For a nation has come up against My land,
Strong, and without number;
His teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. Joel 1:6 NKJV
Let’s look at the context for the book of Joel and today’s verse. Joel was one of the twelve minor prophets in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t tell us anything more about him other than his father’s name, Pethuel. Sometimes the Bible gives the reader enormous detail about certain things and other times, it does not. If the Bible repeats something many times, it’s important and the reader should note it.
The first five verses of chapter one of Joel was describing a time in the southern kingdom of Juda where there were locusts devastating the land. He wasn’t announcing the coming judgment of the land but was describing their present state with locusts swarming, then crawling, then consuming. It was so destructive and massive Joel tells the people to tell their children and their children’s children.
Today’s verse is also about how this pestilence came across the nation and devoured everything in its path.
This wasn’t the only instance in Israel’s history where there were swarms of locusts. In the book of Exodus, we see swarms of locusts when Pharoah would not let the people of Israel leave Egypt. In 1915 a devastating plague of locusts covered what is modern-day Israel and Syria. The first swarms came in March, in clouds so thick they blocked out the sun. The female locusts immediately began to lay eggs, 100 at a time. Witnesses say that in one square yard, there were 65,000 to 75,000 eggs. In a few weeks, they hatched, and the young locusts resembled large ants. They couldn’t fly yet and got along by hopping. They marched along 400 to 600 feet a day, devouring every speck of vegetation along the way. After two more stages of molting, they became adults who could fly—and the devastation continued. And we will see, this same devastation in the time of tribulation in the book of Revelation which mirrors the time of Exodus.
The middle east is not the only place where locust devastation has occurred. The U.S. had its own devastation back in the 1870s. Here is a link to a great article on U.S. devastation: 1870s Great Plains Locust Devastation. Just this year, we see this same devastation in Sardinia and in Africa.
Have you ever seen the devastation from locusts? If so, can you share your impressions?
In Genesis, God promises Abraham that He would make Abraham the father of nations. This verse shows that God kept His promise to Abraham and the children of Israel. Generations had passed from the time of Abraham to when the book of Hosea was written. God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. We can trust in His promises. Hold His promises in our hearts.
The most recent example of the genocide inflicted upon the children of Israel was the Holocaust in Germany during World War II. We visited the death camp, Dachau, when we lived in Germany. That camp was the model for all other concentration camps. The Germans were told these camps were to rehabilitate. They were not told the Jews would be used for various and inhumane medical experiments or that they would die horrible deaths in gas chambers. When Dachau was finally liberated in April in 1945, there were thirty thousand Jews in a camp designed for only six thousand. I stood in the massive compound where Jews stood for hours on end and cried. This cruelty has been inflicted upon the Jews throughout the centuries.
But God has always kept a remnant of His people. And He will continue to protect His people regardless of the political climate. His word tells us they are His people. He will bless those who bless Israel and He will curse those who curse Israel. We need only look at the influx of the children of Israel to the land of Israel over the last thirty years. God is bringing His people back to the land He gave Abraham. They have come full circle. His word is true.
Let’s look at the context of the book of Daniel and the verses preceding the verse for today. The book of Daniel is a fascinating book and full of prophetic visions. In verses, 1 through 3, the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, conquers Jerusalem and takes the people into captivity.
Today’s verse defines how the Babylonians sought to exploit the talents of those they brought into captivity and make sure they were indoctrinated into the Babylonian lifestyle.
In church Sunday morning our pastor treated us to a video from Israel. The pastor felt it appropriate for the message that day. And it was. The video was a music video from a movement that’s been growing in Israel. Had the pastor not received the video or shared it with our congregation, we would not have known about it. Even with the internet, we miss a lot of news because of the daily dissemination of the sheer volume of information. But I’m so glad our pastor chose this video to share.
Koolulam is a movement that started in Israel 2017. The founders, three young people, wanted to develop connections with strangers. Singing in unison at the Western wall birthed the Koolulam idea. People from all walks of life and all ages get together to sing and has worked to change Israel’s fractured society. The attendees meet new people at every event.
Let’s look at the context of this verse within the first book of Ezekiel. In verse 1, Ezekiel was among the captives and receives a vision from God. In verses 2 and 3, the word of God and His hand came upon Ezekiel—an in-depth description of God’s calling upon any of the prophets in the Bible.
Today we see tornados and we think disaster. And there are disastrous consequences of today’s tornados. But we also see God’s infinite mercy and love when we see a baby protected in a tree during a storm of such magnitude that the cement block home he had been whisked away from crumbled beneath such an onslaught of nature’s fury. How could it not have been God’s protection?
