vivid detail that it would be hard to deny it, since it was already starting to happen. While you are in such a state, it helps to find meaning in it, even if you have to wait for relief.

Joel’s good news comes after all this bad news because all these terrible things he predicted came true. That fact established him as a true prophet. So, when he later predicts a nation-wide revival where God’s Breath is poured out on this same nation, his words were credible. It would take centuries for that prophecy to be fulfilled, but people had a reason to believe it would.

Lord, we trust your words, because they have already been proven reliable.

1אָשַׁם

2מִדְבָּר

Posted in Bible, prophecy, suffering | Tagged | Leave a comment

worship disrupted

Posted on August 7, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
red and yellow stop sticker

Photo by Linda Eller-Shein on Pexels.com

Joel 1:13-14 (JDV)

Joel 1:13 Wrap yourselves in sackcloth and passionately demonstrate your sorrow, you priests; yell, you ministers of the altar. Come and spend the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, because grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

Joel 1:14 Commit to1 a sacred fast; proclaim an assembly! Gather the elders and all the ones living in the land at the house of Yahveh your God, and cry out to Yahveh.

worship disrupted

A terrible blow has been delivered to the nation, and now the prophet has gotten their attention. His words to them are not ignorant of what they are going through. But he does not try to sugar coat their painful pill. No, if anything, he is desperately trying to get the nation to understand God’s point of view. The glory of their God is at stake. The indicators of the blessings the people are usually experiencing include the grain and drink offerings. But the harvest and vineyards have been wiped out. The people are ready for a little religion, because their lives and livelihoods have been disrupted. But what they need is a lot of religion, because worship itself has been disrupted. They need more than restoration. They need revival, and it is going to take a night in sackcloth and a sacred fast.

Lord, we want more than just a little more religion. We need lives focused on you and your glory.

1קדַשׁ

Posted in religion, renewal, worship | Tagged | Leave a comment

invitation to grieve

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
candlelight candles

Photo by Irina Anastasiu on Pexels.com

Joel 1:7-12 (JDV)

Joel 1:7 It1 has desolated2 my grapevine and splintered my fig tree. It has stripped off its bark and thrown it away; its branches have turned white.

Joel 1:8 Grieve like a young woman wrapped3 in sackcloth, mourning for the husband whom she married young.

Joel 1:9 Grain and drink offerings have been cut off from the house of Yahveh; the priests, who are ministers of Yahveh, mourn.

Joel 1:10 The fields are destroyed; the land grieves; in fact, the grain is destroyed; the new wine is dried up; and the fresh oil fails.

Joel 1:11 Be ashamed, you farmers, yell, you vintners, over the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.

Joel 1:12 The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the date palm, and the apple – all the trees of the orchard – have withered. In fact, human joy has dried up.

invitation to grieve

After suffering a devastating four phase locust invasion, the nation wants a chance to recover. But the prophet tells them that recovery is not yet on the menu. Instead, Joel invites the nation to yell, grieve, mourn and to be ashamed. The natural disaster was just to get their attention. An invading army is coming.

Jesus pronounced a blessing upon those who are mourning now. Mourners are sensitive to what God has to what God has to say, and can respond to the tragedy that is predicted.

Lord, give us your eyes to see, and your heart to grieve.

1the invading nation – depicted as a lioness in 1:6

2שַׁמָּה

3חָגַר

Posted in dependence upon God, discernment, discipleship, insight | Tagged | Leave a comment

from locusts to lions

Posted on August 5, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
landscape nature sunset clouds

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Joel 1:5-6 (JDV)

Joel 1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; yell,1 all you wine drinkers, over the sweet wine, because it has been cut off from your mouth.

Joel 1:6 You see, a nation has invaded my land, powerful and numberless; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the jaws of a lioness.

from locusts to lions

If we only knew what the future might hold, we would shake ourselve free of our lethargy and self-centeredness. Joel spoke to a nation which had not considered the possibility of being conquered. The locusts were only the beginning, lions were coming. But Judah was not ready. The people had considered themselves invasion proof. Perhaps they thought God would protect them.

Notice that Joel uses the past tense here. He speaks of the wine as alraeady having been cut off, and the nation has already invaded. God has already experienced their future, and he sends his prophet to warn them. The scriptures can be that for us. They can warn us of things that will happen, or things that might. But it is up to us to wake up and get prepared.

There are some disasters we cannot avoid, but we can be prepared.

1יָלַל

Posted in preparation, prophecy | Tagged | Leave a comment

things getting worse

Posted on August 4, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
brown insect in closeup photo

Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com

Joel 1:1-4 (JDV)

Joel 1:1 The word of Yahveh1 that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

Joel 1:2 Hear this, you elders; listen, all you who live2 in the land.3 Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your fathers?

Joel 1:3 Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.

Joel 1:4 What the recently mature locust4 has left, the winging stage locust5 has eaten; what the winging stage locust has left, the crawling stage locust6 has eaten; and what the crawling stage locust has left, the destroying locust7 has eaten.

things getting worse

Judah had been hit by a major natural disaster: a series of locust plagues that wiped out the nation’s economy and led to system-wide depression and famine. It was hard to imagine things getting any worse. But Joel does not ride into town with his white horse and tell everybody “there, there, everything is going to get better now.” No, Joel’s message is more like “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” The plague of locusts which came from the north is going to be followed by swarms of armies coming from the same direction. We know from history that those armies came from Assyria, then Babylon, the Persia, then Greece, then Rome.

Lord, we accept your plan for our lives, and we will not be daunted in our faith if things get worse. We have chosen to trust you no matter what.

1יהוה

2יָשַׁב

3אֶרֶץ

4גָּזָם

5אַרְבֶּה

6יֶלֶק

7חָסִיל

Posted in dependence upon God, prophecy, trust | Tagged | Leave a comment

miserable means

Posted on August 3, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
repairing a car

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

Galatians 6:17-18 (JDV)

Galatians 6:17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, because I am bearing on my body the marks of Jesus.

Galatians 6:18 Brothers, the favor of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your breath. Amen.

miserable means

I am not sure if Paul was referring to the persecutions and difficulties he faced in his missionary work (shipwrecks and the like) when he said he was bearing the marks of Jesus. He may have been referring to the betrayal and abandonment he was feeling because of the way the congregations in Galatia had turned against him. Either way, we would have to agree that it was not right. A seasoned missionary should not have to endure such misery.

But what if these troubles had never happened? If Paul had always experienced victory in his church planting and development, we would not have these epistles. They were born out of trouble. And they have provided all of us with valuable insights about God’s design for his people in this age.

When we encounter things in our lives that are not working out right, we need to keep in mind that God’s plan includes them as well. We should be open to being taught – even through miserable means.

Posted in discipleship, persecution, suffering | Tagged | Leave a comment