Joe 1:13-18 | KingComments | STEP | In it is said of the priests that they mourn. There they are in connection with the LORD and with the house of the LORD. LORD or Yahweh is the Name of God that indicates that He has a special relationship with His chosen people Israel. Yahweh is the Name of the God of the covenant with Israel. But the people have broken the covenant with Him. If God now calls the priests to lament and wail, to spend the night in sackcloth, He does so as the One for Whom man must account for his unfaithfulness. God is the three times holy God, Who is not to be mocked. That is why we speak here of “ministers of my God” and “the house of your God”. The priests must be the first to be able to realize how great the dishonor that has been done to God is. After all, they may be expected to know what is due to God and that it is a great shame that God does not receive what is due to Him. As “ministers of the altar” they are now unemployed. There is nothing to bring to the altar. Grain offering and drink offering come from the harvest of wheat and grapes and those harvests are destroyed. Joel called the priests “ministers of my God”. He presents himself as the prophet of his God, on behalf of Whom he could say that God will hear when they come to Him. It seems that this means that it is no longer the priests who stand for God as mediators on behalf of the people, but that the prophet is now as a loner the mediator through whom God speaks to the people. He speaks to them of “your God” when he speaks of the house of God. That is the confession they hold in respect of the temple. He joins this when he speaks in of “the house of our God”. He now calls them, of whom one of the duties is to sing in the temple, to lament. Spending the night in sackcloth is done as a sign of great sorrow, but also as an intense and long lasting act of humiliation before the LORD ( ; ).

‏ Joel 1:13-18

Call to the Priests

In Joel 1:9 it is said of the priests that they mourn. There they are in connection with the LORD and with the house of the LORD. LORD or Yahweh is the Name of God that indicates that He has a special relationship with His chosen people Israel. Yahweh is the Name of the God of the covenant with Israel. But the people have broken the covenant with Him. If God now calls the priests to lament and wail, to spend the night in sackcloth, He does so as the One for Whom man must account for his unfaithfulness.

God is the three times holy God, Who is not to be mocked. That is why we speak here of “ministers of my God” and “the house of your God”. The priests must be the first to be able to realize how great the dishonor that has been done to God is. After all, they may be expected to know what is due to God and that it is a great shame that God does not receive what is due to Him. As “ministers of the altar” they are now unemployed. There is nothing to bring to the altar. Grain offering and drink offering come from the harvest of wheat and grapes and those harvests are destroyed.

Joel called the priests “ministers of my God”. He presents himself as the prophet of his God, on behalf of Whom he could say that God will hear when they come to Him. It seems that this means that it is no longer the priests who stand for God as mediators on behalf of the people, but that the prophet is now as a loner the mediator through whom God speaks to the people.

He speaks to them of “your God” when he speaks of the house of God. That is the confession they hold in respect of the temple. He joins this when he speaks in Joel 1:16 of “the house of our God”. He now calls them, of whom one of the duties is to sing in the temple, to lament. Spending the night in sackcloth is done as a sign of great sorrow, but also as an intense and long lasting act of humiliation before the LORD (1Kgs 21:27; 2Sam 12:13-23).

Consecration of a Fast

After the call to lament and wail as a result of the locust plague, it is said along which channel this should happen. This channel is called ‘humbling and conversion to God’. The call is further elaborated in the following chapter (Joel 2:15-17). Fasting is needed (cf. Jona 3:7). It seems easy to fast in a time of famine, but this is very difficult. Hunger is gnawing. There is hardly any food and what there is may not be touched to turn to God. But with this fasting one joins God, Who in this time does not receive any ‘food’ either.

Fasting is usually accompanied by confession of guilt, but this is not mentioned here. It is often used as an expression of humiliation to obtain from God reconciliation of guilt or to avoid dooming. It serves to underline the power of prayer or intercession.

If we encounter special trials and events in our lives that bewilder us, we should withdraw from the ordinary course of life. Then we can expose our hearts completely before the Lord, to see what He has to say to us with those events. In such situations, you do not even think of eating. You focus all your attention on the Lord and learn to know His will in the circumstances He has sent.

