Joel: The Day of the LORD

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If you're visiting with us today, welcome. We've been going through the entire Bible. And I've been preaching one book at a time, the whole book in one sermon. So, this may be new for you. This is a bit of an overview type of sermon. We normally do exposition; it takes small chunks at a time. Today, though, is the book of Joel. And hopefully you got a little handout. That's to help you follow along and to kind of give a picture of what's going on in the book. Joel is a fascinating little book, it's just three chapters. And it's about the day of Yahweh, or in your Bibles as it's translated, the day of the Lord, that capital LORD, there, is the memorial name of God, which are the four letters YHWH, Yahweh.

Once the devil was walking along with one of his cohorts, and they saw a man in front of them as he was walking along the path. And the man picked up something on the path and it was a piece of the truth. Cohort looked to the devil and said, “Aren't you concerned that this man has found the truth?” And he said, “Oh, no, don't worry about it. It is merely a piece of the truth. I shall encourage him to make an entire religion out of it.”

People may use Joel to be a launchpad into certain, how could you say it, certain religions even. In it, Joel has some fascinating prophecies, some that happened on the people of Israel, and some that are yet to still happen, some that happened even during the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out, but they take partial truths shown in Joel and rip them out of their context and make entire denominations today out of it. So, we want to be careful of that.

Others may say that Joel is, well, it's just about prophecy from something that happened a long time ago, or you know, something prophetic that may yet be, but it has nothing to do with me. For those who are maybe thinking that, I would read 2 Timothy 3:16, which says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.” So somewhere in this book, there is a message that helps you and I be complete for every good work. And it helps us be equipped for training in righteousness. And unlike the man who just used part of a truth, we want to find out what the whole book has to say that we might have all of the truth to live our lives from.

Well, if you open your Bibles to Joel chapter one; that's page 760 in the Bibles under your seat there. This is out of the ESV. It starts with a call to hear the word of the Lord. Joel chapter one, verse one says this, “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.” Not every prophetic book starts out this way. Most of them start out with an invitation to the people to hear the word of Yahweh, so that we know it's not the word of the prophets, but that it's the word of God. It is the very message that God wants us to hear. But here in verse three, he says, “Tell your children.” You think, “Oh, well, Deuteronomy six said that.” But yeah, then it says and let them tell their children, and let their children tell their children and the generation after. Friends, you and I would be the successive generations of those children who needed to hear the Word of God.

There is something so important in this that he even takes time to start this small little book with a call to not only hear the word yourselves, but to know it so well that you can teach it to your children. If you don't have children, teach it to your friends. So, what is this book of Joel about? Well, in summary, it's about one thing: the Day of the Lord. Now the day of the Lord means different things, which we'll find. But in summary, these chapters are about the day of the Lord. It includes things like repentance and salvation, judgment on the people, and a permanent restoration of Jerusalem and Judah at the end.

Well, the first chapter describes what is going to happen in the day of the Lord that is going to happen in their lifetime. So, the first point is: to take notice. If you look there in chapter one, there are six-legged eating machines that are going to run all over the place. These are locusts that are going to take over and swarm the area. Now, you may have seen videos of swarms of locusts, and you can watch this that occurs still in Africa, but not like this. In verse four, we know that they're talking about locusts. What the cutting locusts left; the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locusts left; the hopping locust has eaten. What the hopping locusts left; the destroying locust has eaten. And you're thinking, “Couldn't he have just said they ate everything?” Yes, he could have. But the point is, is that you need to be aware that it's all going to be eaten, all of it. And this is not going to be a fun time.

We all kind of know around here what the seasons bring; some seasons bring the flies out. And you know when they come, and you do battle with the two flies that are in your kitchen that you just can't stand. Right? Or when somebody comes over, and there's maybe a gnat flying around, and it just “ruins the evening”. Well here, this is going to be a swarm like they have never seen before. In fact, in chapter one, verse eight, it's going to call the people to lament. Now lament means to mourn. It means to mourn, to grieve over something. And it's not just the people that are going to be grieving.

Look in verse 10, “The fields are destroyed, the ground mourns, because the grain is destroyed, the wind dries up, and the oil languishes.” So, in their agricultural society, you know, the wheat, the oil, all of these things, the wine, it represents their ability to sustain food. But here, even the ground is pictured as mourning symbolically, because it's all going to go away. Verse 12, it says the sweet wine that was mentioned in verse five that they made themselves drunk with, is going to be gone by verse 12, and even the gladness of mankind, the gladness will be gone there in verse 12, as well. This is not a pretty picture. And it's not just for those people. It's going to relate as you'll see, to a future Day, a day that it is that is even yet in front of you and I, a day that is coming. And Joel goes to great lengths to show that God has not forgotten, and it is on the way.

