The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
meat.
Joel 1:13,16 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God…
Joel 2:14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
Hosea 9:4 They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD.
the priests.
Joel 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
Lamentations 1:4,16 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness…
the Lord's.
Exodus 28:1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.
2 Chronicles 13:10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the LORD, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business:
Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
the priests are in mourning,
The priests, responsible for conducting temple rituals and maintaining the spiritual welfare of the nation, are depicted in mourning. Mourning in ancient Israel involved wearing sackcloth, fasting, and lamentation (Joel 1:13). The priests' grief reflects the gravity of the situation, as they are unable to perform their duties and offer sacrifices to God. This mourning is not only for the loss of agricultural produce but also for the spiritual desolation it represents. The priests' lamentation underscores the nation's need for repentance and return to God, as seen in other prophetic calls to repentance (Jeremiah 4:8, Ezekiel 7:18).
those who minister before the LORD.
This phrase refers to the priests and Levites who served in the temple, performing sacrifices and maintaining the sacred space. Their role was crucial in mediating between God and the people, ensuring that the covenant relationship was upheld. The disruption of their ministry due to the lack of offerings highlights the breakdown of this relationship. The phrase "before the LORD" emphasizes the presence of God in the temple, where these ministers served. This situation foreshadows the ultimate High Priest, Jesus Christ, who would restore the broken relationship between God and humanity through His perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 7:23-28).
“Grain and drink offerings” (Leviticus 2:1–10; Numbers 15:4–10) represent daily expressions of gratitude and dependence on God.
• They accompany burnt offerings, symbolizing dedication and joyful fellowship (Psalm 96:8).
• When Joel highlights these specific offerings, he signals that normal worship life has stalled, just as later in Malachi 1:10 God laments the shut temple doors.
• Because the land is devastated by locusts and drought (Joel 1:4, 17), there is literally no grain or wine left to present.
To be “cut off” implies abrupt cessation, not a gradual decline—echoing moments like 1 Kings 17:1 where Elijah’s prophecy stopped rain entirely.
• It is a divine judgment: God Himself withholds what His people need for worship (Hosea 2:9).
• The phrase warns that when sin persists, God can remove even the forms of worship we take for granted (Isaiah 1:11-13).
The temple—“the house of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 7:12)—is the national center of spiritual life.
• Without offerings the sanctuary falls silent, much like Lamentations 1:4 where “the roads to Zion mourn.”
• Silence in God’s house is a public sign of broken fellowship (Amos 8:3).
Priests, responsible for representing the people before God (Leviticus 10:8-11), feel the loss most deeply.
• Their mourning fulfills the prophetic picture of Ezekiel 7:26 where “they will seek a vision from the priest, but instruction will perish.”
• Mourning shows true awareness of God’s judgment and models the right heart response for the nation (Joel 2:12-17).
This second description of priests (“those who minister”) recalls Deuteronomy 10:8: they were set apart “to minister to Him and to bless in His name.”
• Joel’s repetition underscores both privilege and responsibility; ministry is impossible without God-provided resources.
• The scene anticipates Joel 2:17 where ministers will “weep between the porch and the altar,” interceding for mercy.
• It foreshadows the ultimate Priest who would perfectly minister even in the face of judgment (Hebrews 7:25-27).
Joel 1:9 paints a stark picture: worship has halted, resources are gone, and God’s servants are grieving. The verse warns that unrepented sin can shut down even the most sacred routines, yet the grief of the priests hints at hope—true lament can lead to repentance and restoration (Joel 2:18-19).
(9) The meat offering and the drink offering--i.e., all the outward and visible signs of communion with God are cut off. The means are lost through this visitation. There is a total cessation of "the creatures of bread and wine." The immediate significance of this fact is naturally appreciated first by "the priests, the Lord's ministers."Verse 9. - The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn. While all the inhabitants of the land are called to lament, and have abundant cause for lamentation, different classes of society are specified, and the grounds of their sorrow particularized.1. The meat offering and drink offering accompanied the morning and evening sacrifice, and that sacrifice, with its accompaniments, being an expression of gratitude to God by a daily presentation to him of the firstfruits of his own mercies, was a visible memorial of Jehovah's covenant with his people; while the fact of its being cut off implied the cessation or suspension of that covenant and the people's exclusion from the covenanted mercies of God.
2. But the ministering priests in particular had cause of mourning, indeed a twofold cause:
(1) their occupation was gone when there were no materials at hand wherewith to minister; their office could no longer last, as they wanted the appointed means for the discharge of its prescribed functions; . . .
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