That Day of The Lord should hold no fear for the child of God. If we are ‘in Him’ we can rest assured because it is His Day, and we are covered by His blood just as the Israelites were sheltered under the blood on their doorposts at the first Passover at their rescue from Egypt. Jesus Christ is our Passover, and we will be safe. However, if we are not His, we must tremble for the day will come like no other and we face doom and damnation.
Joel warns the people to sound the alarm, blow the trumpet to warn the people of God’s judgment (v1-5). In chapter 1 judgment had come in the form of locusts which ate everything before them, but Joel seems to be warning them of another judgment from “A people, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.” (V2b)
Judah was not right with God, so it was little wonder that it would be darkness and gloom to them. Some commentators suggest that the predicted invasion didn’t happen because of the reign of Joash, which followed, who was a godly king, and the people repented during that time. Alternatively, Joel was referring to the locusts in chapter 1 which was like the army of locusts, thick clouds, beyond number, unstoppable.
Joash was made king at the age of seven (2 Kings 11). One could question his ability at such a young age. No doubt he had many advisers around him but, nevertheless, he was known as a good king who followed God.
People have often questioned whether a person of a young age can become a follower of Christ. I was eight years old, and I know of others who became Christians at a similar age. My usual reply to that is that if Joash could be a good king at seven years of age, why can’t a person become a Christian at the same age. God can work in a person’s life, and it is His work not ours.
When we are children of God and thus right with Him, we should have no fear about the ‘Day of The LORD’. It will a glorious day for those who are His but a dreadful day for those who are not. The chapter goes on to warn of the disaster of not knowing and following The Lord.
This mighty army would cause great pain, as they marched in formation. Nothing would prevent them, city walls, houses, windows, weapons. The earth would quake before them, the heavens grow dark and tremble. No-one can stop the work of The LORD, He is Almighty and His word will come to pass, and no-one can endure the Day of The LORD (v6-11). I’m not sure whether this is the locusts or a real army, but whatever it is, God’s power will be seen, and it is vital that there is repentance on the part of the people.
That is how Joel commences verses 12-17 – it is a call to repentance. Repentance requires turning to God with all our heart (v12). There must be ‘emotion’ but there must also be ‘action’. Here it is with fasting, weeping and mourning. It may not always be accompanied with fasting and weeping, but mourning the enormity of our sin must be present. If we don’t think we are so bad, we might not think we have much to repent of, so there must be a mourning. We are to turn to God from our sin, like the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1) had turned to God from idols, there must be a leaving behind of the past life. We become new creations and the old has gone. In Acts 19 when the workers of magic came to Christ, they burned their books, there was no going back.
We often see in the Bible that a sign of mourning was tearing of one’s clothes. It was an indication that they were grief stricken and it was more precious than their clothes. Joel was telling them that their repentance must be whole-hearted, it is one thing to tear one’s clothes, but far more important to break one’s heart. Thus, action without heartfelt desire isn’t real, for it would amount only to a works-based change. God is looking for a heart response. Joel urges the people to return to The LORD their God, “For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness” (v13)
Where there is true repentance, we cannot possibly live as we did before. God knows whether our repentance is real or not, and I venture to say, so do we. There may not be flashing lights or such like when we come to Christ, but there is no doubt that we will know, because there must be a change in our thinking and our behaviour.
We cannot tell others to repent when we do not do it ourselves. They were to blow the trumpet, call an assembly of the people, sanctify the congregation and gather the elders together. It was from the highest to the lowest, no-one was exempt, and the priests (the spiritual leaders) were to weep and plead to The LORD for the people. It is not just down to the religious leaders today, although they should set the example. The Bible tells us that we, who are believers and followers of Christ, are all ‘priests’ to God. Yes, we must preach repentance, but we must show it ourselves. We all deserve the judgment of God, we have all sinned, but we can plead His mercy and forgiveness. The Lord Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for our sins; therefore, we can live as people of God.
We see it plainly in our day, that when God has to judge us for our wrongdoing, it brings disgrace on His name. When we go against the teachings of God in His word, his name is dishonoured, but when people see His grace in our lives, He is glorified. That’s what Joel was telling the people of his day (v17), that, when their heritage became a reproach, the nations could rightly question, “Where is their God?”
Joel assures the people of Judah that The LORD is faithful and, when there is true repentance, He will answer, He will be zealous for them and show pity (v18-20). He promised them grain, new wine and oil that would fully satisfy them, and their name would no longer be a reproach. He would move the northern army far from them and drive them into a barren, desolate land, and turn the judgment upon them.
Joel goes on, in verses 21-27, to urge the people not to be afraid, but to be glad and rejoice because The LORD had done marvellous things. He could see that God had done great things and would do so in the future. He believed that God would restore them. He would open the pastures so that the beasts would be provided for and make the trees bear fruit with figs and vines in full strength. Again, Joel tells them to be glad and rejoice in The LORD their God. It reminds me of the apostle Paul writing to the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (4:4) Joel believed God’s promise that He would send the rain, early and latter rain, necessary for the crops; their threshing floors would be full and their vats overflow, and that He would restore the years the locusts had eaten. God reminds them that the locusts were His great army which He had sent, and they would then eat in plenty.