As in Joel 1:2, the elders and all inhabitants are also mentioned here. Everyone is called and involved. Everyone has to come to the temple to call out to the LORD. They have to cry out for deliverance from distress. The call to God must be a national call because it is a national disaster. In Nehemiah 9 we also find such a national fast (Neh 9:1-3). Here, too, it is a matter for the whole people. If this call is answered, will the LORD not hear and give restoration? He hears and answers every sincere call. Only we must leave it to Him how and when He answers.

The Day of the LORD

The day of the LORD is a theme woven throughout the whole prophecy of Joel. It is therefore good to pay some extra attention to this day. It is a special day. The day of the LORD is not a day of twenty-four hours, but covers the period of time from the moment the LORD arises and intervenes in the world events up to and including His realm of peace. The dawn of that day is the turning point in world history, where man no longer rules openly, but He takes over the government. Now it still seems that man has everything to say on earth, but when the day of the LORD comes, He will take over the world reign.

He will do so in a way that is visible to everyone. The LORD appears, becomes public. The book of Revelation describes all that is connected with it. First He will let His judgments come upon the earth and cleanse the earth of iniquity in that way (Revelation 6-19). He will perform the last judgments Himself, when He comes from heaven (Rev 19:11-21). Then He shall establish His realm of peace, and reign for a thousand years in a manner that shall be a blessing to man, even to all creation (Rev 20:1-6).

The day of the LORD begins with His judgments and ends with the realm of peace. After that, eternity begins (Revelation 20:7-21:8), which is also called “the day of God” (2Pet 3:12), for then “God will be all in all” (1Cor 15:28). With the day of the LORD the main thought is that the Lord Jesus will no longer remain hidden, but that He will act clearly, perceptible to everyone. “Day” refers to light, which means that it is no longer a matter of judging in secrecy or acting in providence, as it happens in the time in which we live.

The expression “the day of the LORD” is common in the Old Testament (Isa 2:12 ; Isa 13:6 ; 9; Jer 46:10; Eze 13:5 ; Eze 30:3; Joel 1:15 ; Joel 2:1 ; 11 ; 31 ; Joel 3:14; Amos 5:18 ; 20; Oba 1:15; Zep 1:7 ; 14; Mal 4:5). In the Old Testament the day of the LORD is always connected with the special place Israel has on earth because of the special connection with God, Who has revealed Himself only to this people as the LORD. The first mention and description of this day (Isa 2:12-22) gives a clear picture of what this day means.

It is the day when only the LORD will be exalted (Isa 2:17). Then the situation will come to an end, as it has been since Eve listened to the tempter, resulting in the fall into sin. Since that time man has started to do his own will and has always wanted to exalt himself above God and his neighbor. All that pride will be judged.

The day of the LORD indicates the direction with which He will intervene decisively in history. God will do so through Christ on a day He has appointed (Acts 17:31). This is the day on which man will no longer be allowed to hinder, thwart, or frustrate God’s purpose, and on which God will no longer work in secret. Then He will bring down evil and then spread and maintain what is good.

That ‘day’ refers to the Divine judgments that will be carried out by Christ as Yahweh God of Israel, when He appears in glory, but also to the whole millennial period. The day of the LORD means the judgment for Babylon (Isa 13:9), for Egypt (Jer 46:10), for Israel and Assyria (Joel 1:15 ; Joel 2:1 ; 11 ; 31 ; Joel 3:14), for Israel (Amos 5:18 ; 20; Zep 1:7) and for Edom (Oba 1:15). Where sin and iniquity are, there will be judgment, whether it be heathen nations or God’s own people.

From Amos 5 we might get the impression that the Israelites expect the day of the LORD as salvation (light) for them and judgment for the enemies (Amos 5:18-20). But Amos and other prophets have contradicted this expectation. Israel, unfaithful to the LORD, will also undergo the day of judgment itself as ‘darkness’, as a day of wrath of the LORD (Lam 1:12).

