Friday 08 October 2010

Background

It is not clear exactly when the prophet Joel lived and preachedhis message. It was probably about the 5th or 4th century beforeJesus, and it might have been at a time when God's people had beentaken away from their homes and scattered far and wide (Joel3:2).

There was a terrible plague of locusts (Joel1:4) which seems to have prompted Joel to think that God wascalling him to warn the people. Plagues of locusts were notuncommon, and they were devastating. They were sometimes seen as anact of God, for example when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt,and God was persuading Pharaoh to let them go (Exodus10).

For Joel, it was a time to tell the people to repent, which meansto turn round from the way they had been living. Sackcloth was asign of repentance, and the priests were called to spend wholenights facing up to the situation. The locusts had probablyprevented any offerings being offered to God. Everything was verygloomy and everyone was called together for a special holy meeting.People thought the "day of the Lord" was going to be a good time,when God would rescue them and punish their enemies. But they arewarned that they will also be judged. It was going to be a terribletime, worse than what had ever happened and ever would happen. The"blackness spread upon the mountains" (2:2) was a reminder of theblackness of the plague of locusts.

It was certainly a blunt threat. It is not certain what the nameJoel means, but it is something like "God is God". That could beboth a reassurance and a warning.

To Ponder

Are there events which should cause us to "put onsackcloth" today? What are they?

If you hadn't got any sackcloth available, whatwould you do instead?