Read
Joel 2
The first chapter charged
those who should have
known better to wake up. Judgment
was coming. Joel continued in the second
chapter with what he would label as the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
Mostly, he focused on the second part.
Darkness, gloom, clouds, and blackness
headline what’s coming. Let’s add an
army like never seen before. This may be
an army of locusts that devour.
If that were not enough, there will be
fire that precedes the invasion and is still burning afterwards.
What looked like the Garden of Eden
before will be a desert wasteland afterwards.
No place will be left untouched. People will tremble in fear.
Could this be an army of locusts or is
this the battle in which the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords leads the
charge? The answer is yes.
This was prophecy for the near term in
Judah. Calamity was coming.
This is prophecy for the end of the
age. Things will get really bad before
the end.
We see the cosmic disturbance that
Jesus mentioned to his disciples in Matthew 24. That tells us that this part was still to
come.
Who can endure the Day of the Lord?
Joel’s prophecy does not answer so
much who can endure the Day of the Lord but how we can endure it.
Even now—at this late date return to
God with all of your heart.
Even now—your time is not up yet, so
do the things that signal repentance.
Even now—all is not lost. Do you know God? Tell me if this sounds
familiar.
That was from Jonah 4. Let’s
see how Joel presents God to his people.
He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
God desires none to
perish. His desire is
for all to come to repentance.
Joel’s prophecy called upon the people
to rend their hearts and not their garments. Return to the Lord.
Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Joel calls upon people to repent with
their hearts. Repent with your very
being.
Then the repentant people are to call
out to God and ask him to remember them as his prize possession. Don’t let them be an object of scorn for the
world.
Repent, return to God, and call upon
him to spare you.
For us today: Repent, Profess Jesus is Lord, live as his
disciple.
But how will the Lord respond?
He will send grain and wine and never
let his people be an object of scorn again.
He will drive out all who oppose his
people. It’s going to be a real
whuppin—the enemy will be driven into the sea.
The pastures will be green, the trees
will bear fruit, you will have abundant crops and plenty of wine.
Your abundance will make those days
when the locust consumed everything a distant memory. Paul would say that our
present suffering would pale
in comparison to what is in
store for us.
Then you will know that God is with
his people and they will never be shamed again.
Realize that this will take place
amidst cosmic disturbance. The world
will be in turmoil. But God will pour
out his Spirit on all people.
His Chosen People will be protected
and rewarded and never scorned again, but his Spirit will be poured out all
over the world.
Men and women, old and young, people
in high and low positions will have visions and dreams and prophesy.
Wonderous things will happen all over
the world and even in the heavens.
For some, these wonders will be
terrifying. For others they will know
them to be signs of the Lord himself and they will take comfort.
It will be the Great and Terrible Day
of the Lord, and it’s not just for show.
Remember what both Jonah and Joel said about God?
You are a gracious and compassionate
God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending
calamity.
Calamity is finally on its way but it
is not for all. God’s grace and
compassion continue to the end even when his wrath will be poured out on those
who insist on rebellion.
For everyone who calls upon the name
of the Lord will be saved.
Everyone who calls upon the name of
the Lord will be saved.
Our mission—our commission—is to call
people to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ now and know that their
eternity with God is secure, but we must know that a time will come when the
evidence of God and his love will be so overpowering, that many will repent and
believe the good news that we now enjoy in Jesus Christ.
Everyone who calls upon the name of
the Lord will be saved.
The world will be as evil as it has
ever been, but God’s compassion and forgiveness are offered to the very
end. He will send his Spirit and his
word will be everywhere.
So what are we to do?
Go into the world. Preach repent and believe the good news. Live out your commission every day. Be known as a follower of Jesus by your love.
Be salt and light and goodness in a
world that does not know God, knowing that while the world gets worse and
worse, God will give signs and miracles and pour out his Spirit so that many
will be saved.
Do your best to share the good news,
but the pressure is off.
Don’t lose hope when things get really
bad. Such things must happen and they
might just be that nudge that opens the eyes of those blinded by the god of
this age.
Know that God is a God of grace and
compassion. He is slow to anger. He is abounding in love and he desires none
to perish.
Visualize Jesus standing before the
world one last time before judgment and wrath come. See him with his arms wide open calling upon
all to take his yoke and learn from him.
We have our part, but Jesus calls
people to come home and if the earthly
shepherd will leave the
99 to find the 1, how much more will the Lord of Lords do to meet the desire of
his Father’s heart?
How much more?
There will be great and terrible signs
and God will pour out his very own Spirit upon this world to give all one more
chance to repent and come to him.
See the things that must come as one
last effort to bring the lost home, to call all to repentance, and to give
everyone a chance to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment