Joel

Minor Prophets  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  37:41
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The Day of the Lord. So often when we read through the prophets they’ll talk about the Day of the Lord… they anticipate the Day of the Lord… they warn people about the Day of the Lord… and they try to comfort people with the coming of the Day of the Lord.
Today, we’re going to look at a Minor Prophet that perhaps not everybody has read… hopefully you connected to our reading plan and read it this week… But really, devotions, sermons and Sunday School lessons don’t spend a lot of time here. But one of Joel’s primary themes is trying to give an understanding of the Day of the Lord. So, if you have your Bible, and I hope that you do, turn with me to the book of Joel. Joel is a really short book that follows Hosea… which was what we looked at last week.
In this wonderful little book, Joel paints for us 2 pictures of the Day of the Lord. He provides 2 images of what the Day of the Lord is all about. The 1stimage of the Day of the Lord begins in chapter 1, verse 2. Read it with me…
Joel 1:2–12 NIV
Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten. Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips. A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth. Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the Lord. The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails. Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree— all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away.
Joel begins his message… which is essentially a lament. A lament is a reflecting upon a calamity that’s taken over a person… or a calamity that’s taken over a community. To lament is to cry out over this calamity. And the calamity that Joel is speaking of here is a locust invasion. It’s a locust invasion that causes utter destruction to the nation of Judah. Notice some of the things that happen.
In verse 9… all worship at God’s temple has ceased. In verse 10… remember that these folks are farmers… that’s how they make a living… that’s their livelihood… In verse 10… all of their crops are destroyed… all of their fields are ruined… everything is gone… and it’s left in a state of ruin. He kind of concludes his lament, in verse 12, by saying there is absolutely no joy in the land.
This image of locusts and the destruction that locusts bring is prominent in the Old Testament. We see it way back in Exodus… one of the plagues that God delivered on Egypt is a plague of locusts. Throughout the Old Testament, throughout the ministry of the prophets, locusts are used as metaphors for powerful armies that are coming in and invading the land.
So, we don’t know for sure if Joel is referring to literal locusts… or if he’s talking about the army of Assyria or the army of Babylon invading… but it really doesn’t matter… because when Joel communicates through this image is that the Day of the Lord is a day of utter destruction. The day of the Lord is a day of grief… it’s a day of mourning… the Day of the Lord is an absolutely awful site to see.
This isn’t just conjecture on my part… Joel says it explicitly… look at verse 15…
Joel 1:15 NIV
Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
And then skip down to chapter 2…
Joel 2:1–2 NIV
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.
Think of some of the most tragic days in our history for a moment. Think about Pearl Harbor… that day that will live in infamy where the United States is attacked, and thousands of lives are lost. Think about the anger and the mourning of that day.
Think about how our soldiers felt walking through the jungles of Vietnam. Days, weeks, months of utter confusion. Everywhere you look there’s death and destruction and graphic images that your mind will never release.
Think about that day in 2001… September 11… as so many of us turned on a TV to see the twin towers crumbling and collapsing… the death of thousands of Americans… and the fear that brought to us as a nation.
Think about being on the ground in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit… watching the oceans rise and the flood waters coming in destroying the city and some many homes. That’s the picture that Joel is providing of the Day of the Lord. BUT… it’s not the only picture that Joel provides of that day. Look at Joel chapter 2, beginning in verse 18…
Joel 2:18–26 NIV
Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. The Lord replied to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. “I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things! Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
The 2ndimage that Joel provides of the Day of the Lord is the exact opposite of the 1st… In fact… it’s a REVERSAL of the 1st image. Worship had ceased in the 1st image… Worship resumes in the 2nd. The land had dried up… there’s no wine, no grain, no crops in the 1stimage… in the 2nd, trees are bearing fruit, crops are plentiful and flourishing. All joy is gone in the 1st image… there is nothing but joy in the 2nd and everyone is praising the name of God for His mighty works.
To get a feel for the 2nd image… think of some of the best moments of your life… the absolute most memorable moments… your wedding day… hopefully that was a joyous occasion… the birth of your children… and then… times that by a thousand.
The 1stimage is of the Day of the Lord is dread, death, and destruction. The 2nd image is of rebirth, life, joy, a plentiful and flourishing life. So, what’s Joel doing here? How do we reconcile these 2 images of the Day of the Lord? Which image is the real one? They couldn’t both be true. But, if they are… How? The answer is found in the hinge of Joel. These 2 images that Joel paints turn on a hinge found in chapter 2, verse 12. Look at it with me.
Joel 2:12–13 NIV
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
This is the imperative of the book of Joel. This is the command that Joel is bringing to his hearers, and to us, his readers. The command is to return. It’s a command to come back. It’s an invitation to re-connect with God. In a very real sense, Joel is saying what Jesus illustrates in the parable of the prodigal son. Remember that parable in Luke chapter 15?
