Repent is NOT a Bad Word
Notes
Transcript
The past few weeks our amazing pastors have taken us through this Minor Prophet series:
Nahum
Jonah
Hosea
Amos
Micah
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
I hope that you have been able to take home with you some great applications for your faith that has not only given you insight, instruction and maybe something new to talk with God about in your time with him each week.
This week I get to bring to you the Book of the minor prophet Joel.
Right off the bat, here are some logistics of Joel to go over:
1. Joel was a Prophet, in what was thought somewhere between ninth-Sixth Century BC - Many believe later in the 800 BC, Perhaps in the time of Ezekiel
2. Joel was versed on scripture, and was a reader of the old writings of the past prophets before him, familiar with scripture writings from Isaiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Obadiah and so on.
3. It is thought that Joel, because of his concern for both Judah and Jerusalem, ministered in Judah.
4. Joel’s understanding of the biblical writings will help Joel has he makes sense of the surrounding tragedies going on in Israel, and the hope of the future.
SO WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?
REAL Issues in Isreal During the days of Joel:
Things are not going right at all in Israel
Leadership issues are happening in Israel
Political unrest
Economic issues
Israel is dealing with a very devastating plague.
- These days of Joel were crazy times with crazy circumstances.
These days are so crazy, that we see the book of Joel starts this way:
The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
Hear this, you elders;
give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children of it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children to another generation.
- God is about to use Joel to talk about the heart of the matter in Israel.
Joel first shares the big issue of the big plague they were dealing with, which was:
LOCUSTS
Now some of you may think a locust may be like their cousin the grasshopper or cricket like this guy...
(Slide 1)
- But no! The truth is that they are much different.
(Slide 2)
-Everybody say it with me… Eww.
The locust, or its scientific name, the “eatus everythingus” has the potential to be extremely dangerous.
Here are some interesting things about locusts in this section of my sermon called, “Did You Know” about Locusts
(Slide 3) [read off the facts on the slide]
So it is safe to say, when they swarm,
(Slide 4)
They can cause serious damage, with lethal consequences.
Joel continues to share about the devastation of the locusts saying,
What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
As we read along in Joel, we will come to understand that God is showing the people of Israel that as devastating as these locusts are, what they consume, what they erode, what they eat up and the devastation they leave behind, Sin does the very same thing.
As we read along in Joel, we will come to understand that God is showing the people of Israel that as devastating as these locusts are, what they consume, what they erode, what they eat up and the devastation they leave behind, Sin does the very same thing.
- Joel will tell a few times throughout this book that the people of Israel that they must repent of their sins, but does not share why.
as we journey through the book of Joel, we see that Joel is given prophetic word that speaks of the “Day of the Lord.” What is that?
THE DAY OF THE LORD is a time in the future when the Lord himself will directly interpose in the affairs of all men.
THE DAY OF THE LORD is a time in the future when the Lord himself will directly interpose in the affairs of all men.
Joel knows and uses past stories of when God had done this, and God reveals to Joel a future time when God will come and save man
In these writings from Joel, we see that he has written in a way that shows:
The issue of Sin: In this story specifically, Israel’s Sin leads to disaster
But God’s Mercy brings hope to the people of Israel
The past comes to an image of the future for all men.
READING JOEL
As we dig into these amazing sets of poems by the prophet Joel, I want to break it down into parts that will make it easy for us to navigate through it.
Let’s Break Joel like this:
Part 1: Past Day of the Lord - Joel uses the past scriptures and past events when God confronted evil and saved his people
Part 2: Joel sees indications of a time in the future when God will defeat evil (Day of the Lord), and save the world.
PART 1
- In chapter 1 we start to see Joel’s focus on the PAST Day of the Lord, and uses it to explain the locust swarm of their present situation
Exodus 10 - the 8th Plague : Locusts
They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.
but what is happening in Israel during Joel’s time is that the Locusts are not attacking an enemy of Israel, but Israel itself.
Joel shares in detail what is happening through the devastation, and calls out the people of Israel for their wrong.
Joel then calls for the elders and priests to start to lead the people to a call of repentance and in prayer
Joel also repents with the Priests, and joins in prayer Joel 1:19
To you, O Lord, I call.
