Bible Reading
Joel 1:1-20 “The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions' teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white. Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth. The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord. The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man. Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed shrivels under the clods; the storehouses are desolate; the granaries are torn down because the grain has dried up. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer. To you, O Lord, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field. Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”
[00:00]1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
[49:11]Matthew 24:6-8 “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
[49:41]Observation questions
- In Joel 1:2–4, what are the elders told to pass on to future generations, and what details show how complete the destruction was? [13:00]
- How does the loss of crops affect drinkers, farmers, and priests differently in Joel 1:5–12? What loss do the people experience beyond the ruined harvest? [29:35]
- In Joel 1:13–14, what four actions are the spiritual leaders called to take beyond mourning? Who is to be involved? [36:48]
- What distinction does Joel 1:15–20 make between the devastation already happening and the day of the Lord? [47:31]
Interpretation questions
- Why would God want children and later generations to remember such a painful disaster? How could that remembering prepare them rather than simply make them afraid? [13:43]
- Joel connects the ruined harvest with the loss of joy in Joel 1:12. How should that connection shape the way believers understand and respond to people experiencing loss? [31:31]
- Why does Joel call for fasting and gathered prayer rather than mourning alone? What does setting aside food to seek God express about the people’s need for him? [37:25]
- How can present troubles prepare people for the day of the Lord without making their current suffering seem unimportant? How does trusting Christ make that preparation different from simply trying to become stronger or more religious? [50:14]
Application questions
- Looking back on a difficult season, what did you learn about depending on God that you do not want to forget? How might you share that honestly and helpfully with someone younger? [15:38]
- Is there someone whose hardship has become just a news story, a prayer-list item, or a distant concern to you? What could help you see that person’s pain more clearly, and what practical care could you offer this week? [31:36]
- God graciously forgives sin, but its consequences can still hurt people. If you are comfortable sharing, is there a relationship where you need to seek forgiveness, rebuild trust, or help repair harm? What might a first step look like? [20:04]
- What concern in your family, church, or community might call for deliberately gathering to pray rather than only promising to pray separately? What would make it possible for this group to seek God together about it? [38:21]
- Joel brings what he sees directly to God. What situation are you struggling to put into words before him? How could his plain, honest approach help you pray about it? [45:29]
- When you think about facing God, what tends to shape your confidence—or your fear: your recent behavior, your religious habits, or Christ’s sacrifice? How could your next participation in Communion help you rest more fully in his forgiveness? [52:07]
