June 20, 2023
Passage Read: Hosea 12 - Joel 1
Meditation Verses: Joel 1:13-15
Thought
The priests are the last to understand how desperate times have become. Only when the people are so impoverished that they no longer have money and crops to offer as sacrifices, only then do the priests realize how bad things are. Then they think to humble themselves and plead with God, which is correct. Only then do they think to call a sacred assembly, gathering even the leaders to humble themselves and pray. Perhaps there is yet hope, but the Lord says that the Day has arrived. Famine is one of the first four seals, but will there be repentance? Will it be too late?
Application
The climate change that everyone cries about is real, and in effect, man-caused. God uses such things to wake His people to their sins against Him, to their wickedness, to their treachery against Him and their neighbor, to their greed and godlessness. The pastors shouldn't wait until their giving drops off so significantly, but should call for a fast and a sacred assembly even now. Now is the time to call people to repentance, before things get too bad.