Prepare For War! (Joel 3:9)
Tuesday, October 1, 2024 Psalm 74 Joel 3:9-21 Colossians 1:9-20 Prepare For War! (Joel 3:9) One of the many benefits of regular Bible reading is that we learn to avoid the trap of the mondegreen. A mondegreen is when you mis-hear or mis-remember a line from, say, a song or a poem. One example comes from today’s reading: “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.” (Joel 3:10) Doesn’t that sound a little off? Isn’t it the other way around? If so, you may be remembering Isaiah 2:4, which reads: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Pulling this part of Joel together with that part of Isaiah makes one realise that, between the two, we are getting a fuller picture of how God relates to humanity. In Joel, there are people turning their tools into weapons, and coming into the valley of God’s judgement. Isaiah, meanwhile, turns the camera towards those who are turning their weapons into tool...