End Times - God's Timing and Ours

Group Discussion. Recall an experience of “losing track of (clock) time” because you were caught up in a totally engaging activity.

When in your experience has ordinary clock time (that goes on and on) seemingly “stood still” because something vitally important was happening?

Purpose: To show how understanding the Day of the Lord can bring joyful gratitude to the fulfillment we presently experience in Christ, and joyful anticipation of more to come.

“I never have enough time!” “We are having the time of our lives.” “I knew my time had come.”

We experience time in many different ways. Old Testament prophets understood that God would intervene in the normal sequence of historical events with his own kind of time (kairos), time infused with judgment and grace.

This is transparent time in which we see through what is happening and view events from God’s perspective.

The effect when clock time becomes significant time is something like the moment when, in the middle of a boring lecture (clock time), a professor announces a surprise test that will determine whether the student will pass or fail (significant, eternal time).

Clock time is a resource that can be managed; God’s time is a gift to be received.

The move from clock time to eternal time is part of the meaning of the Old Testament concept of the Day of the Lord.

Day of the Lord: The occasion of God’s final intervention in human affairs to punish sin, restore the faithful of his people and establish his rule over the nations. It is linked with the Messianic hope and will be fulfilled at Jesus Christ’s return.

Isaiah 2:12 (LSB) For Yahweh of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and high And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be made low.

Zephaniah 2:2 (NASB95) Before the decree takes effect— The day passes like the chaff— Before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you, Before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.

This “Day of the Lord” is a part of the Last Days in which we currently live.

In Joel 2:1–11 the prophet was writing more than four centuries before Christ. He explained that the plague of locusts swarming over Judah and destroying the land was a definite judgment of God on the disobedience of his own people.

1983 Song

This was their first experience of the day of the Lord (Joel 2:1, 11), a day which did not exempt God’s own people (His by birth but not obedience) from judgment. By studying the prophecy of Joel, we will deepen our grasp not only of how Jesus inaugurated the end times but also of how much more we should anticipate the full realization of the Day of the Lord.

Joel 2:1–11 (NASB95) Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, 2 A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. 3 A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. 5 With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle. 6 Before them the people are in anguish; All faces turn pale. 7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths. 8 They do not crowd each other, They march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks. 9 They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through the windows like a thief. 10 Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. 11 The LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?

1. Joel 2:1-11 warns of coming judgment. On what characteristics of God does Joel base his promise that God will alter his present course of total judgment (vv. 12–17)?

Joel 2:12–17 (LSB) “Yet even now,” declares Yahweh, “Return to Me with all your heart And with fasting, weeping, and wailing; 13 And tear your heart and not your garments.” Now return to Yahweh your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting concerning evil. 14 Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For Yahweh your God? 15 Blow a trumpet in Zion, Set apart a fast as holy, call for a solemn assembly, 16 Gather the people, set apart the congregation as holy, Assemble the elders, Gather the infants and the nursing babies. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, “Pity Your people, O Yahweh, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

God is: gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting concerning evil

When the people:

Return to God with fasting, weeping, wailing and a torn (broken heart). (12, 13)

Sanctification, gather a holy assembly,

Assemble the priests and other ministers of God to intercede and weep between the porch and the altar

Questions 1–2. It seems impossible to date Joel’s prophecies more accurately than to place them somewhere between the eighth and the fourth century before Christ. Joel was drawing on the heritage of previous prophets about the day of the Lord, a day when God would intervene in history to redeem his own people.

The first mention of that day (Amos 5:18–20; 9:7–8) takes an important turn—even the Lord’s people may experience judgment on that day!

Amos 5:18–20 (LSB) Woe, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh, For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you? It will be darkness and not light; 19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him; Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him. 20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light, Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?

Amos 9:7–8 (LSB) “Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me, O sons of Israel?” declares Yahweh. “Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? 8 “Behold, the eyes of Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,” Declares Yahweh.

Zephaniah also taught that the day of the Lord would simultaneously be a threat to the compromised chosen people (Zeph 1:1–2:3) and the foreign nations ripe for judgment (Zeph 2:4–15).

