When we return to the Lord, our God, the whole picture here in the book of Joel, is God saying to His people, Return to me, turn from your sin, turn from your idolatry and immorality and trust in me. Search after God with all your heart and with all your soul. Examine yourself today, and determine if you are walking with the Lord? Are we open to risking our relationships if it means we help one another to repent and turn back to God? While the language of repentance is fairly ubiquitous in prophetic literature, we find no precise parallel to the expression in Joel 2:12. But repentance is more than that. It is a beautiful demonstration that the goodness, grace, and mercy of our long-suffering God, remains open to ALL who will simply trust in His Word, remember His goodness, genuinely return to Him with heart and soul - and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting. God achieves this by sending Jesus Christ, our greater advocate and intercessor than the priests and ministers to be the propitiation for our sins (to turn Gods wrath and judgment away from us) (1 John 2:1-2). He holds out for us, desiring a personal, caring relationship with each one of us. This involved people from the oldest to the youngest in society. Now return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil." also nowEven now, what none could have hoped or believed possible, God still invites you to the hope of salvation. I pray that that moment would happen right now. We are so thankful that you are gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. And, it was at their lowest, most vulnerable moment that God stood by with His hand outstretched, hoping for their repentance. fasting weeping mourningTheir sin being most heinous needs extraordinary humiliation. To return must mean that the people of God had turned away from him. The pouring of the Gods spirit provides open access to revelation. There is a sense that all activities are going to stop for this important gathering. In fact, some churches intentionally avoid making people feel bad. Not to show people, but a sincere desire to return to Him. On our own, that is our condition, we have no desire nor fear of God. If you have rejected the covenant you once made with God, won't you come back? Their hearts, love, and devotion have been placed elsewhere, apart from God, and God is calling them to repent. The Holy just God of the universe whom we have sinned against is gracious and merciful. Further, the nature of God as gracious and merciful opens up the possibility that the repentance will be recognized. Here, the people of God have sinned against him, they have been cold towards him. This will be, if thou only grieve or joy according to Him." Rather than rending your garments, rend your heart. They are his heritage and inheritance; they are Gods own possession. Verse of the Day , The Voice of God - Character and Attributes of God (26). It is an inward change of the heart and while it begins in our mind, it is seen outwardly in our actions. An unstoppable, destructive army of the LORD is coming as judgment against sin and no one can endure it (Joel 2:11). "With fasting," which shall make for the humbling of the heart, which pampering of the flesh is apt to puff up and make insensible of its own condition, and forgetful of God and His service, as Jeshurun who, being "waxed fat, kicked, and forsook the God which made him and lightly esteemed the God of his salvation Deuteronomy 32:15. God is calling them to return. He is holding out for you to come back! And what they did not devour, was taken by the crawling locusts and then the consuming ones. Today is the day; now is the time to decide and come before an awesome God. Notice how he specks specifically of the heart. Joel 2:12-19 is one of the lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday which demonstrates the churchs tradition of reading this passage as a call for repentance. To do so, it must begin in the heart. iii.). The Targum is, "turn ye to my worship with all your heart:''. ", Turn ye - even "to Me," i. e., so as to return "quite to" (see the note at Hosea 14:2) God, not halting, not turning half way, not in some things only, but from all the lusts and pleasures to which they had turned from God. Like we experience forgiveness from God the moment we turn from our sin and ourselves and replace our trust in Jesus as Savior, Lord of our lives. Its the tendency we have to go back to that which we have been saved. Even the slaves, both male and female, have divine access through the spirit. He relents the judgment and wrath that we deserve and He reconciles us to Himself. God, we pray. And although in this Church dispensation, there is no written covenant, set rules, or legalistic regulations which are required of Church-age believers, it is important and wise to take note of things that outwardly demonstratean inward change of heart. For reason seeks things to come; the will loves things present; memory retains things past. The way the poet/prophet fuses the imperative to return and the metaphors of mourning is provocative but not definitive. He has shown Himself to us too. Let's change that! If we have sinned, God calls us beyond the external things. This is the assurance that we have, that God will forgive us as we confess our sins before him for his names sake. Instead, if you choose to continue in sin, Romans 2:8 says but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.. This is a picture of anguish, of mourning. You can access the reading plan here. But when the reason slumbers and neglects to seek heavenly things, or