Joel 1:13

"Gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, ye priests; wail, ye ministers of' the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meal-offering and the drink-offering are withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the old men and all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of Jehovah your God, and cry unto Jehovah."

This appeal for the priests of God's religion to bestir themselves upon behalf of arousing the nation to repentance, prayer, and fasting indicates that it had been the wickedness of the people which had precipitated the onset of the plague. This interpretation of great natural calamities and disasters is not superstitious, at all, but Biblical. God is still concerned with the behavior of his human creation; and, beginning with the primeval curse upon the ground for Adam's sake (Genesis 3:17-19), the Lord has continually ordered the affairs of his world in such a manner as to prevent man's becoming too complacent and comfortable in his earthly environment. It is this basic fact which underlies this appeal to the priests to stir up the people in the direction of righteousness and more whole-hearted observance of their religious duties.

The calling of a solemn public assembly, the proclamation of a fast, and the public and private prayers offered to God for the alleviation of their distress were an entirely appropriate response to the threat of starvation and death which had come upon them in the locust plague. What other response should sinful, fallible and helpless men make to a situation which is totally beyond their control? It was a very similar thing which the Ninevites did under the threat of the preaching of Jonah. This is the way that Jehoshaphat responded to the impending attack by the allied armies of Moab, Ammon, and Edom; and this is exactly what Jehoiakim and Ezra did in the face of dangers which, without the help of God, they knew would destroy them. Modern men sometimes imagine that they are able to deal with everything that may happen, feeling no need for prayers and supplications to God; but this is an erroneous and short-sighted blindness, which, historically, God has repeatedly moved to correct; and one may feel sure that he will do so again.

The priests and leaders of the people were called upon to lead the way in this national response to the threat of death and destruction; and this was probably done for two reasons. First, the priests and national leaders were sinners in exactly the same way as the rest of the nation; and secondly, their example was sorely needed in order to arouse as nearly unanimous response as possible.

The reference to meal-offering and drink-offering in this verse has been alleged to indicate a post-exilic date; but one should be very wary of such allegations. Scholars, in their enthusiasm to maintain their postulations, sometimes go overboard in making deductions from totally insufficient premises. Regarding this, Robertson wrote:

"The only ritual references (in Joel) are to the meal-offering and the drink-offering, and these were characteristically not post-exiUan. Indeed, they may be regarded as primitive forms of offerings!"[26]