Zephaniah 1:7–9 (LSB) Be silent before Lord Yahweh! For the day of Yahweh is near, For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice; He has set apart His guests. 8 “Then it will be on the day of Yahweh’s sacrifice That I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, And all who clothe themselves with foreign garments. 9 “And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their Lord with violence and deceit.

Zephaniah 1:14–18 (LSB) Near is the great day of Yahweh, Near and coming very quickly; O the sound, the day of Yahweh! In it the mighty man cries out bitterly. 15 A day of fury is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of clouds and dense gloom, 16 A day of trumpet and loud shouting Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. 17 I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind Because they have sinned against Yahweh; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the fury of Yahweh; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete destruction, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Zephaniah 2:3 (LSB) Seek Yahweh, All you humble of the earth Who have worked His justice; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of Yahweh’s anger.

I encourage you to read the nations that will be judged in Zeph 2:4-15: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Moab, Ethiopia, etc.

2 National repentance was appropriate for a nation-church like Israel under the old covenant. In what ways should the Lord’s people today express their repentance now that the church and the state cannot be completely identified?

Is it that difficult to distinguish between the church and the state? I don’t think so.

But while repentance should be a continual call for the church (Agree/Disagree?),

there HAVE BEEN numerous calls by “state leaders (e.g. Presidents, senators, mayors, etc.).

Continental Congress, March 16, 1776: In times of impending calamity and distress; when the liberties of America are imminently endangered by the secret machinations and open assaults of an insidious and vindictive administration, it becomes the indispensable duty of these hitherto free and happy colonies, with true penitence of heart, and the most reverent devotion, publickly to acknowledge the over ruling providence of God; to confess and deplore our offences against him; and to supplicate his interposition for averting the threatened danger, and prospering our strenuous efforts in the cause of freedom, virtue, and posterity.

Continental Congress, First National Day of Thanksgiving on November 1, 1777 included: that together [all people] with their sincere Acknowledgments and Offerings, they may join the penitent Confession of their manifold Sins, whereby they had forfeited every Favour, and their humble and earnest Supplication that it may please GOD, through the Merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of Remembrance;

John Adams, our second President, proclaimed May 9, 1798 a day of solemn fasting and prayer. The United States was on the verge of war with France: … That the citizens of these states, abstaining on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies, agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adopted as the most suitable and becoming: That all religious congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before GOD the manifold sins and transgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation; beseeching him, at the same time, of his infinite Grace, through the Redeemer of the world, freely to remit all our offences, and to incline us, by his holy spirit, to that sincere repentance and reformation which may afford us reason to hope for his inestimable favor and heavenly benediction;

Lincoln Proclamation on March 30, 1863: “And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins…We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God…we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own…It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the Offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

Just a few examples. But contemporary calls by political leaders for repentance seem few.

In line with Obadiah, who believed the day had come, Joel sees in the plague of locusts a preliminary manifestation of that day.

Judgment had come first to God’s household (1 Pet 4:17).

1 Peter 4:17 (LSB) For it is time for judgment to begin with the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

It is the “now” (v. 12) of God’s timing.

If they respond appropriately, God’s people will face a blissful future untroubled by the terror to be experienced by the rest of the nations.

The difference between the Lord’s people and the other nations is the covenant relationship (he is your God), which is presupposed in the call to repentance.

As Leslie Allen says, “The prophets often presuppose that the proclamation and inauguration of punishment for God’s people are interim, ad hoc measures, closely related to the present state of their hearts and lives” (The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1976], p. 78).

It is a measure designed to repentance

We see such a “preliminary” manifestation today. This is the wrath of God (judgment):

Romans 1:18–32 (LSB) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

3. Imagine what it would be like to see a whole congregation repent. What sins of a people or a nation would require such a dramatic change of direction?

2 Timothy 3:1–5 (LSB) But know this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, without gentleness, without love for good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Keep away from such men as these.

