Gleanings from the Book of Joel: Part 4

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

Gleanings from the Book of Joel: Part 4 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

10/7/20

In our last three messages we have been looking at the Book of Joel. As a brief review, I believe the Book of Joel gives a panoramic and prophetic view of the events of the history of God's chosen people through the end of time. We also have mentioned several times that Joel 2:17 is the key verse in the Book of Joel in terms of what the Lord is waiting for the Last Joel to do. I use the phrase "the Last Joel" to refer to those priests the ministers of the Lord, who will fulfill Joel 2:17 in these last of the last days. The first part of Joel 2:17 says, "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar." We will look at that verse in detail in a later message. We will continue now from Joel 1:6, which describes the state of the church today.

6 For a nation is come up upon My land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

"My land" speaks of the Promised Land so that affects you and me and every Christian. I believe that also has a literal interpretation. The first words of a very popular song, which first came out 8 years ago, say, "This land is your land, this land is my land; from California to the New York island." That is a very "catchy" tune, but this land is not our land - it is the Lord's land. He created it.

Verse 6 speaks of a nation which has come up upon the Lord's land. That "nation" is the same as the four stages of locusts in Joel 1:4. Both the locusts and the "nation" are chosen as the destroying powers of the Lord's great army. What great army of the Lord is this? It is NOT the church or any part of the church. Joel 2:25 clearly states who or what is the Lord's great army.

"And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." 

So it is the Lord Himself who sends the destruction.

Exodus 10 describes the plague of locusts which the Lord sent on Egypt. That was the 8th of 10 plagues.

This past Saturday I read an internet blog titled, Locusts Are A Plague Of Biblical Scope In 2020. Hundreds of millions of the insects have destroyed farmland in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Titanic swarms of desert locusts resembling dark storm clouds have descended ravenously. They have roved through croplands and flattened farms in a devastating salvo. Experts are calling it an unprecedented threat to food security. Early June projections by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are forecasting a second generation of spring-bred locusts in Eastern Africa, giving rise to new, powerful swarms of locust babies capable of wreaking havoc until mid-July or beyond. When environmental conditions are right - usually when there's a lot of rainfall and moisture - something dramatic happens: they increase in numbers. When locusts swarm like this, they ravage agriculture, devouring practically anything in sight. They also have teeth. In Kenya, it's the worst outbreak they've had to face in the last 70 years. The swarms are gargantuan masses of tens of billions of flying bugs. They bulldoze pasturelands in dark clouds the size of football fields and small cities. Experts say the upsurge is likely to be tied to extreme weather events. Wet conditions have persisted, creating ideal bug breeding conditions. A generation of locusts can multiply twentyfold every three months. Locusts are ravenous eaters. A swarm of just a third of a square mile can consume as much food as would be eaten by 35,000 people in a single day. Making matters worse, many of the countries slammed with the worst infestations are already hobbling from protracted crises - recovering from recessions, fighting natural disasters, racked by conflict and now the coronavirus outbreak.

This year the east coast of the U.S. has had more rain than normal. We have lived in Northern Virginia in a suburb of Washington, D.C. for 56 years. This is the first year that we can ever recall when we have never watered our grass, trees, or shrubs. It has indeed been a very rainy year for us. But a lot of moisture forewarns of an increase of locusts. Our 17-year cicadas are due in May of 2021. Although cicadas are not locusts, could this be a warning to us of what is already happening with the more devastating actual locusts in other countries? After billions of locusts destroy crops, what is the result? famine. I have always believed that the earth will see one last famine before the Lord returns. Many Christians have been telling us to store up several months of food and water for the times ahead. I would never dare to suggest to any Christian whether or not they should store up a lot of food and water. But who can store up 7 years of food and water?

Now what about the west coast of the U.S.? Everyone knows that the weather on the west coast has been just the opposite ... very little rain, which has resulted in huge forest fires which have destroyed untold millions if not billions of dollars of homes, trees, and even a few human lives.

Please turn to Joel, Chapter 1 and Verse 19.

19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

20 The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Note that the fire will devour the pastures of the wilderness and the flame has burned all the trees of the field. We see that word repeated in Joel 2:3. In other words, because of our grave spiritual state, the Lord purposes to bring about a famine in the land for the entire country. Of course we already have a famine of hearing the voice of the Lord.

Now the good news ... at least for the upright ...

Psalm 37:18-19, "The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied."

Of course the Lord does not tell us HOW He will satisfy the upright in the days of famine. I believe the Lord wants to prove us, whether we will trust Him or trust the ways of the world.

As I said earlier, the plague of locusts was the 8th plague the Lord brought upon Egypt. The 9th plague was darkness over all of Egypt, except for the Lord's people. Jesus said, in 

Matthew 24:29, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:" 

The 10th and last plague was when the destroying angel killed all of the first-born sons of the Egyptians. Not all Egyptian sons were killed, just the first born.

Revelation 9:14-21, "Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

[No country on earth has 200 million armed forces, so this cannot refer to men.] 

And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

Note Verse 20 of Revelation 9. It says the 3rd part of men were killed by PLAGUES.

