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The Message of Joel
Minor Prophets Series (#3)
In the last several years we have seen a much destruction in our nation. The big
headlines have been the L.A. riots, hurricane Andrew and devastating floods.
Another force which is at work as well to undermined our peace and security is
crime; which includes the drug trade, gang warfare and general disrespect for
law. Moral principles which once guided our nation are being cast aside and I
fear our nation is suffering the consequences.
Of course, not all is bad. There are still bright spots. Along with the looters
and hucksters that appear at disasters are the givers which lend aid. There are
still those who choose to live by a higher standard, and for this we are
thankful. But still, generally the drift is away from these standards and
principles.
Are these events God's wake up call to our nation? Are they His way of getting
our attention? Will worse things follow if our nation does not heed the warning?
Any answer I give, yes or no, would be speculation because I am not a prophet
but only a preacher. I do not receive direct, special revelations from God, I
simply teach Scriptures as is according to God's plan (II TIMOTHY 2:15; 3:16,17;
4:1-5). However, I see from the
Scriptures how God has dealt with nations of the past undergoing similar moral
and spiritual digressions. For example, the prophet Joel took God's announcement
of His judgment upon the nation of Judah during that nation's drift. It is easy
to see some parallels.
The Initial Judgment
"The word of the Lord that came to the prophet Joel...Hear this, O elders, and
listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your
days or in your fathers' days?...What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming
locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has
eaten...The field is ruined, the land mourns, for the grain is ruined...The
seeds shrivel up under the clods; the storehouses are desolate..." (JOEL
1:1-2;4- ;10;17). The people of Joel's days had never seen such natural
devastation. First, the crops were wiped out by waves of
locusts sweeping the land. Also drought accompanied the locusts (1:12) and fires
raged out of control (1:19). The cattle and sheep had no pasture (1:18) and the
brooks dried up (1:20).
Joel was sent by God to announce the reason behind these calamities. Centuries
before the Lord had told the people through Moses what would be the consequences
if they broke their faith and turned away from God (DEUTERONOMY 28:21;23;38).
The Lord's patience had run out and the people of Joel's day were seeing the
beginnings of Divine judgment.
The Causes of Judgment
"Now it shall be that if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to
do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set
you high above all the nations of the earth...But if it shall come about, if you
do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His
statutes which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and
overtake you." (DEUTERONOMY 28:1;15). The people had ceased allowing God
to be their light. There were still religious people in the land. Many had
returned to paganism and the worship of nature and graven images. Others
continued a warped form of Judaism which was not at all pleasing to God. And
some had just become so occupied with luxury and leisure that they had little
time for any religion at all. Unlike previous generations where the majority
were interested and committed in their faith, the faithful of Joel's day were in
the small minority. The nation had been blessed by God. Now, according to Joel,
He was
withdrawing the good He had done for them. I certainly do not need to spell out
the parallels with our own day; to do so would be to state the obvious.
A Call to Repentance
"'Yet even now,' declares the Lord, 'Return to Me with all your heart, and with
fasting, weeping and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments.' Now
return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to
anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil." (JOEL 2:12-13). Even
now it was not too late for Judah. It was not a time for lip service or
crocodile tears. Empty ritual was not enough. It was time for a genuine return
unto God. "Return to Me with all your heart...rend your heart and not your
garments." The rending of a garment was done to
show sorrow or repentance. But doing so just for symbolism is not enough.
Symbols do not mean much if genuine actions do not follow. Likewise today: what
good does it do to sing God Bless America or print In God we trust on our coins
if we are intent on rejecting His moral and spiritual counsel? Symbols are
important only if they truly show what is on the heart.
Also, it is important to note that God is always quick to forgive and bless. He
does not delight in our failures. He urges repentance, but at the same time He
will not force it. If a nation decides it can do better without God, He will
abide by their decision. But a nation cannot do better without God's help. In
our own nation, the further we drift from God the worse things seem to get.
Final Warning
"They have cast lots for My people, traded a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl
for wine that they may drink. Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and
all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do
recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your
head...put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread for the winepress
is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the
valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their
brightness." (JOEL 3:3- 4;13-15). This warning is to those who had persecuted
God's people. They had cast lots for them and sold them into slavery. They had
ridiculed them, their faith, their manner of life and their God. The Lord
pictures their evil as filling up a winepress and is now beginning to overflow.
He announces that He has reached a decision, or verdict. His patience is
extinguished and the sickle of His judgment is in His hand. The sun, moon and
stars growing dark symbolize the hopelessness of those who had lived so
wickedly.
Today it also seems as if those who try to live faithfully before God are mocked
and ridiculed. While laws are being passed to protect the "rights" of those who
would speak evil of Christians, other laws are also being passed prohibiting
Christians from speaking of the things important to them. The vats of wickedness
had overflowed in Judah's day bringing God's judgment. How close to full are
those vats today?
A Message of Hope to the Faithful
"And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all
mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will see dream
dreams, your young men will see visions...And it will come about that whoever
calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in
Jerusalem there will be those that escape, as the Lord has said, even among the
survivors whom the Lord calls." (JOEL 2:28-32). Joel was not only a prophet of
doom, but also of hope. He blends in the promises made to the faithful of Joel's
day with Messianic promises to be fulfilled in Christ. Indeed, we find the
fulfillment of the above verses centuries later when the apostles stood in
Jerusalem and first proclaimed salvation in the name of the newly resurrected
Lord Jesus. The age of the gospel had dawned and the Lord began saving the
remnant. Peter announced that Joel's prophecy was being fulfilled (ACTS 2:16-21)
and when the people asked what they must do in calling upon the name of the Lord
they were told: "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit." (ACTS 2:38). Our hope lies in Christ Jesus. God's spiritual and eternal
blessings are only to be found in Him. Nations come and go, but the one who does
the will of God abides forever.
By Jon W. Quinn
From Expository Files 4.3; March 1997
