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Daily Devotions

Joel

Joel 
Day 
Day 7

"The harvest of the field has perished"

Text: Joel 1:11

A HARD LOOK AT THE STATE OF THE LAND

It was time to take a hard look at the state of the land realistically. It may be painful but it was important to know the harsh realities.

“The field is wasted,
The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.
Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.”
Joel 1:10-11

1. The whole agrarian economy had collapsed

a) The field is wasted.
b) The land is personified as a person who mourns.
c) The grain harvest is ruined.
d) The new wine’s success depends on the grapes grown.
If the grapes are dried up, then the new wine would fail.
e) The oil fails.

This is a reference to the olive trees; when the trees do not produce well, the oil fails.

2. “Be ashamed, you farmers”

a) Farmers tend to take crop failure personally.
b) There are feelings of shame felt:
i) Personal loss.
ii) Personal failure.
iii) Special sense of shame at having failed as a farmer.

3. “Wail, you vinedressers”

a) These looked after the vineyards.
b) The hours are long.
c) The work is tedious.
d) Months of hard work can end in failure.
e) To wail:
i) To express deep sorrow.
ii) To express feelings of being devastated.

4. “Because the harvest of the field has perished”

This is a general observation that the harvest (grain, olive, grapes) has perished and the nation is in danger!