Joel Chapter
Two
(http://spiritualbiblestudies.com)
(Verse Three)
“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth:
the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; yea, and nothing
shall escape them.”
The Fire and
the Flame Of Joel 2:3
With regard to fire
and flame, let us recall what was stated in our studies of Joel 1:20 and Joel
1:19:
Joel 1:20 - The beasts of
the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and
the fire hath devoured [same word as eat; # 398] the
pastures of the wilderness.
When we read that
the fire has devoured the
pastures we know that it is the same language or has the same meaning as if we
would read “the locusts have eaten, devoured, and consumed the green
trees.” It also means likewise, in that
the waters, rivers, and fountains of the earth have been made bitter. All of this implies that Christ’s Words - the
Words of Faith - have been eaten away; i.e. altered, twisted, distorted,
tainted, misrepresented, misused and so on.
The Word of God has been SILENCED
or spiritually KILLED. A
statement such as this should never be made without adding the beautiful fact
that Christ’s Words can NEVER be altered in the hearts of His Elect; it is only
in the earth and within the darkened hearts of unregenerate man that the true
Gospel will not penetrate after a specific time wherein God has sealed His
elect.
Joel 1:19 - O LORD, to thee will I
cry: for the fire hath devoured
the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Up till this point chapter one has taught
that it is the locusts that are destroying God’s Word. They have laid God’s vine waste, Joel 1:7; the meat and drink
offerings are cut off because these locusts have eaten the fields, Joel 1:9. The field and the corn are wasted, and the
new wine is dried up, Joel 1:10. God’s vine is dried up along with all of the
trees of the field, Joel 1:12. All of this damage is due to “a nation” that is come up
against God’s land, who is strong and without number; whose teeth are the teeth
of a lion, Joel 1:6. The earthly empire of the Assyrians
fulfilled this prophecy somewhat as a prefigure to
this event, however the final, ultimate, and spiritual fulfillment is set for
the end of days. That being said, God is
showing us that these locusts are representative of people who devour the Word
of God with their false doctrines; their adding to and taking from the truth of
God’s Word, etc. For a more thorough
understanding of these spiritual locusts, please see the study “The Fifth Trumpet Judgment” at
our site http://spiritualbiblestudies.com.
The entire first chapter of the book of Joel
repeats and reiterates the fact that it is the locusts who are the enemies of
God. It is these locusts who devour
God’s Word, His Word being represented by the metaphorical fields, vineyards,
and lush vegetation. The destruction
clearly comes from these great armies of locust! Why then do we now read in verse nineteen
that a fire is devouring the
pastures and a flame is burning the
trees of the field? We were told that it
is these locusts who are consuming God’s vineyard. And now we read that a fire is consuming the
pastures. How do we reason with this?
This is the first mention of fire in this chapter of Joel.
The Force Behind This Destruction
Let us first understand this principle
point: The force behind this destruction
is not the locust, it is rather the hand of God.
“Alas
for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” (Joel
1:5)
The judgment of this world begins first at
the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17. It is the house of God that is being judged
here in the first chapter of Joel. This
judgment is being waged by the locusts, however these
locusts are merely tools of God’s divine judgment. Let us compare the following two verses carefully:
“There is a generation, whose teeth
are as swords,
and their jaw teeth <Strong’s Hebrew # 4973> as knives…” (Proverbs 30:14a)
Jaw Teeth: Strong’s Hebrew # 4973
Contracted from
Strong’s Hebrew # 3216; properly a biter,
that is, a tooth: - cheek (jaw) tooth, jaw.
# 3216; dovoureth.
“For
a nation is come up upon my
land, strong, and without number, whose teeth
are the teeth of a lion, and he
hath the cheek teeth <Strong’s
Hebrew # 4973> of a great lion.” (Joel
1:6)
Cheek Teeth:
Strong’s Hebrew # 4973
(same as Jaw Teeth) Contracted from
Strong’s Hebrew #3216; properly a biter,
that is, a tooth: - cheek (jaw) tooth, jaw.
# 3216; dovoureth.
And
what is their purpose?
“For a nation is come up upon my land, strong,
and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek
teeth of a great lion.” (Joel 1:6)
“He hath laid my vine waste, and barked
my fig tree: he
hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches
thereof are made white.” (Joel 1:7)
In both accounts, the purpose of this nation
and/or generation is to devour
(with jaw teeth and with cheek teeth) the Word of God. In the Proverbs
30:14 account, God reveals that the generation or nation’s purpose is
to devour the poor from off
the earth and to devour the needy
from among men. Note: By examining
the phrase “poor and needy”
one will discover that this phrase is ultimately a term God utilizes in
referring to His true elect.
In the Joel
1:6-7 account, the nation’s purpose is to lay waste to God’s Vine, and
to bark (to fragment) His Fig Tree.
