Joel

Opening & Intro

Who has ever flown in a plane?

Do you realize how absolutely insane it is that we do that? Like when whatever it is we create that replaces the passenger jet we are going to look back and be like WHAAAAAT.

Last night at supper, Savannah asked me what laptop I had in high school.

I told her...

She was right! My room mate had the first laptop on campus at my universtiy in 2000.

Now 50 years from now, imagine, Yeah kids we loaded hundrends of people into an air tight tube. We had to make sure it was properly balanced. The pilot didn’t know what was around them most of the time and had to rely on a guy watching radars screens miles away to help them land.

So why do we do it? Why does ANYONE get on a plane???

We have faith in the system.

Imagine the faith we have to have to do this now imagine how much more God is in control today.

Main Point

God is in control. He is LORD of everything.

Why Does it Matter

We don’t have to panic. We don’t have to worry. When we feel really low God is there and he is walking with us.

Scripture

Chapter 1 Talks about a plague of Locusts.

Minor Prophets, Hosea-Malachi Date and Occasion of Writing

When an unprecedented locust infestation blanketed the land, Joel understood it as nothing less than the Day of the Lord’s judgment, a foretaste of an even greater judgment if the people did not mend their ways. Accordingly, Joel wrote to call the people to repentance and restoration to God’s favor so as to avoid that coming divine punishment.

A few passages from the first Chapter of Joel.

Joel 1:2–4 NIV

Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.

Riff...

We are going to pick up in the middle of the second Chpater.

Joel 2:1–2 NIV

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.

Riff...

But here is where Joel’s message is found. He is pointing to the scourge of the day. God has removed His blessing because they turned on Him. BUT it is not permanent.

Bad things happen but isn’t it better to go through them with people. Walking at night down a poorly lit path. Would you rather do it alone or with someone?

Right. God wants to guide us. He wants us to trust Him, even when it is hard. This is where we are going to spend our time this morning.

Joel 2:18–32 NIV

Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. The Lord replied to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. “I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things! Do not be afraid, land of Judah; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things! Do not be afraid, you wild animals, for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

There are 3 things here That I want to point out:

Joel 2:13–15 NIV

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing— grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.

God is A patient, gracious, and merciful God, he deals with all people justly and receives all who call upon him in faith

God is big enough to handle our...

He will wait for us...

He is fair, he is just.

We ask him for so much and often times we feel entitled when honestly, we should just be happy to be here.

God has had every right to desrtoy us all and yet he doesn’t. Because he loves us. He has a plan.

Joel 2:19–20 NIV

The Lord replied to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. “I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea. And its stench will go up; its smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things!

He is a sovereign God, he expects his followers to submit willingly to him and worship him

He has a plan and we should trust that plan.

It is bigger than the picture we can see.

Why does cancer exist? Why are there severe birth defcects? Why is COVID 19 here? I don’t know.

I do know that Even with the brokenness of this world in the end, God has already won AND we are a part of His family. We have won too.

This is important because.

Joel 2:23–27 NIV

Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

We can live in his righteousness and goodness, while looking forward to his presence forever.

Live in His promise.

Make him Lord of your Life.

Not making God lord of our lives and recognizing his Soverignty is like getting a gym membership and never going.

Sure I have the title but if I never lift a weight or use any equipment? Am I really a member?

Application

Our application today? We have to ask ourselves 2 questions.

Do we really believe that God is in control?

Is He lord of our lives?

Do we make decisions based on what he asks of us rather than oue own desires?

Closing

God is in control. To call back to the beginning. The Pilot HAS GOT to listen to the control tower. If he doesn’t he could fly into an on comming plane or come in too fast or miss the runway altogether.

When we do anything we put trust in everyone around us. Drive down the street and we trust that all of the cars will stay in their lane and follow the rules.

How much MORE control does God have than our neighbour or a flight tower?