Radical Repentance, Part 2

Joel 2:1-17
Blow a trumpet in Zion;

sound an alarm on my holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick darkness!

Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains

a great and powerful people;

their like has never been before,

nor will be again after them

through the years of all generations.

3 Fire devours before them,

and behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of Eden before them,

but behind them a desolate wilderness,

and nothing escapes them.

4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,

and like war horses they run.

5 As with the rumbling of chariots,

they leap on the tops of the mountains,

like the crackling of a flame of fire

devouring the stubble,

nike a powerful army

drawn up for battle.

6 Before them peoples are in anguish;

all faces grow pale.

7 Like warriors they charge;

like soldiers they scale the wall.

They march each on his way;

they do not swerve from their paths.

8 They do not jostle one another;

each marches in his path;

they burst through the weapons

and are not halted.

9 They leap upon the city,

they run upon the walls,

they climb up into the houses,

they enter through the windows like a thief.

10 The earth quakes before them;

the heavens tremble.

The sun and the moon are darkened,

and the stars withdraw their shining.

11 The Lord utters his voice

before his army,

for his camp is exceedingly great;

he who executes his word is powerful.

For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;

who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

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 oWho 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?’”

 

Again I love the poetry here, the descriptions Joel uses to describe this invading army of locusts.  In verse one, the first thing we see is a call to blow the trumpet.  This is a signal for war, a sign that an army was invading!  Joel says sound the trumpet in Zion, God's holy mountain.  Over time Israel had started believing that God's mountain, this city of Jerusalem was untouchable. The northern city might fall or Samaria might be taken over, but never Jerusalem.  God Himself would prevent it.  But here, Joel calls for the trumpet to blow, telling the people that God's city is in fact being invaded and that they are at war.  The city was being invaded, would God again protect His city?  The amazing thing here is that God Himself is coming and invading His own city.  He is pronouncing judgment on His own land.  When you look back at God's promises in Deuteronomy 28:58-63, notice that the Lord is keeping His promises; this judgment is due to their sin.  (v.2) If you have read the Bible and studied the Old Testament, the picture Joel is painting should remind you of something. Look at Deuteronomy 5:22; Exodus19:9, 20-21; 10:12-15. 

This invasion on God's people and on God's city is from the Lord Himself.  We will see how devastating and powerful this invasion is as we keep reading.  Remember God's people thought they were untouchable, they thought God should and could judge other nations and other people, but not them. We too are God's people, and sometimes think we can live life however we want because, hey, we are God's people.  During this time Israel had chosen deep idolatry.  They were worshiping idols and had gotten involved in child sacrifice; while turning away from God, and were deep in sin.  God is a righteous God, a just God and would turn His people back to Himself. Sometimes this means discipline is used to turn the human heart back to the Lord.  Joel reveals a vivid picture of the awesome instrument of the Lord's judgment. 

v.3) The crunching made by the locusts sounded like a raging forest fire.  Picture the Garden of Eden, Canaan is supposed to be paradise. A place beautiful, flowing with milk and honey,  but that doesn’t stop God's judgment.

v.4) Like horses? These are mere locusts, but they are having the effect of creatures the size of horses. 

ñ The locusts were the Lord's warriors drawn up for battle.

ñ Nothing can stop them.

ñ They leap upon the city.

ñ These locusts were coming in their homes, and utterly taking over!

God could have used an army of men from another country, but instead used another part of His creation for the instrument of judgment. So often, we think as humans, we control the earth.  And assuming that we have everything under control is just an illusion.  Yet here, God's showing that He is sovereign.  He is in complete control, and   He can take over a place with His creation, the locusts. We don’t control the earth, Jesus does! Look at Colossians 1:15-16  All things are made through Him, and for Him.  All things.

 Now we come to the point of the invasion.

 

Verses 12 and 13 sum up this book.  The Lord is calling His people back to Himself.  Joel is now leading the people to the real issue here.  The problem is not the locusts, they are nothing.  Israel had a bigger and more significant problem.  They had a religious problem, a heart problem.  Falling into, and choosing idolatry, they had forgotten about Jehovah being their God.  He was saying, “return to Me with all your heart”.  But how is that even possible? How can we turn from the idols of our heart back to the Most High God?  It is only possible through Jesus!!  God in His mercy provided a way back to Himself.