Israel was dependant upon God for the rain to provide their crops. They were not blessed by the irrigation systems which we have today, but even with those systems, we are reliant upon rain and the sunshine. We hear much about global warming today and scaremongers telling us that we are going to fry and destroy our planet. I believe that God is in control of things. He sends the rain and sunshine, keeps the earth turning at just the right angle and speed and everything else. Jesus is coming again, and people will still be here when He comes. God promised that while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat will not cease. The earth is going to be destroyed, not by us, but by God Himself, in His perfect timing. Yes, we are to take care of the planet, but the last word will be His and His alone.
These verses show us that God was in control back then and He still is today. He could withhold these things, but He promised that they would return, and He would restore the years. Drought brings destruction. We see this in lands today and it behoves us to help where we can. We are blessed with relative plenty, and we should share with those who do not. Sometimes God takes away in chastisement and where that is the case, we must come before Him in true repentance.
The people would have plenty to eat to their satisfaction. They were to praise The lord for His wondrous works, they would never be put to shame, and they would know that The LORD was in their midst because He alone is The LORD their God and there was no other.
We often say, ‘If I had my time to go over again, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes’. Of course, we cannot go back in time, but maybe we can avoid the same mistakes. God can restore what we have lost, just like Job had his ‘fortunes restored by God’. He didn’t receive back the things he had lost, in the sense of the same things, but God gave him back more children, riches and flocks, and notice it was ‘when he prayed for his friends’ (Job 42:10). He prayed for those who had treated him so badly and God rewarded him. We cannot have our our time over again, but we can be restored by God, the fruits of wasted years can yet be ours.
Joel proceeds to what is perhaps the best known prophesy in the book (v28-32) – ““And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”
God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. In the Old Testament, The Spirit came upon certain people for certain tasks, like Joshua (Numbers 27:18,) Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson on several occasions (Judges 13:25, 14:6, 14:19, 15:14) until we read that ‘he said, I will go out as at other times, but he didn’t realise that The Spirit had left him’ and catastrophe followed; Saul (1 Samuel 10:9,10) and then The Spirit was withdrawn from him. This time The Spirit would come upon all. This was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 1:4,5), stated by Peter, when Jews from all nations were gathered and heard the message from God in their own language. Jerusalem was crowded at the time and hearing the apostles speaking in the languages which they had never learned, they thought the apostles were drunk, Peter said that this was a fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy and was God’s new covenant where The Holy Spirit would be in those who believe according to the promise of The Lord Jesus. His message was, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” Acts 2:38, which was similar to Joel’s message.
Joel was calling for the people to repent and seek The LORD; not just a superficial action of tearing their clothes but something deep and supremely spiritual. This was for all the people from the elders to the children. Just as God was able to ‘blow away’ the locusts, He could also defeat the coming army. In Isaiah 37, God, not men, killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.
Under the new covenant all those who repented and believed would receive The Holy Spirit, not just selected ones for specific tasks, and The Holy Spirit would be with them forever. Some may think and wish for and want to repeat it, but Pentecost was a unique, one-off occasion, just like Calvary. This was the outpouring of The Holy Spirit which Jesus promised before He returned to heaven. “I will send you another Comforter, and He will be with you forever.” (John 14)
I think it was General Booth of the Salvation Army who wrote the hymn with the line ‘we need another Pentecost’. I believe that he is wrong – We don’t and what’s more we can’t, it was a one-off event when the Holy Spirit came. Yes, we need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, but He is already here. Jesus is not crucified all over again when we remember Calvary at the Communion Service, we simply remember Him in the price He paid for our salvation. If we are not believers, we do need to receive the salvation He procured there to be born again.
It seems to me that Pentecost was the beginning of the last days. Joel’s prophecy will not be fully fulfilled until The Lord finally comes again. The Holy Spirit was poured out on all and many were saved (See Acts 2) but ’the wonders in the heavens and the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke, the sun into darkness, the moon into blood’ have not yet happened as they seem to be leading up to the day of The LORD. The availability of the gospel to all – “Whoever calls upon the Name of The LORD shall be saved” is here today. Sinners can ‘call upon the Name of The LORD’ this very day and be saved. His promise is sure. Just as the promise was to the nation of Judah, it is the same to you and me. We all come into the ‘whoever’. We must ‘call on the Name of The LORD’, recognising that He is the only Saviour. We can come no other way.
One writer has said Pentecost was not a complete fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, but a foretaste of what will happen in the last days, and it refers to the nation of Israel. Some churches believe that it is already fulfilled and revival will come before the return of Jesus. As far as I can see, there are no prophetic passages indicating revival in the last days before His return, rather things getting worse (see 2 Timothy 3:1,2). I would, however, stress that revival is in God’s hands, and He can bring it about whenever He wishes.
