Return: Instructions for Difficult Times

Lars Janssen

Joel Series • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Return: Instructions for Difficult Times

Joel 1:1-12

Joel 1:1–12 ESV

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: 2 Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. 4 What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. 5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has come up against my land, powerful and beyond number; its teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness. 7 It has laid waste my vine and splintered my fig tree; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white. 8 Lament like a virgin wearing 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 fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wine dries up, the oil languishes. 11 Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil; wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field has perished. 12 The vine dries up; the fig tree languishes. Pomegranate, palm, and apple, all the trees of the field are dried up, and gladness dries up from the children of man.

1. Introduction – The more I read Joel…the more I get into a deep study of this little book…

a. The more I am convinced that its content is absolutely relevant and applicable to the situation we find ourselves in here in 2020.

i. Life in Joel’s day was turned upside down. Everything they knew was destroyed. Remember – this was an agrarian society…

1. Their economy lived and breathed by what the land produced. They knew how to farm…how to tend to livestock…

a. But that was taken away from them…their food and their income were gone.

ii. But what we’ll see today when we read this passage is something else was taken away.

1. The only way they knew how to worship God was gone.

a. Remember – as acts of worship – the ancient Israelites were to bring offerings…sacrifices to the temple.

i. They were to bring a grain offering and a drink offering. They did so as acts of worship to God for his provisions.

2. But when fields are stripped bare and the vineyards are laid waste…how do they worship God?

b. Does any of that sound familiar? Ever since mid-March our normal method of worship has been disrupted. Our normal coming together as God’s people…fellowshipping with one another…

i. Raising our voices in signing, praying together – all of our normal methods of worship have been disrupted.

1. And even now, as we seek to meet together again – some of the normal trappings of our worship service won’t be present.

a. So…what do we do? How do we react when life is turned upside down?

i. How do we react when we can’t worship God in the ways we are accustomed to?

ii. Through there are some differing circumstances between our situation and the situation of Joel’s day…

1. The principles to be gleaned are timeless. So let’s get into the Word. Joel 1:1-10. Hear God’s Word.

c. Here’s what we’ll look at today. We’ll spend some time studying the text itself.

i. We’ll look at the structure, we’ll look at important words and phrases. We’ll look at some background.

1. Then we’ll study what the text teaches us. What can we learn from this section? And along the way we’ll look at some points of application that we can put into practice in our lives.

2. Text – As we look at what the text says – I want you to first take note of the structure.

a. In the verses we just read – Joel is addressing different segments of society.

i. Look at v.2 – elders of leaders.

1. V.5 – drunkards.

a. V.8 – a bride

i. V.9 – priests

1. V.11 – farmers and vinedressers.

ii. By addressing each segment of society, Joel is really saying, “This affects everyone!”

1. Regardless of your occupation, your social status, your marital status – the plague that is described affects every facet and every group in society.

b. But notice still – that a command is given to each group.

i. Hear this leaders…tell your children.

1. Wake up drunkards.

a. Week like a bride in black.

i. Ministers are weeping.

1. Farmers despairing.

a. Vine dressers wailing

ii. Each group – each segment of society is to respond to the destruction caused by the locusts.

1. And as we begin our journey through this book, we really need to answer one pressing question…why locusts?

a. Well, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 28 specifically…covenant blessings and curses are laid out.

iii. God and Israel have entered into a covenant relationship with each other – he will be there God and they will be his people. Each side has professed faithfulness to each other.

1. And what we have to understand about ancient covenants is that they have stipulations that each party must adhere to.

a. There are blessings in covenants – rewards for faithfulness…and there are curses…punishments for being unfaithful.

2. And in Deuteronomy 28:38 – after many other curses are spelled out…this covenant curse is pronounced…

a. If Israel is unfaithful to God…one of the consequences will be locusts…lots of locusts.

i. Locusts that will destroy everything…in particular the crops of the field and the fruit of the vine.

iv. So why locusts here in Joel? Because the people of Joel’s day were unfaithful to God.

1. They had broken their end of the covenant so God was enacting a covenant curse on them.

a. But unlike other prophets – Joel doesn’t detail what exactly the nation did to break the covenant.

i. And unlike other prophets – Joel seems very compassionate in calling the people to repentance.

c. And as I said last week, Joel is written in a series of poems. And as it is poetry, it makes a lot of comparisons.

i. And as it is poetry – Joel repeats a series of words in order to show the scale of the devastating.

1. Look at v.4. Now some have thought that Joel is describing the different developmental states of locusts…each stage causing its own destruction.

a. But Joel describes 4 different kinds of locusts…and locusts only have 3 stages of development.

ii. More likely, Joel is using repetition to escalate the language – heightening the need for the people to listen, wakeup and weep.

1. So we have a locust plague…and the devastation caused by it is immense.

a. What one wave left behind, the next group devoured…and what that group left behind the next group took care of…and what the wave left behind, the next wave gobbled up until nothing was left.

d. And look at how Joel describes these locusts. Now remember, this is poetry…poetry uses symbols – similes and metaphors.

i. The locusts Joel describes have teeth like lions…fangs like a lioness.

1. Notice the word ‘like’ – he doesn’t write that the locusts have lion’s teeth…that’s grotesque…and a little scary.

a. But teeth like lions…have you ever seen a set of lion’s teeth?

ii. A couple summers ago, my family went to the zoo with my sister’s family.

1. And it was a great time. Feeding goats, feeding deer, seeing creepy snakes.

a. But then you come to the lions. And at this particular zoo, you can get pretty up close and personal with these lions. There’s plenty of protection…but its still only 8 or 10 feet away.

i. Close enough to see their teeth…which I did. It must have been right around feeding time cause I saw this one lioness licking her lips as her stared down my nephew Amos.

iii. Lions, really impressive animals…with teeth that are able to cause untold damage…and that’s what the locusts of Joel’s day did.

1. Ruined the economy…ruined a way of life…ruined worship as they knew it…life as they knew it.

a. And now that we understand a little better how and why the text was written, we can better understand what it teaches us.

3. Weep – They way I read and interpret this passage – it really teaches us a proper, biblical and godly response to difficult times.

a. There are actually a number of different things we could look at based on this passage. I want to highlight 3 responses.

i. The first response is this. An oft-repeated word in this passage is the word weep…or wail.

1. The nation was devastated by a locust plague…and they weren’t told to suck it up – or grin and bear it.

a. They were told to mourn over their loss – they were told to weep over the destruction.

ii. Joel writes this poem, addresses different members of society in order to bring them to a place of lament.

1. And it shouldn’t be a superficial “Woe is me” kind of crying…but done with deep, heartfelt emotions.

b. Look at v.8. It says, “Weep like a bride dressed in black, mourning the death of her husband.”

i. In the context, the historical context, this verse is referring to an engaged couple…and the bridegroom dies before the marriage is made official.

1. What a terrible situation – looking forward to a life together – only to have death rip that life from you.

a. I imagine that kind of pain would be unbearable…or just losing a spouse in general…no matter how long you’ve been married.

i. And Joel writes…that kind of raw emotion is how Israel was to feel about the devastation. They were to weep with that kind of anguish…wail with that kind of pain.

c. But why? Why weep? Well, v.9 gives us the answer. It’s not weeping and wailing for no good reason. It’s not even weeping and wailing for their own personal lose.

i. But the weeping and wailing is to take place because the grain and drink offering has been cut off.

1. Weep and wail over the fact that the normal practices of worship are no longer available.

d. We know something about that, don’t we? For the better part of this year, our normal practices for worship have been cut off.

i. Unable to congregate with each other…and now that we can, many of our normal practices aren’t available to us because of public health recommendations.

1. And how are we to react? Sulk? Whine? Complain?

a. No, none of those things…but it is OK to lament and mourn what we’ve lost.

i. It’s OK to mourn the loss of 6 moths of family gatherings.

1. It’s OK to lament the loss of connectedness.

ii. We live in strange times – and its OK to weep over what has been lost…especially from a worship perspective.

1. However…weeping and wailing aren’t the only commands in this passage.

4. Pay Attention – The second group of words all have the same connotation – Pay attention.

a. V. 2 – hear this, you leaders. Listen all who live in the land. V.5 – Wake up.

i. The words ‘hear” in Hebrew has the meaning of “listen up” but it also means “remember.”

