Call A Sacred Assembly (Joel 1:14)

 


Thursday, September 26, 2024


Psalms 65; 70

Joel 1:1-14

Ephesians 5:21-33


Observance: Lancelot Andrewes, bishop of Winchester (d. 1626)


Call A Sacred Assembly (Joel 1:14)


Another day, another minor prophet, this time the prophet Joel. His is a curious case amongst the prophets; there is nothing really to tie him down to any specific part of history, as he doesn’t mention any kings. Nor is he mentioned in any of the historical narratives (the name itself was popular, but none of those other Joels is this Joel). What sticks out the most, particularly with regards our own efforts at learning what lessons we have for today, is that his main imagery is not imagery: he is talking about literal locusts. He certainly does a good job of making the locusts sound like a metaphor for an invading army, but his metaphor is the other way around: the invading army is, in this case, literal locusts.


All this makes us approach a certain type of spiritual discernment we feel very uncomfortable with: does God use the environment to speak to us? Joel seemed to be convinced that a plague of locusts was a message from God. Would God do a similar thing today? There are certainly plenty of natural disasters going around; are any of those a message from God in the same way the locusts were to Joel?


Perhaps, perhaps not. That is a discussion for another day. But one thing is the same between Joel’s time and ours: the need for national repentance. God does promise good things for his people, and Jesus teaches us to continually ask our Father for all the good things he is ready to give us. Why shouldn’t we be including generous harvests and a healthy environment in those petitions?


There is clearly a connection of some kind linking the material and spiritual realms. Every scientific breakthrough and agricultural effort should be matched, if not exceeded, with prayer and thanksgiving. If our nation is suffering environmentally, whether from a locust plague, or a poor harvest, or floods, fire, or anything else: gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord our God, and cry out to the Lord. And if our nation is blessed environmentally, free from plagues, floods, fire, or anything else: gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord our God, and cry out to the Lord.


What environmental problems will you pray into today? What environmental blessings will you rejoice over today?


Lord of all the earth, make us a people after your own heart, so that the whole earth may rejoice in your goodness.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knowing The Difference (2 Chronicles 12:8)

Image
  Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Psalms 137; 138 2 Chronicles 12 James 2:8-26 Knowing The Difference (2 Chronicles 12:8) Let’s be honest for a moment. It is all too easy to look around ourselves, at the world around us, to see how non-Christians are living their lives, and wonder if the grass over there might be greener. Our Lord’s commands often seem confusing, or burdensome, and if we were to pack it all in and go our own way, might not things be easier? Becoming lords of our own destiny is the ongoing temptation of the human race. From the fruit in the Garden of Eden, to today’s mantra of “be all you can be”, we have been trapped in this to-and-fro between the intentions of our Creator and the desires of our own hearts. And why not, thought Rehoboam? Why shouldn’t I look at the success of my own rule, and abandon the law of the Lord? Or perhaps he justified his apostasy not from his success, but from his failure to bring the northern kingdom back in line. P
Read more

Anxiety For All The Churches

  Tuesday, June 18, 2024 Psalm 107:1-22 2 Chronicles 6:32-7:6 2 Corinthians 11:16-29 Anxiety For All The Churches (2 Corinthians 11:28) A phrase I often come across when talking with people about life is “I can’t complain; others have got it much worse.” I appreciate the sentiment; when life turns around and smacks you about, one of the most difficult problems to solve is trying to figure out how to deal with it on a spiritual level. For Australian Christians, it seems like an easy lifeline to consider how good our life is from an overall perspective compared to many other people around the world. But then I read this passage from St Paul and I wonder: is that attitude good enough? What if things get really bad – I mean, really bad – will I be able to say “I can’t complain; others have got it much worse”? Because the apostle had it worse than most: beatings, imprisonment, starvation, homelessness, shipwrecks, he had it all. Who could say they had it wor
Read more

The Lord’s Plumb Line (Amos 7:7)

Image
  Tuesday, July 23, 2024 Psalms 54; 55:1-12 Amos 6:8-7:9 Romans 2:1-11 The Lord’s Plumb Line (Amos 7:7) For all these terrifying words about death and destruction, can we find any positive words about God’s judgement? First, there is a vision of locusts devouring a harvest. This seems pretty bad; and Amos intercedes for the people, and God says that “this will not happen”. Then there is an enormous fire that devours everything, a supernatural nuclear holocaust. Again, Amos intercedes, and God replies that “this will not happen either”. But God is coming to pass judgement. And it is not a judgement of a capricious or arbitrary type. It is a fair judgement. It is the judgement of the eye of the careful builder. God sets a plumb line against his people. We use something similar, and we call it a “level”; that small capsule filled with water, with a single bubble within, set on a straight piece of metal or timber. Line it up against whatever you
Read more