In both the Proverb and Joel accounts, it is God’s Word and God’s people
who are to object of this devouring. The
enemy (locusts) devours the Word of God, thereby destroying the congregations
of the world. Their power is mighty,
thus the metaphorical terms Jaw Teeth and Cheek Teeth. God is displaying the mighty force of the
locusts.
Let us look to one more passage from
scripture that pertains to these cheek teeth and jaw teeth we have just read
about.
Psalm 58:1-6
1 - ¶<<To
the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam
of David.>> Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O
congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
<God is
revealing man’s true heart, the heart that is far from God.>
2 - Yea,
in heart ye work wickedness;
ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 - The
wicked are estranged from the womb: they
go astray as soon as they be born, speaking
lies.
4 - Their poison is like the poison of a
serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth
her ear;
5 - Which
will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
6 - ¶Break
their teeth, O God, in their
mouth: break out the great teeth
of the young lions, O LORD.
<Note: “Great teeth” in essence comes from the same Hebrew word as
does Cheek Teeth (Joel 1:6)
and Jaw Teeth (Proverbs
30:14), meaning grinder; that is a back tooth.
Unsaved man is
symbolized by God in various terms or representations. One such term is young lions here is Psalm
58:6. We see this same idea
brought forth in our study of Joel 1:6, which declares that a nation is come up
upon God’s land (ultimately God’s New Testament spiritual land of salvation)
strong and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the cheek teeth of a great lion. >
Job 4:8-10 -
8 - Even
as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
9 - By
the blast of God they perish,
and by the breath of his nostrils are
they consumed.
10 - The
roaring of the lion, and the
voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken.
<Yes, this is
the destiny of all those who plow iniquity and sow wickedness. They are symbolized as young lions and fierce
lions, and the emphasis is upon their teeth. Precisely as we have read in our study of
Joel. This group encompasses all peoples
of the earth apart from those who have the true Christ in their hearts. Those who oppose the anointed Christ are seen
by God as being young lions or great lions with sharp teeth to devour that spiritual truth which they
hate so dearly. These symbolic lions are also the symbolic locusts that
desire to consume God’s harvest fields and His vineyards. Yes, these are they who come into the
congregations of the world and to the market places via the airwaves, etc.;
they go anywhere and everywhere to devour the poor and needy from off the
earth. They come to destroy the sacred
text of the one and only living God.>
The Fire and the Flame
“O LORD, to thee
will I cry: for the fire hath
devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.” (Joel 1:19)
It would do well to read the eleventh
chapter of Jeremiah, which is yet a small sample of God’s judgment at the end
of days. Here in Joel chapter one God speaks of invading locusts over and over
throughout the chapter. At the end of
this chapter God proclaims that it is a fire
and a flame that is to devour
the pastures and the trees of the fields.
But what of the
locusts? Didn’t we read that
the locusts were devouring the pastures and the fields? Yes we did!
And now we read that a fire and a flame will devour these pastures? Let us explain. In mentioning the eleventh chapter of
Jeremiah, we see the prominent verse being verse 16, which speaks of God’s
judgment upon His once faithful earthly representation - the church:
Jeremiah 11:16 - The LORD called thy name, A green
olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: <Christ’s earthly church, no
doubt> with the noise
of a great tumult he <God> hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
God is using His instruments of judgment
upon His once faithful earthly church; those instruments of judgment are the invading
locusts which in reality are all those who think, bring, or preach false and
damnable heresies in the name of Christ.
God alludes to these locusts as an invading NATION, Joel 1:6. This nation in actuality encompasses all
peoples of the earth (sons of men) who spiritually eat away at Christ’s elect
(sons of God). This nation of symbolic
locusts is God’s judgment upon His once faithful but now harlot earthly
church. This judgment of God, through of
use of locusts, appears to be God’s judgmental FLAME and FIRE
upon His once faithful global church.
“O LORD, to thee
will I cry: for the fire hath
devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.” (Joel 1:19)
We read of this flame and fire in the second
chapter of Joel as well. God’s holy
mountain at the Day of the Lord is the topic according to Joel 2:3. The second
verse speaks of the invaders as a “great people,” of which there has never been
the like. In verse three we read:
Joel 2:3 - A fire devoureth before them;
and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden
of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
And nothing shall escape them! What is transpiring here? The warning goes forth to all of the
inhabitants of God’s holy mountain, Joel 2:1.
God’s judgment upon the end-time global church is symbolized as fire and a flame at the end of Joel chapter
one. God’s instruments of judgment are
the invading locusts. In Joel chapter
two this same fire devours
the “inhabitants of the land,” i.e. those within the church - God’s earthly
holy mountain. These are not the literal
inhabitants of national
Revelation 18:8 - Therefore shall her plagues come in
one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned
with fire: for strong is the
Lord God who judgeth her.