1. The word is “Shema” – the first word of a Hebrew prayer found in Deuteronomy 6. We know it has as the greatest commandment.

a. “Hear Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength.”

i. Hear Israel, remember Israel that YHWH is your God, that God is One. Remember to love him with everything you have.

ii. And here in Joel…Hear you leaders…you elders…hear and remember. Has anything like this every happened before?

1. Not in their lifetime, or their parents lifetime…but in history yes…Remember…when Israel was in Egypt’s land…there was a locust plague…the 8th plague.

a. So the elders were charged to hear, to remember…to look back and relearn lessons from history.

i. They were charged with thinking through the situation of their day and leading the people through it.

b. And I think this call to hear – to remember – to pay attention is just as applicable to us today.

i. Yes things have been taken away from us--- but that doesn’t mean God isn’t still working.

1. In Joel’s day, the grain and drink offerings were taken away…but they could still worship, they would have to do so in new ways.

a. Same for us today. We can look back in history and see how the church work and what the during did during times of crisis. During global pandemics even.

i. Tom wrote a great blog post about the church’s response during the black plague. Link in the description below.

1. We can read recent history to see how the church responded during the Spanish flu pandemic.

ii. Yes, things aren’t as they were in February…but that just means we find new ways to worship.

1. I never thought there would be a point in my life where I wasn’t going to a physical church building.

a. But it happened…but we found new ways to still get messages out each week.

i. And quite honestly, those messages have had a far greater impact and reach than me simply preaching in our 2 churches on Sunday morning.

2. DVD’s of my sermons are being passed around Dutton. People who have never or who could never come to one of our worship services now have access to it.

a. I’ve had people stop me on the street thanking me for my messages. People who I didn’t previously know.

i. These are ways that God has moved and worked during these difficult times.

1. Yes worship together in our physical building was put on hold…but we found new ways to worship and God blessed those new ways.

3. So we wake up…we pay attention, and when things go sideways…we find out how to worship God in new ways.

5. Tell – And finally, the last command is this – Tell your children.

a. It’s not a coincidence that in both passages I mentioned earlier – the Shema in Deuteronomy 6 and the locust plague in Exodus 19…in both of those passages the Israelites are commanded to pass the message along to their children.

i. And in all of those passages there’s a stress…don’t tell them once…tell them over and over.

1. Whatever you’re doing or wherever you’re going…whether your eating dinner or going to bed…tell them about the locust plague, tell them to love God with all they have…

a. Tell it so many times that it becomes part of the lore of your culture.

i. Tell it – so that generations from now will be able to learn form the situation of your present.

b. And I think that’s another lesson for us today.

i. Tell – remind our children, grandchildren, great grandchild of this time.

1. Yes, we lament over the losses, especially the loss of meeting together…but that gives us to opportunity to stress the importance of the public gathering of God’s people.

a. We can lament over and tell about the time we weren’t able to sing in church…and stress the importance of God’s people communally raising their voices together in praise of God’s great name.

i. Learning from our present…knowing what we know now…we can offer some practical advice in the future.

c. We can share how the church…that is often lagging behind in technological advancements used the current technology of the day continue worshipping God even while we were apart.

i. But in order to have insights for the future…we have to think theologically about the present.

1. See who God is still moving and working…even when we weren’t meeting together.

a. Recognize the fact that Jesus is still building his church…and hell…or even a pandemic isn’t going to stand in his way.

i. Think theologically about our worship. How can we worship? What else can we do in order to give praise to God’s name?

ii. We share what we learn now with our children…so they share it with their children – and down to their children…

1. So 50 years, 100 years from now when the church and the world face another crisis…

a. Our descendants can share the theological lessons and insights gleaned from our crisis experience in 2020.

6. Conclusion – How do we react in difficult times? What’s a biblical perspective?

a. We weep for what is lost.

i. We pay attention to what’s is going on and we think theologically about our current circumstances.

1. And we tell our children the lessons we learned…we tell them over and over…

a. We do this so in order to pass on godly advice for critical situations.

b. Next week we’ll talk about another response…a communal response.

i. Repentance and turning back to God. If you want to read ahead read Joel 1:13-20.