Nothing To Offer

Total desolation. That's what was left in the wake of a great locust plague that swept across the land in Joel's day. This vast army of insects literally stripped the land of all its fruitfulness. Joel describes it this way... "The seeds die in the parched ground and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty, and granaries are abandoned! How the animals moan with hunger!" (Joel 1:17-18). The fields were bare. No grain. No grapes. No olive oil. The rug had just been pulled out from under the feet of the nation. Think of it. These were desperate times!

Amid Joel's lament, we read this unusual statement. "Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests! Wail, you who serve before the altar! Come; spend the night in burlap, you ministers of God. For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of your God" (1:13).

Grain and wine were more than just food and drink. Grain and wine were essential elements in Old Testament temple worship (Genesis 35:14; Exodus 29:38-46; Leviticus 2:1-16; 6:14-18; 7:9-10; 10:12-13; 23:13, 18, 37; Numbers 28:3-8; 6:1-21). The grain offering and the drink offering were acts of worship to the Lord. No grain or wine in the land meant no grain offerings or drink offerings. God was not receiving the worship He deserved. The means of their worship had literally been eaten up! Joel was calling the people to brokenness.

We are no different than those of Joel's day. Worship is not offered because there is nothing to offer! We gather every Sunday to "worship" together, but often times our very motivation to worship has been "eaten up" by everything else. The meaningless things of the world have choked out our love and adoration of our Savior. God is worthy of our deepest heartfelt worship that transcends a church service and bleeds over into our lives. I think we can all agree, in our lives or in our churches, God does not receive the worship He deserves. Does that break our hearts? It should. As ministers of God, we should weep over the absence of the glory of God in our churches. Where is the desperation for God in our worship?

There is hope for the barren field of your heart. God says, "Turn to Me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning... Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord as before" (2:12, 14). God promises to restore what the locusts have eaten if we will turn to Him. He loves us so much! He wants our hearts. How could we not be desperate for our great God?