“Brethren we have met to worship”

True Worship = Repentance

Joel 2:15-17 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, ‘Where is their God?’ ” 

Well, we have successfully navigated through the tough part of chapter 2. Now it starts to get personal. The people of Israel have just come through horrible destruction, and are awaiting future destruction in the tribulation. In the last post we talked about living in the here and now – being able to forget about the mistakes made in the past and look forward to a bright future. What is happening in these verses is something amazing. The people are told to gather together for prayer and fasting. If this sounds familiar, it is. The people were ordered to do the same thing after the four waves of locusts. Are you seeing a pattern?

The pattern is very simple, and it is one that the people of Israel never quite understood. However we can draw many applications from this pattern that the Lord sets. The Lord would judge the people for some grave iniquity, then call them together to worship and come back to Him. This is exactly what is happening in this passage. In the last post I talked about moving forward from past mistakes. When we move forward from a mistake we are moving away from one thing and towards another. What the Lord is telling the people to do is look away from the bad in the past and consecrate a fast of repentance.

The great thing about this fast is what it represents. The fast represents worship with God. The most glorious thing is happening here – God is opening up the lines of communication. Now the people have the opportunity to once again fellowship, worship, and communicate with God. You see, true repentance always brings about one thing – true worship. And true worship always brings about one thins – true repentance. The two go hand in hand, you cannot have one without the other.

The last thing I would like to address concerning these verses is God’s great love for His name. God has so much jealousy for His name that it is not the destruction of His chosen people that causes His care for them. It is the fact that there could be evil spoken of His name and that His name could become a reproach to the people. God did not get compassion because he felt sorry for them and their evil ways. He had compassion on them because he did not want His name degraded. Although this sounds crazy, it should give us some idea of how we are to regard the precious name of God.

In conclusion there are a few things that we can apply to our own lives. First we need to remember what is in the past needs to stay in the past. We can only grow if we are looking forward. If we are looking away from a past mistake then we are looking ahead to something greater. This turning will bring about true worship. We will have a renewed vigor for communication with our God. In turn as we draw closer in our worship  and communication with God, we will begin to see the “dirt” in our lives. True worship and true repentance will work together as a well oiled machine. I believe the main message of these verses can be summed up in one phrase – “Brethren we have met to worship.” When we turn away from a problem we must turn to worship. There is no other way. The last application drawn from these verses is simple – be very careful in your use of God’s name there are two different areas of application: 1. Do not, under any circumstances, ever use the name of God in a vain way. This should go without saying but unfortunately it must be addressed. Any time you speak of the Lord or his name without giving him the proper reverence that he deserves, is taking His name in vain. 2.We must be very careful that we will never do anything that could be a reproach to the name of God. The Lord did not stop the destruction of the people of Israel because he felt sorry for them; He stopped because He was protecting His name. So be careful of how you make the name of God look, because He will be very quick to hand out grave consequences for defacing the His name.

“Yet Even Now” – Living in the here and now

Joel 2:12-14 “Therefore also now,” saith the Lord, “turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments,” and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?”

So far I feel as if things have been relatively easy to understand, as far as the timeline of the writing. However, each section of verses, moving forward, grow harder to understand and pice together the wording correctly. With the Lord’s help we will get everything He has for us. The last passage v. 2-11 was dealing with destruction that will take place in the future – the tribulation. Now in v. 12 we move back to the present (time of writing). So keep this in mind as you read.

If not understood properly, this passage could almost seem like a contradiction to the precious passage. God has already promised a great “Day of the Lord” and massive punishment/destruction along with that. So why would Joel now be telling them that they still need to return to God? If they already know that punishment is awaiting then why turn back now. The difficulty in interpretation comes here: would the future punishment be revoked if they turned back? The answer is no, their actions have already deemed it necessary for this punishment, but that is still thousands of years away. So what about between now (when it was written) and the tribulation? This is what Joel is addressing in these three verses – the in between time. The message that God is delivering through Joel is simple – “you have done great harm to Me and My name, and for that, great punishment awaits you. However in the mean time I have so many blessings that I would like to bestow upon you.” For you see, one thing that is constantly coming back up is God’s mercy, and it is once again vivid in these verses. Joel reminds the people of Israel that Jehovah is slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love. In fact He has “left a blessing behind Him.” Has the Lord forgotten about His people? No, He has actually continually blessed them in spite of their rejection. Just to name one, in 1948 the people of Israel once again had a place to call home. They got their land back and once again became a nation. Did the Lord have to do this? Absolutely not, but He “left a blessing behind Him.”