“An
ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips
there is as a burning fire.”
(Proverbs
16:27)
We must recognize the fact that when
scripture speaks of fire it can and does carry different meanings. For example, God is spoken of as being a
consuming fire, Deuteronomy 4:24,
Deuteronomy 9:3, and Hebrews 12:29. There are many other passages in scripture
that speak of God as being a fire.
Recall in the book of Acts how God’s Holy Spirit appeared as “cloven
tongues like as of fire,” Acts 2:3. We might also recall that the angel of the
Lord appeared unto Moses in a “flame
of fire,” Exodus 3:2.
The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
is referenced as fire:
Jeremiah 5:14 - Wherefore thus saith
the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word,
behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.
Revelation 11:5 - And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth
out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will
hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
God is described throughout scripture as
having characteristics of fire:
Revelation 19:11-12 -
11 - ¶And I saw heaven opened, and behold a
white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 - His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name
written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Revelation 15:2 - And I saw as it were a sea of
glass mingled with fire: and
them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over
his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having
the harps of God.
God is not only described as a consuming
fire, but His judgment upon the sons of men, past and future has been a
judgment of fire, both literal and symbolical.
Psalms 11:6 - Upon the wicked he shall rain
snares, fire and brimstone, and an
horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
Ezekiel 38:22 - And I will plead against him with
pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and
upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great
hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
Luke 17:29 - But the same day that Lot went out
of
2 Peter 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned
up.
Revelation 16:8 - ¶And the fourth angel poured out his
vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
God is a consuming fire and God’s vastness
takes on metaphorical characteristics, one being that of fire.
Revelation 9:15-18 -
15 - And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared
for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of
men.
16 - And the number of the army of the
horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:
and I heard the number of them.
17 - And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that
sat on them, having breastplates of fire,
and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of
lions; and out of their mouths
issued fire and smoke and
brimstone.
<These
horsemen are symbolic of the world of the unsaved - the sons of men. Their mouths are not filled with the fire of
Christ’s Gospel, but just the opposite.
Their mouths are filled with the fire of God’s wrath and God is allowing
them to perform their own heart’s will.>
18 - By these three was the third part of men killed, by the
fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out
of their MOUTHS.
<This judgment
clearly comes from the mouths
of false prophets and false doctrines, symbolized as FIRE. Precisely as we see in
our study of Joel.>
Psalms 57:4 - My soul is among lions: and I
lie even among them that are set on
fire, even the sons of men, whose TEETH are spears and arrows, and
their tongue a sharp sword.
<Again God is
giving a spiritual description of those spiritual locusts; God’s enemies who
destroy God’s Word.>
Psalm 74:4-7 -
4 - Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
5 - A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the
thick trees.
6 - But now they break down the carved work thereof at once
with axes and hammers.
7 - They have cast
fire into thy sanctuary,
they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.
<Once again,
just a sampling of how God sees His enemies within His congregations. They are a fire.>
Psalms 78:21-22 -
21 - Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob,
and anger also came up against
22 - Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in
his salvation:
<God’s
judgment many times is carried out by the wicked sons of men whom God likens as
the fire of His judgment.>
Psalms 79:5-7 -
5 - How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry
for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?
6 - Pour out thy wrath upon the
heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called
upon thy name.
7 - For they have devoured Jacob, and laid
waste his dwelling place.
Psalms 89:46 - How long, LORD? wilt
thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn
like fire?
Ezekiel 15:6-8 -
6 - Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest,
which I have given to the fire
for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of
7 - And I will set my face against them; they shall go out
from one fire, and another
fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set
my face against them.
8 - And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
The fire hath devoured the pastures of the
wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The spiritual feeding areas of earth’s
invisible wilderness are devoured by the enemies of God. It is the Day of the Lord and God’s flame and
fire has begun to work its way throughout the earth and its churches
worldwide. Call out to God before it is too late. We know neither the day nor the hour, but as
true believers this time of trouble will not catch us unaware. The Day of the LORD is near.
“A
fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden
of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing
shall escape them.” (Joel 2:3)
In interpreting Joel 1:19-20 we see that it
sums up nicely our look at Joel 2:3. It
all harmonizes very well when we compare scripture to scripture and not look
outside of God’s Word for the answers.
The book of Joel is indeed much more than an historical record of the
ancient Jewish people and their hardships in the earth. These ancient Jewish people were the
backbone, portrayal, and prophecy of Christianity. Sadly, a vast majority of them have stumbled,
believing that Christ was not their messiah.
Romans 9:32 - Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as
it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled
at that stumblingstone;
Romans 9:33 - As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of
offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
Romans 11:11- I say then, Have
they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their
fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to
jealousy.
In our next study we want to learn why God
tells us that those who promote false doctrines (in the name of Christ) have
the appearance of horses, and as horsemen.
END OF STUDY