Dear Friends,
This week we begin a new study in the book of Joel. Joel wrote his prophecy circa 850 BC. He was the first of the writing prophets. Joel’s name means ‘Jehovah is God’. Except for his dad’s name, that is all we know about Joel personally. It was Joel who first used the phrase, the day of the LORD. After the subject was introduced by Joel, other prophets built on it and continued adding additional information. Jesus preached extensively on the day of the LORD, although He did not use the specific term. Jesus said And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matt 24:14) The end of the world as we know it will be the beginning of something much better. The day of the LORD begins with the night of the tribulation period, but after seven short years of tribulation there will be one thousand years of peace. (Rev 20:4)
Therefore, we have been warned for somewhere around 2870 years that God’s wrath is coming. One would think that would be enough time for us to get our act together but here we are. In the US, we have kicked God out of our classrooms, our courtrooms, and our living rooms. Satan has filled the void with the most godless and perverted values and principles imaginable. In other countries it’s even worse. God’s judgment is upon us and we deserve it. God’s justice is lawful, impartial, and fair. On the other hand, God’s mercy is still available to anyone who will repent and receive Christ.
Father, thank You for the prophet Joel. Thank You that You never do anything without first telling your servants, the prophets. Help us to understand what Joel is telling us, that we may be prepared when You send your Son to fetch us home. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Joel 1
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
According to J Vernon McGee, each of the four different Hebrew words used in this verse are words for different kinds of locusts in different stages of the locust life cycle.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 1
In Joel’s day there was a plague of locusts which in turn led to a famine. The famine was so severe that they would be talking about it for generations to come. Joel used the tragedy of the famine as a springboard to prophesy on the day of the LORD.
I do not think it is a coincidence that there was a locust plague last year in East Africa, nor do I think it is a coincidence that the locusts have come back again recently. There is also a locust plague in India, although PM Modi claims the problem is under control. We do indeed live in the time of the signs. I believe the recent locust plagues are one of the many ways that the Holy Spirit is telling us it is time to look up for our redemption draws nigh. Joel started the chapter talking about destruction caused by locusts but he ended the chapter talking about destruction caused by fire. Incidentally, we not only have the foreshadowing of locust plagues to warn us that the day is upon us, but Antifa and Black Lives Matter are burning our cities down. Signs of the times. It’s like the red light that tells you your gas tank is almost empty. The destruction caused by the locusts is nothing compared to the destruction that the day of the LORD will bring.
For decades now, we have witnessed so many biblical signs pointing to the Second Coming that we have almost become numb to them. Scoffers make jokes about it, just as the Bible predicted. (2 Pet 3:3, 4) For example, in season 16 of The Simpsons, an episode called Thank God it’s Doomsday mocked Christians who believe in the rapture. I bring this up not only as an example of fulfilled prophecy but also as an example of something called predictive programming. Predictive programming is a technique utilized by the new world order via the entertainment industry that subtly introduces a future event into a storyline, sometimes even subliminally. This has the effect of making people more easily accept it when it happens. There were lots of examples of this in relation to 9/11. Before the actual event, there were hints dropped in movies, songs, and even cartoons. In the 2016 season of House of Cards, the incumbent Democrat president, Frank Underwood, used the FISA Court to spy on his political rival. Of course, we now know that shortly after this storyline was aired on Netflix, the Obama administration began spying on the Trump campaign using the FISA Court. There are many other examples of predictive programming that could be cited, but I will mention just one more.
In the final episode of the Netflix series, Black Mirror, a pop music singer is replicated in the form of a jumbo-sized hologram that performs for adoring fans. Ever since they had a holographic image of Tupac Shakur perform at Coachella in 2012, I have felt that this will probably be how the prophecy in Revelation about the image of the beast will be fulfilled. The episode ends with lyrics from a Nine Inch Nails song: Bow down before the one you serve. You’re going to get what you deserve. It has become painfully crystal clear over the last decade that Satan controls the entertainment industry. He knows his time is short (Rev 12:12) and he is clearly using predictive programing to numb the masses to what he knows is coming. There have been a lot of movies lately where people disappear or are caught up in some way. Satan is taking the rapture and the Second Coming seriously. Are you? Every year when fall comes around I hope that this will be the year we get to go home. This year is no different. Rosh Hashanah begins in fourteen days.
As Joel begins his prophecy he calls for a fast (v 14). In order to understand the Bible, you need to do what it says. (Ps 119:100) If you are are going to study Joel, and Joel calls for a fast, you should fast if you want to understand what Joel is saying. There are many different ways to fast. You could fast for a day from food and water, three days or more water only, fast from movies, fast from TV, fast from junk food, fast from your cell phone, etc. I will be doing a ten-day fruit-and-vegetable-only Daniel fast. (Dan 1)
Father, help us to prepare ourselves spiritually should You choose to send your Son back for us this year. Help us to set good examples for our friends and families. Help us to show the world what an awesome God we serve. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Coronavirus Update: Over three months ago, in Civil War Part III, I explained how the PCR tests would inflate the COVID cases with false positives. On August 29, none other than the CDC and the New York Times confirmed what I wrote, telling us that as many as 90% of the positive results yielded by the PCR tests were false positives. Just about everything we have been told about COVID was a lie, yet they continue to plow forward with their program to bring in medical tyranny. It should be clear now that the pandemic is merely a pretext for the final phase of the new world order police state. We don’t just need to fast, we need to pray.