True Repentance

“Rend your heart, and not your garments.” This is my favorite phrase in the passage. It cuts right to the chase. The people had been through so many cycles of repentance and punishment, repentance and punishment, repentance and punishment; it was enough. Joel makes it very clear that all the “repentance” was simply an outward showing with no inward chance. In the days this was written, there was a custom of mourning that was observed. That custom was during a time of mourning/repentance the person would wear old garments, pour soot on their head, and then they would tear the garments – this was an outward sign so that everyone would know that person was “in mourning.” But true repentance starts in the heart and works it way outward, not vice versa. The Lord is telling the people that their show is not impressing anyone and it obviously is doing no good. So quit the theatrics and examine your own heart without some dramatic outward showing of emotion.

So what does this mean for us? We need to focus on the here and now. Are you being haunted by the consequences of past sin? You may even still be paying the consequences for a sin that has been forgiven. Just because you have made a situation right with God does not mean that you will be sparred the consequences that go along with sin. However you cannot let yourself be consumed by the consequences. Just like the Lord has blessed the people of Israel in spite of their rejection of Him; He has many special blessings for us as well. The Lord works through us and in spite of our shortcomings. So remember, don’t focus on the things that are no longer in our control, focus on the here and now! Live in this present moment and serve the Lord your God with all your heart. The next thing that we need to take from this passage is to search for the blessings left behind. Even in the midst of our sin and wickedness, the Lord sometimes leaves blessing behind. It is our responsibility to search for those blessing and gain strength to move forward. The blessing that are left behind may also leave a mark of a mistake not to make over and path not to go down again. Nevertheless they are still blessings. The last thing to take from this passage is learning to be genuine. God sees right to the heart, there is no faking repentance with Him. So why do we even bother. It more disgraceful to God for us to fake repentance and go right back to wickedness; than for us to just continue in the wickedness. We need to understand that it goes deeper than an appearance, we need to rend out hearts!

Seeking God in Private

“Yet Even Now”

No one shall endure

Joel 2:11 “And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?”

No One Shall Endure

Now we come to my favorite verse in all of Joel. Everything that happens in this book hangs upon this one verse. This is the picture I get when I read this verse: Throughout the whole book, so far, there have been little pieces of God’s sovereignty that have crept out. Almost as if the first chapter had it wrapped up so tight in the plague of locusts that there wasn’t room to mention it, except for a couple hints. Now we come to verse 11 of chapter 2 and God’s sovereignty cannot be held in any longer. The bindings of the locusts plague and army of beasts were not enough to keep the marvelous truth of God’s sovereignty in, and it now comes gushing forth like a mighty river through the rest of the book.

As I talk about that sovereignty, you might have just read that verse and been completely lost as to how I am seeing God’s sovereignty so clearly. Well lets pick apart this verse and understand. The LORD is speaking to “His army” – this is the army of locusts beasts. The beasts are under the control of one person – The LORD Jehovah. So the one who is giving the authorization for this great destruction is God himself. Therefore it is all a part of His sovereign plan. It is God’s perfect plan for this to happen, it has been set since before the foundation of the world.

The next part of this verse that amazes and confounds me is – “for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” What a powerful phrase. Just a few words, but what a dagger to the heart of the lost. This day of judgment is a terrible and awesome day, and the question is asked, “who can endure it?” The answer – no one will be able to endure it. No one is righteous enough to withstand God’s judgment, no one is capable within himself. No one will be able to stand against the righteous judge. You see when it comes down to it, there is no one worthy, no one capable, and not one righteous enough. The judgment coming is so terrible that Revelation 9 tells us men will be crying for death. They will get under large rocks and cry for them to fall and kill them with no avail. There will be no escaping the great and awesome day of the LORD.

God is in complete control of every trial that comes our way. No matter what trial or tribulation arises, we can know for sure that God has sent it our way. Did you know that everything Satan is allowed to do to us must first be approved by God? So every “bad” thing that happens is something that God has already pre-ordained for His glory. My heart is overwhelmed when I read this verse and see the sovereignty of God come gushing out like a mighty river! The next application is, that there is no one capable of withstanding God’s judgment. No matter how hard you may try, you are not good enough to stand against God and his judgment. It is God’s perfect judgment and there is no one capable of withstanding it. Scary? You bet it is! But thanks be to God that it is not left up to us. We do not have to rely upon our own goodness or choice. God already has it all taken care of. We do not have to worry about it, because we have the blood. We can take comfort in the fact that it is not up to us to get to Christ. He comes to us. It is not up to us to figure out how to withstand God’s judgment. If you have placed all your trust in Jesus Christ, and he has called you to His salvation; then you may be assured that you will not have to weather the storms of “The Day of the Lord.”

