{"id":76960,"date":"2020-07-06T13:01:04","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T10:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=76960"},"modified":"2020-07-06T13:01:04","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T10:01:04","slug":"points-to-ponder-joel-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-joel-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Points to Ponder – Joel 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    \n
  1. The slave trade<\/em>. The great injury done to the residents of Judah is their being sold into slavery and trading them with distant peoples, such as the \u201cIonians\u201d (verse 6 – Greeks). When did all this happen? It\u2019s a good question, whose answer would go a long way in helping us determine the historical period when Joel prophesied.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Au contraire<\/em>. The prophecy of Joel \u201cBeat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears\u201d (verse 10) is the opposite of Isaiah\u2019s prophecy of peace: \u201cAnd they shall beat their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not take up Sword against nation; They shall never again know war\u201d (Is. 2:4). Then comes the Israeli poet Yehudah Amichai to solve the quandary: \u201c… Beat sword into pruning-hook, and pruning-hook into sword And so on and so forth again without respite, Perhaps from beating and much sharpening, The iron of contention in the world will end\u201d (translation taken from <\/span>Poets From a War-Torn World<\/span><\/i>, by Aviva Butt, 2013).<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Mowing them down<\/em>. The agricultural tools of the nations become weapons of war. But the divine war against the nations is compared to a successful agricultural operation: \u201cSwing the sickle, For the crop is ripe; Come and tread, For the winepress is full, The vats are overflowing! For great is their wickedness\u201d (verse 13).<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Who\u2019s waiting for the day of the Lord<\/em>? Whoever listens to Joel will be convinced that it is worth waiting. A just trial. Revenge on the enemy nations, and a great blessing for Judah and Jerusalem. But despite that, before you begin to yearn for the day of the Lord, wait to hear what Amos has to say (5 chapters hence – Amos 5). Then decide.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Locusts and enemies<\/em>. Present and future. The book of Joel opens with a plague of locusts and closes with the great war of the day of the Lord. There are many connections between the two parts. For instance: the lighting (it\u2019s dark), the descriptions (many combatants), the changing scenery (from wasteland to flowering) and of course in the message \u201cAnd you shall know that I the LORD [am] your God\u201d (verse 17).<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Chazak<\/em>! On to Amos…<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","image":{"ID":53645,"id":53645,"title":"general-qs-points to ponder","filename":"general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/general-qs-points-to-ponder.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-chapter-9\/general-qs-points-to-ponder\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"general-qs-points-to-ponder","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":53644,"date":"2019-04-13 21:49:41","modified":"2019-04-13 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