Joel
The Minor Prophets • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Isn’t it funny it is the smallest things that bring down the biggest of things.
It was reported recently that an enormous pine tree in the mountains of Colorado had fallen victim to a pine beetle and died. According to locals, up to that point the tree was thought to be indestructible. It had survived fourteen lightning strikes and many years of Colorado winters, including avalanches and fires. But it was eventually brought down from within by a tiny insect that did its work silently.
3. The prophet Joel writes about a PLAGUE of LOCUSTS that invaded Palestine, and he uses that DEVASTATION as an object lesson of future JUDGEMENT against the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but this time by an INVADING ARMY, if they do not REPENT and RETURN to God.
B. As with Obadiah, we do not know anything about the PROPHET Joel beyond what the book says.
1. We know he was the son of Pethuel.
a. He was a resident of Judah, and many scholars believe that he was either a PRIEST or the son of
a PRIEST because of his many references to the PRIESTLY FUNCTION in the temple.
b. His prophecy is dated around 830 BC during the reign of Joash, known as the “BOY KING,”
In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beer-sheba.
c. Joel’s name means: “Jehovah (Yahweh) is God.”
2. The three underlining themes that run through this book
Judgement
Repentance
Restoration
MESSAGE:
I. DEVASTATION (SIGN OF JUDGMENT)
A. God used a LOCUST PLAGUE to punish Judah
Hear this, you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
Tell your children about it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.
What the devouring locust has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
1. Joel asked the ELDERLY of Judah “if they could remember a LOCUST PLAGUE like this in
their LIFETIME, or even if their FOREFATHERS spoke of such a PLAGUE?”
a. Joel wanted them to understand that this was no FREAK of NATURE—this was God’s
JUDGMENT upon Judah because of their SIN and refusal to REPENT.
b. In fact, “Joel wanted this JUDGEMENT to serve as a WARNING for the next FOUR
GENERATIONS”- v. 3. “Children, grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren.”
COMMENT:
God did not want this JUDGMENT to be soon FORGOTTEN. He wanted his people to remember the DEVASTATION—the WEEPING and SORROW, the HUNGER and THIRST,
the DESTRUCTION of LAND and LIVESTOCK.
He wanted them to remember that this CALAMITY was brought about by their SIN of REBELLION and IDOLATRY. God was PUNISHING them in order to bring about their REPENTANCE and SEEK His favor once again.
c. Could it be possible that God uses TRAGEDY, HARDSHIP, and DIFFICULTY as a means of
DISCIPLINING His people today? Hebrews 12:4-7
In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or lose heart when you are reproved by him,
for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes every son he receives.
COMMENT:
Even as PARENTS discipline their children to TEACH lessons and DISCOURAGE bad behavior, so does our Heavenly Father. God’s DISCIPLINE is out of LOVE for His children. He does not want to see THEM—to see US—GO DOWN a path of DESTRUCTION. So He
DISCIPLINES in hopes that we will REPENT and FOLLOW His teachings once again.
Now, not every time we undergo HARDSHIP are we being DISCIPLINED—the Bible makes that clear as well. However, when FACED with DIFFICULTY in our lives, it would be WISE to EXAMINE ourselves to see if indeed we are in God’s will.
A fact about locust:
First- Locust came and destroyed much of the vegetation.
Second- The females lay millions of eggs in the soil, and when the LARVAE appear it continues the devastation.
Third- They pass from the LARVAE stage into the PUPA stage, in which small wings appear. These hoppers destroy what they can eat surrounding them.
Fourth- These develop into full-fledged flying locusts that complete the destruction.”
This CYCLE has been known to last up to SEVEN years.
b. The LOCUSTS destroyed the GRAPE VINES, FRUIT TREES, the WHEAT and BARLEY. Nothing was LEFT.
