Joel 2: the Day of the Lord - Part 2 (hope and redemption)
We left the calamitous events of Joel 2 yesterday with a glimmer of hope. It is now that we unpack that hope in more detail as we continue with the rest of Joel 2. We're still talking about the 'Day of the Lord', and in that strange way that applies to Old Testament prophecies, it has application to the real events happening around the people to whom it is first addressed, but is not fully fulfilled without the coming of Jesus, in whom all things are fulfilled.
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
(Joel 2:13-14)
The Lord brings justice, but he also brings mercy. When we come to him, as prodigal sons and daughters, he accepts us back. But it is not good works that bring us back to God, but fasting, weeping and mourning. It is worth making a point here about 'fasting', because the fasting here is not the 'good work' of a morally superior and successful religious observer. Fasting in the Old Testament was something that accompanied grief and prayer. It was an expression of humility before God. So the term fasting fits with this image of coming back to God in humility. We do not come back to God proud of what we have done, but in full recognition of the dark state of our hearts and the failures that we are.
The Lord brings justice, but he also brings mercy. When we come to him, as prodigal sons and daughters, he accepts us back. But it is not good works that bring us back to God, but fasting, weeping and mourning. It is worth making a point here about 'fasting', because the fasting here is not the 'good work' of a morally superior and successful religious observer. Fasting in the Old Testament was something that accompanied grief and prayer. It was an expression of humility before God. So the term fasting fits with this image of coming back to God in humility. We do not come back to God proud of what we have done, but in full recognition of the dark state of our hearts and the failures that we are.
Rend your hearts and not your garments is also a confusing phrase to modern readers, but in those days people would often tear their clothes as a sign of grief. But this reaction must be sincere - not just a false display of grief for show. It's our hearts that should be torn.
“And it shall come to pass afterwards,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
Throughout Israel's history, we see God's people face judgement and the refiner's fire, and these experiences often lead to national repentance and reform. However, the cycle continues over and over again. That can happen for us too - things happen in our lives to wake us up, we change our ways, and then we slip back into our old ways.
And yet I can almost hear in this passage the voice of John the Baptist: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near" (Matthew 3:2). The complete and perfect fulfilment of this prophecy is found in Jesus - and the only thing that is required of us is to come to him in repentance and humility. And if the heart of sin is wanting ourselves to be gods - either over our own lives or over other people's too - then repentance can be summed up in one sentence: "Yahweh is Lord".
Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations.
(Joel 2:18-19)
If we were to stop at the end of the last passage, we would just to continue going about in grief because of the weight of our sin. God calls us to humility, but not hopelessness.
I was discussing the Ten Commandments with the young people in our church the other day and they were confused by God's description as jealous in Exodus 20:5 and it is another term in the English translation that sounds jarring to our ears because of the ideas we hold. This passage illuminates slightly - as God is jealous for his people. Some commentators have remarked that the word would be better translated as 'zealous', and denotes a passionate, personal and exclusive relationship. In other words, God cares, and he wants to love us. And he does not want to share our ultimate dependence with other gods because he knows that those things will not satisfy us and will not save us.
If we were to stop at the end of the last passage, we would just to continue going about in grief because of the weight of our sin. God calls us to humility, but not hopelessness.
I was discussing the Ten Commandments with the young people in our church the other day and they were confused by God's description as jealous in Exodus 20:5 and it is another term in the English translation that sounds jarring to our ears because of the ideas we hold. This passage illuminates slightly - as God is jealous for his people. Some commentators have remarked that the word would be better translated as 'zealous', and denotes a passionate, personal and exclusive relationship. In other words, God cares, and he wants to love us. And he does not want to share our ultimate dependence with other gods because he knows that those things will not satisfy us and will not save us.
And so God is active, bringing us back to him and restoring those things that signified a covenant relationship with him. In the Old Testament, and in the context of Joel and his original hearers, this was often expressed in material and political blessing, as alluded to in the passage above, and God did do those things, but these are an outward sign of that relationship. For us, we await a new 'promised land' in heaven, so should not seek to apply the theology of equating material blessing in this life with a right relationship with God. The final 'Day of the Lord' is not yet fulfilled in totality.
But I think the provision of grain, wine and oil has another application. These were the ingredients of the grain (food - made from both grain and oil) and drink (wine) offerings at the temple. The provision of these things meant that the people would one more be able to come to worship through the offering of sacrifices.
In the complete fulfilment of this prophecy, God also gives the grain, oil, and wine, in the the body of Jesus. When Jesus compared his body to bread and his blood to wine (e.g. Luke 22:19-20), he was talking about these sacrifices. And like in the words of Joel, we are satisfied in him - no longer searching for spiritual food.
Finally, in Joel God says: I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. In Jesus, and in the love of the body of Christ into whom we are called, God gives us back our dignity. We are no longer in shame.
“And it shall come to pass afterwards,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
The sun shall be turned to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Joel 2:28-32)
The final part of Joel 2 points us to Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit in full - the first passage that Peter quotes in his famous first sermon on that amazing day (Acts 2:17-21), and to the last days leading up to Jesus' return and to that day itself.
God does not just promise us new life, but pours his Spirit on us. We see the wonderful way in which the church cuts across the boundaries of age, sex and social class as God uses all to declare his word. How abundantly blessed we are to live in this time, and what an honour to be able to speak the word of Jesus Christ risen.
The ultimate 'Day of the Lord' will be unlike anything else, when he returns in all glory and all else is stripped away. Revelation 6:12 reflects Joel's words: When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood. If we read on in Revelation we read more dramatic imagery - metaphorical or not, it is certainly awesome and terrifying.
But God gives us a promise: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. God is there with his arms open for anyone who will come to him. That is all we have to do - turn our hearts to him. Our good works will not save us, but it is God himself who comes to save us.
The trials being faced by Joel's original hearers - the plague of locusts, possibly pending invasions from foreign armies, these were not God's last word. And when we see calamity around us, this is not God's last word. God will come, as we read in Revelation, but it will be a day of justice and mercy in which God will make himself known to all, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The trials being faced by Joel's original hearers - the plague of locusts, possibly pending invasions from foreign armies, these were not God's last word. And when we see calamity around us, this is not God's last word. God will come, as we read in Revelation, but it will be a day of justice and mercy in which God will make himself known to all, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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