 

Jesus says in Luke 5:32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”.  And in Luke 24:47  He goes on to say that repentance and forgiveness can only be done through Him.  Christ is the only One who grants real, radical repentance. 

Acts 5:31  Here, God exalted Him as our Lord and Savior. And it is not just about saying “I am sorry”.  2 Corinthians 7:10  Tells us it is deeper than that, it is a godly grief.  We must turn from our sin and redirect ourselves toward God.  Ask the Holy Spirit to help you.  True repentance for a relationship with the Lord changes our lives. 

  What does this look like?  Luke 19:1-10  Zacchaeus had real repentance after his encounter with Christ.  It was not enough that he recognized that he was a sinner or that he was sorrowful.  His example of real repentance showed a change in behavior. We too must experience that kind of change in our life.  An opposite reaction example would be the rich young ruler. Jesus confronted him with the law.  He told him to go and sell all that he had and follow Him.  The rich young ruler just walked away.  No repentance.  Why do some repent and some do not?  The answer is simple.  Repentance is a gift from God.  

Look at 2 Timothy 2:22-26  True and radical repentance produces a visible result, such as fasting, weeping and mourning. With Zacchaeus, we saw results of his repentance. 

David wrote a Psalm about repentance, Psalm 51.  Did David ever commit adultery again?  The sign of his true repentance was him turning away from his sin and turning back to God.

Return to the Lord because He is gracious and merciful!  By understanding the mercy of Jesus it is possible to express godly sorrow for our sin and change direction on our life.  It will be the daily part of a Christian’s life.  When is the last time you really repented?  Did that involve a total change of heart and direction?  Are you satisfied with a general repentance or do you repent for specific and particular sins?   Are you listening to the call of Joel to rend your heart and return to the Lord?  Heaven rejoices when sinners repent!  

Verses 14-17 are Joel once again calling the people to gather together and prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord!  They are to assemble, weep and cry out to the Lord. Look at  Ephesians 2:19-22 and  James 5:13-20. The church is the body of Christ, we are one, we grow together, pray and fast together, and confess our sins to one another. This is done because we know that Jesus is faithful! 

1 John 1:9  Christ is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He cleanses us and exchanges our sin for His righteousness.

  Now look at 2:18-19, the Lord answers prayer, He hears and answers those who return to Him. In Psalm 102:16-22 we see that the LORD regards the prayers and hears the groans of His people. God hears our cries! Believe this promise!  No matter what you feelings tell you, know this truth.  And not only does He hear our cries, but God also responds by blessing us. (read verse 19 again)  Many times we read verses like this and we think in our minds that “Oh the Lord will give them so much!”

  But that is not what it says; it says the Lord will send grain, wine and oil.  And you will be satisfied.

A person may have plenty to eat, have everything they have ever wanted, and still not be satisfied. Being content is a gift from the Lord, and it is given to those who return to Him.  When Jesus fed the 5000 (Matthew 14) the Bible says that the people were satisfied.  This sign shows us that Jesus can and will satisfy all who come to Him.  As Christians our contentment and satisfaction should come from the LORD alone! (2 Corinthians 12:10; Philippians 4:11) Paul understood to be content in Christ. Ask yourself “Am I dissatisfied with my lot in life? Or Am I always disappointed with the way things always turn out?) Hebrews 13:5, says, Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” If you are not satisfied in your life, it can be a sign that you have not returned to the LORD.

  At the end of verse 19, it says “He will remove your reproach.” The Lord will repair your reputation. There was a time that I had a bad reputation, but God repairs what we destroy.  Sometimes it takes a while, but He is faithful. Our focus must be on returning to Him. This even applies to Christians who have fallen into sin. Jesus is in the business of serving sinners and restoring us. Paul had a terrible reputation among Christians until the Lord saved him and built trust for him among Christians. 

