Joe 1:17 | KingComments | STEP | The prophet sees how creation sighs ( ). 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 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. ).

‏ Joel 1:17

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).