Joel 2:18: Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and will have pity on His people.
Few books of the Bible portray as bleak a wasteland as Joel. A locust plague leaves the land desolate. A fire consumes everything green: “The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wildness behind them” (2:3).
As a result, the temple worship grinds to a halt. Israel’s worship is exchange with the products of the land. Without grain, there are no grain offerings; without olives, no anointing oil; without grapes, no wine for libations. When the land is ruined, the people are not merely cut off from their food supply. They are cut off from God.
Desolation continues until the sudden announcement that the Lord will be zealous for the land and will have pity on His people. When the Lord remembers His promise to Zion, everything changes. Grain, olive trees, grapevines reappear. The land drips with honey and flows with milk.
Israel knows the curse is lifted and the plague is over because there is food in the Lord’s house. Israel knows Yahweh has shown pity because He sets out bread and wine at His table.
Just like us. Just like us.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
