A Call to Repentance

Peter and cleaning the nets

#1: Firstfruits - grain and drink offering

Joel 1:13 “Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

Grain and drink offering mentioned 3x in Joel. 2x in chapter 1. This is the 2nd time where it’s judgement. It’s been cut off.

The grain offering = physical reliance on God

Drink offering = Joy and covenant relationship with God

The people no longer rely on God and have broken their covenant relationship with Him.

The church doesn’t have a physical reliance on God. We preach prosperity and self-reliance in isolation. Never preaching the fullness of the prosperity message.

The church doesn’t have joy and a covenant relationship with God. Everything is so strict and rigid. Do this and maybe you’ll get to heaven. Doctrine is the only thing that matters.

What are the grain and drink offering in the first place?

Leviticus 2:12–15 “As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering.”

Leviticus 23:13–14 “And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin. And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

Grain = body of Christ

Drink = blood of Christ

Oil = Holy Spirit

Hebrew Holiday Shavuot = The Day of First Fruits = Pentecost = giving of the Torah

First Fruits: Shavuot was originally a harvest festival = the early rain, the harvest of believers that happened at Pentecost.

Torah: The spiritual redemption. The Torah with its laws was the original sacrifice and placement for Jesus prior to his coming. It’s how Jews had communion with God pre-Holy Spirit.

Jesus: Now that Jesus was raised from the dead, his body given as a grain offering and his blood given as a drink offering, the oil is poured out and anoints the believers with his power.

Oil: The oil anointed the offering. Jesus was anointed with oil as a preparation for his offering. The firstfruits grain offering is not burned as a pleasing aroma to God. It’s out of thanksgiving and rejoicing to God. It’s to be consumed by the priests in a holy setting in the Temple. The firstfruits offering anointed with oil is for the people of God living in the temple. The power of God poured out at Pentecost. The offering was for the priests of God. Who is that?

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

You and I. We are priests of God.

We are to take this sacrifice. And consume it. Through this sacrifice, the power of God should pour out.

So Jesus sacrifice on the cross was not ONLY the sin offering as the perfect lamb without spot or blemish. But, he was also anointed with oil by the ourpouring of the Holy Spirit on him.

Guys, the nation rejected God. The grain offering and the drink offering were withheld from the house of God. By rejecting Shavuot. By rejecting the day of First Fruits. They were rejecting the authority of the Torah. By rejecting our offering we are rejecting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Because the power of God only flows when we have reliance on Him.

Money is the tie to our heart.

Jesus talks about money more than any other topic.

And a rejection of the firstfruits was a rejection of the power of God. It’s a rejection of physical reliance on God, the grain offering, and as a result a rejection of joy and relation with God, the drink offering.

If you don’t trust God with your money, you are rejecting the power of God. Why would God give you his power if you reject its authority?

If you have physical reliance on God, you give the grain offering, you will find joy, gladness, and intimacy with God, the drink offering.

Firstfruits

Leviticus 2:12–15 “As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma… And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering.”

Leviticus 23:14 “And you shall eat neither bread nor grain parched or fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

Grain = body of Christ

Drink = blood of Christ

Oil = Holy Spirit

As we intercede for this grain and drink offering to return to the house of God, we are called to fast. Guys, we are taking this serious and we are pressing into the Lord.

#2: Fasting

Joel 1:14 “Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.”

Fast, bring everyone together, call the believers who are serious. The elders.

Summary: Isaiah 58:6–14

———

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house;

the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard (God protects from all sides) Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, whose waters do not fail. (Psalm 1:3, tree planted by streams of living water, which is predicated on Psalm 1:2, your heart delights on the law of the Lord).

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

If you call the Sabbath a delight; not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;

then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth”

———

Fasting is to loose people who are chained to sin and wickedness.

Fasting is to intercede and provide for those in need

Fasting allows the glory of God to protect you when you feel helpless

Fasting will spiritually strengthen you and draw you nearer to God

Fasting restores dead dreams

Fasting rebuilds walls where temptation slipped in

Fasting heightens your spiritual ceiling

The best example:

Matthew 4 we see Jesus was prompted by the Lord to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. Then the devil came to tempt him. He fought back with scripture. And then his ministry kicked off.

This was direct intercession for humanity’s broken sin-state, it took Jesus to the next level in his calling, and restored the dead dreams of Israel to see their Messiah.

#3: Tribulation Urgency

Joel 1:15 “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.”

Day of the Lord is near = the 7-year tribulation & immediate heavenly judgement

There’s urgency. The tribulation is no joke

Matthew 24:21 “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”

As Christians, we are called to ACT NOW! Because, here’s the deal. It’s close.

Ezekiel 38 outlines a war against Israel. Gog and Magog, Persia, Cush, Put, and Gomer all come against Israel. Russia, Turkey, Iran, Sudan, etc. come against Israel in an all out attack. No one comes to Israel’s defense.

Wait what Israel? This prophecy couldn’t even have been fulfilled until 1948 when Israel was reestablished as a nation again.

Notably, the Arab gulf states stand in protest against the attack on Israel. That’s Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, etc. They verbally side with Israel over their Muslim brothers.

Additionally, Damascus becomes uninhabitable. The Russian leader of Syria, Assad, has been overthrown. US backed troops in Syria have been taken over. And an Al-Qaeda rooted group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham now governs over Syria. They’re literally a rebranded Al-Qaeda that wears suits.

This is the first time in history that these nations are all aligned against Israel while the gulf states are willing to side verbally with Israel. Additionally, Anti-semitism is at absolute highs, and maybe no nation will be willing to come to protect Israel. Including the USA.

It nearly got kicked off once. Iran, Hamas, and Lebanon all attacked Israel massacring almost 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage. Proportionally, 13x more devastating to the % of citizens killed than 9/11 in the USA.

It’d be like if Mexico randomly decided to launch a terrorist attack and bombed the living daylights out of San Diego, raped women and children in mass, and took hundreds of people hostage in 2023, which are still being held to this day.

If that happened in the USA, our country wouldn’t rest until every government official and military-man of Mexico was dead.

That’s what resulted in the recent wars with Israel in Gaza and Iran.

Then, Iran nearly developed nukes that they intended to put on ICBMs pointed literally at Europe and Israel. Which by the way, Iran’s goal is death to Israel, death to America.

Do you know why the Muslim threat is so intense?

Taqiah - lie to advance Islam. Power is #1

Ummah - Conquer and conquest

Iesha (supposed wife of Mohammed)

married at age 6

Married at 6 and consecrated at 9

Mohamed is the greatest - he’s a depraved, genocidal warlord who massacred and raped women and children with no other goal but to conquer and conquest by any means necessary.

Maybe Muslims aren’t crazy, they just follow their leaders teachings.

Don’t be confused. This unholy alliance between the Muslims and the social justice warrior LGBTQ alphabet mafia will result in the collapse of America. The global support of Islam, and the ushering in of the Ezekiel 38 war which kicks off the tribulation.

And it gets bad.

Joel 1:16-17: Your farms/food/physical reliance are gone

Joel 1:18-20: Animals groaning, perplexed, suffering, and thirsty

Guys, there’s urgency to reach the world for the gospel. Be encouraged, have perseverance, and start taking this serious.

“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14

Pray, intercede that the USA turn from its wicked ways, so that God may hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land.

What are you committing to?

Fasting? Tithing? Evangelism? Intercession?