Look in verse 14. Joel calls out the ministers and the people saying, “cry out to Yahweh,” cry out. So, there's a situation coming that's going to be so devastating that you are encouraged right now, before it arrives, to cry out to Yahweh, to cry out to the Lord. Verse 15, Joel reveals the reason why: “the day of Yahweh is near.” Again, that's probably, in your bibles, “the day of the LORD is near.” The day of the Lord in Scripture means different things. And this is a huge, what we would call an end-times phrase, but it also is a phrase that was just used to talk about any wrath of God that was poured out on the people. So, there are different phases of that in Scripture.

For these people, this was probably somewhere around 800 BC. Joel is one of those books that's pretty difficult to figure out exactly when it was. Some people put it 850; some people put it 800. But certainly, it was before the Assyrians came and took over the 10 tribes to the north. So, remember, in this time period, we're past the time of the kings. Well, actually, we're still in the time of the kings, but we're past King Saul. We're past King David. We're past King Solomon. And now we have these other kings and the nations, the 12 tribes; they're dispersed. And there are 10 tribes to the north. And that is what we call Israel, the tribes of Israel. And then there are two tribes in the south. And that's what we call the tribe of Judah, or the land of Judah.

And so, in this period, it is probably one of the few sustained times where they have an abundance. And their abundance has actually become the problem. Their abundance has allowed them to ignore God and to just live however they want to live. You can see that, where it talks about your wine making you merry, right, where they're just taking advantage of the abundance that God has given them in the harvest and using it for their own sin. This day of the Lord has become something that they just don't think is going to happen. Like I said, last week, it's almost like they think God is bluffing. Like he has said, “There's this thing on the way and, yeah, I'm sure something bad's gonna happen.” But it's kind of like what you and I think, right? We know there are car crashes every day, but it's not going to happen to us. Until In fact, it does. Right? You think, “Oh, somebody's going to get sick. But it's not going to be me.” Until In fact, you do get sick. “It is near,” is what he says in verse 15. “The day of Yahweh is near.”

Now, this phrase is used to encourage people to get ready, right? So, what we're trying to understand today is they need to take notice of what this prophet is saying. Near can mean close in time. It's also used, though, from prophets of other timeframes, where they talk about the coming day of the Lord and saying it's near; get ready. For instance, many prophets spoke as the day of the Lord being imminent. Imminent means that it is going to happen, no matter what. Isaiah mentioned that from 740 to 700 BC. Ezekiel and 600 to 550. Joel, here, somewhere around 800. Then, you have Amos mentioning it. You have Obadiah mentioning it. You have Zephaniah mentioning it. And they're saying, “People, we have to prepare ourselves to meet God.”

Do you see the principle there? That though things are going nice, though it may be cold outside; it's like it's warm in here. So, we don't have to pay attention to the cold outside because, well, we're fine in here. But friends, we need to get ready to meet God. We need to get ready to see God, to stand before him, to give an account of ourselves. Yes, he is loving and gracious, and you'll see Joel talk about that. But he is also just and righteous. And because of that justice and righteousness, every sin must be accounted for, either through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, or forever in the lake of fire.

Well, there is a near event that Joel is speaking of. And it is indeed an invasion of locusts. And it seems like this is, indeed, a historical event that did happen in time. But this event isn't just about the locusts. It's about picturing something else that is far greater and far more devastating that is going to occur. And we'll also learn about that as well. In verses 16 to 20 in chapter one, you will see the people will be stripped of their food, stripped of their joy. Even the cattle and the sheep won't have anything to eat, obviously, because, right, the locusts have eaten everything. So, in verse 19, Joel cries out to Yahweh again. Now let me ask you a question. Do you find it weird that Joel cries out to the one who's bringing the destruction? Joel cries out to Yahweh, but isn't it Yahweh who was going to send the locusts? Why would we do that? Why would we be encouraged to pray to someone who is going to bring about this great destruction?

Well, I'll tell you, because he can also take it away. Because he is more loving than we could ever know. And Joel understands this. Well, chapter one goes on. And as we get to chapter two, the clarion call is to be alert. The first part of chapter two is like this transitional phase where he talks more about what the locusts are doing, but it's also this picture of this impending army that is going to come, this time where God is going to judge people. Look in chapter two, verse one: be alert. It says, “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, 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.”

