Joel 1:8-12

-Oh the joys of parenting! Parenting is hard, I don’t have to tell you that, You are juggling different personalities, different likes, you are often a referee, you are an encourager, you are to develop these tiny humans into being a good human, but more importantly to lead them to Christ and His Word. As parents we are also a disciplinary - when I discipline our kids I want them to know that what they have done is a serious matter, that there is a reason we have to discipline, the reason why our kids or any kid is disobedient is because we are all born sinners, we all have the inclination to sin, with the people of Israel they had a pattern of sin, they would sin, sort of repent, God would stop discipline, and they would go right back to sinning again, at times I wonder if they truly understood the seriousness of their sin, at times my kids may not see the seriousness of our disobedience, perhaps at times we do not see the seriousness of sin

-sin should lead us to grieve, now last week we saw how Joel called the people of Israel to mourn and today we will see that he called them to grieve, now you may think those two are one and the same, but there is a slight difference, mourning can happen initially but may not last very long, where as grieving can last for a while, when one grieves they are sorrowful for the loss that has taken place

-there should be grieving over sin because of the loss, the affects sin has had on us, on those close to us

It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors.

Arthur Walkington Pink

-we should grieve over sin because it grieves the heart of God

1324This day, my God, I hate sin not because it damns me, but because it has done thee wrong. To have grieved my God is the worst grief to me.—19.79

Charles Spurgeon

-Why should unrepentant sin lead us to grieve?

A Damaged Relationship (8)

-A wedding is a community celebration, it is a time of rejoicing, good vibes only, imagine you were attending a wedding and something tragic happened to the groom and the bride is sitting in the foyer in tears, what should be a day of happiness has turned into a time of despair

-This is how Joel described the sin condition of the people of Judah

-It is not clear whether in ancient Israel if brides wore white even though Solomon mentioned wearing white in Ecc. 9:8, but here the bride wears sackcloth

-sackcloth was made of black goat’s hair, was uncomfortable to wear

-associated with mourning a death like David over his son Abner in 2 Sam 3:31-

-primarily associated with grief over sin, and the person who puts on the sackcloth does so in a spirit of repentance

Jonah 3:5 ESV

5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

-Israelite law a young woman became legally bound to a man as his wife even before the wedding ceremony, we see this with Mary the mother of Jesus in Matthew 1 -

-Why describe the issue of Judah’s sin in this way?

-Scripture portrays the relationship between God and his church is described as a marriage

Jeremiah 3:20 ESV

20 Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.’ ”

Ephesians 5:31–32 ESV

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Jeremiah 31:32 ESV

32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

-the people of Judah were to grieve because their sin had damaged their covenantal relationship with God

There are only two ways to grieve: you can either grieve over yourself or you can grieve over your Savior as you look at your sin.

Timothy Keller

-The reason we want to flee sin is how it affects our relationship with God, hints why David confessed against you only have I sinned

-It is true that at times we sin against one another, but my friend do not be deceived when you sin against another person you are sinning ultimately against God

A Damaged Pursuit of Worship (9)

-We saw in the previous verses last week how sin took the wine away from the people of Judah

-But now Joel pointed out to the people of Judah the severe implications of their sin, it is bad that they will not have from the fruit of the vine, it is even worse that it affects their sacrifices and worship

-It is an indication that God had rejected the Israelites

-Every morning and evening in Jerusalem a lamb was sacrifice as a burnt offering, accompanied by grain offering, and drink offering

-This caused the priests to mourn:

-now they were unable to lead the daily worship

-they also received portions of the daily offerings

Isaiah 59:2 ESV

2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

-When we allow sin to remain then it affects our worship

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

To worship God acceptably we must be freed from sin.18

A. W. Tozer

-The good news is because of the gospel, Jesus took our sin and died for it, so that we may worship God in spirit and in truth, the veil was torn so now we have bold access to God

A Damaged Creation (10-12)

-grain wiped out, wine exhausted, oil had run dry - these were considered the basic food requirements and signs of God’s blessing

Joel 2:19 ESV

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.

-Now Joel mentions how the ground mourns

-the tiller of the ground, the farmer is in despair, has a sense of shame

-because their efforts of working the garden were to no avail

-Sin does not just affect our own lives, it affects the lives of those around us, it affects the very creation

-It is mentioned how all creation groans until God restores it

Jeremiah 12:4 ESV

4 How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

Romans 8:18–23 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

The groans of earth shall be surpassed by the songs of heaven, and the woes of time shall be swallowed up in the hallelujahs of eternity. Maroth-Or, The Disappointed, Volume 56, Sermon #3184 - Micah 1:12

Charles Spurgeon

Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted (Thomas Kelly, 1804)

3. Ye who think of sin but lightly Nor suppose the evil great Here may view its nature rightly, Here its guilt may estimate. Mark the Sacrifice appointed, See who bears the awful load; ‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.