Reflections on Joel 2

Joel 02 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Sound the trumpet on Zion, the LORD's sacred hill. Warn everyone to tremble! The judgment day of the LORD is coming soon.
   
2. It will be dark and gloomy with storm clouds overhead. Troops will cover the mountains like thunderclouds. No army this powerful has ever been gathered before or will ever be again.
   
3. Fiery flames surround them; no one escapes. Before they invaded, the land was like Eden; now only a desert remains.
   
4. They look like horses and charge like cavalry.
   
5. They roar over mountains like noisy chariots, or a mighty army ready for battle. They are a forest fire that feasts on straw.
   
6. The very sight of them is frightening.
   
7. They climb over walls like warriors; they march in columns and never turn aside.
   
8. They charge straight ahead, without pushing each other; even arrows and spears cannot make them retreat.
   
9. They swarm over city walls and enter our homes; they crawl in through windows, just like thieves.
   
10. They make the earth tremble and the heavens shake; the sun and moon turn dark, and stars stop shining.
    
11. The LORD God leads this army of countless troops, and they obey his commands. The day of his judgment is so terrible that no one can stand it.
    
12. The LORD said: It isn't too late. You can still return to me with all your heart. Start crying and mourning! Go without eating.
    
13. Don't rip your clothes to show your sorrow. Instead, turn back to me with broken hearts. I am merciful, kind, and caring. I don't easily lose my temper, and I don't like to punish.
    
14. I am the LORD your God. Perhaps I will change my mind and treat you with mercy. Then you will be blessed with enough grain and wine for offering sacrifices to me.
    
15. Sound the trumpet on Zion! Call the people together. Show your sorrow by going without food.
    
16. Make sure that everyone is fit to worship me. Bring adults, children, babies, and even bring newlyweds from their festivities.
    
17. Tell my servants, the priests, to cry inside the temple and to offer this prayer near the altar: "Save your people, LORD God! Don't let foreign nations make jokes about us. Don't let them laugh and ask, 'Where is your God?' "
    
18. The LORD was deeply concerned about his land and had pity on his people.
    
19. In answer to their prayers he said, "I will give you enough grain, wine, and olive oil to satisfy your needs. No longer will I let you be insulted by the nations.
    
20. An army attacked from the north, but I will chase it into a scorching desert. There it will rot and stink from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean." The LORD works wonders
    
21. and does great things. So tell the soil to celebrate
    
22. and wild animals to stop being afraid. Grasslands are green again; fruit trees and fig trees are loaded with fruit. Grapevines are covered with grapes.
    
23. People of Zion, celebrate in honor of the LORD your God! He is generous and has sent the autumn and spring rains in the proper seasons.
    
24. Grain will cover your threshing places; jars will overflow with wine and olive oil.
    
25. I, the LORD your God, will make up for the losses caused by those swarms and swarms of locusts I sent to attack you.
    
26. My people, you will eat until you are satisfied. Then you will praise me for the wonderful things I have done. Never again will you be put to shame.
    
27. Israel, you will know that I stand at your side. I am the LORD your God-- there are no other gods. Never again will you be put to shame.
    
28. Later, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.
    
29. In those days I will even give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women.
    
30. I will work wonders in the sky above and on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
    
31. The sun will turn dark, and the moon will be as red as blood before that great and terrible day when I appear.
    
32. Then the LORD will save everyone who faithfully worships him. He has promised there will be survivors on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and among them will be his chosen ones.
    

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For my purposes of reflection on scripture I find it best not to attempt to place this book into a context. To do so requires too much supposition and any conclusions drawn from this supposition is also tentative. Therefore, we don't know when Joel was writing or who the enemy was that threatened the people. Though Israel is the immediate recipient of the message it seems to go beyond Israel to all people. I find it advantageous to view God's dealings with His people in these passages rather than attempt to sort out the setting or context.

Seldom do we find a reference in scripture to God's wrath without it being accompanied also with reference to His mercy, and this passage is no different. The description given here of the coming Day of the Lord is frightening. The devastation is total - "The land in front of them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland." The charge of the Lord's army is relentless - "They dodge the missiles, never stopping. They storm the city; they run on the wall; they climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like thieves." The Lord's army is invincible - "The earth quakes before them; the sky shakes. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars cease their shining." There is simply no escape. No hope is given of mounting an army to oppose this force with any success. This first section of the chapter describing the Day of the Lord concludes with the words, "Indeed, the Day of the LORD is terrible and dreadful--who can endure it?"

But then comes the hope. God never leaves us without hope. But that hope is always found in Him. There is no hope apart from Him. Now God calls His people to return to Him. "Even now," He says, "turn to Me with all your heart." This cannot be merely a show of turning to Him. It must be genuine. He says, "Tear your hearts, not just your clothes." Their practice was to tear their clothes to demonstrate their mourning. God doesn't want just a demonstration of mourning over their sins. He wants the real thing. Then in verse 14 the Joel says, "Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him, so you can offer grain and wine to the LORD your God." This is not a step by step prescription for renewed blessing. God is not guaranteeing the renewal of His people. He is saying that there is hope of escape from this disastrous Day of the Lord. And the only hope is to return to the Lord whole-heartedly. As I envision it, God is saying, "I do not guarantee your escape from this destruction, but return to Me and we will take it from there."

The one who wishes to turn to God only with a guarantee of His blessings and escape from doom has not given his heart over to God. He is merely striking a deal. There is no blessing in this even if it were possible. The blessing comes from walking with God and being in relationship with Him. The blessing is in the life He gives. Whatever else comes with that life is additional benefits, but the blessing is in the life of walking with God.

The Lord's call to repentance calls for His people to stop everything and give themselves completely to this matter of repentance. "Blow the horn in Zion! Announce a sacred fast; proclaim an assembly." "Let the bridegroom leave his bedroom, and the bride her honeymoon chamber." Nothing is to deter them from a whole-hearted repentance if they are to escape the coming destruction. If this disaster is averted, verses 19-27 describe the renewed blessings God's people will enjoy. The enemy God would have used to destroy His rebellious people will themselves be destroyed. When all of this comes about, there will be no doubt that the Lord is their God "and there is no other."

This renewal of God's people will usher in a new day. A day in which God's blessings will be expanded to "everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh." In this day God's Spirit will be poured out on "all humanity."