The book of Joel was written at the time when Israel was spiritually at a low ebb, they had forsaken their God, soon god was going to bring judgement on Israel, this would result in them being besieged and exiled into Babylon. God gives instructions to Joel to deliver a number of prophecies to the priests of Israel, highlighting the pending disasters to hit them. In Joel: 1verse 2 God says: 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 forefathers? Israel needed to be reminded of what God did to the Egyptians, by sending plagues in order to release His people from bondage. Israel was again in the same mess, but not under any other nation, for this situation was brought on by themselves, and were being warned it will get worse. In verse 3 he says: Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. 4: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. 5:Wake up.
God through Joel is reminding the leaders of Israel to wake up to the immoral lifestyle they are living, prostituting themselves to the will of Satan, and to the mess the country was now in. Because of this God had taking his hand of protection from them, through drought, famine and pestilence, in order that they might turn back to Him.
For the peoples of Great Britain suffering the BSE crisis of the 1990’s, the floods, and then followed by the plague of Foot and Mouth disease of 2001 these words still ring true. We watched the animals being slaughtered to try and stop the disease and to see the way it has affected the farmers and the community.
Joel has the situation summed up, for the chapter continues: Joel 1:6 A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. 7: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. 8:Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth. 9: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. 10:The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails. 11:Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. 12: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 joy of mankind is withered away. Joel 1:16 continue. Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes - joy and gladness from the house of our God?17:The seeds are shrivelled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up. 18:How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.19:To you, O LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the open pastures and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. 20:Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures.
In verse 13 Joel signals what their response should be: Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come; spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. 14:Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
Down through the centuries, we find that the nation will follow their leadership irrespective to whether or not they are in the right place. The same principles apply today. If we are going to see a turnaround in our society today, there has to be a turning back to God from the top within the government and religious leadership of our day.
While Jesus was here on earth, He warned the people that close to the time when he would come back to earth to take his church, (The Bride of Christ), we would see extraordinary things happening. Jesus reminded us in the book of Matthew 24: 6;You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7:Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Yes we are living in the last days with the immanent return of Jesus to earth, but God is giving mankind today the opportunity and freedom to turn back to Him
In the next two chapters a phrase of importance is a key to understanding what God wants to reveal to Israel but it also applies to the church of today, it was first mentioned in Joel 1:.15 Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. The phrase is mentioned three times in Joel 2:1 - 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—
Once our leaders accept what is happening, a steep decline in moral behaviour, then they need to shout out the alarm. Joel 2 v 1 continues: 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 - 2: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 of old nor ever will be in ages to come.3:Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste - nothing escapes them.4:They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. 5:With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. 6:At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. 7:They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. 8:They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defences without breaking ranks. 9:They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. 10:Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 11:The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?
Just as in Joel ‘s time, during the early 1990’s we could drive through what was beautiful countryside with contented animals grazing, but now with the stench of rotting carcasses, clouds of acrid smoke bellowing up into the sky to the burning smell of flesh, and the deathly hush of a land forsaken and in mourning. The farmers were no longer in charge of their own destiny or the welfare of their herds and flocks. Suddenly there is the thundering sound of army equipment coming in to destroy and bury the dead animals, with some delay sufficient to enhance the disease instead of eradicating it. It was a time to make that trumpet call, to have a time of fasting and mourning, turning back to God and asking his forgiveness.
The Lord makes it very clear as to how the nation of Israel should respond to Gods loving plea to return to Him. Joel 2:12 "Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." 13: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. 14:Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing - grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God.
In Isaiah 66:1 we read - This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? 2:Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. 3:But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man, and whoever offers a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig's blood, and whoever burns memorial incense, like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and their souls delight in their abominations; 4:so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no-one answered, when I spoke, no-one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me."
God does not want ritual or religious rhetoric but action. David pleads with the Lord in Psalms 51:15: O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.16: You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. 17:The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18:In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. 19:Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
God is looking for men and women who are sold out for Him. People who have the Lord at the very centre of their heart seeking His will every day moment by moment. God is a jealous God, for he wants our affection and our will, when we seek Him. God made a promise to Israel when they turned back to Him. The apostle in the New Testament reminds us in Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6:So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" 7:Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8:Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
God who never changes still reminds us today, of what we read in Jeremiah 29:10: This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfil my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11:For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12:Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13:You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14:I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
God continues His to promise to Israel in Joel 2:25: 25 “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.
26 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.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel that I am the Lord your God, nd that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
Much of the words spoken by god through the prophet Joel was for that time, but the later part of this book is about The final Day of the Lord, a time yet to be when Gods power and sovereign love will be manifest to all the nations, for we read in Joel 2:28 - 28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
Today we see the evidence of these last few verses of Joel 2 – Today the spirit of God is alive and active in the lives of those who have committed their lives to Jesus, god is at work in the lives of His people, great numbers are coming to know Him. In the first part of the twenty first century we have seen many extraordinary things happening on earth and in the heavens, we are so close to the Day of the Lord.
At the commencement of Joel 3:1 – God makes a great promise to Israel, which again can be applied to the closing days of this age we are living in - “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
God encourages Israel in Joel 3:11 - 11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!
12 “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow—so great is their wickedness!”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
In Joel 3:17 we read - 17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.
18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias
19 But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.
20 Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.” The Lord dwells in Zion!
