Daily Devotions
Joel
"Sound an alarm in My holy mountain"
Text: Joel 2:1
A DIVINE WORD OF WARNING
God Himself gave an urgent word of warning concerning the day of the LORD.
“Blow 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 is coming;
For it is at hand.”
Joel 2:1
1. “Blow the trumpet in Zion”
a) The trumpet was used in two main ways:
i) In joyful worship.
ii) In times of serious danger.
b) The reference to the trumpet in this context:
i) It was a strong warning given.
ii) It was to herald the coming of divine judgment.
2. “And sound an alarm in My holy mountain”
a) The holy mountain was a reference to Zion.
b) This was where the house of God was located.
c) King Solomon had built a magnificent temple to the glory of God.
d) But the trumpet signalled that ominous times lay ahead.
3. “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble”
a) The sounding of the trumpet was meant to send a message of dire warning of war.
b) The inhabitants of the land had every reason to tremble if the enemy was a very powerful one.
4. “For the day of the LORD is coming”
a) God Himself used the phrase, “The day of the LORD”.
b) This gave credence to what Joel had preached.
i) Joel was not being an alarmist.
ii) The danger of judgment was very real.
iii) God’s wrath was to be feared.
c) The day of the LORD was indeed coming soon.
5. “For it is at hand”
The day of the LORD was closer than many had anticipated. The judgment that would be meted out would be worse than they had imagined. The inhabitants of the land should have given serious heed to this word!