Other sins? Abortion, export of media that promotes sin, every sexual sin in the Bible (plus others not mentioned), destroying the children allowed to be born,

4. What material blessings wait for the Lord’s people if they repent (vv. Joel 2:18–27)?

Joel 2:18–27 (LSB) Then Yahweh will be zealous for His land And will spare His people. 19 Then Yahweh will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations. 20 “But I will remove the northern military force far from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, And its vanguard into the eastern sea, And its rear guard into the western sea. And its stench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up, For it has done great things.” 21 Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For Yahweh has done great things. 22 Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit; The fig tree and the vine have yielded their full force. 23 So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in Yahweh your God, For He has given you the early rain in righteousness. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and late rains as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil. 25 “Then I will pay back to you in full for the years That the swarming locust has consumed, The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, My great military force which I sent among you. 26 “And you will have plenty to consume and be satisfied And praise the name of Yahweh your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame. 27 “Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am Yahweh your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame.

Question 4. In the Bible covenant is the term that describes the binding personal relationship between God and this one chosen people as exemplified in the oft-repeated formula “I am your God and you are my people.”

Israel was unique in the ancient world as having its national identity formed by a covenant made with a single deity. What makes this judgment passage so poignant and at the same time so hopeful is the fact that it concerns God’s own covenant people. In the context of assuring them of mighty acts of blessing from God upon condition of their repentance, Joel pictures the bountiful return of the basics: grain, wine and oil.

The reference in verse 20 to “the northern army” points to the horde of locusts which the Lord will drive away, a horde now treated in a more figurative manner in line with the apocalyptic hordes of Gog from the north bent on destroying Judah (Ezek 38:15; 39:2).

The bad years (v. Joel 2:25) will be more than compensated by the good years to come.

Experiencing the curses of the covenant is expressed in terms of deprivation of life in this world.

In the same way the restoration of covenant harmony must have a this-worldly manifestation as evidence that God really dwells with his people (v. 27).

5. Joel 2:28–32 further elaborate the results of repentance on the day of the Lord. What supernatural benefits will come to Israel “afterward”?

Joel 2:28–32 (LSB) “And it will be afterwards That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams; Your young men will see visions. 29 “Even on the male slaves and female slaves I will in those days pour out My Spirit. 30 “And I will put wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 31 “The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes. 32 “And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls.

Questions 5–6. As a deeper indication of covenant fulfillment and evidence of the Lord’s presence with his people, Joel prophesies a Spirit outpouring as a counterpart to the outpouring of rain (2:23).

There are three dimensions of supernatural blessings:

Spirit presence (vv. 28–29),

signs of Spirit power (vv. 30–31)

and ultimate security (v. 32).

In the first (2:28–29) of the three dimensions, Joel envisions a universal ministry of prophecy (direct and immediate speech and visions from God) that includes men and women, old and young, and even slaves.

The supernatural signs are standard figurative terms used in end-times passages in both testaments (Is 13:10, 13; 34:2–4, 10; Ezek 32:3–8; Amos 8:9; Rev 6:12).

These “supercharged” images of creation undergoing change express the truth that things can never be the same again.

In contrast to the nations for whom the day holds only judgment (Joel 3:1–16), the Lord’s people can find security in God’s home, Mount Zion in Jerusalem, an image that is taken up in the New Testament.

6. How are these spiritual gifts, signs and securities indications of a deeper fulfillment of Israel’s covenant relationship with God?

7. In what ways does Joel’s prophecy of an Old Testament “Pentecost” go beyond the normal experience of the people of God before Christ?

Question 7. Under the Old Covenant direct messages from God were rare (1 Sam 3:1) and restricted almost completely to the prophets and sages. Joel’s vision of community-wide ministry of the Word of God is consistent with other prophesies (see also Is 54:13; Jer 31:31–40; Ezek 39:29). It is apparent, however, that Joel did not envision an outpouring beyond Israel. Neither did Peter. Even though Peter quoted this passage on the day of Pentecost, he was truly amazed later when another unthinkable frontier was passed: even the Gentiles could become Spirit people (Acts 10:45).

8. In quoting Joel on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16–21), Peter made an important change. Instead of saying “afterward” (Joel 2:28), he inserted a phrase from another prophecy about the day of the Lord in Isaiah 2:2—“in the last days” (Acts 2:17). Why is this change of time important in light of the events of Pentecost?

