It's good to be here this morning with you and it's an
honor to be your speaker and I hope that what we have to
consider for a little while. In our study, this morning will
be helpful to you in understanding.
Just a little more of one of the Minor Prophets of God that spoke
so long ago. And that is the prophet Joel.
We're going to discuss Joe beginning in chapter 1 and verse
1, though, we will not go verse by verse through the text as a
chapter study. We'll try to narrate the best
way that we know how to get through some of the things that
are given there and outlined there and some lessons that we
can learn. Also going all the way through
to chapter 2 and verse 27, where this entire text could be
considered the day of the Lord, as a text.
Though, this morning I've chosen Joel the second chapter and
we'll read the first 11 verses to suffice for our introductory
remarks this morning, Joel chapter 2, Beginning in verse 1.
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my Holy
Mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble
for the day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand a day of
darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick Darkness as the
morning spread upon the mountains, a great people and a
strong there hath. Not been ever.
The like neither shall be anymore after it even to the
years of many. Many generations of fire
devoureth before them and behind them, a flame bernath.
The land is as the Garden of Eden before them and behind
them, a desolate Wilderness, yay and nothing shall Escape them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses and as
Horsemen. So shall they rhyme like the
noise of Chariots on the tops of mountains, shall they leap like
the noise of a flame of fire that Well, worth the stubble as
a strong people set in battle array before their face.
The people shall be much pained. All faces.
Shall Gather. Blackness, they shall run like
Mighty Men. They shall climb the wall like
Men of War, and they shall March everyone on his ways and they
shall not break their ranks. Neither shall one thrust,
another. They shall walk everyone in his
path. And when they fall upon the
sword, they shall not be Added they shall run to and fro in the
city they shall run upon the wall.
They shall climb upon the houses.
They shall enter into the Windows like a thief, the Earth
shall Quake before them the heaven shall tremble.
The sun, and the moon shall be darkened, and the Stars shall
withdraw their shining. And the Lord shall utter his
voice before his army, for his Camp, is very great for.
He is strong, that executed his word for the day of the We're
just great and very terrible, and who can abide it correctly?
Read, reach. The first 11 verses of Joel
chapter 2. But what was he talking about?
And what lessons, can we glean from these words will discuss
that in great detail or just a few moments.
But before we do we have a wonderful privilege and we've
chosen this time in our worship to go before the god of heaven
and prayer. He hears us today and we would
ask all that wood to humble yourself in a manner that you
see. 'If it while our brother directs
our minds at this time like many other of the prophets of God.
We know very little in fact about the man that wrote this
book that's before us today. We know nothing except that he
was as verse 1 of chapter one, would indicate the son of petty.
Well, his name in Hebrew yoel is signifying.
Jehovah is God. Also the date of this book is as
conjectural as the Type of this man himself and it's variously
placed as early as 900 BC. And as late as 400 BC in study
of this though, I believe that the earlier date is probably
when it was written making it s in succession to the Minor
Prophets where Obadiah, that we've already discussed and
taught on was first and for our study, we will place this
writing in about the year 830 BC.
The Point before us today, though, is this that though the
date of its composition, may be uncertain and beyond our ability
to determine for sure. The message of the book is
Immortal and Timeless and it can teach you and I today as it did
when it was spoken so long ago, there are.
But two main divisions in the Book of Joel, It's found there
in Joel about three chapters and we find that 37 versus where the
Prophet Joel is doing the speaking.
When he does he describes most graphically in the first
instance. A plague of locusts accompanied
by drought and closing with the earnest, exhortation to
repentance. Finally, though the latter 36
verses of the Book of Joel is where God speaks and when he
does he announces in solemn language, the final Doom of
Israel's foes and closes with the description of the Glorious
victory of the people of God. And so, to sum it up today, Day.
We find that the first half of the book begins in gloom and
closes in light and the second one begins in judgment and ends
in Victory somebo have broken down the book into three
sections in the first section would be how the Locust plague
and drought called the people to repentance the second section,
which would cover chapter 2 and verse 28 down to chapter 3 and
verse 16, where we find that the day of the Lord Harold.
By the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and thirdly and finally
going all the way down and covering the period from that
point forward to the last verse of the Book of Joel, The
Glorious future of Judah and Jerusalem and what that
represents to us today. Mr. Robinson in his book, on the
Twelve, Minor Prophets said this.
