Obedience is Better than Judgement
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Joel 2:14–27 (NIV)
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
18 Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people.
19 The Lord replied to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.
20 “I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things!
21 Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things!
22 Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
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, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
I. The Repentance of the People (14-17)
Vs. 14
• It was the repentance of the people that would restore the blessings back to the land.
o God was waiting and ready to once again pour out His riches upon His people, once they turned from evil and returned back to Him. Repentance
o We find this true even of heathen nations (Assyrians) - God wasn’t just calling the Kingdom of Judah - he was also waiting to pour out on other nations as well.
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
Vv. 15-14
• This was not the alarm trumpet (vs. 1), but the sounding of the trumpet that was used to call the people together.
o All the people; old, young, and busy were to assemble together for the sake of hearing God’s holy word that they might repent.
o This is still our command today; its one of the reasons it is important for us as Christians to come together. Repentance is not just for those outside the church. We can get complacent and think repentenance is for the heathen, the non-believer. However, we must remember that we are not immune to the need to repent if we screw up or make a choice against what God has for us.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
Vs. 17
• The protection of God over His people is something that even the unbelieving nations took notice of. Think about it - wouldn’t you find it strange how many times God’s people prevailed when they were clearly outnumbered?
David vs. Goliath
Daniel - Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego.
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
29 Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”
26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end.
Imagine the testimony of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. But what about the testimony of those who through them in or King Nebuchadnezzar who saw it with their own eyes?
These are just a couple of examples we find throughout Scripture.
o How important is our testimony? Paul thought it was important enough that we should be willing to even be wronged in order to keep a good testimony.
6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
What are we willing to do to keep our witness in tact? To keep in line with how we should act as members of God’s Kingdom?
II. The Deliverance of God (18-27)
Vs. 18
• This is the promise that follows true biblical repentance. God is jealous for us. We desires us to come back to relationship with him in repentance and longs to restore us. He continually pursues us and no matter what we do that pursuit will not stop.
Vv. 19-20
• God will restore the land and remove their enemies.
o “Northern army” does not just refer to the Assyrians or the Babylonians. General statement meaning all their enemies (geography of the land).
However, we do need to be careful about claiming a promise that was meant for Judah as our own today. We can pollute the message by taking a verse like this out of context to mean something about the USA.
15 You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army.
16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
Vs. 21
• God’s people will be and are currently being delivered from the enemy of God. Rejoice and be Glad - God has done great things among them!
Vs. 22
• This is also God’s promise to restore all things: His land, His beasts, and His people. God’s plan is always for restoration, not annihilation.
Vv. 23-26
• God restores all those things that had been removed from them because of their sin.
o God also promises to restore all things to the way He had created them, before they were ruined by the fall of man.
o We see the destructive nature of sin all around us, but we also see God’s glory displayed in the same.
o That’s why Paul can claim this:
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Vs. 27
• God also promises to restore His presence in the midst of His people.
• This process has already began with the first coming of Christ, again it is the repentance and the rending of our hearts that begins turning judgment into blessings.
• We also know that this promise will be fully realized after Christ’s second coming and the coming of God’s new creation.
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
New creation - God’s plan - Redemption
Response - Repentance, Obedience, living out new creation