Sermon for 10/23/22 "Because He Is Promising" 17 Minutes

Joel 2:23-32

(HCSB) 23 Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, because He gives you the autumn rain for your vindication. He sends showers for you, both autumn and spring rain as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil. 25 I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust— My great army that I sent against you. 26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied. You will praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. My people will never again be put to shame. 27 You will know that I am present in Israel and that I am Yahweh your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame. 28 After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days. 30 I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes. 32 Then everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Since I was on vacation last week I don’t have a reminder from last Sunday’s sermon,,, but I understand that Jon did a wonderful job,,, and I talked to him yesterday and thanked him for filling in when Eric had a prior engagement.

But I wanted to take this time,,, to be sure that I thanked all of you again for the chance to take a break and enjoy our time on vacation,,, our time spent with family is always important,,, and we truly enjoyed that time,,, even though all of our family couldn’t join us like we had hoped that they would.

This morning we will look at these verses in Joel and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 23 and 24 say: 23 Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God, because He gives you the autumn rain for your vindication. He sends showers for you, both autumn and spring rain as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and olive oil.

In response to the Israelites repentance,,, God will now turn from judgement,,, that they had been going through because of their sin,,, and now,,, they will receive blessings and prosperity!

They could now “rejoice” because the Lord was prepared to restore fertility to their fields.

As promised in Deuteronomy 11:14,,, the autumn and spring rains would come on schedule (in September–October and March–April),,, producing a bountiful harvest.

The rainy season in Palestine begins in the autumn and runs until spring.

In the King James,,, it uses former rain for autumn,,, and latter rain for spring.

These rainy seasons were crucial for the agricultural cycle.

Grain was harvested in the spring and processed in the summer.

Grapes were harvested in the fall,,, and,,, olives were harvested in the fall and early winter.

So,,, the land will be blessed with early and latter rain,,, bringing forth grass and vegetation,,, yielding fruit so that all can survive,,, and not only survive,,, but having an abundance of harvest,,, so that they will be satisfied,,, as we see in the next verses!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 25 through 27 say: 25 I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust— My great army that I sent against you. 26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied. You will praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. My people will never again be put to shame. 27 You will know that I am present in Israel and that I am Yahweh your God, and there is no other. My people will never again be put to shame.

God says that He will repay them for the damage that the different locust have done.

And,,, as I said,,, they will have plenty to eat and be satisfied!

How can you read these verses and believe that this is a different God that is portrayed in the New Testament,,, I just don't understand.

But,,, some people do,,, even though the evidence is written all throughout the Bible,,, they never see it.

God in the Old Testament is the same God in the New Testament,,, a loving God,,, a forgiving God,,, but,,, also,,, we know that He is,,, a just God,,, and that's really the part that they don't want to see,,, or hear about.

They want to continue to live in sin and believe that it's okay.

So in these verses,,, we see that God will bless them again,,, and they will know that He is with them!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 28 and 29 say: 28 After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.

This prophecy was partially fulfilled in Acts 2:16–21,,, but my commentary says that,,, Pentecost did not exhaust it.

Its complete fulfillment will take place when Christ returns.

We see from these verses that all will be capable of prophecy,,, something that was only done in the past,,, by a select few,,, those chosen by God.

But now we see that even the male and female slaves will be able to prophecy,,, everyone will be equal,,, even those considered the lowest ranks,,, which includes the women and slaves.

Also,,, it says in Acts,,, the same thing that we will see in the next verses,,, that,,, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord,,, shall be saved!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 30 through 32 say: 30 I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes. 32 Then everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls.

This great and dreadful day of the LORD,,, will be preceded by ominous signs (wonders) of impending judgment (cf. v. 10; see also Ezek. 32:6–8 for literary parallels).

My commentary says that,,, blood and fire and billows of smoke suggest the effects of warfare.

The turning of the moon to blood refers in a poetic way to its being darkened,,, and along a parallel line,,, The sun will be turned to darkness, as we also see in Joel 2:10; 3:15).

Though these signs will signal doom for God’s enemies,,, His people,,, those of us that are trusting in the saving grace of Jesus Christ,,, should interpret them as the signs of their deliverance (cf. Matt. 24:29–31; Mark 13:24–27; Luke 21:25–28).

In the day of the Lord Jerusalem will be a place of refuge for the survivors whom the LORD calls.

This remnant with whom the Lord initiates a special relationship,,, is seen in several of my commentaries as the returning exiles.

On the day of Pentecost the Apostle Peter quoted Joel 2:28–32 in conjunction with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 2:17–21).

His introductory words (cf. Acts 2:16, “this is what was spoken by the Prophet Joel”) may seem to indicate that he considered Joel’s prophecy as being completely fulfilled on that occasion.

However,,, it is apparent that the events of that day,,, though extraordinary,,, did not fulfill all that was predicted by Joel.

My commentary says that in attempting to solve this problem,,, one should recognize that in the early chapters of Acts,,, the kingdom was being offered to Israel once more.

Peter admonished the people to repent so that they might receive the promised Spirit (cf. Acts 2:38–39 where he alludes to Joel 2:32).

Shortly thereafter Peter anticipated “times of refreshing” and the return of Christ in response to national repentance (cf. Acts 10:19–21).

Not until later did Peter come to understand more fully God’s program for the Gentiles in the present age (cf. Acts 10:44–48).

When he observed the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost he rightly viewed it as the first stage in the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.

Apparently he believed that the kingdom was then being offered to Israel and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit signaled the imminent return of Christ.

However,,, the complete fulfillment of the prophecy (with respect to both the extent of the Spirit’s work and the other details) was delayed because of Jewish unbelief.

----------------------------------------------------------- By these verses we can truly see that God does love us,,, because of the things that we can see as being fulfilled today,,, and we know that “Because He is Promising”,,, we can feel confident in that love,,, as we see and learn,,, when we study the Bible like we should.

The prophecies that we see as being fulfilled,,, gives us the confidence that we need to believe that the rest will be fulfilled as well.

We can see that this love comes even when we fail,,, or fall short,,, just as the Israelites had happen over and over.

Just as God forgave them,,, He will forgive us,,, if,,, we repent of our sins,,, turn from our sinful ways,,, and truly trust God going forward.

That’s the part that so many miss today.

God does love us,,, even while we are sinners,,, but He never expects us to stay that way,,, just as He has shown us through His written word,,, all throughout the Bible,,, over and over again!

And it’s,,, “Because He is Promising”,,, that we can experience the peace that Jesus promised us today.

----------------------------------------------------------- Let me remind you that Jesus said that His peace is always available,,, but you have to make that choice.

It will not be forced on you,,, that is something that you must decide to do.

If you have never made the commitment to allow Jesus to be your Personal Savior,,, please make that decision today.

We aren't promised tomorrow,,, so the choice must be made today.

We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus comes back nor do we know if we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready.

And to be ready,,, you must have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, be sure that you have made that decision today!

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page -

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