Joel: The Day of the Lord
1:1-20, 2:11, 28-29 (Pastor Heo)
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel. 2 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? 3 Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. 4 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.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips. 6 A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. 7 It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. 8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD. 10 The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails. 11 Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed. 12 The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree— all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away.
13 Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. 15 Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty. 16 Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes— joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up. 18 How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering. 19 To you, LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness and flames have burned up all the trees of the field. 20 Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
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11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?
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28 “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. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
As we know, a few days ago there were terrible earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador. Even now, the death toll is rising. But you know, on this earth, there is not a time there was not terrible situations like this. We have no power to control our own breathing. We can do exercise, diet, change our lifestyles, etc, but definitely speaking, we have no power to control our own eyesight, blood pressure, or pulse. I know – my eyesight is getting weaker and weaker.
We have nothing to do except working, sleeping, eating, drinking, making money.
Matt 24 “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places, but the End is still to come. This gospel will be preached to ALL nations and THEN the End will come.”
Romans “Understand the present time, the hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”
Today, we will study the book of Joel. The message is very relevant – we are living at the edge of the End of the Age.
We know little about the person of Joel. He is himself as son of Pethuel. This is ALL we know about him. In the OT, this is the ONLY mention of his name anywhere. So, who is his father? We know almost nothing about him too. This is also the only occurrence of his father’s name in the Bible.
Yet, because of his frequent references to Zion and the House of God, we can guess he lived not far from Jerusalem. Traditionally, it is said that he ministered during the reign of Joash (8th king of southern Judah – 9th century BC).
What IS clear about him is that he was a clear, concise preacher of repentance.
In English, we say Jol (kind of). In Hebrew, you must accent the ‘El = “God” – JoEL! = “emphasizing God’s sovereign work – holding all Creation in his hands.”
God’s blessing only comes AFTER judgment and repentance.
Yes, we should repent all the time (Martin Luther – “A whole Christian life is a life of repentance.”)
The key message of Joel: “The day of the LORD.” This is today’s focus topic.
The Day of the LORD
Also in other prophetic books in the OT, the consistent theme is “The day of the LORD is coming.” This short book has only 3 chapters BUT is more powerful and stronger than ANY of the other prophets in the OT in emphasizing this message: “The Day of the LORD.”
Isaiah 13:6 “6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.”
Jeremiah 46:10 “10 But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty— a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.”
Amos (next week) 5:18 “18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light.”
Joel (today) “The Day of the LORD” = 6x
Joel 1:15 “15 Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.”
Joel 2:1-2 “1 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— 2 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.”
Joel 2:11 “11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty is the army that obeys his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?”
Joel 2:31 “31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” (some people in history thought this was an eclipse…)
Joel 3:14 “14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”
Joel 3:18 “18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house and will water the valley of acacias.”
3 Key Topics
When you think of the book of Joel, remember 3 things (key topics):
- Locust plagues (10x this is repeated) grasshopper
- The Day of the Lord (6x repeated)
- The pouring out of the Holy Spirit
The key theme is “The Day of the LORD”
- Chp 1 = The Day of the LORD in retrospect (looking backward)
- Chp 2-3 = The Day of the LORD in prospect (looking forward)
Chp 1 = The Day of the LORD in retrospect (looking backward)
Joel begins with an account of locust plagues that have devastated the land. Joel 1:4 “4 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.”
A black cloud of insects have stripped the crops bare – ruined the economy – and there is a great drought on top of that.
Chp 2-3 = The Day of the LORD in prospect (looking forward)
God declares “Return to me, with all your hearts, with weeping, crying, mourning, repentance.”
Joel makes good use of a natural catastrophe as an illustration of a far greater disaster to come. Compared to the Day of the LORD, the locust plague is insignificant.
Chp 2: Locusts (v. 25) “25 “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.”
The land will be invaded by a swarming army – they will be speedy and voracious.