There is, but one great thought, which constitutes the prophets
entire message and therefore one might rightfully label it.
The Parable of locusts. And what that teaches us today
there are three basic interpretations about these
locusts. For example, what was Joel
referring to were these literal locusts?
And when he describes the destruction, was that a picture
or a type of something else? Or was he speaking something
that was literal historical and actual?
Well, let me just tell you. The three basic interpretations
of the Locust are these. Number one, there is the Oracle
and that's just a fancy word for figurative.
Like this was an allegory of something else, an allegorical
interpretation of this would interpret the Locust as a symbol
of the Hostile. Armies of world powers that are
to attack Israel in successive. Invasions the second?
Interpretation is the apocalyptic one.
And that theory is that Joe uses the Locust as an apocalyptic
device to give us an accurate description.
One of the last days when host of unearthly Warriors shall come
in battle array, as evidenced in Revelation 9 and thirdly saying
all that will focus on the one that I believe beyond a shadow
of a doubt is the proper interpretation that is the
actual or historical interpretation and in so doing
we understand that Joel pictures Locus that were real.
He sees them swarming upon the people of God and he sees them
swarming upon Vegetation and devouring it in the land.
So without a doubt, I believe in will teach it as such that it
was actual literal and historical.
And now we begin, as we begin chapter 1 and verse one, and
I'll just narrate some of these things to you.
The book begins with the word of the Lord, coming to Joel and
said, here you elders and all the inhabitants of the land.
He's going to picture something like this.
He said, there's nothing. Being in your lifetime that has
ever been like, what we are going to describe in the next
few verses of scripture, there's nothing in your lifetime that
you have ever seen. That's as devastating as what he
is going to picture and what's happening to the people of God
and their land. He says, it's not only something
that's not happened in your lifetime but it's so
devastating. It has not even happened in the
lifetime of your ancestors. Your And so on, it's going to be
such a horrible thing that you're going to pass down.
All the evidences of things that have happened to your children
and those children. It's going to be.
So devastating, they'll tell their children and their
children yet another generation. Besides, we'll talk about this.
Horrible thing, they're scourge of locusts.
Notice the description that Joe uses, and I'm going to borrow
another translation in verse 4 and discussed with you from the
new King James version. I think it might be, you may
know what a Palmer worm and a cankerworm is maybe you do and I
just don't, but I did. So I looked up another
translation and this makes a little more sense to me in verse
4. This is what it says, what the
chewing Locust have left. The swarming Locust has eaten,
what the swarming Locust left? The crawling Locust has eaten.
And what the crawling Locust left, the consuming Locust has
eaten But what's he talking about?
You know, when we discuss the stages of development of a
locust, now we can understand and here they are a crawling
Locust. They were the hatchlings and the
hatchlings consumed the tender ground vegetation, then they
would grow. And then you would have the next
stage, which was the consuming Locust and the consuming locusts
were The Hoppers and they completed the tender vegetation
or the destruction of those things.
Thirdly, there's the chewing Locust, and they were the winged
Hoppers, and they attacked the branches.
And finally, the full grown Locust, they were the swarming
Locust. They were the mature ones.
And they stripped even the bark of the trees and made them,
white, and Joe Begins by naming the luxuries of life.
And then he proceeds to the essentials of life that all is
going to be affected. He says, the words like this.
He says, to all you drunk. He says, Wake out of your stupor
because the source of your drink has now been cut off.
I think it's rather interesting. What Joe does here he's
picturing. First of all the luxuries you
know there are luxuries in our life that we enjoy and we might
lose luxuries in our life that we may miss them.
We may really want them. We made crave them, we may even
long for them and be very sorrowful when we don't have
them any longer. But it's even worse when the
essentials or the Necessities that we have in this life are
taken away and Joe is picturing something very, very significant
that we need not to hurry past. He's picturing both are
destroyed, the luxuries are destroyed and the essentials are
also destroyed. Now let's go back to the phrase
as he speaking to the drunkards you know the Bible speaks of new
one. And there is new wine and there
is sweet, wine. Interestingly, there's a
difference. The new wine and we'll just go
forward in time. If this was written in about 800
30 BC. Let's go forward in time to a d
33 and this is the last time will reference the book of Acts
until next time when we talk about this prophet of Pentecost.