3. Not only did the PLAGUE leave the PEOPLE without FOOD and DRINK, the PRIESTS were in
mourning because the “GRAIN and DRINK offerings were cut off”
Grain and drink offerings have been cut off
from the house of the Lord;
the priests, who are ministers of the Lord, mourn.
a. The “Grain and Drink offerings” were offered by the PRIESTS as a sign of FELLOWSHIP
with God.
COMMENT:
The FIRST-FRUITS of the HARVEST were brought to the PRIESTS by the WORSHIPPER as a token of his RECOGNITION of God’s supreme AUTHORITY and his
b. When the GRAIN and DRINK OFFERINGS were cut off, so was God’s FELLOWSHIP
and BLESSING toward the people.
He said, “Your food is gone. You plant more seed, but they only rot beneath the clods. Your granaries and storehouses are in ruin. Your livestock suffers because there is no food to eat. Fire and drought have devoured everything that the locusts left. Even the wild animals suffer from thirst because the streams are dried up.”
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the residents of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming;
in fact, it is near—
b. As we learned last week in Obadiah, “The Day of the Lord” refers to JUDGMENT upon a particular NATION or NATIONS and ultimately upon the WORLD.
3. Joel uses the SWARM of LOCUSTS to describe an INVADING ARMY that God will use
against Judah
a. Historically we know that 130 years later Judah was INVADED by Assyria and then finally
CONQUERED by the Chaldeans (Babylonians) in 587 BC.
b. As it is even today, “The Day of the Lord” serves as a constant WARNING that God’s
JUDGMENT is COMING and we need to be READY.
II. (CALL TO REPENTANCE)- Joel 2:12-17
Even now—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
turn to me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Tear your hearts,
not just your clothes,
and return to the Lord your God.
For he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,
and he relents from sending disaster.
Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave a blessing behind him,
so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering
to the Lord your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
Announce a sacred fast;
proclaim a solemn assembly.
Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the infants,
even babies nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say,
“Have pity on your people, Lord,
and do not make your inheritance a disgrace,
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
A. Listen to God’s plea, ‘“Even now,” declares the Lord. ‘Return to me with all your heart, with
fasting and weeping and mourning’”-
1. Anytime one turns AWAY from God for any reason, our Heavenly Father PLEADS for him or
her to RETURN.
COMMENT:
As I look over the sanctuary today I see EMPTY PEWS where once DEDICATED Christians sat—we KNOW them by NAME. Some are attending other churches, but the MAJORITY is not. There are those who just QUIT coming, for one reason or another. Some have gotten their FEELINGS hurt by the PREACHER or ELDERS or SOMEONE else and no longer COME. Some didn’t like the MUSIC the PRAISE BAND plays. Others have simply chosen a SINFUL LIFE over God.
Regardless of the REASON for leaving, God is pleading, “Will you come back? Will you LET GO of whatever it is that KEEPS YOU AWAY, and COME BACK TO ME?”
Here are a people TURNING AWAY from God and WORSHIPING IDOLS and yet God continues to be “GRACIOUS and COMPASSIONATE and abounding in LOVE.” God is ready to ACCEPT them back and RESTORE His BLESSINGS and FELLOWSHIP. He is giving them every CHANCE to REPENT and COME BACK to Him.
The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
B. Joel tells the PEOPLE what they must do in order the REGAIN God’s FAVOR
Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the infants,
even babies nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
1. They were to bring everyone TOGETHER and declare a HOLY FAST.
a. No one was EXEMPT: The elderly, children, nursing infants, the newly married— bridegroom and bride (the honeymoon had to wait).
b. The PRIESTS were to come and WEEP, asking God “to SPARE His people.”
2. God is PATIENT with us—He is! But He also MEANS BUSINESS.
COMMENT:
If the Nation of Judah wanted to be SPARED from God’s JUDGMENT, then there had to be TRUE REPENTANCE and GODLY SORROW among the people.
III. RESTORATION (the vision of BLESSING)
A. Physical blessings promised
Then the Lord became jealous for his land and spared his people. The Lord answered his people:
Look, I am about to send you
grain, new wine, and fresh oil.
