Post 7 | Joel

When reading the passage of Joel I could not simply sight-read and move on, yet instead had to slowly focus on each section of text. Throughout the passage God mentions several types of terrors from the infiltration of locusts to the harshness of famine. In the midst of reading all of this I realized all of this devastation was coming from God. Ignoring small literary devices here and there, I can’t help but look and see the bigger message of this passage; God is not only happiness and fluff. Very rarely in modern Christianity we focus of the dark, less forgiving aspects of God. In section two God says “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” In no way is God being the kind gentle cuddling with the lamb type of figure we see in Christian book stores everyday. This passage speaks for when the Bible says, “God is a jealous God.” Sadly many Christian’s pick and choose when reading the Bible. The truth is that there are many parts throughout the Bible where God is not comforting yet releasing his vengeance. I feel this passage of Joel is a good read because it gets me out of my box. Similar to our visit to the cemetery is the studying of this passage. We must not ignore some dark yet realistic aspects of life. The truth is we must face them head of for the purpose of increasing our faith weather or not how must doubt we think it will place in us. Ignoring questions that may test our faith is not an act of faith yet a blind following. Jesus says, “the truth will set you free.” Although it is impossible to understand everything there is to know about God we must never be afraid to confront the things that test our faith. I feel reading Joel is a great practice of this as it reflects the vengeance of God in an extremely strong way.