Locust plagues are actually common in some parts of the world. They happen yearly as an event of migration, and they come through, and they're all over the place. And but here, notice, it says that this day of darkness is going to be like nothing that has ever been before, and nothing that has ever come after. Notice he says, “Blow the trumpet, be alert.” And this, we know, represents a great and powerful people, an army that is actually going to be there, a great day of judgment that God is going to bring about. It says that in verse two, that this locust army that they are spreading all over the mountains, they are a great people and a powerful people.

We know chapter two is still using imagery though, because in verse four, it says their appearance is like horses. Now, some of us may have long faces. But this is a comparison here. “They leap on the tops of the mountains, [it says in verse five] devouring the stubble.” And people aren't normally described as running like horses or leaping on mountains. In verse seven, they're “Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall.” So, we know Joel is still using this great invasion to describe a future army, and it is going to be massive. Look in verse 10 of chapter two. “The earth quakes before them, and the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. [There are going to be so many that they will block out the light of the moon and the stars. Verse 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?”

And the point is, is that you must come to the point where you are beyond yourself. It says in other parts of Joel, here, that they rush through, and they overwhelm the weapons. We have no way to dispel billions of locusts. Even today, we have no way to stop their migrations, even in smaller numbers that are depicted here. But that's the very point at which God wants us to be. So, we need to know like Ephesians chapter two verses one to three says that “We are dead in our sin; we are dead in our trespasses, and we are following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air.” Friends, if you don't know Jesus, then Satan is your master. You go, “What am I to do? I come to church. I listen to sermons, normally not on Joel, but I listen to sermons. I know I don't make good decisions all the time. I know that I'm better than a lot of people.” That's what we all think. Right?
“And I know that I'm sinful in some way, but I don't want Satan as my master. What am I to do?”

See, the problem is, is that God says, “You must be holy as I am holy.” God has no sin in him, in word in thought, in deed. None of his actions have ever brought about an ounce of unholiness. All of His wrath that is poured out as a full recompense of his justice, poured out on people who deserve more than the wrath of God. That's why verse 12 is put where it is in chapter two. “’Yet even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘returned to me with all of your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 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.”

We get from the New Testament that God is concerned with the heart of man, and sometimes the Old Testament gets a bad rap. But let me say it loud and clear: the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is concerned with the heart of man. In all this judgment and disaster, God's concern is that their hearts would turn to him. We may go through the motion, but God wants the heart. We may hear the word, but God wants your heart. We must allow the Word to make that one-foot journey, right, from the mind to the heart, so that our entire lives bring glory to God. Only then will God be pleased with you. There is no place to go. There is nowhere to hide where you can please God without the grace of God in your life.

Normally here, they're using an imagery when they repent, when they are fasting and weeping and mourning, and there's this cause of great grief over their own sin. Normally, they would tear their garments and put on some itchy wool, basically, to remind them just how uncomfortable sin is. And to remind them that they are fasting and begging God. But here, in verse 13, it says, “rend your hearts, and not your garments.” You see, when you become saved, now, here on this side of the cross that Jesus has already gone to the cross and lived a perfect life, and he has died to pay for sin for all those who would believe in him, now, you have a new nature. But in the Old Testament, there's this picture of you needing a new heart. Tear the heart that you have; tear it, it's not good, and return to the Lord. In other words, what you need is God himself, because he is your God.

Now we also know that they were a very pagan infested group of people. They worshipped all kinds of gods from time to time and in different generations. But there's only one God to turn to, and that is Yahweh; that is his name. There is no other religion which has a new name for God. Jesus claimed the memorial name of God. He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58) He's claiming the same name that God himself has. Salvation, friends, is only found in Jesus Christ, and it is sweet. It is pure fellowship like we have never had with any other human. For when God is gracious, he is purely gracious. When God is merciful, he is purely merciful. And in fact, he's so slow to anger, and so abounding in love, and so willing to put off this wrath upon a heart change, that sometimes we think he has forgotten about his promises.

There's so much, three-fourths of the Bible, that we rarely ever hear preached. And there's so much in there about the promises of God, about the enduring faithfulness of God in salvation, that should draw us to him, that should urge us to go back and see when the people were most sinful, how did God act? So that I know when I am most sinful, how is God going to act? Is he just going to shame me if I come back to him? Is he just gonna point his finger at me and say, “You're not good enough; go away from me”? Or is he going to pour out his mercy and love and compel us from the heart to love him? Is that not what we see here, in Joel, even in the midst of great judgment?

