Nation in Fifth: 'Woe is me now!'

"As you start reading the Book of Joel (the name in Hebrew means "Jehovah is God") you discover immediately it lays out an unvarnished look at the destruction associated with the Second Coming of Christ and His judgment on the nation Israel, the earth and the Gentiles.

"It's just one unvarnished blast all through the book," says Richard Jordan. "He starts quick and works hard. It's fierce, it's fast and it's final. If you read it in one setting, which you can do in 20 minutes, you're almost out of breath by the time you get to the end because it is just a real blast.

"Chapter 1 is a warning about the total destruction of Israel. Joel talks about how Jeremiah looks out at the land after the battle of Armageddon, explaining to you Jeremiah 4: [23] I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

[24] I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

[25] I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
[26] I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

"Verse 23 says exactly what Genesis 1:2 says: 'And the earth was without form and void.' There's an absolute, complete destruction of the land.

"Chapter 2 is the battle of Armageddon and the deliverance of Israel. Chapter 3 is the judgment of God against the Gentiles who come up and attack His people; how God avenges His people.

*****

"There's a destruction coming in the land that Joel is prophesying about, where he describes how thorough the literal destruction is. 

“Joel 1: 19-20 says, 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.

[20] The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

“Fire, flame, devouring--that’s not what locusts do. There’s something more than just bugs infesting, so when you keep reading in Joel 1 you begin to say, ‘Hmm.’

“Verses 5 says, ‘Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

"The drunks are going to get mad because they've got nothing else to drink; all the vineyards are gone.

[6] 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.’

“Now, wait a minute, the locusts turn out to be a nation that’s come up upon the land, strong and without number, and they’ve got teeth like a great lion and they devour!

“Lions aren’t going to eat the grass. You go on down through here and you see they eat the grass, the trees, the apple trees, the pomegranate trees, the vine tree. They eat everything!

"It's obvious it's some literal locusts but there’s something more than just literal locusts because now, in connection with that, there’s a nation.

"When it says they have teeth like the teeth of a lion, and have cheek teeth of a great lion, there’s a fascinating comparison there.

"What Joel is doing, in essence, is he's announcing the judgment of that Fifth Course on Israel. He's saying, 'Hey, what's coming ahead is the wrath of God on the nation.'

"The day of the Lord’s wrath is what that Fifth Course of captivity is and Joel says, ‘That Fifth Course is coming!’

*****

"Leviticus 26, describing the Fourth Course, says starting in verse 23: [23] And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;

[24] Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
[25] And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
[26] And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

"In Joel, you'll see how that description is taking place. Verse 27 and following: [27] And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

[28] Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
[29] And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
[30] And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
[31] And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
[32] And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
[33] And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

"Now, you notice before the scattering, He destroys the land, makes it waste. He starts it in the Fourth, but in the Fifth nothing is left. 

“In all the other courses, He’ll destroy the land and let the Gentiles come in and take them, but He doesn’t clean wipe them out.

"But when you get down to that Fifth Course, you’re going to be down to the place where you’re so hungry, He says, and you're so starved and your resources are so gone, you’re going to start eating each other.

“If you go back into Kings, you’ll see that historically. I know you and I, all fat and sassy, have never been that hungry. Nobody ever starves to death in America. But you know if you unplug the electricity in about three weeks you'd be hungry. You wouldn't have anything to eat.

"Everything you eat from down at the store got trucked in by somebody, and if you can't get the gas to the truck . . .  Our economy, as wonderful as it might be, is very delicate. With these guys, it's just all wiped out.

"It’s easy for you to say what you would and wouldn’t do, but if you’re put in the exact same circumstances they’re in, then tell me you wouldn’t do it. That’s how desperate they’re going to be.

“In Deuteronomy 28, where it’s describing the outworking of these five courses of judgment, verse 38 says, ‘Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.’

“One of the judgments of God against Israel is the harvest of their land being consumed by pestilence; by plagues of insects, specifically locusts.

“The passage goes on, [40] Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

[41] Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
[42] All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
[43] The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
[44] He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
[45] Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

“God’s going to stop the natural production of the fruit of the trees. This is the nation Israel in Joel 1:6:

[49] The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
[50] A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
[51] And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
[52] And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.

[53] And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:

(new article tomorrow)