Joel

              I have read Joel a few times before this assignment. It is a book I have found problems with before. I tend to read it literally and I can't understand the figurative language. It is something that my Pastor and I have talked about on many occassions. I would like to sit down and understand and see all the meaning behind the words, but I can't. 

               However, there are a few things in this book, or  poem,  that even taken literally are beautiful. The first is on page two, in Starvation and Drought. "How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly...For the water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness." It sticks out to me because I can just imagine where I live. The green grass and just beautiful pastures with cows and pigs roaming every where. Then I can just see the cows starting to lose weight and the grass a certrain shade of brown, instead of vivid green.  I just recently had a huge brush fire in our yard, so it doesn't take much to imagine what a pasture would look like after a fire. 

                The next part I found beautiful was on page three, where the deliverance is promised. I can just imagine God coming down and helping replant everything that was destroyed. Giving food to the hungry and clothes to the naked. To me its just beautiful because I can see the Lord's love. 

            This whole book shows God's anger and judgement. It shows us why we should fear the Lord,although, it also shows us how much the Lord loves us. That even though we mess up he will come back to deliver us.  " It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;"