What we are beginning to witness on earth today is a complete repeat of what happened during the time of Moses.

7 He hath laid My vine waste, and barked My fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Note in Verse 7 that the "nation" is now called "He." The locusts, the nation, the Lord's great army, and "He" are one and the same.

8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

Just as the Lord Jesus spoke 30-some parables to relate things in the natural realm to the things in the realm of the Spirit, we likewise have that comparison from the Book of Joel for today. Again, we should not try to interpret this verse in the natural realm. You might recall the account of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 ... five were wise and five were foolish. In the Bible a virgin speaks of a believer who has kept themselves pure from the things of the world. But we can be free from the pull of the world and still not mature in the realm of the Spirit. The husband of our youth speaks of our first love ... the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that the church at Ephesus was in danger of having their candlestick removed because they had left their first love. Whenever we, as Christians, move in the flesh, doing dead works in the Name of the Lord, the Lord grieves for us, but He lets us continue to do our own thing until we finally see the error of our ways and repent. Have you ever noticed that when we plant new grass seed, when that seed first germinates and comes up out of the ground, it is the freshest and greenest in color that it will ever be? Likewise, when we are first born from above we get very excited because we see things that we have never seen before. At that point we joy in the husband of our youth. Unfortunately, over time that joy, that excitement of our new relationship can fade and become dull, due to our exposure to the worldly system.

9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn.

Verse 9 should read, "The meal offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord." There was no meat in the meal offering. The meal offering (along with the drink offering) represents a voluntary act of worship ... a recognition of God's goodness and provisions. It is symbolic of the worshipper who has committed himself completely to God. The Hebrew word for drink offering means to "pour out." We are to be poured out before the Lord.

Under the Old Covenant, under the Mosaic Law, the meal offering and the drink offering were natural elements. The New Covenant was actually made between the Father and the Son, as recorded in Genesis 15:17. Under the New Covenant the meal offering and the drink offering are spiritual elements. If the Lord tarries, I hope to go through the five Old Testament offerings, as listed in Leviticus, in a later series of messages. Jesus became the meal offering and the drink offering. The will of God is that each believer also become a meal offering and a drink offering, just as Stephen, Paul, and others became. In John 6:53, Jesus said that "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." Except we become the meal offering and the drink offering, we have no life in us and we have nothing of the Spirit to give others. Why? because it is the nature of God to give. God so loved the world that He gave ... Jesus so loved the Father and all those that the Father gave to Him, that He gave His very natural life for us at Calvary. Jesus was and is that Great Servant. There were two types of servant in those olden days. One type of servant was like a hired servant. He had certain rights and privileges, and financial rewards. The other type of servant was a slave, who had no rights whatsoever.

Exodus 21:2-6, "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever."

A good question is, which type of servant are you? Which type of servant am I?

Also in Verse 9, the priests, the ministers of the Lord mourn, but the priests who minister to the house do not mourn (Ezekiel 44).

10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.

Verses 10 and 11 indicate a famine in the land, both naturally and spiritually. The husbandmen and vinedressers speak of the pastors and teachers who have no new wine .... no revelation. Note in Verse 11 that the harvest of the field is perished. That signifies that very few new believers are being added to the Church daily. There are many in the Church today who seem to focus on evangelism ... obtaining new converts; but they are using the best methods of the world to try to evangelize, resulting in what might be called "breech births," i.e., the Head does not come first. The Lord will never allow His fruit to spring from man's best efforts. Jesus said that He will build His Church. He never said that man, even Christian man, will build His Church.

Furthermore, in the "seeker-friendly" churches, non-believers are given a higher priority than believers. The Sunday services are geared toward non-believers; therefore some pastors say there are some things that "we don't do in my church," because it might "turn off" those nonbelievers who are present. If you read the context, Paul addressed that error.

And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. Galatians 2:4

The implication is clear that it is wrong to bring in false brethren to our assemblies. Are nonbelievers true brethren? The "come join us" and "all are welcome" signs and slogans have been diluting the church for many long years.

12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

Note that ALL of the trees of the field are withered! Trees, of course, represent the true believers. Joy is withered away from the sons of men. This does not speak of natural joy. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering is withholden from the house of your God. Joel 1:6-13 

Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,

Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Joel 1:14-15

Verse 14 gives the answer for every problem for every believer ... cry unto the Lord! In every situation, we must cry out, Help, Lord. And that cry must be much more than a formality. The words themselves produce nothing unless they come forth from the heart.

Verse 15 says that the day of the Lord is at hand. That is current events! The day of the Lord shall come as a destruction from the Almighty ... a day of judgment. To whom shall this destruction come? to heathens? NO! The Bible is not written for heathens; it is written for all believers over all of time. Judgment must begin in the house of the Lord.

Verses 16-20 continue with the state of spiritual Judah.

16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?

Hebrews 5:12-14, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

The church has been drinking milk far too long. But the Lord's people love to have it so. That creates a false sense of security. Even the husbandmen and the vinedressers still milk the cows.

