What the locusts meant to Joel

The prophet Joel spoke gloom and doom like most Biblical prophets.

But the difference is this: the gloom Joel lived through was not brought about by the moral sins of people. The problem was a natural disaster:

Locusts had invaded the land and wiped everything out: the grapevines and figs were ruined; all the grain was gone; the fields were ruined; the wheat and barley destroyed; there was no food in the cupboards; and all the barns were empty.

What a bleak time!

What is striking about Joel's approach is that a natural disaster -- in other words, a bleak event that cannot be attributed to any person's moral failings -- was nevertheless used by Joel as a reason to call for moral repentance:

"Turn to me now while there is still time; give me your hearts; come with fasting, weeping, and mourning ... rend your hearts not your clothes ..."

Like Joel's day, we live in a fallen nature in which many undesirable things happen that are not specifically due to any one person's moral failures. Hurricanes come; earthquakes come; old age comes; Alzheimer's comes; death comes.

Winter is coming to where I live: what the cold leaves, the snow takes away; what the snow leaves the ice will take away ... It is a bleak time, a time of "seasonal affective disorder."

But Joel would see this bleak time as a time to re-examine hearts. And he then says that with repentance will come blessing:

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten ... you will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you..."

Logos2Go

Joel 1.4 What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten...

Joel 2.12-13 Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with faasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love ...

Joel 2.25-26 I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten -- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm -- my greate army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you ...

What does "a work in progress" mean?

He's a work in progress ...

When we say this about someone, it can mean a whole lot of things.

It can be pejorative: The guy is basically a loser.

Or it can be encouraging: Don't give up on him; there's a lot of good qualities waiting to bust out!

Often it is neither of the above. When we say "he's a work in progress," it simply means we need to put up with the way he is; he's always going to be that way.

This is particularly true when "he's a work in progress" is used in reference to adults. Valerie used it the other day to describe a friend in his 50s, someone well-established in society, with a great job, a great family, respected in his neighborhood, a man of good works, a church-going man. He even loves his pets as far as I can tell.

But ... his quirkiness and idiosyncrasies led Valerie to say: "Oh ... he's a work in progress."

I'm thinking: what do we want him to progress to? Do we really want him to lose his idiosyncrasies? Would that be progress? But would he even be the same person we love -- and roll our eyeballs over when he's not looking?

Wouldn't he be less spice in our lives if he was denuded of his quirks?

What did she mean that he's "a work in progress?"

Can it be that there's some things about him that just don't strike our fancy? Can that be all "he's a work in progress" means?

But what makes our fancy a measure of other people's need for "progress?"

Logos2Go

Blaise Pascal, Pensees #196: Some fancy makes me dislike people who croak or who puff while eating. Fancy carries a lot of weight. What good will that do us? That we indulge it (fancy) because it is natural? No, rather that we resist it. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensees, translated by A.J. Krailsheimer (London and New York: Penguin, 1995), 58

Colossians 3.13 You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Galatians 5.15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Ephesians 4.12-13 ... prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith...

Why the book is better than the movie

The book was better than the movie. That's what people usually say.

Hardly anyone says: The movie was better than the book.

Why?

Because the world of the book is a world that you are in.

The world of any movie is simply a world that you see.

Better yet, the world of the movie is simply a report of what somebody else saw when they read the book.

Then they rigged up a movie to tell you about it so as to make money off of you.

Intuitively, you might think that the movie-world you see in full color, with every detail filled in and every character fleshed out by a "real" human being; you might think that such a movie-world would be better than the book-world only in your imagination.

But it doesn't seem to work that way.

Because you are actually in the book-world, as the book progresses, you actually have a hand in creating that world.

By not having a world in full detail as a pre-fabricated object for you (and everybody else) to see, you write the book along with the author as you go.

You write the book along with the Author as you go.

Logos2Go

Genesis 1.5 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

Exodus 24.7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient."

Psalm 40.7 ... "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

Revelation 20.12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

clicking "Like" / saying "Amen"

Now, about clicking "Like" on Facebook:

When you read someone's entry, you don't have to hassle with writing a comment in reply. Just click "Like" and all your friends will know that you, well, that you Like it.

You Like it that Suzy just had a second scoop of ice cream without feeling guilty. Click.

And Joe's picture of the fish he caught? Click: you Like it.

What about Dave's attempts at profundity from his blog? Hmm ... what to do? What do you say about, um, the difference between theoretical and aesthetic judgment? I mean, who cares? Why doesn't he just tell us when he's having second helpings of ice cream?

Oh well, just click "Like" ...

Then there's saying "Amen" during prayer.

Some of you know this because you pray. And you pray with others. And when you pray with others sometimes they say "Amen" when they agree with something you are praying. Here's an example:

"Lord, thank you for bringing us safely together -- (others: Amen) -- and now, Lord, bless this gathering -- (others: Amen) ..." and so on.

Is saying "Amen" like clicking "Like" on Facebook?

Saying "Amen" in public prayer is about deep calling to deep, when in that depth you realize others are there as deeply as you are in your labor before God. You beseech God about a matter, and an echo rings in the room -- and in the halls of eternity: "Amen!"