But let me just say this, you remember, when the Holy Spirit
had came to the apostles and they were preaching what Jesus
said, they would preach where they would preach repentance.
Audience and remission of sins. They were in Jerusalem and they
were preaching that very first gospel.
Sermon you remember what they said when they were speaking and
those that were listening were Hearing in their own native
tongue or language. Somebody said these men are full
of new wine. But the response was these men
are not drunken as you suppose for it is, but the third hour of
the day, it's 9:00 in the morning.
Oh and how absurd it is to say that these men are drunk by
partaking of new while. And finally, what was said, is
this not only are they not drunk as you suppose not only is it
absurd to assume so at 9 a.m., but what they're speaking, is
the words of the Prophet Joel. Now we'll go back in time now to
where we are. There's something else that was
cut off, too. And that is the sweet wine.
The sweet wine is the tender juice of the grape.
That's an essential that is something that is necessary,
that is something that we all enjoy.
And so, after Joel passes from the plight of the wine drinkers,
he now calls upon the priest to mourn and lament because the
offerings of worship were cut off.
You know, there's a great need here and there's a great
picture. Of how they needed to be ever so
sorrowful. And the priest should lead the
charge in being remorseful and mourning and lamenting and
repentance. By the way, is going to be
described very, very specifically and very
graphically on how they must do it.
But you know, what, not only is he saying that the good things
that you enjoy in this life, to the flesh, not only the
essentials, but there's something even greater you need
to mourn. All the people needs to be
sorrowful. Oil.
Because now even the items that you can take in worship to God,
have been destroyed and there's nothing to bring before him.
He tells them to grieve like a virgin in sackcloth who has lost
her husband in battle that she was betrothed to from her youth.
You know. I can't really picture this.
We don't have but Robles and so on today but picture this You
have a young lady and there's a young man and she's been
betrothed to that man. All the way back in time since
she was a little tiny, little girl.
And so that would be the man that she would spend the rest of
her life with Joel is picturing it like this.
Can you imagine how it would be, if that young man that you've
been betrothed to that husband of yours goes out into battle
and loses his life can You imagine the morning of that
young lady. Oh, how awful that would be, you
know, I can't fathom that we have some that do understand
that, what it's like to lose your spouse when you're young,
how awful that is. We can't picture anything that
is worse than that. You know, when we look at that,
we look at our families. I think that'd be the worst
thing. The worst thought of all and
thinking about something like that is that you would be
leaving them and they would be alone, they'd be alone in this.
World without you and how awful that would be.
Oh, that's the picture Joel is using here.
He said you repent in sackcloth, you mourn in sackcloth you mourn
in such a way that you are so sorrowful and you do it like a
young lady that lost her, betrothed, husband in battle,
and now she's all alone, the grief of the people is great,
because the Invaders affect their very worship, especially
the great anguish of the Reese, the fields are now left bare.
There is no grain Vineyards are stripped, and therefore, there's
no new wine, the olive trees are barked and therefore, there's no
olive oil, which is essential as food for all the husbandman,
along with the vinedressers are called upon to join the priest
in mourning, for all share alike in this desolation, and with
grain and all manner of fruit, that's cut off.
The joy of fullness has now vanished and hopelessness
overwhelms, all strata of society, but you know, this
graphic very graphic description of the invasion of these locusts
and the devastation of their land is followed by a call to
repentance and fasting before the Lord and rightfully.
So who was to lead the charge who was to set this example on
true repentance and so on. And Saying it was the priests.
It was the Ministers of God, the server's of God, and they were
to gird themselves. Get this.
Now, they were to gird themself with sackcloth and lie all night
before the altar, they were to lament and mourn.
The nation's condition. Notice this though, If you
didn't know which sack cloth is sack cloth, was a course, Harry
material very uncomfortable to the skin but it was it was worn
next to the skin as symbolic of the misery of the soul of an
individual. So when they were in misery,
they would wrap them self in sackcloth, and that's what he's
saying. He says, you people of God, you
servers, of God, you priest. Now you Ministers of God, you do
First and you wrap yourself in sackcloth and lay before the
altar all night and you mourn because of how the people of
God. Have been all this expression of
humility before God was accompanied also with the solemn
fast, they were to call our sacred assembly.
