The Jubilance of Joel 1:5-19
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.
Apparently
Judah was drunk on health, wealth and prosperity and self-sufficiency, which
made them oblivious to their sins which brought about the judgment of famine by
locust.
Though I’m
sure literal drunkenness was only a small fragment of a conglomeration of sins
which brought about such judgment Judah was about to wake up to. The Full Life
Study Bible comments, “Drunkenness is the only specific sin mentioned in Joel.
Perhaps its inclusion indicates that the peoples moral sensitivity to sin and
evil was dulled that they could not recognize when they were offending the
holiness of God.” Symbolically it is an excellent point about drunkenness, that
it dulls the senses, but it can also be pointed out that the state of
drunkenness causes one to loose practically all inhibitions and causes one to
say and do things they wouldn’t normally do.
Possibly
this issue of drunkenness is an allusion to a practice of pagan religions of
Canaan, by eating greens no less (reason for locusts?) getting drunk and
defecating before idols and or have sex with cult prostitutes.
The verse
seems to indicate these locusts not only devastated their food supply, but
possibly kicked off an economic recession and the intoxicating effect of
prosperity they enjoyed wore off as if someone snatched the skin of wine from
Judah’s hand, gave them a sobering slap in the face and a douse of ice cold
water. On the other hand we could interpret this as that the locust, famine and
economic crisis was seen as a coincidence of nature and not an act of God and
thus they were drunk with numbness of hard luck.
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.
The weakened state of famine and
economic crisis made Judah easy pickings for an invading nation to fall upon
them. Some say the locust are likened to a nation with an army without number,
others such as Abarbanel interprets the four stages of locust allegorically as
the four conquerors of Judah which was Babylonia, Persia, Greece and Rome.
God frequently used other nations to
chaste Judah and Israel depending on which date you choose to believe for the
writing of this book; pre-exilic which would be dealing with Babylon and
post-exilic the future conquer by the Greco-Syrians in the time of the
Maccabees.
As was mentioned earlier, recall the
similarities to the locust prior to the Exodus and the future plague of locust
mentioned in revelation.
Rev. 9:7-8 And the shapes of the
locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as
it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they
had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
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.
“My vine” is
a Scriptural idiom referring to God’s People. The “fig tree” could possibly
refer to the purpose of the plague which is to purge the sin from Judah because
according to Jewish tradition It was the fig tree that was the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil which Adam and Eve ate from and thus the only
vegetation willing to surrender its leaves to cover the first couples newly
discovered nakedness. Is it a wonder that Yeshua HaMoshiach cursed such a tree?
Matt. 21:19 And when he saw a fig
tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and
said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently
the fig tree withered away.
But Yeshua
also had this to say about Israel and the fig tree.
Matt. 24:32-35 Now learn a parable of
the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know
that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know
that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation
shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away.
Referring to
judgment and His coming to harvest His people.
Thus their
resolve to indulge in sin laid bare, stripped of foliage and bark by the locust
which will humble them to the pint of repentance.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with
sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Though the
plague meant to break Judah, she is told to lament over her sin which brought
about such a judgment, like a virgin bride who dies before the consummation of
the marriage.
9 The meat offering and the drink
offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's
ministers, mourn.
Due to this
famine, there were no crops or vineyards in which the people of Israel could offer
offerings and thus the Priesthood who retained a portion of such offerings were
feeling the pangs of hunger and thus causing the Levites to mourn.
10 The field is wasted, the land
mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
This verse
simply details the devastation by the army of locusts.
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.
All Judean
Farmers, Agriculturists, owners and keepers of vineyards and orchards are
called to weep and mourn due to the fact that the locust left nothing to tend
or harvest. The famine by locust is testimony to Judah’s sin of disobedience to
Torah (Deut. 27-28).
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.
The only way
to resend the judgment that has befell Judah and bring glory back to the
Priesthood and Zion is to go the way of the Ninevites, repent by prayer and
fasting with sackcloth and ashes. The sin of Judah has brought Ichabod
(departing Glory) upon the God’s House.