That is what "Amen" means in the world of public prayer and spiritual warfare.

Clicking "Like" on Facebook is also an echo of agreement. But how deeply it echoes needs further assessment.

Logos2Go

Revelation 1.7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

Revelation 22.20-21 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

What is 'The day of the Lord?'

"The day of the Lord" is a formulaic term repeated in both the Old and New Testaments.

As best as I can gather, "The day of the Lord" can be defined as a period of time when God is particularly present in judgment and blessing.

In the Old Testament:

1. The prophets tended to see "The day of the Lord" in the future, a time when all conflicts will be resolved and God's blessing comes completely upon His people. For example: "... in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine..."

2. The prophets tended to see natural phenomena as metaphors for either the judgment or blessing of God in "The day of the Lord." For example, the prophet Joel interpreted a plague of locusts as a form of judgment on "the day of the Lord."

3. Interpreted in this way, natural occurrences became warnings for God's people to examine themselves and to repent of ways that were not pleasing to Him. Joel: "... The day of the Lord is awesome ... that is why the Lord says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time...'"

In the New Testament:

1. The emphasis is upon NOW. Now is the day of the Lord. For example, what was for Joel a future reality ("After all those things I will pour out my Spirit upon all people...") in the New Testament becomes NOW. And so Peter says this on the Day of Pentecost: "... what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel..."

2. But there is still a future tense to "The day of the Lord." Peter again: "But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief ..."

So we are living in a cosmic time when the blessing and judgment of God are particularly present now, but will be even more so at a future, ultimate, time. It is fitting that this is so, because what makes the New Testament new is the first advent of Christ.

Christ's promise is that he is with us always, even unto the ends of the world. This being so, how can it not be that God's presence is particularly with us now?

But even with his presence, the sense you get is ... we ain't seen nothing yet. So everything still holds from the Old Testament: anticipation of future blessing while living each day with a godly fear that respectfully reads all things and all events not as indicators of God's absence, but of his presence.

Logos2Go

Joel 3.17-18 Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, live in Zion, in my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy forever, and foreign armies will never conquer her again. In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, nd the hills will flow with milk ...

Joel 1.6 ... 15 A vast army of locusts has invaded my land ... The day of the Lord is near ...

Joel 2.11-12 The day of the Lord is awesome ... that is why the Lord says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time...

Acts 2.17 ... what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days... I will pour out my Spirit upon all people..."

2 Peter 3.10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment.

Matthew 28.20 ...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

It is always now

Snow is on the ground again so soon after it was here last. The first thought the whiteness stirs is how quickly time flies. And how it seems to fly by faster each year.

It can't possibly be time for Christmas lists again. But it is. I was up in the attic the other day and saw the boxes with the holiday decor. I could swear I just put those boxes back up there a few weeks ago.

What exactly is time? And why does it seem to go faster when you get older?

One answer might be that, by old age, we've accrued all of the original experiences there is for most of us to accrue in a regular lifetime. So everything has a been-there-done-that kind of feel. This very level of "normal boredom" gives the illusion that, after about 50 years, all our days look about the same.

So even as Christmas is unbelievably here again; summer will be unbelievably here again also.

But I just don't know. Deep down inside I have this feeling. I just have this sneaking suspicion that ...

... time is not linear at all. Time is not a train we're on, speeding by the scenery of life -- and so over time (so to speak), the stuff all looks the same.

But I suspect time is not a train we're on at all. Rather ...

... time is actually an ocean we're in.

Everything that happens in it is somehow always here.

Why does that make things seem to "go" faster? I don't know.

But this I know: Jesus is always present tense.

Logos2Go

1 John 16.33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

2 Corinthians 6.2 ... I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.

Hebrews 3.15 ... Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

Givens tells all!

On television last night a promo for Oprah blurts "Givens tells all!"

I ask Valerie: Will those three words get people to watch Oprah?

She said you bet.

"You know who Robin Givens is don't you?," she said. "She was married to Mike Tyson. People want to know."

This got me thinking. Then I ask:

"If the promo says, 'Wang explains Kant!' do you think that would get people to watch?" (I'm writing a paper on Kant, so I've got him on my mind).

She looks at me like I've got some disease. She shakes her head slowly.

I think about a world in which the interest levels are reversed: Nobody cares about Givens and what it was like being married to Tyson. Many people care about the difference between theoretical and aesthetic judgment. What would such a world be like?

"Wang explains Kant!" -- and millions tune in.

"Givens tells all!" -- and they shake their heads like you have a minor disease.

Years ago I was traveling in France. I go into this hole-in-the-wall restaurant in an out-of-the-way corner of Paris. Simple place. All I could afford back then. (Probably all I can afford now in Paris).

Anyway, the guy at the next table looked like he belonged there: simple; all he could afford. He's reading a book while chomping away at his meal.

He's reading Denis Diderot.

Denis Diderot, the French Enlightenment philosopher who wrote an encyclopedia of knowledge.

Diderot tells all!

And this simple guy was reading him while chomping down on his meat and potatoes.

Logos2Go

Proverbs 26.22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.

Ecclesiastes 12.12 ... Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Daniel 12.4 ... Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase ...

Daniel 12.13 But go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days...