Be assured the no one can endure!

Joel 2:2-10 – You Still Have TIme!!!

Joel 2:2-10 “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of 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 any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth 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 every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining”

"The Day of the Lord"

Well I’ve talked about this set of verses for a couple of posts, now its time to dig in:

First I would like to address the interpretation of this passage. As you read these verses, you might think it sounds very familiar to something you heard before. Well that it is, these verses echo the plague of locusts that was written about in chapter 1. This, however, is not talking about the same thing. There is a theory that the locusts in chapter 1 and the army in chapter 2 are just different accounts of the same event. However, this is not the case. The locust plague was an account of an event that had already happened. The warning in chapter 2, about the army, is a warning of a coming event sometime in the future. This is the proper interpretation of the passage. The locusts in chapter one are a typical swarm of angry, hungry locusts. The army in chapter 2 is also a locust, but a very different type of locusts. To better understand why this is Th. Correct interpretation, we need to look at Revelation chapter 9.

Revelation 9:1:11 “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

This passage is the great key that unlocks the truths of Joel chapter 2. The locust  in Revelation 9 is the army of Joel 2. These beast-like creatures are the torture of the earth during the fifth trumpet of the revelation. God has reserved this tremendous judgment for thousands of years and now (whenever the tribulation arrives) it is here. I cannot say enough about the descriptiveness of Joel and John (the authors of Joel and Revelation respectively) in dealing with this destructive subject. They leave no doubt in your mind about the horrors that await during this detrimental time. One of my favorite descriptions is that the sun, moon, and stars will be darkened just because of the swarm of this horrific army of beasts. At this time there is no where to hide, there is no escaping your fear. This is “The day of the Lord” this is the day of judgment!

To wrap things all up I would like to make some application to what has been talked about. What does all this mean for us in a practical matter? First we need to see the great difference between chapter 1 and chapter 2. You see chapter 1 is still us today, full of grace and mercy. We are still living in the time of God’s great grace. There is still time to turn and repent. There is still time to live a life for God. There is still time to make an impact. Next we need to understand that a wonderful as this time of grace is, it will not last forever. There were 4 opportunities to turn back to God in chapter 1. And until the second coming we still have that same opportunity. But when that “Day of the Lord” comes, there will be no other chances. The age of grace will be over, and the day of judgment will have arrived. May we use this as perfect motivation to live a glorious life for our great Savior. May we always think about the gospel message that we have been entrusted with. It is our responsibility to make a difference with the gospel before it is too late.

You still have time !!!

How Will You Be Found

The End of the World

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

As we enter the second chapter of Joel we enter a new dimension of how God is dealing with His people “The Day of the Lord” or coming judgment. In the first chapter everything was in the past, it was a history lesson. All of the events described in chapter 1 were true events that really happened. Now it is time to turn the corner and enter chapter 2. The next events will take place in the future from when this was written.

If we think about the background to these verses It will give some keen insight into the meaning of them. The children of israel had just been through about the worst things a nation could go though. First the Babylonians took them captive, and were kept there seventy years. Not only were they taken captive but their beloved “City of David,” including the temple of Solomon, had been completely ransacked. Now after all this has happened, up to and including the plague of locust, the people are still told about “the coming judgment.” Was it not enough already? Obviously they still had not learned anything.

This “day of the Lord” speaks of events that are going to be happening during the tribulation. I am not going to pretend that I understand this fully or am able to explain it; but it goes something like this. The LORD Jehovah chose the people of Israel, but they rejected Him over and over again. Because of their rejection, they were punished over and over. However in all this punishment they still never got it. The people of Israel never turned and worshiped God in the way that He intended. God being the all knowing God that He is was not surprised at all when the people rejected Him. This was all part of His spectacular plan, the people of Israel would be put on hold for a few thousand years. It is during this holding time when the Lord shifts his focus to His glorious church. In the midst of all this turmoil, rejection, and reproach, the Lord still has never forgotten His beloved people. They still are awaiting their final word of judgment, that is where Joel comes in. Joel 2:1 skips all the thousands of years in between the writing of the book and the end of days, and goes right to the tribulation – “The day of the Lord.”