For fire has devoured
the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has burned
all the trees of the field.
Then starting in Chapter 2, we see the word from Joel take a focus shift from the past, to the future.
Once again he describes what seems to be locusts, however this time, there is a much different tone, as they are described as a military army Joel 2:4-5
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses they run.
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.
Joel is describing a future army, marching and destroying everything
The sun darkens and the moon is like blood, the earth quakes, and then Joel says
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?
Joel once again calls for Israel to repent: but calls for meaningful repentance - IT’S NOT TOO LATE!
“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.
REND YOUR HEART IS AN EXPRESSION OF INTERNAL ANGUISH - IT MEANS TO CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE
God is looking not for a show of repentance, but wants a genuine change, shift, and meaningful repentance that comes from the heart.
God is wanting his people to stop their sin, stop their evil and their selfish ways.
WHY? Because God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and is full of love.
Joel is quoting Exodus here, where God’s people made a grave mistake of creating a calf idol
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
We see here that God’s mercy is powerful, meaningful and available to his people
HOW DOES GOD RESPOND?
In the second part of Chapter 2 we see God’s response:
God has passion for the land and pity for his people Joel 2:18
Then the Lord became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
2. He will do this by defeating the invaders (The issue of Sin) (V. 20-21)
3. He is going to restore the land (v.22-26). Restore the grain, wine, oil and the beasts of the land.
4. He will be present in Israel.
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.
Joel’s purpose in writing these poems was to emphasize that the sins of Israel, much like history showed, were leading to disastrous results, however, God, full of mercy brings hope to his people.
Joel then takes these two parallel poems, and he does his own recap on what God’s response was in a vision of the future.
FIRST: Joel shares that the promise of God’s presence in Israel will turn to a promise that God’s Spirit will one day will one day fill not just the temple, but all of God’s people! (2:28-32)
Joel Emphasizes Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel
Ezekiel 36:26-28 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
God’s Spirit will come to transform and empower his people.
SECOND: Joel shares God’s promise that he will confront all evil among all nations, and that he will right all the wrongs. Joel uses Isaiah 13, Zephaniah 3, and Ezekiel 38-39 as references. (3:1-16)
Joel once again references the locusts, and compares it to the violent nations that Israel had to deal with in their time and that the Future Day of the Lord will confront these nations.
Third: Joels shares about the future promise of God to renew the land. He uses the writings of Isaiah 35, Ezekiel 47 and Zechariah 14 That what will come after the Day of the Lord will be a restoration of the word, a new Eden, with a hope that God’s mercy brings a new creation to God’s people.
What we learn in the book of Joel:
Just like the devastation of the locusts, its destruction, their affect on the individual and the nation, Sin does the very same thing
God will respond to sin. We must respond back with all of our heart. Personal, private, and corporately.
The day of the Lord will come, that we must call on the name of the lord, and repent.
The Vision of the FUTURE Day of the LORD HAS COME
We are in times now that we experience the presence of the Lord, as he had come, had lived among man, died for our sins, was resurrected, and this very same Jesus currently sits at the right hand of the father
We have seen in Joel’s prophetic words come , as we are blessed as Christ followers, to understand that Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, had come that one day in the upper room, and is still active and participating in our lives today , working in, through and for us
Paul quotes the words of Joel in Acts 2:17-21
Paul calls for repentance, and through this, the Holy Spirit as a gift to those who believe
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
We must learn to break this horrible cycle of putting other things in front of God:
Is there anything you are putting before God? How do you know?
Are you willing to skip personally time with God for this person, act, or circumstance?
Are you more concerned about this thing over your relationship with God?
Do you even realize the power this thing has in your life? A person. A job. An activity. Your own self?
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
IS THERE ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE THAT IS BEFORE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD? TODAY, WE ACT ON THAT.
As the worship team comes up, I ask that we remind ourselves this morning of
the words of 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.
In the instruction of our Lord Jesus,
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
As we sing and worship in response, my call to you, is to listen. Listen to God is revealing to you today, and to act on it. We have this moment today, to worship him, to pray for revelation, and to act on what needs to be done to assure today that NOTHING is above our relationship with God.