Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 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. 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.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.
Joel 1:13-2:1
Do you ever get the idea that some one is trying to tell you something? Or perhaps they are making an attempt to get your attention? In case you haven’t heard the story, a single page of Scripture which had survived the recent Tennessee wildfires was found by an employee at Dollywood. By the way, a special note of thanks to Nathan Smith for sharing the story with me. Today’s verses were the only surviving text of the Bible which was consumed by the flames.
The fires have been completely glossed over by the mainstream media. Since it’s really just a bunch of conservatives, who probably voted for Trump, in one of those fly-over states, it doesn’t really concern the rest of America. But if you’ve been following the story through a dangerous alt-right news outlet, you’ll see the relevance of the following section of the text.
for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 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.
Spooky huh? One of the reasons that the fire hath devoured hundreds of thousands of acres, across Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, is because of the rivers of waters were dried up. Extreme drought conditions created the perfect environment for the raging inferno which destroyed life and massive amounts of property, particularly around Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
So, if this was God trying to get our attention, what is he trying to say? Let’s take a second look at the first two verses that were preserved through the flames.
Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Ye priests, ye ministers of the altar, ye ministers of my God. This verse starts with a call to action by the spiritual leaders. It calls for them to lament for the sins of the nation.
When your pastor speaks, do you hear sorrow in his voice over the 3,288 abortions committed every day in America? Does he agonize over the fact that the Bible and prayer have been stripped from the classroom while our children are taught an atheistic worldview through evolution in their stead? Does your pastor give equal time to speaking out against pornography and heterosexual fornication as well as homosexuality? Or, like the majority of the ear ticklers today, does he gloss over all of those distasteful subjects and deliver a seeker friendly message that leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy throughout the week?
Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord.
Then, it calls for the leaders and all the people of the land to come together, fast, and cry out to the Lord.
Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
That sounds like an urgent message to me.
Well, here’s my closing thought for you to meditate on this week. It’s not warm and fuzzy, but most of you already got that in church.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.
As our brothers and sisters in Tennessee are in so much pain after the fires, let’s remember Jesus’ call for us to love one another. And, as James exhorted us, let us not love only in words, but in deeds also.
Dolly Parton has set up a My People Fund of which 100% will go directly to families who lost their homes.
You can also donate money or time through Samaritan’s Purse who is currently deploying volunteer relief teams to the area.
Jesus said “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul?” Prepper translation: “What good will it do you to survive the coming economic collapse, nuclear war, or even a zombie apocalypse if you don’t know you will go to heaven when you die.” A recent study found that 10 out of 10 people die! On that day we will meet our Maker. It only makes sense to be prepared for that day. Click here to learn more about knowing GOD.
Have a blessed day and happy prepping!
Mark