They were to gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the
land, into the house of the Lord, their God, and they were
to cry out unto the Lord. You know, this awful Calamity
had come upon the people, as a warning of the day of the Lord,
that was to come. And we need to be careful about
this phrase, the day of the Lord, it is true that the day of
the Lord signifies or represents things in the future sometimes.
But in other times, it represents things that happened
in there very lifetimes and others would come in a near
future. But the day of the Lord here is
not picturing the Judgment Day. This is Picture of something
that was to come at the end of time that has never come our way
which you and I are waiting that day and incidentally we're going
to find out that because of their repenting that the Lord
lamented and the day of the Lord passed them by.
In other words, the day of the Lord means the Judgment of the
Lord and when the Judgment of the Lord was passed by these
individuals, they were able to have that wonderful relationship
with the great God Of Heaven wants.
Again but let me just say this though, the day of the Lord, the
judgement day is not going to pass.
That is going to be a day. That's going to be there and you
and I can do nothing to at to have God removes the day of the
Lord, The Judgement Day, all we can do is be prepared but that
day is coming. And Jesus Christ, the righteous
judge is going to reward those that have done that, which we
have been told to do and those that have lived, contrary to the
word of God, those folks that were not Christians, and living
accordant in accordance with the word of God.
They'll be lost and that will be the Judgment of God upon them.
But in this case, this day is a day of judgment upon the people
of God. And as bad as This calamity is
that he's already Described in chapter 1, it would only
represent partial destruction compared to what was coming and
the prophet Cries Out fervently, to God.
And here are his words and I'll read them exactly.
He says, oh Lord to thee. Will I cry out for the fire hath
devoured, the pastures and the Wilderness and the flame hath
burned, all the trees of the field.
The beasts of the field cry. Also want to be for the rivers
of waters are dried up and the fire hath devoured, the pastures
of the Wilderness and notice this.
Now as we begin chapter 2, we find that the first warning and
summons to look to God is followed by a more urgent
warning and call to repentance because the day of the Lord is
at hand and they were to blow the trumpets, you know.
Interestingly about blowing. Owing the trumpets blowing of
the trumpet was used in Israel. To call the people to the door
of the tent of meeting. It was used to start them on
their Journey. It was used to sound an alarm in
their way and it was used to call them.
Do a holy Convocation at the time of their festivals in
Numbers, chapter 10 and verses 1 through 10.
But here, the trumpet, he's used to sound an alarm and the
sounding of the alarm from Zion or by the way, God told him
mountain is what it says here in the King James version, God's,
holy mountain. And Zion is the same thing more
on that in just a moment. But the sounding of the trumpet
was one of an alarm to call the people of God to Zion.
And it would be a place where they would go and go toward the
Fortress of the Lord, because that's the only place that
safety is found. Remember a couple of months ago,
remember the prophet Obadiah? You know, I called that the
Judgment of Edom that little sermon Obadiah had the shortest
of all the Minor Prophets and his writings was one chapter
long and he spoke of the destruction of the edomites,
those people of Edom, and the edomites were the descendants of
Esau. And you remember as we discussed
that, Esau and his brother Jacob were At odds one with the other
even in the womb of their mother.
Rebecca, they were at odds, one with the other.
We also know of a day when Esau came and saw his brother who had
sod pottage or in other words, he boiled some stuff in a pot,
and here he comes. And he says, give me some of
that red potty. It's that same red pottage I'm
dying here. And we under we know what
happened. Esau sold, his Birthright to
Jacob for a little bit of that pottage.
But he didn't care because he thought he was going to die
anyway but he didn't animosity continued in their life.
That was the day that jokah. Jacob stole the blessing that
was Esau's blessing though, they were at odds with one another
and one day down the stream of time after that they patched and
mended their fences. But their descendants did not.
And the Book of Obadiah is speaking of the Judgment that's
to come upon those of Edom. That it's a horrible thing.
When your brother is in animosity in his life and yet
you stand on the other side, that's what Obadiah said.
You stood, on the other side in The Exodus, they refused passage
of their brother Israel. And they rejoiced in the
Calamity of the other. Although there was going to be
judgment to come some have called, by the way, the book of
Obadiah as the tale of two mounts.
And here's really the point. I said all that to say this
Mount seir or Mount Esau was where destruction was going to
come and the day of the Lord. And that's the first one that I
understand less. I'm incorrect on that.