In Verse 16, note that Joel says OUR God. Like so many of God's anointed prophets, Joel not only identifies with the Lord and His ways but also with the Lord's people! We must have a sincere compassion for His people worked within us. Jesus came to earth and identified with man in every respect so that we can identify with Him in every respect. Likewise, we must identify with each other ... with other believers. This can happen ONLY by the inwrought work of God.

The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

Psalm 45:13

We are born of the Spirit (or born from above) and we are sanctified by the Spirit. That which is of God has been wrought within us by His Spirit. Paul addressed this when he said:

Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 3:3

Come and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. Hosea 6:1

That verse in Hosea is current events. Why has the Lord smitten us? Because we have strayed from Him and His ways. The prerequisite for healing is to return unto the Lord (repent). It is NOT sufficient just to see the state of the Church; nor is it sufficient just to talk about it with others. The Lord requires something more from those who see what is happening within the Church today.

For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required. Luke 12:48

There are those who say that "all is well." There are those who say that the Lord is still in control, so why all the bother? The answer to that question is the same as that given by Mordecai to Esther.

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14

17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

Note in Verses 18 and 20 that even the beasts of the field cry out to the Lord. One of the most terrible declarations of the spiritual state of God's chosen people is found in

Jeremiah 8:7, "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD."

The word "repent" or "repentance" does not occur in the Book of Joel. But make no mistake, there is a clear call of repentance. Joel clearly states the call of the Lord in this hour for all those who have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church today. The action required of His priests, the ministers of the Lord, in this hour is very clear and very timely. Please note that there are FOUR specific calls to repentance in the book of Joel. These four calls correspond to the four stages of falling away in Joel 1:4. The first call is in Joel 1:13-14 and begins with the priests.


13 Gird yourselves and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God;

14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. Joel 1:13-14

The second call is in Joel 2:1 and is to Zion.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all of the inhabitants of the land tremble. Joel 2:1a

Joel 2:1 states that it is time to sound an alarm in Zion, an alarm which those in Israel cannot hear because they are too far removed. The trumpet was used to signal approaching danger. This alarm trumpets the growing apostasy within the Church. "Let all of the inhabitants of the land tremble" speaks of the fear of God, which is sadly lacking within the Church today.

1 For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. Joel 2:1b-3

The above verses speak of the judgment of God. No one can seriously doubt that the judgment of God must come to America. This nation has strayed too far from the ways of the Lord. This country has slowly been moving from darkness to gross darkness. Even "one nation, under God" is being severely criticized and questioned at the national level.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

1 Peter 4:17

Since judgment must begin at the house of God, it is also true that judgment must begin with the leadership of charismatic churches. Presumably, those in leadership positions within the Church have received more light than others and are held accountable and responsible.

The plea of God to His people through the last Joel is for action, not a passive waiting for the Lord to do something. Let us see what this action includes in the third call to repentance.

12 Therefore, also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. Joel 2:12-13

Repentance (turning to God) must be genuine, not simply a form or a routine, and must be "with all of our heart." Verse 13 says "rend your heart, not your garments." The garments are external; the heart is at the core of our very being. Next, the Lord requires fasting, not feasting. Fasting was always practiced in times of calamity (Judges 20:26; 2 Samuel 12:16; and Jonah 3:4-5).

Another requirement is for weeping, which must be born of the Spirit.

5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.

6 Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.

7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Psalm 84:5-7

The valley of Baca is the valley of weeping. The road to the fulness of the kingdom of God sooner or later will lead you through the valley of weeping. The prerequisite for passing through the valley of weeping is given in Verse 5: "in whose heart are the ways" of the Lord ... those who understand His ways, not simply His acts. Anyone who identifies with the heart of God MUST weep over the state of spiritual Jerusalem, just as did Jeremiah and Jesus. Note in Verse 6 that there are TWO sources of water that fill the pool ... those who pass through the valley of Baca, weeping, and the rain which comes down from heaven (from the Lord Himself). This speaks of our identification with His weeping. Note also that those who understand His ways pass through the valley of weeping. They do not STAY there!

The fourth call to repentance is to all of the Church.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

16 Gather the People, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Joel 2:15-16

The trumpet call in Joel 2:15 is not the same as the trumpet call in Joel 2:1. This second trumpet call is a call for a spiritual assembly. From Verse 16, no segment of the Christian community is exempt from this assembly except kings and royalty. That is because those who fulfill Joel 2:17 are a kingdom of priests and a royal priesthood. The "children and those that suck the breasts" is representative of those who have not yet matured spiritually in Christ. Even the newly married, who normally would have been exempt, are called forth.

Let us now consider again the two times in Joel that speak of blowing the trumpet.

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain. Joel 2:1

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. Joel 2:15

As we noted before, the order is to blow the trumpet in Zion, not in Jerusalem or Judah or Israel. Why? Because only those today in spiritual Zion are close enough to hear the call of the Spirit with their spiritual ears.

In addition, a question worth pondering is: "WHO blows the trumpet in Zion?" Only the Lord knows the names of the specific believers involved, but our generic answer is "whosoever has ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to respond." Come quickly, Lord Jesus!