Look to the hills
It has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness (Joel 1:6)You may have spotted that the Hebrew scriptures use repetition as a form of poetic emphasis. The most well known is the donkey on which the Messiah rides. He will enter on an 'ass, on a colt the foal of an ass'. I always slightly suspect that Matthew got confused when he read this and added a second donkey, as if Jesus could somehow sit astride two at the same time. In Joel, as in Zechariah, the repetition is not exact. He repeats the idea but in a slightly different form. Both male lion and female lioness feature as sharp fanged.
These two are, I am told, quite different in their outlook. The male is inordinately lazy in normal life, hanging around for the next meal or the next opportunity to reproduce. Once he has fought and won his place, he will do very little until he is too old to fight and then he'll be driven out. The female, by contrast, is ever active. Hunting for food, defending the young, guiding the pride. The males will occasionally join in if the stake (or steak) is big enough. When the pride are after the big game of an adult Cape Buffalo, both male and female will take part in the hunt. To watch the power of them at work is awe inspiring - and I've only seen it on the telly.
This is the sight Joel wishes to draw to mind when he speaks of his nation being invaded. He repeats not just for emphasis, but for image. The whole pride of lions has come together to bring down his people and it seems nothing can stand in its way.
As we sit in the calm before the storm, it can seem as if we are watching the pride approach over the hill. We will do all we can to defend each other against them, but they are of immense power. We will social distance, build up our medical reserves, call in all our personnel, but still the forces arrayed against us seem immense. So what do God's people do? They turn to prayer. As Elisha might tell us down through the ages, 'Look up to the hills and see that the forces with you are greater than the forces against you' (2 Kings 6). So we call on each other to look up, to raise our hands in prayer and to trust in the living God who longs to save us.
These two are, I am told, quite different in their outlook. The male is inordinately lazy in normal life, hanging around for the next meal or the next opportunity to reproduce. Once he has fought and won his place, he will do very little until he is too old to fight and then he'll be driven out. The female, by contrast, is ever active. Hunting for food, defending the young, guiding the pride. The males will occasionally join in if the stake (or steak) is big enough. When the pride are after the big game of an adult Cape Buffalo, both male and female will take part in the hunt. To watch the power of them at work is awe inspiring - and I've only seen it on the telly.
This is the sight Joel wishes to draw to mind when he speaks of his nation being invaded. He repeats not just for emphasis, but for image. The whole pride of lions has come together to bring down his people and it seems nothing can stand in its way.
As we sit in the calm before the storm, it can seem as if we are watching the pride approach over the hill. We will do all we can to defend each other against them, but they are of immense power. We will social distance, build up our medical reserves, call in all our personnel, but still the forces arrayed against us seem immense. So what do God's people do? They turn to prayer. As Elisha might tell us down through the ages, 'Look up to the hills and see that the forces with you are greater than the forces against you' (2 Kings 6). So we call on each other to look up, to raise our hands in prayer and to trust in the living God who longs to save us.
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| Lake Garda from Tobole, enclosed in mountains |
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