This solemn
assembly could be referring to the Day of Atonements (Yom Kippur) on which such
activities mentioned here are performed. Day of Atonements is also referred to
the idiomatic title “Day of the Lord.” Such a day of judgment and it is
believed that on Yom Kippur the books in heaven are opened and the fate of
people are sealed for an entire year, who will live, who will die, who will
prosper and who will flounder. Even the Brit in the Chadasha it calls us to
prepare and never neglect such a day.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting
[one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Lev 16:29 And this shall be a statute
for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye
shall afflict your souls,
Lev 16:31 It shall be a sabbath of
rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
Lev 23:27 Also on the tenth day of
this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy
convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering
made by fire unto the LORD.
This is the
traditional Jewish understanding of affliction of the soul during Yom Kippur.
1) No Eating
and Drinking - From sunset on the eve of Yom Kippur until nightfall the next
day it is forbidden to eat or drink. Life over Law: If one has a medical
condition which fasting would cause harm the Rabbi’s tell us that it is sin if
that person does not eat. To save a life the Talmud says one may even eat
something treif!
• Girls
below the age of 12 and boys below the age of 13 are not required to fast.
2) No
Washing - During the fast, one may not wash for pleasure.
• If one is
dirty, one is permitted to wash away the dirt.
• Upon
rising in the morning and after using the bathroom.
• One may
wash one's hands when preparing food.
3) No
Anointing - It is forbidden to anoint oneself with oil, thus the use of
perfumes, make-up, suntan lotion, and other such items is prohibited.
4) No
Wearing Leather Shoes - During the fast it is forbidden to wear leather shoes;
because leather was seen as a comfort and luxury in ancient times. Some people
wear only socks, but others wear shoes of canvas or other non-leather
materials.
5) No
Marital Relations - It is forbidden to have marital relations during Yom Kippur
This is to
mimic the devastation of a life altering tragedy, such as a personal or
national crisis or tragedy, like the death of your family, or something like
what happened on 9/11.
This is to
remove all typical daily distractions and preoccupations from our lives for one
day.
Why?
So as to
cause us to reflect on the things that is truly important in life; to take
stock of our lives. To mourn how far off course we have become in this past
year.
To realize
and appreciate what one has before it is gone.
• Life
• Health
• Family
• Friends
• Our Faith
To make
Teshuvah, to repent, to do a 180 and return to the Source of Life, HaShem and
His Torah; to dedicate ourselves anew to it.
We are to
make ourselves desolate. Hollow and empty like the Shofar so that HaShem can
fill us up with His Ruach, His Spirit that is all important and gives Life.
When we do
this our pet sins, selfishness and things we thought were so important become
so trivial and no longer matter. Only that of truth and eternal value remains.
But the
Torah seems to contradict Itself. How can one be afflicted and rest
simultaneously?
We afflict
because it is commanded, we can do this restfully because we have the God given
time to do so. Also, we rest in the assurance that having done this in
obedience that we are sealed in the Sefer Chaim (Book of Life) for another
year.
Yom
Kippur/Day of Atonement also incorporates what is and will be the Battle of
Armageddon when evil once and for all vanquished by Messiah and His heavenly
army of saints (Zeph. 1:14-18).
16 Is not the meat cut off before our
eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Granted,
time is relative in our view when referenced to God, but the hint of this verse
along with historical record would suggest that the Day of the LORD/Judgment is
soon to come when the Tabernacle/Temple sacrifices cease and even today
theologians, pastors and Rabbis proclaim that due to the absence of the Temple
and an operational priesthood, the Day of the LORD, Messiah’s return is at
hand.
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.
More details
of the devastating famine due to the plague of locust.
I would like
to quote from the Stones Tanak because the verse is rendered a little
differently with accompanying notes.
“Cask of
wine have become moldy under the lids (because they were not refilled); stone
houses are laid desolate and silos destroyed, for the grain is withered.”
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.
This records
the Prophets prayer of lament regarding the famine brought on by the locust
which was a divine judgment from God due to Judah’s disregard for the Torah.
