TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Scripture: Joel 2:1-11

Joel 2:1-11 says, “Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run. With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array. Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color. They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks. They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down. They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?” It is obvious that the prophet Joel was declaring a judgment soon to come on Jerusalem and Israel. It was a judgment that no one wanted to hear, but Joel was called to declare it. And Joel ended up with the assignment. God was bringing an army to invade the nation and the army would take the nation into captivity. Joel was prophesying the end of life as they knew it for a whole generation. Does that restrain evil? It certainly does, but it also makes life very difficult for all those who would experience it. I am sure that Joel would have traded his assignment with another because prophesying this level of devastation is hard to do. The prophets were lonely warriors, and for a good reason. Are we willing to pay that price in the last days? Are we willing to speak what we hear God saying, even though no one wants to hear it? That is the true test of the prophetic.