  In verse 20 we see that the Lord destroys our enemies. He removed the locusts. The Lord heard the prayers of His people and responded.  He basically split them in half, casting the front half into the Dead Sea, and the back half into the Mediterranean. We see from this comes the stench and foul smell of all the dead locusts.  Think about how disgusting that would be!  We see things like this happening in Exodus when the Lord sent the plagues on Egypt.  (Exodus 7-8)  Saint Augustine of Hippo in his book City of God describes a time in Africa when a swarm of locusts came and devoured every tree in sight. So the locust were plunged into the sea and died. Joel says these locusts were pushed up onto the shores by the waves and so polluted the air that a plague on the people broke out that killed 80,000 men. The Lord is jealous for his people and He will send us a wakeup call.  And He will destroy our enemies.  We must see these wake up calls for what they are, it gives us opportunity to turn back to Him. So the Lord's hears his people's cry and destroys the very army of locusts that He sent in the first place. But the Lord even does more than that.  We saw earlier in the book the land, animals and God's people totally affected by this locust invasion.  Now we see the Lord addressing each one of them. 

  We are called to rejoice and be glad, because the Lord keeps His promises. God is a God of promises and He alone is faithful. We also see that God is a God of restoration. He makes all things new. Praise God that He restores all things. 

 

 Sin pollutes everything. Our sin could be like those locusts that totally overwhelmed Israel.  They were everywhere, destroying everything, even sending a stench that wouldn’t go away.  Even to the point of death.  But Joel tells them and us, not to fear.  Be glad and rejoice in the Lord.  “Rejoice in the Lord”.  God will bring the early rain and the latter rain.  I don’t think we get this today.  In ancient Israel, the people were very dependent on the rain. Only a little rain would fall in the summer the autumn rains were necessary to soften the ground to receive the seeds. The spring rains were most important to strengthen the crops for final growth.  Israel understood that life literally came from the rain.  The Lord was promising life, He was promising complete restoration. But what is amazing is that the Lord promises even more than this.  (v.24-25) The Lord will bless the people more than they can even imagine.  We see Paul saying the same thing in Ephesians 3:14-21. Through Jesus Christ God restores all things and even blesses us with Himself.  Because the Lord responds to your repentance, rejoice!  Don’t sink into depression over your past sins and losses. Don’t dread the consequences of earlier failures. Don’t assume a complete restoration is too good to be true! Rejoice with all your heart over the Lord’s ability to completely restore us by His grace through Jesus! Don’t sweat over the time you might have lost living in sin! The Lord can restore it!  He is able! (v.26)  He will restore His people and they will be satisfied. We must be satisfied in the Lord; this should be our very life!  This is the whole point of the locust invasion on Israel. The people had lost their first love; they had walked away from the Lord and worshiped idols. The Lord says “Hope!”  “Come back to Me!”  (v.27)  “I am the Lord, there is no one else.  Quit chasing after idols, quit chasing after things that will not satisfy you, come back to Me!  I am here! And I am God!” When we truly understand what Jesus has done and is doing, then the gospel should overwhelm us. Jesus should be our satisfaction.  This should affect every part of our life.  John 17:3 says “And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ who You have sent.” That is life, not just in the future, but now.  Jesus Christ has saved us if you’re a Christian. Your new in Christ, forget the past.  I want to close with this, twice in the last 2 verses Joel says God’s people shall never again e put to shame.  How awesome is that?  Do you mourn over the lost years of your life?  Have you made a number of serious mistakes in your life?  Did you leave school too early?  Did you get married too early?  Have you been divorced?  Have you rebelled against your parents?  God restores through Jesus!  He has been punished for whatever you have done.  Don’t live in regret, trust the Lord.  Trust in what He accomplished on the cross.  Don’t be ashamed.  Beginning now and through eternity, you never need to be ashamed.  You can continue to be ashamed if you want to, but that will only come from your own pride, not from the judgment of the Lord.  That is finished!  Remember, this passage is speaking to a believing community that has strayed from the Lord.  We are the ones who need to repent and return to the lord.  Repentance is also God’s way of revival and we should all want that. It starts with us.