What is the meaning of Joel 1:3? Tell it to your children “Tell it to your children” (Joel 1:3) begins with you. The devastation Joel describes is not to be tucked away as an interesting footnote; it is a living reminder that God’s warnings are real and His call to repentance is urgent. • Deuteronomy 6:6-7 shows the same pattern—God’s words are to be on the heart and then “diligently” taught to children. • In Exodus 10:2 the LORD says He brought judgments on Egypt “so that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians.” The pattern is clear: when God moves, He expects parents to recount it. Silence would rob the next generation of truth that can anchor them when their own trials come. Let your children tell it to their children The chain is meant to keep moving. Once the story is embedded in your children, Joel expects them to pass it on. • Psalm 78:4 urges, “We will not hide them from their children, but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD.” • Proverbs 22:6 reminds us that early instruction shapes lifelong direction. The verse assumes success: your children will know the story so well they can teach it. That confidence confronts us—are we equipping our kids to become teachers, not merely listeners? And their children to the next generation The third hand-off takes the message beyond the original narrator’s lifetime. A faith that stops with grandchildren is still incomplete; Joel pushes us to think four generations deep. • 2 Timothy 2:2 shows the same four-level relay: Paul → Timothy → faithful men → others also. • In Genesis 18:19, God commends Abraham because he “will direct his children and his household after him,” ensuring an enduring legacy of righteousness. By the time great-grandchildren are speaking of God’s works, the testimony has become woven into family identity and, by extension, into the life of the whole covenant community. summary Joel 1:3 lays out a divine relay: you tell your children, they tell theirs, and the story keeps moving forward. Each link matters. God’s acts of judgment and mercy are to be preserved, not as dry history but as living truth that shapes choices, cultivates reverence, and calls every generation to repentance and faith. |
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