Joel 1:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

In His divine wrath, He permits all hardships, for it is evident that the trials we face do not occur by mere chance but are decreed by His will against us. The Lord of all makes this known through another prophet: "Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" (Amos 3:6). Thus, not a single calamity that affects nations and cities would occur without His consent, for He delivers whom He chooses from suffering. Therefore, he encourages the afflicted to seek solace in God, dismissing the notion that they require the assistance of false idols in their struggles. "The wells of water," he proclaims, "have dried up" due to the lack of rain to nourish the land. Furthermore, when the crawling locusts devour it and the worms attack, how could one doubt that all sustenance would be utterly devastated? When the grass withers, it follows that the livestock must also perish.

I would suggest that similar pleas should be made when addressing God in these final days, as the Jewish people, burdened by scarcity, mourn the loss of their spiritual treasures—consumed by insatiable spiritual locusts. "The wells have dried up," for He has commanded that the skies withhold rain (Isa. 5:6), rendering the land barren and devoid of water (Ps. 62:2), a place abandoned and desolate (Jer. 6:8). Yet for us, who are justified by faith, God has promised that the outpouring of Christ's blessings will be abundant, as He foretold: "In that day, the mountains shall overflow with sweetness, and the hills shall bring forth milk; all the springs of Judah shall overflow with water, and a fountain shall emerge from the house of the Lord to irrigate the arid lands" (Joel 3:18), or as it is expressed: "I will hear the God of Israel, and I will not forsake them; I will pour out rivers upon the mountains, and in the heart of the fields... into meadows.... And the thirsty ground into streams" (Isaiah 41:17-18). Thus, the focus is on us. If they also turn to repentance, lift their eyes to God, and proclaim: "I will cry to You, O Lord," they too will receive streams of water, joining us in drawing from the wells of salvation (Is. 12:3), finding in their hearts the joy that comes from God, the Father, a Source of life. The 'barren wasteland' will be transformed into a delightful pasture for them, leading them toward the divine and gospel truth that is embodied in Christ.

This notion is succinctly captured by Aquila in a single word, ὲπρασιώθη. They seek Him because the springs of water are parched, and fire has consumed the beauty of the wilderness, similar to how locusts and worms bring desolation, just as fire devours stubble and flames consume brush.

In this context, the "beauty of the wilderness," referred to in Hebrew as naoth, signifies open fields, flowering meadows, or lush pastures for livestock. When the people cry out to the Lord through the prophet, and the livestock look to Him, it is in response to the destruction wrought by flaming fires that have obliterated the trees and led to the loss of produce and sustenance. We observe that it is through deprivation and longing for comfort that the prophet and the animals begin to call upon the Lord. This parallels the plight of a once-righteous individual; when he strays from the path of righteousness and does wrong, his past virtues will not save him, and he will face judgment according to his current state. The beauty of the wilderness can be seen in the words, “many children are more empty than those who have a husband” (Isaiah 54:1).

The flames that decimated the trees symbolize the fiery arrows of the enemy, leaving no good fruit in us, and bringing ruin instead. For it is said that the hearts of all adulterers are like a furnace (Hosea 7). Not only do the prophet and the people, as rational beings, call out, but also the cattle, for it is stated, “You will save men and cattle, O Lord” (Psalm 35:7), and elsewhere, “I will save cattle with You” (Psalm 72:22) and, “I will sow them with the seed of man and cattle” (Jeremiah 31:27). All look to the Lord, imploring His mercy as they seek the refreshing dew, especially after the drying up of the springs of living water, as the Lord says through Jeremiah, “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

With the drying of the waters that nourish and revive, all that was beautiful within us has been consumed by the flames that the Lord spoke of, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).