The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Joel 1:1
In the days when the prophet Joel was prophesying in Israel, before 800 BC, the nation was hit by a double calamity. First came massive swarms of locusts that attacked the people’s crops. What the first locusts didn’t eat up, the locust larva feasted on, leaving almost nothing for the people to eat. When the locusts had finished their destruction and moved on, a terrible famine came and prevented the growing of new crops. It was a terrible time of starvation and suffering in the land. Joel was able to take that terrible time to warn the people that God would punish them for their departure from Him by sending swarms of enemies to destroy them. We face a similar judgment today.
Like swarms of locusts, a plague of apathy has swept through our western society. Unlike previous generations in which the Bible was honoured and God was reverenced, today’s world has little time or interest in all of that. Morality has been so cast aside that marriage has become an unnecessary and meaningless option, and sex has been reduced to a recreational activity in which the children that are produced are discarded and slaughtered as trash. Gospel outreach efforts go almost unnoticed, the Bible is so ignored that most children these days don’t know what it is, and public prayer is mocked as an oddity. The plague of apathy has our rich society in abject spiritual starvation.
In Joel’s day, only a tiny few of the Israelites remained faithful to God and His Word. They were badly outnumbered and likely had a hard time of it. Although God appreciated them, their neighbours did not, and it would have been easier for them to avoid letting anyone know about their faith. Do you see anything like that these days? Too many Christians are keeping their heads down to avoid attention, and their testimonies are making little difference in the world. The plague of apathy that has the world in darkness is affecting the Lord’s people too.
Joel had a warning of judgment for his day of departure. The Scriptures have a similar warning for our day. – Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/642KBWORYRs