Questions 8–9. The concept of the day of the Lord in the Old Testament centered on the truth of God’s saving judgment as he enters history. It was prefigured by the plagues of Egypt (literally, the “strokes” of God’s judgment), which simultaneously brought judgment on the Egyptians and salvation to the believing Hebrews. As mentioned above, the various dimensions of the day of the Lord are like distant mountain peaks that form a tableau with undefined distances between the peaks. The order does not seem to matter ultimately once one encounters God’s time.

So in Joel’s prophecy the day included relief from judgment for God’s own penitent people evidenced in both material and spiritual blessing, while outsiders could anticipate only the terror of unrelieved judgment. Under the more complete fulfillment of the day surrounding the coming of Christ the order gets somewhat reversed: final judgment is delayed, while the immediate spiritual blessings of universal Spirit-endowed language become a reason to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38) rather than a consequence of the people’s repentance. Signs of supernatural power had already been demonstrated in the miracles of Jesus and were perpetuated by the first believers (Acts 2:43). A further irony is that Peter urges separation from “this crooked generation” (2:40)—referring to Jews unwilling to accept Christ—and suggests through his use of Psalm 110:1 that the crushing defeat formerly reserved for the enemies of God and Israel can be experienced by people who are nominally God’s people (Jews) though not spiritually so.

Later still, Paul quotes Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13 to prove that the gracious provision of the saving aspect of God’s judgment during the day of the Lord includes even Gentiles who are equally positioned to receive the grace of God in Christ. Empowered by the vision of the exalted Christ and the Gentile-embracing gospel, Paul went into the Gentile world to preach the grace of the day of the Lord, pleading with non-Jews (Acts 17:31) to repent before the final day of judgment. Under apostolic preaching the full material blessings of covenant restoration and fulfillment wait for the new heaven and the new earth (Rev 21–22).

So the seed of Joel’s prophecy finds multiple fulfillments in clock-time sequences that appear from our perspective to be different from the original plan, while being fulfilled in ways that even Joel could not have dreamed. Indeed, there was no plan. There was in Joel’s prophecy an eschatological (end times) vision that would be largely fulfilled in Christ’s first coming when the church was born. But it would be ultimately fulfilled (in the same way that fruit is more than seed) when Christ will come again. Meanwhile God’s time penetrates seasons and clock and calendar time until time itself will be fully transformed, along with the rest of the cosmos.[1]

9. In Joel’s prophecy, repentance followed by forgiveness would inaugurate the day of the Lord and bring about an age of Messianic blessing. Peter reversed the order, calling for repentance because of the events of that day. Why are repentance and calling on the name of the Lord (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21) so essential at the time of God’s intervention?

What does this interpretation of the flexible order in which things will happen (while retaining the essential truths) suggest about the relation of end-time events to our kind of clock and calendar time?

10. The elaborate imagery of cosmic, irreversible changes common in Old Testament prophecy and used by Joel (vv. 30–31; Acts 2:19–20) shows that in the day of the Lord nothing will ever be the same again. How can that be true for you today?

11. What answer can you give to the person who wonders whether God will restore in their life “the years the locusts have eaten” (v. 25)?

Prayer: Ask Jesus to come.

Now or Later

Like distant mountain peaks that appear to be merged without revealing the depth of the hidden valleys between, Joel pictures multiple realities without assigning their place on a timeline or showing how deep the valleys are between the peaks. In the New Testament there are six “peaks” of God-revelation at the end, again without our knowing the exact order. Examine how each of them contributes to the full meaning of the end: the Second Coming of Jesus (Acts 1:10–11; 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9); the resurrection of the body (1 Corinthians 15:12–58); the last judgment (John 5:22; Acts 17:30–31; 2 Corinthians 5:10); eternal life (John 6:47; Romans 6:23); the full coming of the kingdom of God (Luke 13:29; 1 Corinthians 15:24); the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21–22).

Like so many Old Testament promises, this passage bursts its original wrappings and leaps into the New Testament with wider and deeper significance.

Leslie Allen[1]

[1]Stevens, R. P. (2004). End Times: 13 Studies for Individuals or Groups: With Notes for Leaders (pp. 25–28). IVP Connect: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press.