Joel 1:5-7 (ESV Strong's)
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.
God Owns It All
The key word in the above passage is “my.” God is about to tell Israel, through Joel, that the “day of the Lord” is at hand and it is devastating. Because of their disobedience, God is bringing upon them judgment. The judgement will be in the form of another nation (Babylonians and the Assyrians). However, when He describes this nation coming they are coming upon, “my land,” God says. He says they are coming to, “waste my vine.” They will “splinter my fig tree.” God is concerned that the disobedience of His people will be seen as something separate from Him. But, He is quick to remind them that He is invested in this. These are His people and His heritage. God owns it all. God does not want them to think they are the center of attention. When God allows the nations to punish Israel for their disobedience, God is allowing them to attack what He owns. Note later in the book what Joel says to the priest of Israel:
Joel 2:17 (ESV Strong's)
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Israel is a nation who’s God is the God of the universe. God will care for them, but He is using a nation to bring judgment on “His” people. We need to remember at all times that we are His people. We are the clay in His hands. He can do with our what He wants. When we disobey Him we need to know that He will correct us ... we are His to correct.
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