AS we read these verses which continue the cry of God through the prophet Joel to the people of Judah, we may feel that the prophet is simply repeating himself, and feel he has already made his point. However when we dwell on the words before us in this continued complaint of God concerning the attitude and reaction of the people of Judah to what was happening to them, we are able to see a progression. In our previous sermon, the cry of God through the prophet Joel was 'wake up' - that is take note of the afflictions that have come upon you, and respond positively to them; but the people from the king down apparently were deaf to this cry from God. God's action in judgement and affliction in the first instant is always gracious. He calls people to take note of the attitude of God expressed in the affliction, and understand that the affliction showed God's displeasure at what he observed in the action and living of his people, and respond positively in a change of mind and heart, and return to the ways of the Lord. This cry of God by the prophet Joel was being ignored by the people, and so we have a further call by God through the prophet to react in a way that showed that the afflictions were having an effect. We see this in two words in the passage before us. One word is mourn in verse 8, and the other is grieve in verse 11.

If we read the account of the history of Judah in the two books of Kings, and the two books of Chronicles, specially 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, we hear the the mournful description of so many of the kings, that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Even in the history of Judah when we hear of kings doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord, we find, except perhaps in the action of Josiah, that so much of the idolatry was left untouched, and the worship of false gods went on amongst the people, even though the king was seeking be obedient to the ways of the Lord. The history of Judah so recorded bears out the complaint that we observe in these verses 8-12 of Joel chapter 1.

In the first place we need to meditate on the verses before us so that we may be effected, feel and understand the horror of what was happening, and the response of the people to it all.

So we read that grain offerings and drink offerings were cut off from the house of the Lord. In other words there was a total neglect of the people of the worship of Jehovah, their God. The people had no sense of sin or falling short of the holiness of God, and so the means which God had given them through Moses of coming to God, to be forgiven and purified, was being almost completely neglected.

Then we are told that the priests were in mourning. The priest were mediators before God for the people which was expressed in offering the sacrifices the people brought for the atonement for sin. The mourning was because, in the idolatrous state of the people, this worship of God was almost totally neglected, and had been replaced by the various forms of idol worship which the people had been seduced to from their association from the false worship and gods of the heathen all around them.

As a result the chastisement of the Lord had been afflicted on them which was a destruction of farming, so food was scarce. This chastisement is described as total lack of rain, the ground was dried up. Because of this the crops did not produce food, and the vines were also dried up. The expression 'dried up' is mentioned four times. The effect is described at the end of verse 12 - 'Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.'

Great affliction had been brought upon the people by the hand of God, but the people seemed to be totally insensitive to what they were experiencing. The did not see the hand of God upon them. So the call of the prophet was that they should feel their affliction and respond in a positive way to it. This is seen first in verse 8. The call of the prophet was 'Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth.' The picture is of great grief when a young woman loses her husband early in their relationship, when the love between them is so strong. The pain is to breaking point, and calls forth in the woman so bereaved cries of deepest sorrow.

What is this picture painting for us in the situation concerning the affliction of the people of Judah? Surely that such affliction should be so felt like the bereavement of a young woman who loses the love of her life. Yet the people seemed to have no feeling, and seemed to have no sensitivity to why they were afflicted in this way.

The second call by the prophet to feel the affliction from the Lord is found in verses 11 where the call is - 'Despair, you farmers, wail you vine growers;' which is the call of the prophet to take note of the devastation of their crops, and show some deep reaction of sorrow in their affliction. This was a heartfelt call from God for the people to take note of the suffering afflicted upon them, and respond in a proper and positive way to it.

What is the scene which is being unfolded before us in these verses we are considering. Surely it is a picture of insensitivity. Great afflictions were visited on the land of Judah, but the people seemed to be impervious to them. No one seemed to be asking the reason for them. The people were so satisfied with the way they were living, that they saw no need for change and so continued without any change in the idolatrous ways they were living and which offended God.

What is revealed here is that God was speaking and calling to the people, but the people were totally deaf to the word of God. There was no question raised in their minds as to where this affliction came from, and a total indifference to it. It showed a complete surrender to the idolatry which they had espoused. It showed no sense of any offence before God, and a contentment with themselves.

Spiritual insensitivity is a plague and a serious problem in the minds and hearts of human beings. In the widest scene, people do not see the hand of God in anything. God does not enter into their thinking. This is seen in positive atheism, to agnosticism, and then to total indifference to God, where he is believed to have no relevance in life. Perhaps in times of great trouble, people will turn to God in despair and cry for help, but there is no sense of obligation toward God, and he is only being approached as a possible remedy for trouble in their lives.

The problem of insensitivity is more serious amongst those who profess and would call themselves people of God. The problem lies in the pride of fallen human nature, which in mental pride feels able to make its own God, which is an image of what they approve of how God should be. This is expressed in an attitude to the bible, God's revelation of himself, which allows human wisdom the right and the ability to choose out of God's revelation of himself in the bible, simply those attributes which they deem to be a true declaration of God, and reject every other expression of God in the Bible of which they disapprove. Such an attitude puts human wisdom in the place of God, and allows human wisdom to stand above the Bible, and judge what is truth and what is not, and claim to have come of age in some way so that it is said that the church in the past was lacking in the insight we have today.

In the history recorded in the bible, and particularly in the Old Testament, the greatest sin against God as revealed in the Bible, is the sin of idolatry, which is making an image of God, and worshipping the image rather than God himself. The first two of the 10 commandments commence with the command of God that we should not have any God but him, nor worship any God but him, followed by a condemnation of worship of any image of god made by human hands. This includes more than simply gods made out of wood, stone or precious metal, to gods made as images of god in the mind, which denies the whole revelation of God given in the Scriptures.

When we read the history of God's people in the Old Testament we find that the displeasure and punishment of God is seen, most of all, in the sin of idolatry - the following and worshipping of the idols of the heathen all around them. This was the greatest offence to God and brought the serious chastisement of God on his people, as is expressed in the study of the prophecy of Joel, which is our business at this time. The great problem was the insensitiveness of the people of God to this sin. It is my impression that this insensitivity is a great problem within the church today. We have seen and I hope appreciated that the sin of idolatry is the most serious sin in the sight of God. This was the one sin which moved God to bring upon Judah the devastating affliction and judgement which we have found expressed in these opening verses of the prophecy of Joel. We have touched on the fact that idolatry can be expressed in the mind as well as in physical idols. False images of God conjured up in the mind express as serious an idolatry as any physical object that is created and worshipped. We have also taken account of the fact that present day attitudes to the Bible have allowed a proliferation of denials of the whole revelation which God has given of himself in his holy word, so the god being worshipped by so many clergy and congregational members is an idol of the mind.

The question which our meditation in this sermon requires of us is the question as to whether there are signs of God's displeasure toward this form of idolatry in the visible church today, and if so are we able to discern any such action of God. One of the most evident signs of insensitiveness in the church today is that there is no discerning of God's displeasure or any real sense of falling short of the glory of God, together with a living and worship that feels worthy of divine approbation. This is a contentment which sees no cause for concern at the church's loss of influence, where the churches message is simply of a social nature, and where the Gospel of the need of repentance towards God seems to be completely overlooked. Confession of sin in modern worship seems more and more to be watered down to little misdemeanours, with little understanding or appreciation of the fallen and corrupt condition of the human mind and heart.