You will be satiated with them,
and I will no longer make you
a disgrace among the nations.
1. Once the people genuinely REPENT and RETURN to God, the BLESSINGS will FOLLOW:
a. God will have PITY on them.
b. He will REPLENISH their CROPS.
c. He will DRIVE the LOCUSTS from them.
d. The ANIMALS will once again have plenty of FOOD and WATER.
2. God wants to BLESS His PEOPLE!
a. As you read through the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, God says over and over how much He wants to BLESS His children: to BLESS us with HEALTH, to bless us
FINANCIALLY, to bless us RELATIONALLY, to bless us SPIRITUALLY.
But we want it our way, on our terms and when we want them.
b. God says in His Word, “Listen up, because I will show you how you can be blessed.”
COMMENT:
His word speaks of MODERATION and condemns GLUTTONY and DRUNKENNESS, and yet many of us have HEALTH problems (myself included) because we consistently
OVEREAT (my problem) or DRINK too much (a problem others have).
Just take your Bible and randomly turn to any page, and you will read something on those PAGES as to how we are to RELATE to others—to your HUSBAND or WIFE, your CHILDREN and PARENTS, your FELLOW CHRISTIANS and FRIENDS, your CO-WORKERS and BOSS, and even your ENEMIES. Yet many of us (myself included), have had strained RELATIONSHIPS—MARITAL issues, problems with your KIDS or with a FELLOW Christian—all because we didn’t always FOLLOW God’s Word on how are to
RELATE to others and STRENGTHEN our RELATIONSHIPS.
God’s Word contains over 800 Scriptures about MONEY and how we are to HANDLE our MONEY, and yet the MAJORITY in this CHURCH (myself included . . . I’m beginning to see a pattern here) have FINANCIAL PROBLEMS because we didn’t LISTEN to what God says
And, obviously, many Christians are still WORLDLY because they are not STUDYING
GOD’S Word, they are not WORSHIPPING, they are not PRAYING, they are not SERVING.
c. Yes, God always wants to BLESS US and will if we only FOLLOW His WORD.
2. After God RESTORES the blessings upon Judah, they will know three things about Him
You will know that I am present in Israel
and that I am the Lord your God,
and there is no other.
My people will never again be put to shame.
a. “God is in Israel.” Once again He will be in FELLOWSHIP with His people.
b. “He is God, and there is no other.”
c. God will not FORSAKE them. God says, “Never again will my people be shamed.”
COMMENT:
As long as the people SERVE and FOLLOW God, there is no reason for them to ever be SHAMED. The apostle Paul writes, - Romans 10:11
For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,
B. Spiritual blessings promised- Joel 2:28-32
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.
I will even pour out my Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.
I will display wonders
in the heavens and on the earth:
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
Then everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord 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.
a. The fulfillment of this PROMISE was not immediate, but found its fulfillment some 900
years later on the Day of Pentecost when Christ’s church was established and the apostles received the OUTPOURING of God’s Spirit , and then again later when the GOSPEL was preached to the Gentiles and Cornelius and his family also received the OUTPOURING of the Holy Spirit .
b. When God said, “I will pour out my Spirit on ALL PEOPLE,” that included both JEWS and
GENTILES, and people from every WALK of LIFE.
2. You and I are included in the “All People” who have received the SPIRIT of God.
a. Acts 5:32
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
b. After telling the people that they were witnessing the fulfillment of Joel’s PROPHECY on the Day of Pentecost, Peter told them how they, too, could be included in the “ALL PEOPLE” of Joel 2:29.
c. Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
CONCLUSION:
A. God’s MESSAGE doesn’t change.
1. His MESSAGE has always been, “REPENT of your SINS and TURN to ME.”
a. That is what He wanted of the Judeans, and this is what He wants from YOU and ME today.
b. God’s FORGIVENESS and BLESSINGS are available only to those who TURN to Him.
