Joel: Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

Joel 1;1-20

The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.

What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; 

Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth. Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord. The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, he olive oil fails.

Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth, ou who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.

To you, Lord, I call, for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.

Even in the past 100 years, Jerusalem has been stripped of all vegetation by a plague of locusts like the one Joel describes so vividly. The swarm of several million insects is carried into Palestine by the desert wind from Arabia.

The locust grows rapidly from larva to winged adult, and at every stage its appetite is insatiable. It is worse than an invading army: when it moves on there is no green or growing thing left. There is nothing to offer to God or so little that the people are using all they have to ward off starvation. For Joel, the locust swarm is a sign, a warning of the terror of the Day of the Lord, God's approaching judgment day. He calls for a national day of prayer.

Why?

A disaster coming means warning from the Lord, the only way to getting better is to come to the Lord and pray to the Lord.

God is the sovereign Lord, God loves us, but we have to do our duty before the Lord. Humble, obey God's word and love each other.

Day of the Lord is the judgment of the Lord, nothing and no one can escape from God's judgment.

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1.宣告災難

  這是史無前例的災難，一無所剩，不要心存僥倖。

我們以為我們是我們生活的供應者，還是神才是我們的供應者？

2. 祭祀

  祭祀代表人忠誠的守約。約是保證神賜福給人。人毀約，不忠心，就得不到神的保守慰藉。災難的背後是人得罪了神，離開神。 

3. 對策

神關心我們生活及屬靈的需要。若我們只關注生活的需要，欠缺屬靈需要，會失去生活的倚靠。

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How?

Be aware that the Lord knows what we are doing and God's righteousness and love will come upon us.