The seed is rotten under their clods; the storage bins are laid waste; the barns are broken down, for the grain has dried up.
Joe 1:17
A farmer while cultivating the land has two expectations.
1.Producing food
2.Producing seed
Food is for immediate consumption while seed is for future cultivation. A farmer should appropriate both these blessings of God through cultivating the land.
Our Lord Jesus Christ used the parable of food and seed many times in His teaching.
In 2 Cor 9:8 Apostle Paul said,
Now He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for eating, may He supply and multiply your seed, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.
2 Co 9:10
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from the heavens, and does not return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring out and bud, and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
Isa 55:10
In the verse Joel 1:17, the prophet laments over one thing. The grain for both food and seed are wasted.
The Lord shows this as a symbol for believers.
When the Word of God is sown into the hearts of people, if they accept it by allowing their heart to be a good ground for its growing, it will certainly lead them to salvation.
After accepting the Word what usually happens is, they are led into a Church where they grow by eating the Word of God regularly. And by worshipping the Lord they get the infilling of the Holy Spirit also. They get the satisfaction of fellowship. Enriched by all this, they love to remain there lifelong.
But this can happen only at the detriment of neglecting the most important duty of Great Commission.
Unfortunately the Church neglected this duty and made the seeds stagnate in the Church which became an institution.
The seed is rotten under their clods; the storage bins are laid waste; the barns are broken down, for the grain has dried up.
Joe 1:17
The seeds are rotten under its clods. Clods here are the institutional bondages . We all know that seeds are to be collected and procured at the right time or they will get rotten. Indian Church which is 2000 years old should have produced millions of tones of seeds by now and should have supplied it across the world. But we failed to do it.
Hence they are all rotten since they went under clods. Now what we can do is to dig and dig and bring out the fresh seeds . What all are gone deeper are lost forever. At least we can save the seeds of recent years.
Even the food grains which are produced in all the Churches should be collected and allowed to mature. The new believers should be given training in warfare. They should not be treated like milk fed babies, but allowed to use their gifts of deliverance and healing! (Mat 10:1, Lk 9:1)
Their spiritual eyes and ears should be opened. Their hearts should long for the prophecy gift through which they can communicate with their Heavenly Father and can be used by Him as His spokesmen on earth.
Prayer
Lord let the promise given for India in the year 2006 IN “ ENHF India Vision 2020” be fulfilled.
And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
Joe 2:24
Sr. Angelica AOJ