Obadiah was the first prophet to use the phrase, the day of the
Lord and the day of the Lord was to come on, those edomites or
descendants of Esau and where were those That we're going to
be saved me, they were going to be at Mount Zion.
So one would have to leave Mount seir or mountie saw to get to
Mount Zion because in Mount Zion, that's the only place that
man was safe. That's exactly what's pictured
here. You know, we know of Zion today
is the church, that's the place where people find rest away from
the Judgment of God, that's the only place where safety.
T is found is in Zion and so the trumpet was to be sounded in
Zion and to draw the people of God to that place the day of the
Lord is now described in Vivid and subvert somber terms.
It's a day of darkness and it's a day of gloominess.
It's a day of clouds and thick Darkness says, and then in a
vivid language, he describes the army of locusts.
Now, listen to this, they look like the horse with elongated
heads and their forward, March, the noise of their coming moving
and knowing is described as the rumbling of serious.
Have you ever seen a movie where you have chariots?
We don't know, but chariots very much today unless you have one I
don't know that you do or I certainly don't but if you've
ever seen a movie when they were an army was coming into battle
and the sound of the Chariots with those hard, we I was
against that hard ground and beating against the Rocks.
When there was a whole slew of them as they were moving along.
You can hear the sound of the Chariots from afar off.
That's what they heard. That's the sound.
Of the northern Army, which is the locus.
Notice. Some more about that, you know,
the sinking hearts that they must have felt the anguish
expressions and the blood drain faces expressed.
Something of the terror that took hold of the people as they
stood, helplessly as they would behold the ruin of their land.
But nothing would deter the onward March of the invasion.
Invaders as an army, they march on, they climb the walls, they
invade the courts, and they invade the houses of the people
notice. They break not their ranks, they
do not interfere with each other, each would fulfill its
Mission. And the prophet.
Joel sees this horde of locusts as the army of God, directed by
him, carrying out his Divine judgment.
And as Joe said and who can abide it, it's further a picture
of God's righteous indignation. Also against a people who
apparently had turned to ungodliness.
And wickedness in their life. Oh surely, we can learn a
lesson. Can't we can't we today, we're
talking about something that was written in 830 BC, but can't
you? And I living in the times that
we live in, can't we? Look at this picture that the
Bible describes and learn something from that.
God means business, he really does.
And let me just say this to In times past, God would interfere
and destroy those that would not serve him or turn their back on
him. But don't think ever that
because God does not stop us in our day from doing that which he
absolutely opposed. Don't think that will avoid the
day of the Lord or the Judgment of God.
God means business, but there's some wonderful things to that.
We're going to learn it. Just a moment, stay with me.
It's a picture of God's righteous indignation here
against the people who turned to ungodliness and wickedness.
And in this more Vivid description description of
judgment. It's followed by a more urgent
call to repent. This is beautiful to me, you
know, we've just painted a very Bleak picture.
Haven't we? We've pictured some pretty
negative things. We have pictured.
Butter and total Destruction, we have pictured, the Necessities
are taken away and the luxuries in the pleasures are taken away.
We have pictured, something now that is so horrible that the
people of God can no longer worship because there's nothing
to bring to the Lord. And in the picture that Joe
describes of this destruction, you know what's great about
this? It's not too late.
That is a picture of God, ladies and gentlemen for all time it is
not too late. I don't know about you.
But I can't fathom living my life without an opportunity to
start over when I make a mistake.
What if it was that if you made a mistake and you all make them
in? So do I make them all the time?
What if if it was that one mistake, it was too late.
But it's not like that. If Will repent, if we will
mourn, if Will cast aside, those things that were enticements to
make us sin, it is never too late.
It will only be too late when God decides to bring it into
this old world. Or it's too late when you draw
your very last breath. Now, it's too late, but as long
as this Earth is still standing as long as the great God Of
Heaven is in his heaven, and Jesus is reigning over his
kingdom of the church, and you still have life and breath in
you, it is never too late to change.
That's great. If the people in this text will
turn to God with all our heart of genuine penitents, if they
would come with unfeigned, fasting, and with weeping and
mourning, and notice, if they would Rend the heart and not the
garments, God would be merciful interesting about this.
You know, we've talked about Jesus spoke of these things.
How many times have we spoke of the heart?
How you have to make changes in your life first, in the heart.
And when your heart changes, then everything else changes in
succession? First your heart, then your
actions or your way of life and then your relationship with God.