This first verse of chapter 2 sets the stage for a breathtaking picture into the future. A picture of horror and destruction. A picture that I am sure Joel would have liked to avoided. But nevertheless it must be addressed. The next 10 verses will throw you for a loop and spin your head around if you are not careful. The message of these verses is very clear – quit faking your love for God and others, and get serious about serving the Lord you God! “The day of the Lord” is coming faster each day and is a lot closer that we may think. How will you be found when that day comes?

Introduction to Joel Chapter 2

We now enter the second chapter of Joel. This chapter is one that can make your head spin in circles 100 MPH if you just read it once or twice. It is mind boggling how much is squeezed into these verses. Joel talks about everything from the tribulation to the final judgment and reconciliation, back to the events of the time, and everything in between. Chapter 2 also contains the key verse to the entire chapter and one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible – 2:11 “And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” We will talk more about this verse in a few posts.

The book of Joel presents many challenges to the reader when it comes to interpretation of its passages. The challenge in chapter 1 was whether the locust plague was literal or not. If you recall, I took the position that the plague was a literal plague and that it was a past event. Chapter 2:1-10 presents a new challenge of interpretation; deciding whether the army spoke of is a literal army, a symbol, or simply restating the same events from chapter 1 in a different way. As I dig deeper into the chapter I will talk more about the interpretation, and the literalness of the army. However literal this army is, it is not what you would think of a typical army; Revelation 9:1-11 paint a vivid picture of this army.

Then after all the talk of coming destruction, my favorite part of the chapter is the last half, in which Joel talks about the judgment of Israel’s enemies and the wonderful things in store for the believers after the tribulation. I cannot wait to begin exploring this deep chapter of God’s word with you all. There is so much for us to learn and grow from in this chapter. As we move forward lets seek God’s help in understanding this great chapter.

Joel – “Say It With Your Own Lips”

Joel 1:15-20 “Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”

Have you ever seen a action-packed hero movie? The kind where at the end the hero surprisingly discovers the villain’s evil plan and tells it to his face. And it always seems that the villain and the hero used to be partners for the good guys. After the long fight and possible gun battle the hero has the villain at his wit’s end. As the villain is held at gunpoint, the hero divulges the villain’s evil plan. However right as he gets to the climax, the hero stops and tells the villain, “Say it, I want you to say with your own lips how you were going to turn your back on me and the rest of your friends.” As the villain humbly and disgracefully tells the sad truth, he then realizes the gravity of his betrayal. Although weird and sarcastic, this is the exact rendering of these verses. The gravity of turning your back on someone does not take full effect until you have to face the one you turned against and tell them with your own lips what you are doing.

As we end the study of chapter 1 we come to, what I think, is the most important part: the cry unto God. It took all four waves of judgment for the people to realize what had happened. The gravity of the situation did not really hit until they spoke it with their own lips. As we look at this last section of verses, keep in mind the cry that goes out unto God.

The people of Israel had just finished the most devastating thing that a nation could possibly endure. The were taken captive for 70 years in Babylon, then once they were set free to go home they went back to their old way ways. They then endured four devastating waves of locusts that came and destroyed their land. This marks the very first documented time the people called upon God in since the beginning of the locusts plague.

Trying not to read into the text, I want to be careful not to infer too much from God’s Word, but there are some things that just really stand out to me. First, this marks a new page in the history of Israel. From this point forward, in the book of Joel, the people are free from judgment. The judgment has been poured out, God has worked His plan, and now Israel had to make a choice. The second thing that I see is that God is now making the people declare back to Himself exactly what just happened. Because of the change in the mood of the book after this cry unto God, I have to believe that it worked. The people finally saw the gravity of their situation.

The application that we can draw from this is quite simple. First, keep short accounts with God. Just like we pay our bills on time so that they do not pile up, we need to confess our sins to God so they do not pile up. The longer we wait the easier it is to not remember that little sin we committed. We then must be reminded by God, “Say it with your own lips.” Second we must be very specific with speaking to God about our shortcomings. This may be sin or just things in our lives that we need to work on. You see just as the children of Israel did not fully understand everything that they had gone through until they spoke it back to God; we too must speak back to God exactly our feelings and desires. When we confess our sins out loud it brings a certain disdain that will keep you from wanting to do it agin.

So keep this in mind “Say it with your own lips”