Today’s Scripture Reading (December
22, 2019): Joel 1
On
January 27, 1941, Joseph Clark Grew, the Ambassador of the United States to
Japan, sent off a secret message to his superiors in Washington. The cable read,
“There is a lot of talk around town to the effect that the Japanese, in case of
a break with the United States, are planning to go all out in a surprise mass
attack on Pearl Harbor.” The warning was ignored. A Japanese attack on the
Hawaiian Naval Base seemed to be a remote possibility. The warning was ignored
when it was first released. It was ignored when the American Navy lost track of
a massive Japanese Armada leaving Asian waters around the beginning of December
1941. And it was ignored yet again when an unidentified sub was spotted near Honolulu
at 3:52 a.m. on December 7, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor began a few hours
later. At just a little before eight in the morning, December 7, 1941, just as
Grew had heard “around town” in Japan over ten months earlier. Sometimes, even
with all of the information that we have, we just can’t put the pieces together
in time. We don’t see how everything fits until after the event has taken
place.
The
best date that we have for the prophecy of Joel is 835 B.C.E. The prophecy is intended to be a wake-up call
for the nation. But Joel is not necessarily describing what will happen, but
rather what has already taken place. The invasion of Judah was not impending.
It had happened six years earlier. Six years before the prophecy, King Ahaziah,
the son King Jehoram and his Queen, Athaliah of the Kingdom of Israel, had died
in battle. It was at this time that the invasion of Judah had occurred. The
invasion was really a palace coup. Athaliah had put to death all of the
successors to the throne of Ahaziah and had taken the throne for herself. She
was the only non-descendant of David to rule over Judah. For six years, a
foreign queen ruled over the Kingdom in place of the descendants of David. She
had eaten away at all that was good in Judah, leaving only the dry husks that
were tossed by the wind. Athaliah was the queen of the locusts, and her army
was indeed “without number” because she had co-opted some of the Judean people
into her reign of evil.
Complacency
had taken over the land. The people were drunk and unable to stand against the
invader. They had fallen asleep and were not even aware that a foreign power
had defeated them. And Joel needed to wake them up.
The
same year that Joel wrote his prophecy, another significant event happened. It
was in 835 B.C.E. that Jehoiada revealed that not all of the claimants to the
throne of Ahaziah had been killed. Joash, the grandson of Athaliah, still lived,
and the rightful King of Judah was now seven years old. Is there a connection
between the prophecy and crowning of Joash? Maybe. It might be possible that it
was the push of Joel’s prophecy that forced Jehoiada to reveal the young King
to an awakening nation. Or, maybe, the Prophet and the Priest worked together
on the reveal of Joash. Joel’s prophecy allowed the people to be ready for the
change was on its way. It was a warning for all of Judah, much like the ignored
message of Joseph Grew should have been a warning to the United States. The nation
had been invaded by a foreign Queen who did not want the best for the people of
Judah. Joel’s prophecy woke up the drunkards of Judah so that they could
welcome their new king, and oust the foreign invader, Athaliah, in the process.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Joel
2
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