Joe tells them R in the heart. Don't, just rip the clothes as
an outward. Sign of repentance, you rem the
heart, you change your heart. And when you do that, it's not
too late. God is always demanded a true
and and contrite heart, he always demands that when we
repent we must rent the heart. Hear the words of the psalmist.
David please in Psalms 51 and 17.
The sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a
contrite. Heart o God thou Wilt, not
despise God will not despise a broken and contrite heart?
Well, this changes. Change of heart, should be
demonstrated now though by an assembly of the people and a
fervent call upon God. And once again, they were to
blow the trumpet. Not like, they blew it in
Chapter 2 and verse 1, which was a, which was something else as a
alarm, but this was different, blow.
The trumpet in, Zion sanctify, a fast and all the solemn assembly
notice. They were to assemble with the
people. Listen.
We have come together today. As the people of God as
Christians in an undivided assembly.
We know, that's right, according to New Testament teaching.
I just want to see the picture of what Joel says passed on from
the word of the Lord of how they were to assemble when they would
repent and REM the heart. Now, it was time to come into a
solemn assembly and to do so, and worship God and fall down
before him. And notice, they were
demonstrating how their repentant heart had been
changed. What were they to do now?
Okay, now, but you repented now that you've changed called a
solemn assembly, blow the it from Zion and you bring all the
people to that one assembly in that one place.
I just think it's rather interesting and I'll just pass
this on to you. Let's notice who all was going
to be in that one undivided assembly.
It would be the old men. It would be the young children
and even the babes at the breast that looks like to me.
That's old folks, X Young Folks, and that's babies too, and they
were to come together in that undivided.
I'm doing. Thought that was interesting.
I'm not saying that's binding today, I'm just saying that's a
picture of what they were told to do to come into the solemn
assembly, and when they would they'd be led by the priests,
they would be led by the Ministers of God.
And they would say, spare your people, O Lord, and get this and
give not by Heritage to reproach that.
The nation should rule over them.
Let me just explain this phrase really quickly before we move
on. In other words, what they were
Going to say, when they would come together in this solemn
assembly, they would say the words that I just read another
words unless the people would repent at the present locusts
judgment. There would follow a more
serious judgment, which would be Invasion by Heathen Nations.
And the Heathen nations would then rule over the people of
God. So they were to cry this out to
God and say, listen, And and cry out to God because if they
didn't repent and they would continue in that because of the
destruction that God cast down on them.
Heathen nations are going to come against him.
Heathen nations are now going to rule and Reign Over the people
of God and look at what they're going to say.
They're going to say, where's their God now.
Oh, where is thy? God, we, as a heathen Nation are
stronger than their God. How horrible that would be.
And so another thing too is they would say that God is unable to
help his own people. That's what they were to say.
When they came together in that solemn assembly, it is implied.
That the people responded to God, in a favorable fashion,
calling them to repentance and calling upon him.
And God had pity get this now, God had pity and divine
compassion upon his people. This would be demonstrated in
two ways. First of all, God would send
food that they so sorely needed. And once more, they would have
that hunger satisfied. And secondly, he would remove
the reproach that's brought on them among the nation's by
driving out the locusts from their midst.
But here he speaks speaks of the Locust as the northern Army that
they would be driven out in the barren and desolate land with
his face toward the Eastern Sea, and his back toward the Western
sea. And his stench will come up, and
his foul odor will rise. God is going to destroy the
northern Army, which are these locusts that we've already
discussed Homer, Haley wrote this.
I thought this was interesting, I'll pass it along, but in his
book on the Twelve Minor Prophets, You wrote this, the
prophet here, pictures, complete, and total Destruction
of the Invaders. The putrefying insects in such
immense quantities, would cause a terrible stench to fill the
air. Oh truly judgment.
Brings, its dire consequences and leaves its reminders.
Thought that was interesting but finally, the last section now,
which will take us down to verse 27, of chapter 2, where we find
that material fullness gladness rejoicing and freedom from the
Locust Scourge, would all follow.
What It would all follow after the people repented and turned
back to God and God gave them. A wonderful outpouring of
material, plenty, and in their continued, fullness and
faithfulness to him. They would never be put to
shame. God.
Further lays the principle that he is in the very midst of them
that he will not leave them and that he cares for them.
