Minor Prophets - Joel
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
A wake up call reminder
A wake up call reminder
“Jehovah is God” that is what the name Joel means. As we do part 1 of 2 in the book of Joel tonight, it is a book where God gives a very drastic wake up call reminding people that Jehovah is God. (Joe2:1, 1:1)
They rush on the city, they run on the wall
Great is the army that carries out His word
They rush on the city, they run on the wall
Great is the army that carries out His word
The Lord utters His voice before His army
The Lord utters His voice before His army
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion
Sound the alarm in My Holy mountain!
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion
Sound the alarm
Joel2:1 says:
1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near,
God wants the attention of the inhabitants of the land. We do not know if it is just Israel or if all surrounding areas too, but the message will be clear. Wake up! Remember and repent!
(Natural disasters picture inserted here)
Tornado's, hurricanes, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, even forest fires - ever been asked why God does this, or why God allows this?
God uses many means to get man’s attention, including natural disasters.
God can use many means to try to get man to repent and return, that is God’s goal here in book of Joel as you will see.
So, open your bibles to book of Joel, we will be there in a bit.
Joel means “Jehovah is God” and Joel is God’s instrument of reminding the people that Jehovah is God. We know very little about Joel except he is the son of Pethuel
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
So the inspirited, prophetic author we know little about, but we can tell the occasion, we can tell the message, and as for date even some questions on that as well as the recipients of the prophesy are not named. - So I know I do not have any real notes on your outline for intro section so let me give you one thing.
Purpose of Joel 1:1-2:27 - Repent and return to avert the “day of the Lord”
(Transition): Now I will give some background, then will outline the the passage under consideration for tonight, and that will include the reading in outline form, then some lessons we can learn from the passage, then draw a conclusion.
Background
Background
It is always good if you want to understand God’s word to have some background information. You know the who, what, where, why, and how. Sometimes we find all the information, sometimes it is not all made known, we can know a few things when it comes to Joel.
Author: Joel (Joel1:1)
We know from (v.1) that he is the son of Pethuel.
There are several Joel’s noted in the bible, but this one we do know is the son of Pethuel.
Date: could be 900, 830, 400bc (most believe 830).
Some believe that this is one of the earlier literary prophets (remember those are prophets who have name in the literature (book) accrediting that this transpired in or about 900 bc.
Others believe it was after the exile in on or about (400bc)
Most commentators believe earlier date to be about 830BC.
In my research of the commentators that is about all that is said, in what I ready, so sorry can’t give you more from man’s perspective on this and the scripture does not historically tell us.
Recipients: Unknown
Was it written to Israel? yes, we can assume that, is it about pending judgment on Israel? We do not know for sure for it is not given, Even written to Israel we do not know for sure, but the occasion and the message are clear.
Occasion: God’s use of a plague of locust
There is a judgment of God that was coming, a calamity of an army of locusts. It was going to be severe, it was going to be total.
It will be pictured even as a great army coming against God’s people too (nation).
Purpose: Repent and return, or seek the Lord through repentance.
The locust plague being visioned is a warning from God so to seek the Lord through repentance or suffer the consequences.
If the people did not repent then calamity, judgment was coming, judgment that could be averted.
Repentance is needed so righteousness and blessings will come.
(Transition) While this section is dark and gloomy, depressing, it is meant to wake up the people to avoid a judgment, a day of the Lord event, that was about to come. Now when we get to the next section next week we will see the anticipation of a bright and glorious day in the future (future to them, can it be history to us? Come back next week and find out.)
Outline of the book
Outline of the book
This book is detailed, it is graphic, it is severe, it calls for action (repentance). While we have a lot of scripture to cover, we will read it all, grab some high points along the way.
The land laid waste (Joe1:1-12)
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: 2 Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days?
3 Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. 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.
It is always good to grab information from the scripture so will ask a few questions long the way as we read and outline.
Question: Who is Joel talking to in (v.2)?
Telling the elders, and all inhabitants to hear.
Question: what are the instructions given (v.3)?
Go tell your children, and they tell their children
So, in (vv.1-4) we see announcement, the instructions, devastation that was coming.
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. 8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.
9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, The ministers of the Lord. 10 The field is ruined, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails.
11 Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed. 12 The vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.
