Joel Chapter 1 – part 7 of 10

“Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth,” says verse eight of chapter one. We see from the New Testament that the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father. There was a hope held out to the pure in heart, a promise to the virgin-pure that they should be wed to God in chaste holiness. The Spirit was not poured out upon all flesh then, but the pure could be led by the Spirit as Simeon was in the temple. Visions, dreams, even revelations, were part of that manifestation. Prophecy, power over unclean spirits, miracles were in attendance also. God does not change. The Spirit is the same whether in the Old Testament scriptures or the New Testament scriptures. Christ is the Word both when with God in the beginning and with man in the flesh. The Father is father to Abraham as well as to us. It is the One Eternal God, blessed for ever, Paul says. But ancient Israel rejected Jehovah, rejected the Son of Man, rejected the One God – and lost all. Joel instructs them to lament, to be ashamed (in verse eleven) to be clothed in sackcloth of mourning. Indeed, in verse thirteen he says, “Gird yourselves (in sackcloth), and lament, ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God.” Why? Because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Sorrow is their portion, and the joy is given to those who acknowledge God as their Heavenly Father, Christ as their Saviour and Lord, the Holy Spirit as their Comforter. Joel goes further in chapter one to show us that the very beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, the flocks of sheep are desolate (verse eighteen). And in the final verse he says that even the wild beasts are distraught – “the beasts of the field cry also unto thee.” It is a picture of desolation. It is a scene of sadness and sorrow. It is a story of drought – “for the rivers of water are dried up.” It is the loss of God’s Spirit, beneficial even to the beasts of the field. By contrast Christ promises rivers of living water for all, wells of inward water in the belly for whosoever will, so that we may never thirst again. Listen to Him as He stands to proclaim, “He that cometh to Me shall never thirst.” Compare it with Joel chapter one. Can we see the difference now?