In the New Testament the day of the Lord – the same as the day of the LORD in the Old Testament – is also mentioned (Acts 2:20; 1Cor 1:8 ; 1Cor 5:5; 2Cor 1:14; 1Thes 5:2; 2Thes 2:2; 2Pet 3:10). A clear distinction must be made between the day of the Lord and the rapture of the church. Both events do not take place at the same time. The coming of the Lord consists of various stages.

The Lord Jesus comes first to rapture the church (1Cor 15:51-52; 1Thes 4:15-18). When He comes for His church, He will not come to the earth, nor will He be visible to people on the earth. The church meets Him in the air (1Thes 4:17). Also, all Old Testament believers who have died will then be raised up and meet Him. This truth is found only in the New Testament and is a comfort for the believers.

The day of the Lord is different. At that phase of His coming He appears on earth, visible to all (Rev 1:7), to deliver His people, that is the faithful remnant of Israel, from their distress. And He will judge the unbelievers and establish His realm of peace. The book of Revelation provides us with detailed information about all the events associated with the Lord’s coming to earth. All texts about the Lord’s day show that people who then live on earth will be in great fear because of the judgments.

When we see the distinction between the rapture of the church, the meeting the Lord in the air, and the Lord’s coming to earth, we hold the key to understanding the first part of 2 Thessalonians 2 (2Thes 2:1-12).

There are other ‘days’. Thus we read about the “day of God” (2Pet 3:12). This day describes the eternal state. This day should not be confused with “the great day of God the Almighty” (Rev 16:14), which corresponds to “the day of the LORD”. Related expressions are: the day of the LORD’s wrath (Zep 1:18), a day of vengeance (Isa 34:8), the day of the LORD’s sacrifice (Zep 1:8), a day of wrath, of clouds and thick darkness (Zep 1:15). ‘Day’ here is not a time indication, but stands for the character of powerful events and their effect. All emphasis is placed on what is happening, the punitive intervention of the LORD, in which the aspect of being ‘public’ is especially important. All events take place under His control and in His light.

The day of the Lord is in opposition to the day, or the judgment, of man (1Cor 4:3). Now man still has the say; however, when the day of the Lord comes, the period in which the will of God is done “on earth as it is in heaven” begins (Mt 6:9-10).

From a spiritual point of view, the day of the Lord begins in the life of every human being when he acknowledges the full authority of the Lord over his life. This happens when he sees his life in God’s light and starts thinking about it like God. That is the moment of conversion. When conversion has taken place, from that moment on it can be said of the believers that they are “sons of light and sons of day” (1Thes 5:5; 1Thes 5:8-9; cf. Rom 13:13).

No Gladness and Joy

It was God’s intention that His people should rejoice in His presence. He has said that, for example, when offering the first fruits (Deu 26:10-11). But instead of gladness and joy there is now the threat of the disaster that will erupt with the coming of the day of the LORD. After all, they have seen the harbinger and experienced the consequences.

Here the prophet explains why he fears that the day of the LORD is coming. The disasters that accompany this day are present: the harvest and all the greenery have been destroyed. They are witnesses to it, they see it before their eyes, they look at it with horror and powerlessness. When there is no harvest and therefore no food anymore, also the gladness and joy are gone from the house of the LORD. After all, there can be no first fruits of the harvest, no peace offerings, and soon, because the cattle die of thirst, there will be no more burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin.

Desolation Everywhere

The prophet sees how creation sighs (Rom 8:22). The consequences of unfaithful and wicked acting by a human race that has turned away from God are visible in creation. A man never goes alone on a path that leads away from God. Even what has been entrusted to him, he always carries with him in suffering and judgment. The ‘groaning of creation’ can be heard in the ‘groaning of the beasts’, as we have seen in Joel 1:10 the mourning of the land.

What is said in these verses is the result of drought and not of the plague of locusts. The harvest has been destroyed by the locusts, but the drought means that there also is no new harvest to be expected. The situation is hopeless. It is as if the prophet seeks for words to show this hopelessness in full measure: ‘shriveled’, ‘desolate’, ‘torn down’, ‘dried up’, ‘groan’, ‘wander’, ‘no pasture’, ‘suffer’. For Joel, the drought of the land mainly reflects the barrenness and decline that is present in the hearts of the people (cf. Jer 14:1-6).