ESOCS Devotional 21 July 2025 – The Imminent Day of the Lord
MEMORY VERSE: ““Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.” Joel 1:15 KJV
TEXT: JOEL 1:1-20
The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.
4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;
What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;
And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you drinkers of wine,
Because of the new wine,
For it has been cut off from your mouth.
6 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.
7 He has laid waste My vine,
And [c]ruined My fig tree;
He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;
Its branches are made white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth
For the husband of her youth.
9 The grain offering and the drink offering
Have been cut off from the house of the Lord;
The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord.
10 The field is wasted,
The land mourns;
For the grain is ruined,
The new wine is dried up,
The oil fails.
11 Be ashamed, you farmers,
Wail, you vinedressers,
For the wheat and the barley;
Because the harvest of the field has perished.
12 The vine has dried up,
And the fig tree has withered;
The pomegranate tree,
The palm tree also,
And the apple tree—
All the trees of the field are withered;
Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
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.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
The Day of the Lord – both in the Old and New Testaments is used in reference to the day of God’s judgment on the human race. In our text, we view God’s anger and judgment on ancient Israel following their disobedience to His commandments. In this vision, Joel saw an incredibly huge locust plague, which wiped out crops and caused famine. The people did not even have offerings to bring to the Lord any more.
It was like a natural disaster, as God’s judgment was unleashed at His own recalcitrant children. It is also a picture of the coming of the Day of the Lord for God’s terminal judgment of the world. Throughout the Old Testament, incidents of such temporary judgments abound (Genesis 19:24-25; 6:11-14, Joel 1:6-12). However, such temporary judgments should help remind us of God’s impending final and ultimate judgment on humanity (Matthew 25:31-34).
Herein is the definition of the Day of the Lord. It is a day of total destruction. It is a day of judgment on the people. It is also linked to the Great Tribulation of the end time, for which God calls on people of all races and nations to repent, in order to be saved (Revelation 7:14-17). If they do not, they will all perish.
The Great Tribulation refers to a world-wide, unprecedented time of extreme distress. This global disaster is going to be a resemblance of what ancient Israel witnessed on a national scale, as painted in our text. It will take place just shortly before the end of this age. It is a time dominated by the anti-Christ, though it will be cut short for the sake of God’s elects (Matthew 24:22). Chapters 11 to 18 of the Bible Book of Revelation give a more complete description of this period in world history. Take heed to yourselves. And save yourself of the agony of perpetual torture in hell. Jesus is coming soon.
CHALLENGES
- Before the Lord shall be gathered all nations to face God’s judgment. Where will you spend eternity?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord Jesus, it is my desire to be with you forever; so help me Lord.
FURTHER READING: Hosea 14:1-9; Acts 27:20-44; 28:1-12
ESOCS Devotional 21 July 2025
