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Joel 1:2-3

Lesson # Joel 1:2-3 Study Material - Joel 1:2-3 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Joel 1:2-3 2 Hear [shama] this, ye old men [zaqen] , and give ear [azan] , all ye inhabitants [yashab] of the land ['erets] . Hath this been in your days [yowm] , or even [im] in the days [yowm] of your fathers [ab] ? 3 Tell [caphar] ye your children [ben] of it, and let your children [ben] tell their children [ben] , and their children [ben] another [acher] generation [dowr] . KJV-Interlinear 2 Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers' days? 3 Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. NASB Hear this. Give an ear to what is to be said. Listen up ya'll. This is a common phrase in the Bible which is read and then immediately discarded. Not that folks can't understand the words - jaba jaba jaba. It's just that the words don't have any meaning for them - jaba jaba jaba. Now what does this mean? Well it obviously means nothing - the jaba jaba part that is. But the Bible is nothing more than that word repeated over and over again and again to most folks. 'Hear, O Israel,' is what we commonly hear. Israel is the selected nation of God. What is a nation? It is a collection of peoples with some common interest. In the spiritual sense, Gods selected nation is comprised of believers only. Jesus Christ is our common ground. Not unbelievers, not some folks specifically from some genetic or cultural descendantcy, because the spiritual is not of this world, therefore it has nothing to do with any biological or worldly links we have on this earth. This verse has a different purpose however. 'Hear,' still means to listen up, pay attention, but this is directed to a single generation. The 'elders,' refers to the older people who remain alive within this time. It could be any generation, but of course Joel is speaking to his current living generation. The 'all inhabitants,' brings everyone else into the rhetorical question. In other words, has anyone ever experienced, or does anyone even remember anything like that (the disaster) which has happened? The passage appeals to the memories of living people. It does not address the dead. It does not address those who have not come to life, but proposes that each subsequent generation be taught of the disaster, such that the younger generation will teach it to its children, and that subsequent generation will teach its children and so forth throughout history, so that everyone living will have the same knowledge that this current generation (the ones who actually lived through the disaster) has. I know, I know. We haven't mentioned the disaster yet. It is the invasion of the locusts, but we'll save that for later. For the moment Joel does not open his book with 'do not forget the locusts.' He begins his book with 'Hear.' Listen up everyone. Does anyone living, young or old, remember anything 'like this?' Does anyone remember anything 'like this' from prior history - 'your fathers days?' This then is a unique occurrence, a unique event. Why so? Locusts have been on the march many times in history, but that is not the issue. What is the issue is that this generation, this specific generation, has never experienced such an invasion. And that is our lesson for today. Every generation lives only once. They live during their specifically given time in history. Ok. That seems obvious, I know. We only live in this world during our current life time. There is no reincarnation, so none of us get to re-experience life again and again. We live during our life time and we have our current experiences. Combined with past history (assuming we know a little history) then these two ingredients give us some insight regarding to life. But there is one more bit of knowledge needed in order for us to come to an understanding of life - its purpose and meaning and such things. What is that third ingredient? Bible doctrine of course. I just knew that everyone knew the answer. What is the title of this book? What does it mean. Who is Joel (Ooops now you know the title) descended from? His dad. And what does his daddy's name mean? Something about keeping it simple??? And what is the purpose of this entire book? The Day of the Lord. Is that Gods birthday, or does it refer to Sunday, or something like that? So now we go back to our verses. Listen up, O generation. Has anything like what has happened [to you] , ever happened in [our] generation or has it ever happened in the past? If so. If you have actually lived for any number of years. If you have experienced anything whatsoever in life. If you have any knowledge of anything, anything mind you, which has happened in the past or in the present, then have you learned anything yourself? Have you related your earthly knowledge to Gods Word? Have you come to an understanding of history, of life, because you have learned Gods word and thus know what is going on in the world? Why things are the way they are? If so, then teach it (what you know) to your children. Make them understand so they can teach their children and so forth down through the generations, so that all generations will know and understand why life is the way it is. And possibly avoid repeats of the same problems. Job 8:8-9 8 'Please inquire of past generations, And consider the things searched out by their fathers. 9 'For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, NASB Those who search out knowledge will come to an understanding. Those who do not, will find themselves inundated in the worlds miseries and they will ask the obvious questions 'Why me? Why is this happening to me? How can a a loving God allow this to happen?' And so on and so forth. So now we can deviate from the passage and look to our current generation and the current events of our time. What is going on? First we need to understand that those who reject Bible doctrine (the only source of truth), will embrace the opinions or philosophies of the world (the source of lies). When this occurs then the world chases after the lies. The result is misery and heartache for many. Iraq was led by a murdering tyrant. He was dealt with. Has this ever happened in the past? Yes, Hitler to name just one of many. How to deal with a tyrant? Appeasement? No. That leads to even more disaster. Hitler just ran over Europe. So you use aggressive action to neutralize a murderer. So the Iraqi people are now free - some 25 million of them - a good thing right? The Afghans are now free - some 25 million of them - a good thing right? Many terrorists are dead or have been arrested - a good thing right? What do we expect of these thugs who are still on the loose? They want to have their freedom to destroy western civilization. Do we cut and run like cowards, like the present Spanish leadership? How does that correct the problem of terrorism? Do we set up political commissions to analyze the errors of 911, and then try to find someone to blame? What does that solve? Does the press (a very liberal press mind you) try to tear down our current leadership, a leadership that did something while past leaders, and future want-to-be's have done nothing? Do we roll over and quit because the bullies of the world won't play fair? What does this have to do with Joel? Everything. History is a source of knowledge. We learn from history, that peoples in general learn nothing. And why is that? Because they lack Bible doctrine in their souls. A negative and compromising generation will make wrong decisions - that is a given. And wrong decisions will always lead to disaster. People suffer and get hurt in disasters. We are studying Joel as an extension of our study of Revelation, but we cannot isolate our current life from the lessons taught in the Bible. We aren't here to be entertained, but to learn and in learning we make the right decisions for our own life and thus have a better life. Or, we can ignore the Bible, learn nothing, follow a dangerously liberal press and political system, vote in another spaghetti backed leadership because terrorists threaten us and don't like the strong aggressiveness we currently have? And then we'll wonder what happened when things fall apart. 'Why did those terrorists become so bold? We told them we wouldn't touch them if they would only do their terrorism somewhere else?' Whine, whine, whine! Bullies are never satisfied. Bullies can never be negotiated with. In the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will solve the worlds problems when He returns at the Second Advent by killing instantly, every unbeliever and every negative believer living. They will drop dead right in their tracks. The angels will be busy sorting (goats to the left, sheep to the right) unbelievers from the believers and taking them all to their proper destination. Torments for unbelievers, and heaven (awaiting the end of the Millennium) for believers. The solution for evil is death or incarceration of evil. Nothing else will work. Only fools try to tip toe around evil. Joel's generation was negative toward God. God sends them a swarm of locusts. They ignore history. They don't learn. Had nobody ever heard of Egypt and the plagues? 'Must just be a nature thing.' God sends them an invading army. Now it is too late. Anything like this apply to us? Anything? End of lesson. Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.

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