Joel: The Pitty of The Lord of the Lord leads us To Repentance

The Scriptures are all connected, every bit. Remember “not my people” from Hosea? and How not my people will be called children of the living God? Here here is verse 18 we have the phrase “his People”, so it very important we know what his people said.

Let’s Read

Joel 2:18–29 ESV

18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. 19 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. 20 “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. 21 “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! 22 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. 23 “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. 24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 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. 26 “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. 27 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. 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

May God Bless the Reading of His Holy, Infallible, and Sufficient Word

Let’s Pray

Transition

The people, the sermon in 2 more weeks, in chapter 3.

Body

The pity and Jealousy of the Lord

Joel 2:18–20 ESV

We have context for the Jealousy of the Lord

“For we know that passions appertain not to him; but he is set forth as a father, who burns with jealousy when he sees his son ill-treated; he acknowledges his own blood, his bowels are excited,—or, as a husband, who, on seeing dishonour done to his wife, is moved; and though he had been a hundred times offended, he yet forgets every offence; for he regards that sacred union between himself and his wife. [1]

We have context for the pity of the Lord

“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” (Mt 15:32, ESV)

Everyone benefits from God working out the good for his elect.

“and you will be satisfied”

Two times we have mention of removed reproach in this passage, Here “reproach among the nations” and verse 26 where it says “ And my people shall never again be put to shame.”

We will deal with this more in verse 26 but now we we have to ask a question of how this is?

Verse 20 Who are the North People?

It depends very much on when we think the book was written.

Calvin said, “The Northlander, he says, will I remove far from you. The Chaldeans and the Assyrians, we know, were northward of V 2, p 78 Judea. He then means here by the North those enemies, whose preparations terrified the Jews. Hence he says, I will drive them from you, and drive them far into a land of desert and of drought. [2]

If we think about it we also see a physical fulfillment if this si Babylon.

Babylon is no more and the place it was “parched and desolate land”

I as a couple 100 miles north of there when I was in Iraq and the high temp was 130 degrees.

Some will say, no Joel was written later, and this is talking about Rome.

Well that is possible, Rome became, a divided kingdom

Another reason this makes more sense as Babylon is, present tense “he has done great things”

Transition

God’s protection of his people, and the consistence of the scriptures. The abundant rain, the early and the latter rain and what is not rain....

Early and Later Rains

Joel 2:21–25 ESV

21 “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! 22 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. 23 “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. 24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 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.

Land and animals, verse people. Fear and Rejoice. Because of God and In God.

Your God, the only people the rightful rejoice must do so in their God.

Once cannot rejoice outside of Christ, for he is God and there is no other.

Some have said Jew’s, Muslims, and Christians all worship the same God.

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” (1 Jn 2:22–23, ESV)

Anyone who does not confess Christ as Lord can rejoice in their God.

Joel calls them to remember God promises when he says the early rain and the later rain.

When I was in Pentecostalism I was told that this state was about the poring out of the Holy Spirit.

“he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15 And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. 16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you.” (Dt 11:14–17, ESV)

This section we are in is processed by a call to repentance.

Joel 2:12–17 ESV

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 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. 14 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? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16 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. 17 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?’ ”

Apolitical language is often full of what are called progressive parallels.

Here Joel is saying the same thing if you will repent then all these good promises are for you.

He you in the Lord your God then all this are for you.

Christianity has an exclusive claim,

Its not Jew or Greek, it not rich or free, but those that are in Christ.

Transition

It is those that are in Christ that escape forever the shame see verse 26-27

The Shame is Gone.

Joel 2:26–27 ESV

26 “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. 27 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.

Notice verse 26 and 27 both end with “shall never again be put to shame”

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Ro 8:1, ESV)

“Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Ro 8:34, ESV)

“11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Th 2:11–12, ESV)

There is much we could say about the connection here,

but the bottem line of the bottom lines is this,

The ones for who shame has been put away for ever are the elect,

These are the ones that are said to be the children of the living God,

These are the ones that the Father gives to the son and the son will raise up. (John 6… all of it)

These are the ones who rejoice IN the Lord this God.

These are the ones to whom God said, "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20, ESV)

Conclusion

Next time we will be in verse Joel 2:28–32 where we will see many many more connection to Christ, fulfillment in Christ and even more consistences in scriptures.

Benediction

Jude 24–25 ESV

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

References

[1] John Calvin and John Owen, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 75.

[2] Ibid, 77–78.

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