Joel 1 - 3 (13th September) - Stephanie

Book of Joel

The main theme in the book of Joel is the judgment and mercy of the Lord. God punishes those who sin but He also pleads with the sinners and longs to pardon those who genuinely turn away from their evil ways i.e. is truly repentant of their sin. “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." 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." (Joel 2:12-13)

Only by turning back to God with a change of heart and a change of life will there be restoration and blessing.

What got the attention of God’s people were natural disasters, like this devastating locust swarm during Joel’s time. They were talked about for generations even after they occurred. Joel compared the locusts to enemy nations that surrounded and invaded his land to signify the divine judgment on Judah’s sins. Judah’s only hope of survival then was to repent and seek God’s mercy.

God knows that disasters get everyone's attention. Drunkards will notice when they get irritated that their wine supply got cut off. God's people will notice, and they will come together to cry out to the Lord. But He also wants us to know that these disasters are to remind us of "the day of the LORD", the ultimate judgement day and ultimate battle on Earth that has been promised and is coming.

We mourn when we suffered a disaster. Remember what Hosea said about crying? “They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds. They gather together for grain and new wine but turn away from me” (Hosea 7:14). Now in the book of Joel, God calls His people with broken hearts to mourn, not because they are hurt by lost possessions or lost loves but because they have lost the closeness they have with God. Something will change in our hearts when we choose to fast, weep, and mourn, not because we have been hurt but because we know and understand that our sin hurts God.

Don't miss out on how important it is for God’s people to join together to repent and get right with God. If you know that there is something not right with God in your life, get things right with God TODAY! Don’t hesitate and wait another day – make it right NOW!

In the last part of the book, God promises that “afterward” (see Joel 2:28) there will be:
- Supernatural events (Joel 2:28-32)
- Universal Judgments, where the sins of the nations against God’s people will all be punished. Men cannot persistently sin against the chosen of God and hope to get away with it (Joel 3:1-16)
- National Restoration, where the people shall once again enjoy the peace and prosperity that has for so long been denied from them (Joel 3:16b-21)

God never deals with us as we deserve, He often uses harsh circumstances in life to bring us back to Himself, but it is only to hedge us in with our selfishness, disobedience and resistance, and to show us that we cannot be truly happy unless we put Him absolutely first in our lives.