Joel 1:4-7 - Intoxication of wealth

Scripture:

Joel 1:4-7
4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten;
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten;
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.

5 Awake, drunkards, and weep;
And wail, all you wine drinkers,
On account of the sweet wine
That is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
Mighty and without number;
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
And it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has made my vine a waste
And my fig tree splinters.
It has stripped them bare and cast them away;
Their branches have become white.
NASU


Thoughts:

The "nation" that had invaded Israel as an instrument of God's judgment is thought to refer to the locusts (verse 4) that had descended upon Israel's crops.

These verses speak to me of how prosperity can lead to idleness and unpreparedness in the day of disaster.  In these verses, Israel went from drunkenness (verse 5a) to utter despair (verse 7).  From ease to total hardship. 
 

Prayer:

Lord, prosperity has an intoxicating affect on us.  We become oblivious to reality, feeling untouchable.  As Proverbs says:

Proverbs 18:11-12
11 A rich man's wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall in his own imagination.
12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,
But humility goes before honor.
NASU

Keep me from this foolishness!  By the standards of the world, I am blessed materially merely by where I am fortunate to live.  But let me not be fooled by this.  My trust must always be in You, not in what blessings I may or may not have.

Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.