Mourning for Sin and its Consequences

Joel 1:13-20 

13 Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;
Wail, you who minister before the altar;
Come, lie all night in sackcloth,
You who minister to my God;
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.

14 Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
Gather the elders
And all the inhabitants of the land
Into the house of the LORD your God,
And cry out to the LORD.

15 Alas for the day!
For the day of the LORD is at hand;
It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes,
Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed shrivels under the clods,
Storehouses are in shambles;
Barns are broken down,
For the grain has withered.

18 How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

19 O LORD, to You I cry out;
For fire has devoured the open pastures,
And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.

20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You,
For the water brooks are dried up,
And fire has devoured the open pastures.

The prophet mourned for his people’s sins and their consequences upon the land as if God Himself were lamenting them.  The sorrow saw the effects on the food cut off as seeds shrivel under dried out soil and the animals afterwards as there is no more pasture for them.  All creation suffered and groaned (Romans 8:21-22) under the consequences of their sins of idolatry and immortality as they left God and worship of Him in the beauty of holiness.  The result was no grain for the offerings until the priests and people repented in sackcloth to feel the broken poverty and barrenness of soul for having offended the LORD.  They were to fast and pray and cry out for forgiveness in true penitence to God Himself and not to or through a priest because all had sinned and came short (Romans 3:23, 6:23) of their calling as His chosen children.  The judgment of accountability had come for them from the Almighty and the lack of daily bread brought the message home to them.  Therefore Joel cried out on behalf of the people as an intercessor of the creation along with his people for relief by His grace of mercy on them all.  This is the setting of the gospel we still proclaim to all those called by God and ravaged by sin.  Repentance and believing trust to receive Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21) is still required to cleanse us and make us whole as the chosen children of God.  Our sins of idolatry and immortality still rule us until they meet the cross to die and we find life resurrected in spirit now and completely in body as well in the resurrection to come after death (Romans 8:23, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 50-51, 55-57) at the final judgment.  As we mourn for sin’s consequences, we turn in God-given trust to take Christ at His word and receive Him (John 1:12) for life which lasts forever as redeemed and reconciled through His atoning sacrifice for all He calls (John 6:44-45, 47).  Amen!