There’s a father and his two sons… and they have everything they could ever ask for. But the youngest son gets it in his mind that things are not good enough… that his life could be better if only he could go his own way. So he goes to his father and asks for his share of his inheritance… which is basically like saying… dad, I wish you were dead, because I want my money now.
The father, for whatever reason, gives him his share of the inheritance, and the young man takes off… spends his money… lives it up. He experiences everything that this world has to offer. But then famine hits the land… his money is gone… entertainment is gone… opportunity is gone. The only work he can find is the most physically and spiritually filthy place that a young Jewish boy could find.
It’s at this point when he reaches rock bottom that he comes to his senses and says… things weren’t so bad back home. If only I could go back and live with my dad again… even though I have relinquished my rights as his son… maybe I could just be a servant back home… then everything will be better again.
That son… that prodigal son felt remorse… he felt this deep sorrow. He recognized that he had everything, but then wandered away from it. And in that moment, that prodigal son mentally, and emotionally, and physically, and spiritually got up and returned to dad’s house. That’s the image that Joel wants to present to us. That is what separates what people experience on the Day of the Lord.
It’s dependent upon how we respond to God. Those who return to God… those who have a deep sorrow for violating God’s ways… that we’ve run from God… that we’ve attempted to live our lives apart from God… to those of us who have wandered from God… Joel is saying return to the Lord… Go back to your Father’s house. And for those that return… they will experience the 2nd image of the Day of the Lord… the day of joy like never before. For those that don’t return… they will experience the 1st image of the Day of the Lord… the awful image… where there is dread, death, and utter destruction… they will experience the Day of the Lord that they will regret… eternally.
What separates what you will experience on the Day of the Lord… is whether you return to the Lord… or not.
Remember when the prodigal son returns home? He’s not really sure how his father is going to respond… so he’s come up with a speech, and he’s practicing it on his way home… dad, I’m sorry… you don’t have to take me back as a son… but please take me as a servant of yours. But when he gets home, he doesn’t even get a chance to give the speech that’s he’s been practicing for days and days… for miles and miles. No… His father sees him… runs out and meets him… and welcomes him back… not as a servant… but as a son.
That’s the same picture of God that Joel wants us to see. Look at verse 13 again…
Joel 2:13 NIV
Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
When we return to the Lord… we’re not returning to an angry Father. When we return to God, we’re not returning to a God who’s going to hold every bad thing we’ve ever done over our heads… We’re not returning to a God who is dead set on saying I told you so… We’re returning to a God who is abounding in love… who is abounding in compassion… who longs to see people come back to Him… So much so… that He sent Jesus to the cross to take His wrath due to us… so we wouldn’t have to receive it.
The challenge of Joel is a challenge to return to the Lord our God. Joel paints an image of what things are going to look like for those who do not return to God… who do not repent… who do not feel this deep sorrow over their sin and this yearning to return to the Father. And it’s not a pretty picture. That experience of the Day of the Lord is an awful day… it’s a horrific day… it’s a day we don’t want anybody to experience.
But Joel also gives a picture of what the day of the Lord looks like for those who have returned to God… to those who have confessed their sin… to those who have returned like the prodigal son and said… Father, I’ve messed up. And that image of the Day of the Lord is unspeakable joy that cannot be comprehended right now.
As we conclude and Garry and the ladies come to lead us in a time of self-examination and response… Listen… I don’t know if you’ve noticed this… but the Bible really doesn’t paint a great picture as to what’s going to happen to this world. As we go through the prophets… last year we went through Revelation… folks… the end of the story for this world is bleak… it’s bad. It’s nothing but death and destruction for everyone in it. That’s the message of the Scriptures.
But running alongside of that message is also this message of hope. This world is coming to it’s natural end… and it’s bad… BUT… Jesus Christ is salvation. He has come to save. Amongst this terrible news of death and destruction is the powerful message of the cross. The message of come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. The message of… I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come back and receive you unto myself, that where I am, you will be also. The message of… He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, or crying, or pain.
No matter who you are… or what you’ve done…
Joel 2:12–13 NIV
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Pray with me…
My hope and my prayer is that you’ve come to Jesus… that the Day of the Lord will be unspeakable joy for you. But this also ties into our mission… doesn’t it?
2 Peter 3:9 NIV
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The Bible says that God desires that ALL come to repentance.
*Read Mission Statement*
Our mission is to participate in the gospel… to make the gospel the center of our being… that we love others by sharing that gospel with them. Listen… Our desire is not to build a big church. I could care less if we have a hundred people… or a thousand people. Our desire is to bring glory and honor to God by sharing His message with others. So go now, in the grace and love of God… and share the message of His goodness.
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