Sometimes the worst times of our lives where we feel overwhelmed, where we feel like nothing can protect us, is the time when God is holding us in His loving arms. Most of the time, we don’t see it until the storm has passed. The key is to remember He’s with us when the storm rages all around us and bask in His grace and mercy.
While God is speaking about Jeremiah, this tells us God knows each one of us before we were formed in the womb. A comforting thought. He also tells Jeremiah, He has ordained him to be a priest. Jeremiah existed in the mind of and plan of God before he ever existed in his mother’s womb.
Forty years ago, I wrote a novel. I sent it in for publication. In those days, manuscripts were typed on a manual typewriter, publishers accepted novels directly from the writer, and those aspiring authors received physical rejection letters. Not today. While some publishers accept a manuscript from a writer, most of the time, a writer needs an agent to navigate the perils in publishing, and often aspiring authors get rejection letters. Most of the time, the publisher and/or agent doesn’t respond unless you have a personal relationship with them. And it takes an enormous amount of effort to find the right agent.
If you’re young, hold on to your dreams…and if you are older, keep dreaming. Life is too short not to follow the path in your heart.
Isaiah is one of the major prophets in the Bible. His name means “Salvation is of the Lord”. In Isaiah’s day, Egypt, Assyria and Babylon surrounded the tiny country of Israel, much like today, Israel is surrounded by Egypt, Iran, and Syria. In his day Israel was in the center of wars between those nations. Again, much like it is today.
God wants us to repent from our sins, but isn’t that what we should do in our daily lives and not just toward God but toward our fellow man? We should cease to do evil. Whether in our homes, our workplaces, community or our nation. Taking stock of who we are and shining a bright light on our frailties as humans is difficult. It’s terribly difficult. We don’t want to do it. We don’t want to see how far we’ve come from that child-like innocence to corrupted adult.
And we will struggle with it for the rest of our lives but turning to Him is the only answer. He loves us. He loves you. All you have to do is ask. God sees it all, anyway. 
Who says there’s no romance in the Bible? This book negates that notion. It’s a testament of the deep, abiding love and romance between a man and a woman.
Detailing a couple’s story from their first meeting to courtship and then their marriage, the book isn’t in chronological order. Instead, we read the magnificent snapshots of the man and woman’s romantic and sensual human love. Their desires are God-given, and they are committed to one another throughout the book.
When my husband and I were about to be married, we went through marriage counseling even though we were seasoned adults. What struck my core was when my husband said to me, “Honey, I’m only middle management. I have to answer to God if I mistreat you.” Talk about a man who understands his position within marriage. Those two little sentences emphasized how we would succeed. Side-by-side with Jesus central to our marriage. My husband lifted me up when I was down and I did the same for him when necessary. We’ve practiced being one another’s strength for almost twenty years. We’ve had our bumps in the road but through it all, we both knew Jesus was the strand that kept us bound and influenced how we’d move forward.
Fashion. From fringe to leather to velvet and classic styles like Coco Chanel’s easy pieces. Anything and everything goes in today’s fashion houses. But certain styles return…from the 30s & 40s, the peep-toe shoes, to the 60s mod styles and bell bottoms. While there is a twist in some of these styles, it only proves everything old is new again like the verse says.
called “salt box” style homes in the early years of our country. In the 1970s, this style was resurrected once again, with modern materials and conveniences, not to mention the sizes of these homes are much bigger than the ones back in the day.
This one is interesting. On Facebook, I’ve seen modern takes on old-time stoves. When pictures are displayed, you’d be amazed at how many people would love to have that modern “antique” appliance in their kitchen.
My husband lost his job right before the holidays in December 2007. His job defined him and thought he’d one day retire from it but God had other plans. When the dreadful recession of 2008 picked up steam in California, jobs dried up. It was all we could do to keep making the mortgage payments on our dream home. Little by little his retirement fund vanished and desperation set in.
curb appeal it needed but, in a market where there were thousands of homes for sale, the prospect of selling seemed bleak. Room by room, I sorted, packed, and pitched. But I kept praying. Praying for favor from buyers and wisdom for the sale.
In July, he made that long trip back, and we put the house on the market. It took months to sell the house, but it sold when no houses were selling and most of them were selling for less than the owners’ mortgage. This was a miracle given the Sacramento area was one of the most hard-hit of recession areas. When our house finally closed on December 31, 2008, we were overjoyed because it sold at a profit. Unheard of. We knew God showed us favor in the house sale and He’d continue to show favor with a job.
I wasn’t thrilled with picking up and moving across the world to a foreign land but if God wanted us there, we’d go. We had valid passports and no house to sell. A perfect situation for us and his future employer. But we could only take so much with us. Our decision to rid ourselves of all the gardening equipment housed in the storage POD meant we had to dispose of it.