Joel 2:1-27
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Sound the ALARM!
Sound the ALARM!
We shift immediately in chapter two to alarm. The first chapter was really interpreting the past though it was recent past. Chapter two moves forward in time. In the now be warned of the future.
Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
This is not to make alarm from the city walls but from the holy mountain. It would be normal for an alarm to arise from the watchtowers of the city if trouble was spotted but the this warning is of the coming of the day of the Lord!
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations.
The darkness amd clouds remind us of the Lord going before the nation as a cloud by day than clouds remind us of judgment.
Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.
And the mountain recalls us to Mt. Sinai where the israelites feared the Lord Exo 20:18
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off
But instead of the power of God on display as their rescue we have instead the darkness being the mass of powerful people that are unique in history. Where they go is as easy as the perfection of Eden, the tread into green prosperous lands but where they’ve been is desolation like the wilderness. Then, lets remember we’re not talking about Centaurs or magical people in some literalist interpretation of scripture but we need to understand the ideas behind the description that says these people look like horses.
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
And like war horses they run. What did horses in the ancient world represent? Military power and wealth.
As with the rumbling of chariots,
they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of a flame of fire
devouring the stubble,
like a powerful army
drawn up for battle.
I love the vivid imagery here with these words that paint a picture. The scary thought of chariots that have made it to the top of a hill unknown to you and burst over the top with the highground, surprise, and superiority of military technology is a terrifying prospect.
We talked about this last week as a curse for the failure to follow after God but this imagery still has to be pointed out. Deut 28:38-65
You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.
“All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.
“They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the Lord your God has given you. And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces, and to the last of the children whom he has left, so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces, to her son and to her daughter, her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.
“If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you, until you are destroyed. Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
“And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. And among these nations you shall find no respite, and there shall be no resting place for the sole of your foot, but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart and failing eyes and a languishing soul.
This is the Day of the Lord that comes in judgment. Be afraid and do something about it.
Before them peoples are in anguish;
all faces grow pale.
Have you ever been frightened so badly that the only thing you did was grow pale? Have you ever been stuck in that terrible moment, and I don’t mean to dredge up the frightful memory if you have but that kind of terror is what we’re looking at. This is a seeing your destruction coming right for you moment.
Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
they do not swerve from their paths.
They do not jostle one another;
each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
and are not halted.
They leap upon the city,
they run upon the walls,
they climb up into the houses,
they enter through the windows like a thief.
This destruction cannot be stoped by the best offense, defense, or sanctity of home. It is coming you cannot escape.
The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
The Lord utters his voice
before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;
who can endure it?
It is because this is a supernaturally empowered army. It’s God’s army enacting God’s will. This phrasing we see in several places to describe the Ultimate day of the Lord. Yet, there is a question, who can endure it? The answer of course, is no one… no one but God. So, if we face this could we stand? No, it is Christ who stands in our place in that great moment of Judgment on the cross. We are rescued from this judgment and will not face the wrath of God, if we have been grafted into him as heirs through Christ Jesus. Now for these people at this time what hope is there? Let’s keep reading. Joel 2:12-13
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
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.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
There is always, always, always, hope for repentance and redemption. Joel’s call to the people of Israel is not to stay lamenting their impending destruction but to the return of faith that participates with bread and wine in His fellowship.
So..
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
This is a very clear call to repentance and worship of the Lord. Drope everything going on and return to the Lord. God will respond.
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.
John asked last week about the fact that if everything was gone, if the locusts took everything how did the people survive? Besides some practical thoughts about the possibility of purchasing from countries around them like Jacob and his sons did from Egypt, where Joseph was in charge, there is also this miraculous provision from God to Save his people, least not for His own reputation among the nations.
“I will remove the northerner far from you,
and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard into the eastern sea,
and his rear guard into the western sea;
the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
for he has done great things.
Not only is the agricultural destruction undone in some way the military judgment will also be undone.
“Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!
Fear not, you beasts of the field,
for the pastures of the wilderness are green;
the tree bears its fruit;
the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
“Be glad, O children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given the early rain for your vindication;
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the latter rain, as before.
In Hosea we brought out the idea of un-creation as a way to describe the curse from God. Here that’s been done in some sense but it isn’t clear until we get the picture of restoration that goes in creation order land, beasts, then people.
Then the full healing and restoration is promised.
“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent among you.
“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
The blessings of God, the punishment of God, the forgiveness of God that we have all experienced calls for its own response and God expects this response.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
Amen.