Note down what they are told to do in (vv.5-12)
He tells the to awake (v.5)
To wail (vv.5, 8)
To mourn, speaking of the priests (v.9)
To be ashamed (v.11)
In (vv.5-12) Joel calls for them to wake up, and weep at the devastation upon you, priests mourn because this could have been prevented.
Question: (not on the screen or handout) How could this judgment be prevented? - REPENTANCE
(Repent picture inserted here) - stay brief on judgment can be averted when we repent!
A call to cry out to the Lord (Joe1:13-20)
13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the Lord your God, And cry out to the Lord.
OK, have to stop for a minute
Question: What are the instructions given (vv.13-14)?
Gird yourselves, lament, consecrate a fast, proclaim an assembly, and cry out to God.
15 Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty. 16 Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God?
17 The seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up. 18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
In (vv.1-18) you see a “day of the Lord event, and we see it defined.
Question What is the definition of “Day of the Lord” according to (v.15)?
Day of the Lord is destruction from God.
19 To You, O Lord, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. 20 Even the beasts of the field pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Question: Who cries out, pants for the Lord in (vv.19-20)?
Joel cries out “I cry” and the beasts of the field pant for God.
So the call was for the priests to more the people to gather and the people to cry out and Joel and the beasts lead the way because of the destruction in this Day of the Lord event (judgment)
(Transition) we can still learn more about the day of the Lord it is described in even more detail, so far we have seen the devastation of the Locusts, now there is more coming. So far really this was just a warning of worse to come that could be prevented if they would repent.
The coming day of the Lord (Joe2:1-11)
1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the Lord is coming; Surely it is near, 2 A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations.
Sound the alarm (v.1) Day of the Lord is coming, and it is soon.
Day of darkness, gloom (v.2). nothing like it before, nor again (v.2)
The day of the Lord and the severity of it he continues to describe
3 A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.
5 With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle. 6 Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale.
People are in anguish at what is happening (v.5)
7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths. 8 They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks.
9 They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief. 10 Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The Lord utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?
The day of the Lord even is not being played out just in the land but see in the heavens, now look how it is described at the end of (v.11)
The day of the Lord is great, awesome, who can endure it?
(Transition) And because the great awesome Day o the Lord event that impacts the nations and the heavens it comes with a purpose.
A call to repentance (Joe2:12-17)
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.
14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the Lord your God? 15 Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,
Points to consider in (vv.12-15)
Return with all your heart (v.12)
The Lord is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness (v.13)
He wants to leave a blessing (v.14)
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. 17 Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
Question: Looking at (v.15-17) what does Joel call for there to happen, in your own words?
(not on the screen) everyone come together in the assembly, let there be a call for repentance, a cry out to the Lord!
God’s answer if there is repentance (Joe2:18-20)
18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land And will have pity on His people. 19 The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
Question: So a cry out is made, and what is the lords response in (v.18)?
He will be zealous for his land and people, he will have pity.
20 “But I will remove the northern army far from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, And its vanguard into the eastern sea, And its rear guard into the western sea. And its stench will arise and its foul smell will come up, For it has done great things.”
Now, look at (v.20) and think, was great things has been done? You need to think of the big picture here. - Repentance is what happened, what this warning (locusts) and day of the Lord event have done is brought the people back to God.
(transition) we still have a few more verse to go, so I will be brief.
Do not be afraid, rejoice! (Joe2:21-24)
21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For the Lord has done great things. 22 Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the Lord your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
So we see the being told rejoice, be glad, the Lord is going to bless them.
Don’t let the beasts fear, God is providing (v.22)
Children of Zion, don’t fear, God is going to provide the rains for the harvest (vv.23-24).
The Lord’s reassurance (Joe2:25-27)
25 “Then I will make up to you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 “You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame.
27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am the Lord your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame.
Question: what is the end result according to (v.27)?
You will know I am the Lord your God!
In a brief couple of minutes some take aways for this part of the message.
There is value in calamities
Calamities can serve to bring man back to God
They can reveal your spiritual condition and relationship with God.
You can see the nature of true repentance
True repentance needs to be with your whole heart
It is inward not just outward
You can see the nature of God
God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and full of lovingkindness.
You saw a Day of the Lord event that could have been avoided.
Day of the Lord is day of judgment, often times they could be averted, if people would turn, return to the Lord through repentance
There is one Day of the Lord that will not be averted, cannot be averted, are you ready for that day?
15 Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
(Invitation- Day of the Lord-1) (Song-get A great day coming as the song) ) (pray) (Exit)