Do you know this God? He will require a heart change, something only he can do. And that heart change does require a life change. And you can't come to God and bring your life with you and say, “Lord, it's me and my sin, and we're ready for you now.” No, it's “Lord, just me. Please help me to put off my sin to get rid of it. I can't pay for it. I can't handle it. I don't know what to do with it. Lord, God, I need you.” And when you come to God, fully submissive, that is when he does a work in your life. You may have been running from the Lord, but you can't outrun him. You may be hiding from the Lord. Maybe even going about certain things that make people think you're religious, but we can't hide from him. He knows all things. And he is willing to do a great work of change in your life.

Well, verses 18 and 30 describe this future time of refreshment and restoration that are going to come to his people. It says in verse 18, then the Lord, among other things, had pity. He had pity on his people. And he's going to bring about the gladness that he took away. He says in verses 21 through 23, that gladness is going to abound. And it's not just that they're going to have to somehow muster up a smile or conjure up things that they're really happy about. He is going to give them things as well.

You see that in chapter two, verse 24, where the wine and the food, they are flowing; they are abundant; they are accessible, they are around; they are there. Verse 26 says, “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.” Then, there's this magnificent section. And as I considered how to describe it in this overview sermon, look down at verse 32, the climax of this next section: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”

Now what is obvious here is that some will call on the name of the Lord, and they will be saved. That should give you hope, that should give you hope for your friends who are just playing Christianity, that they can call on the name of the Lord and be saved. That should give you hope for anyone who you pray for that at any time, at any moment, at any second, that they just cry out to God, he will save and change them. Peter quotes this in Acts chapter two. You know, when the Holy Spirit is poured out on people. And lots of people were getting saved. And they were speaking in other languages. That's what tongues means, speaking in other languages that everyone could understand without interpretation. And there was this great pouring out of the Spirit. And Peter says this is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel. And he's quoting what is happening here. But we know the moon didn't turn to blood. And all of these great events that are foretold later here have not yet happened. So, it was just the beginning of this great and magnificent day of the Lord, we think.

But the point is this, that whoever turns to the Lord will be saved. And who will turn to the Lord? Well, that's the end of verse 32. It will be “those whom the LORD calls”. See, there are some truths in Scripture that make us a little uneasy. This is one of those; that God will call some among the survivors. Notice he doesn't call all of the survivors in verse 32. They will be called among the survivors, and those whom he calls will be saved. Friends, let us not be weary or overlook the great truths of the Scripture. I think what we need to remember is just the main question, have we responded to the call of the gospel in our lives? Could someone look at our lives and say unequivocally that that person serves and loves God every single day of their lives? That their heart and their mind strives after God, that the reputation that you have in the community and among your family, and among your friends, is that that person knows and loves God? Do they push out other things on their schedule to make time for God? Do they share the gospel with people? Are they going to make disciples?

You saw an amazing testimony from these people this morning, who want to live for Jesus Christ. And their job as Christians has just begun. We have made it socially acceptable in our church and Christian culture, not to share the gospel or to be so hard-headed, to be so unapproachable as we share, that we repulse people by our actions. But here, even in this great tone of judgment, God wants people to call on him. And I asked you, have you done that? Have you decided that you are going to serve God?

Well, Joel chapter three talks about a time where the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem will be restored, but that there will also be a future time. And this is the third point, the time for decision. And it's not the kind of decision that you think I'm talking about, that you need to decide if you're going to follow Jesus and sing 18 verses of “Just as I Am”. It is a time for God to decide. This is God's time, where he will sit in judgment on the people. And in that way, he was going to restore the relationship of those who truly love him, because he will forever put aside those who do not.

Look in Joel chapter three, verse one. “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel.” “I will gather them.” There's no deciding who's coming. God will bring them. “I will gather them.” There's no deciding where they're going to go. They're coming to this valley. There's no deciding what's going to happen. That time has passed. And I want to urge you to consider the message of Joel, that God's time for salvation will at some point run out in your life.

I will enter into judgment. Look also in verse 12, of Joel chapter three, “Let the nation stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.” In Scripture, when it pictures surrounding nations, that means the nations around Jerusalem, Judah, the 12 tribes, that whole area, those people who are called by God's name, they will be judged. And there is going to be an incredible, vast amount of people. You see that in verse 14, “Multitudes, multitudes, in the [what?] valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” What decisions are going to be made in that valley will be made by God Himself. In verse two, it says that God is going to be the judge. In verse 12, it says that God is going to be the judge. So, this valley of decision is not God saying, “Come here. Will you turn to me now?” It’s saying the time is over; the time is now, and it's time for judgment.