Chp 2-3, Joel continually presses them “return to me with repentance” – and “everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” (Acts and Romans)
Today, when we say “The Day of the LORD” how can we apply this? What does it mean? We know this is the topic, but practically, actually, what does it mean?
The Day of the LORD
#1. Literally a day (24 hours) but also a certain, specific period of time
Yes, we call Sunday as the LORD’s Day. Why? Jesus rose on Sunday (resurrection). There is no question, EVERY Sunday is “The Day of the LORD” to us. Do you agree?
Jesus says, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath.”
We can keep a certain day holy and special before God by acknowledging the LORD’s sovereignty on that day.
According to Hebrews, also “The day that is called ‘today’ is ‘the LORD’s Day.” Today is the day of God’s grace, favor, salvation – which is found in no one else except the name of Jesus Christ. TODAY is the day.
#2. The Day which is called TODAY is the LORD’S Day.
John 1:3 “Through Jesus Christ, all things were made and without him nothing was made that has been made.”
Col “By Jesus Christ, by him, for him, through him, all things were created and are sustained by him (hold together).” Jesus is the creator of TIME, SPACE, MATERIAL.
If it is true that Jesus is the creator of TIME, every day (TODAY) is a gift from Him – this is “the Day of the LORD.”
Not only Sunday, but also weekly days. EVERYDAY is the Day of the LORD.
#3. The end of human history
And at the same time, the Day of the LORD is a period at the End of human history when God’s final purpose will be fulfilled. This final, ultimate day will begin with the return of Jesus Christ and end with the cleansing of the heavens and earth with fire.
2 Peter 3:10 “10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
Also, here twice repeated “The Day of the LORD” and “The Day of GOD” – the material world, heaven and earth, and all the elements will be destroyed by fire.
So, then, what kind of person should you be? “Live holy and godly lives.” – we are looking forward to the New Heaven and Earth.
This passage emphasizes the SUDDENNESS of the destruction and his judgment on humanity.
Matt 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels together (how many? millions upon millions – Revelation) and he will sit on his throne in his heavenly glory and all people will be called before him and each (individual) person will stand before him to be judged.”
This is the final and greatest Day of our Lord.
Topic: to prepare for this day faithfully and adequately, what kind of spirit should we have?
Keywords
- Locusts
- The Day of the Lord
- The pouring out of the Holy Spirit (another Counselor) – Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:7)
Before and after his crucifixion and resurrection, he continually mentioned the HS as another Counselor – coming as his substitute to continue his remaining tasks. (Another = different – but also same)
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are:
- the same in ESSENCE (as Trinity God) but
- different in PRESENCE (beings).
Before his crucifixion, in John 14:16, Jesus said he would ask his Father God to give us another Counselor. Also John 14, 15, 16, God promised to send the HS. Then, as soon as he was resurrected, his first greeting to his disciples was “Peace to you, as my Father sent me, I am sending you, receive now the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1 – JUST before his ascension into heaven, he left his final words “Do not leave Jerusalem, WAIT and PRAY until you receive the HS.”
His final promise (Acts 1:8) is very familiar to us “You will receive power and will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea, and to the very ends of the earth.”
They prayed all together, and 50 days after his resurrection (Pentecost) – the HS came down and they were filled with the HS and they became powerful witnesses about Jesus’ life and salvation.
Other people said, “They’ve had too much wine.”
Peter stood up boldly, “No no no, it’s only 9am! This was prophesied by Joel – 800 years ago.”
Acts 2:15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (also Romans 10:33))
The first part of this prophecy was fulfilled in Acts (here).
The second part from 20-21 is yet coming. This prophecy (promise) will be fulfilled literally when Jesus returns.
Return to Joel 2:28-29
The Day of the LORD
28 “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. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 32 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.”
Shall we say together:
- “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
So, how can we prepare for this greatest and most terrible day of the LORD?
Our pressing task should be to declare his message of redemption and salvation to the lost world, remembering that EACH day that is called “today” IS the Day of the LORD (his mercy and grace).
Pray:
- Empower me to recognize and realize that EACH day is The Lord’s DAY (and act on that faith).