He is telling them that the Who sends judgments is also the one
that removes the offenders. He's also the one that bestows
the blessings on his people. And you know, I'll tell you
something. We've talked about this and you
all know this. You can't live your life.
You can't get through things in your life.
Without God if a person is trying to live you might think
well there's a lot of people live without God.
Yeah they do. They live their life.
But the fullness of Hope of the life of the Christian, you will
not have the feeling of hope that the Christian the child of
God has every single day that he lives.
You can't have that without God. These people didn't have it back
until they rented the heart and came all the way back to him in
the form or fashion, that God had instructed.
But God is ever waiting. He's ever caring, he will not
leave his people. You know what else we learned by
this? We learn that God sometimes I'll
change his mind. That he will alter his
judgments. If we repent number that little
Hebrew preacher, he went to the people of Nineveh and he walked
the streets and preached that little tiny sermon yet forty
days and Nineveh shall be destroyed.
What happened? Do they get destroyed?
No, they repented and God spared them.
Oh, God is merciful. If we repent, God is merciful
and kind and nurturing and caring.
After we serve him as we should. You know, there's one more thing
about this. You remember when we talked
about, We preached on Samson, you remember that little frames
and he King James version says, and he Wist not, or basically,
he knew not, but the Lord was departed from him.
Remember, what happened? Finally, Delilah got to him.
And finally, as she said, as they called for the Lords of the
Philistines, come now, come immediately bring me the money,
because he's now told me his whole heart, told him about his
hair, the Bible says, she enticed him to sleep on her
knees. She called a man in The racer
and shaved off the Seven Locks of his head.
And when he did, and when that man did that, she finally said
the Philistines be upon the Sampson like she had done on
other times. He rose up and he said this, I
will shake myself and it will be as it was all the other times
before, but he knew not. That the Lord was departed from
him. When does the Lord?
Depart he only departs when we depart, when we leave him, he
leaves us. But if you will, never leave
him. It doesn't matter what you will
go through, whatever Calamity in your life.
The great God Of Heaven is there for you as your Refuge if you
don't leave him, Oh, this is a universal picture of God.
In conclusion, I'm through, let me just tell you a couple things
in conclusion. That we learn from this section
of the Prophet. Joel.
Number one, we learned that calamities caused us to draw
nigh to God. And that's true.
Didn't matter where the Calamity comes from, where the hard time
comes from. It causes man, to come to God,
somebody said, not too long ago about about this idea from the
pulpit. I remember who it was, but said
something along the lines of sometimes, when things are going
great, we forget about God. We don't think about God, things
are just going along, too. Well, but it's Times Like These,
when you're desperate that, you turn to God calamities in life,
whoever brought them on us, I don't know.
Cause us to turn toward God number two.
Number two, we learn from what we've studied today.
The nature of true repentance, it must be with the whole heart.
It must be Inward and not just outward.
Thirdly, we learned the nature of God.
Oh, how wonderful that is as the picture of God is described to
us. He's gracious, he's merciful,
he's slow to anger and he is of great.
Kindness number four we learned that God rillettes from doing
harm when we repent it as we've just noticed.
And finally we learn that, God means business.
He's going to have it his way folks, and if we want the
blessings of God, we must turn to him and serve him as he is
outlined in his word next time in two weeks, Lord willing,
we'll pick up in verse 28 of chapter 2.
We're going to talk about why he's called the prophet of
Pentecost will learn about when God's spirit would be poured
out. Among all flesh will find also
that God's judging the nation's is described.
Also, what did, what did he mean by that?
And finally, this is the best part of all.
Finally, how God will bless his people.
That's all I have this morning. Maybe you're here and the sound
of my voice and you're not a Christian.
If you've never obeyed the gospel, and taking the steps of
obedience, the steps are very simple.
The Bible says Paul says, so then Faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the word of God, one must hear the word of God.
It is the word of God that induces us or causes us to to
obey him. Then we find that Jesus said he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.
He that believeth not shall be damned Jesus also said in Luke
13 and 3 and it also verse 5, I tell you nay but except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Then It says also, if you confess me before men, I'll
confess you also before my Father which is in heaven.
When you take these steps, you are a fit candidate to go down
into the Waters of baptism and rise to walk in newness of Life
contacting the blood of Jesus. And having your sins washed
away, that's what you have to do.
In order to have your sins washed away, become a Christian,
and that's what you got to do, to go to heaven.
We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
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