I can't urge you enough, though God is long suffering, there is a day coming. We do not know when that day is. For everyone who can still hear, we pray that God still allows them to turn to himself. But notice here in this passage, there will be people hearing God himself with no opportunity for the salvation, because now it is time to reap what they have sown. Verse 13, says, “for their evil is great”. No more walking the aisle. No more platitudes of prayer. But friends, the point of all this is to stir us to action.

To stir us to what is mentioned in verse 17, “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.” Now, let me ask you a question. Are there strangers who do not follow God right now in Jerusalem? Yes. That one wasn't a trick question. Does God dwell in Zion on his holy mountain in a visible way, which is how Joel describes him, does he do that right now? No. There will be a time where God will separate the sheep from the goats, and where he will establish “only my people who are called by my name will be in my presence”. No one else, no stranger will ever pass through it again. Has that happened yet? Not yet. But it will. But the goal is the same now as it was then. “So you shall know that I am Yahweh, your God.”

Friends, the goal of Scripture is not to scare you into trying to buy a fire insurance ticket. The goal is to paint the reality of life as clearly and as unobscured as possible, so that you can make a decision for Jesus Christ and know God. That's the goal of all of Scripture. When God brought this invasion of locusts, it was judgment, but they would know God's power in a new way, that God cannot be trifled with. When God brings all the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, that is, to the valley of decision, they will know him in a way that they didn't know him before, that his judgment actually does affect their lives.

And God revealed himself over and over and over to the leaders of not just one nation but to all mankind. God revealed Himself to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and continually repeats the phrase “out of Egypt, I called you” all throughout the Old Testament. “I'm still the same God who called you to me.” He repeated himself and made himself known to Joshua and to Samuel, and said, “Okay, if the people want a worldly King, if they want a man as their king instead of me, fine.” So, he gave them Saul, and David, and Solomon, and then it just went, as you know. But he kept revealing himself through Elijah and Elisha, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Daniel and Hosea, and now Joel, and there's more. You can't say, “God, I don't know who you are”. But you can say, “I didn't read. I don't know because I didn't take the time to read.” But you cannot lay at God's feet, “I don't know you”. Scripture says in Romans one that all know of a knowledge of God through what has been made. They know he who is, they can understand at least his nature, that he is a provider for us, that he sends rain on the good and the bad.

But friends, the greatest revealing has happened when he sent the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth. Colossians 1:15 says, “Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” You say, “Lord God, where are you?” It’s Jesus Christ. What do you talk like? What do you sound like? You sound like Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I do not speak my words. I speak the words of him who sent me, my Father who is in heaven.” Right? The Holy Spirit does not have a ministry of miraculous mumbo jumbo; the Holy Spirit points people to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ points people to the Father. God's purpose in sending Jesus wasn't just to reveal himself though. It was redemptive. It was redemptive. Colossians 1:13 to 14 says, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness. He's transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” That is the point. That all this revealing is to save them from the wrath of God, which is brought on by sin.

Joel knew a day of reckoning was coming. And we need to be ready for it. Being ready means that you are saved. Being saved means that you're saved from the wrath of God. And whatever you think about gifts and the end times and all of those things. Whatever you think about prophecy, whether you think it has a bearing on you or not, you will stand before God, and that must be the greatest thing that you hear today: that you will stand before God, and we need to be ready. That forgiveness only comes through Jesus Christ, it flows over the person. It washes us white as snow; it does not leave us dirty and tainted.

We are seen as having the perfect righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. That way we can stand before God and say, “Where was your holiness?”, and we can point to Jesus and say, “It's right there”. And God will, in his love and compassion allow you to enter into his kingdom, which shall have no strangers and shall never end. This forgiveness is complete, and it carries no grudge. Friends, if you have ever had the opportunity to experience forgiveness from a friend, the forgiveness from God is eternal. And it is what we all need. May we hear the words of Joel and listen to these things, and may we be changed.

Let's pray. Father, God, we are thankful for you, that you have communicated to us. You sent prophet after prophet. You have warned us and shown us, Lord God, what has happened and what will come. Father, I pray that you would draw us to yourselves, that you would help us to be ready to know you in a real compassionate way. That we would put aside everything, Lord God, that hinders us and run to you, even now. Dear friends here today, why don't we just take a moment and pray and ask God to help us to heed the words of Joel and to live for God even today. Lord God, we love you. We pray that you would be merciful on us. And we pray that you would help us to encourage one another to live for you and your glory and your glory alone. In your precious Holy Name, Amen.