the will is tepid and cares not to love them, or the memory is torpid and is careless to retain them, then the soul acts false, falling first into the vice of ignorance, secondly into the guilt of negligence, thirdly into the sin of malice. Notice that they are not pleading based on how good they are nor on the basis of how many offerings they have made. He is slow to anger and He is abounding, Hes like full of, like overflowing with steadfast love. Another thing that we can observe in 2 Corinthians is Pauls willingness to risk his relationship with the church by writing that letter, and it troubled him. However, it will be a time when Israel calls out to the Lord and He will hear and rescue His people. Paul rejoices because the letter he wrote with such anguish and even regret at times caused the Corinthians to not just grieve, but grieved them into repenting. This is what God is calling his people to do in light of a national calamity and a stern warning of judgement. "It often happens with some people," says Gregory , "that they stoutly gird themselves up to encounter mine vices, but neglect to overcome others, and while they never rouse themselves up against these, they are re-establishing against themselves, even those which they had subdued. Obviously, I would rather it would not get to those kinds of moments. The first passage well look at is 2 Cor 7. The call for repentance (2:12-13) and the eschatological expectation (2:28-30) function as complementary parts. The power of the pouring of the spirit provides access to divine information and revelation (1 Samuel 10:6, 10; 19:20; 2 Samuel 23:2; 2 Kings 2:9). Going along with this Verse twelve teaches us that true repentance will be seen in our actions. The book of Joel is a warning to the people about the dangers of turning from God. May we gaze upon his character and know there is hope to repent even for sinners like us. In doing so, God is worthy of all glory and honour, there had been a locust invasion leading to total devastation of the land (Joel 1:4), At the start of chapter 2, we read about an alarm being sounded (Joel 2:1. This backdrop of a national calamity is not too foreign for us today. : "These things, done purely and holily, are not conversion itself, but are excellent signs of conversion." But instead of tearing their garments, which is commonly mentioned in the Bible to express sorrow or mourning, God calls them to rend their hearts. Or are you walking in the footsteps of the people Joel is speaking to? But yet, God always calls us back so that the relationship can be fully restored to its former quality. Joel cites Ex 34:6-7 where God made all of his goodness pass before Moses and declared to Moses his name the LORD, Yahweh. By Matt Allen From Expository Files 13.8; August 2006. 2 Cor 7:8). God calls his people to repent, to turn away from their idols, back to himself with all their heart. The outward marks of repentance are to signify the depth of their sorrow for sin. The conversion with the whole heart God seeketh, for it suffices to salvation. They have stopped recognising the LORD as their God. When we rend our hearts, we offer to God our whole heart as we repent of our sins and return to him. When we fall short of the glory of God, we ought to return to God in repentance. Our grieving is important because based on how we grieve, there are two very different results. On the one hand, to transplant the rending of the clothes (an outward expression) with the rending of the heart (an inward expression) the public reality is privatized. Instead of just doing the external things, they had to tear their hearts open to expose their idols. Id rather we just were experiencing like perfect harmony where there was no sin, but when there is sin, to turn with weeping and with mourning to God, and to know that Hes slow to anger and overflowing in steadfast love, that Hes gracious and merciful. The priests and the ministers are to stand between vestibule (the area just inside the tent) and the altar to plead on behalf of the congregation (Joel 2:17). Radical equips the church to be on mission. The first patch used the repetition on return language to bind the unit together. Verse twelve teaches us that true repentance involves a desire to return to God. You see, to seek the Lord is to live. It is an expression of your need for a saviour. This even applies to our witness of the gospel, are we willing to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). Radical trains and equips churches and followers of Christ to spread gospel hope on the front lines of urgent need among the nations. What the chewing locusts left was eaten by the swarming locusts. Make Him your treasure that He may He be all that you desire. ", And with weeping and with mourning - that is, by "beating" on the breast, (as the word originally denoted,) "as the publican smote upon his breast" Luke 18:13, and "all the people that came together to that sight" (of Jesus on the Cross), "beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts" Luke 23:48. : "These also, in themselves signs of grief, stir up in the heart more grief, and so have their effects on the person himself, for the increase of his repentance, as well as for shewing it." Godly grief is not just sadness or feeling bad, but fruits into repentance and a change of heart that seek God. Amen. The priests and ministers plead on the basis of Gods covenant relationship with his people. June 24, 2020 ", Others, "in resolve, aim at right courses, but are ever doubling back to their wonted evil ones, and being, as it were, drawn out without themselves, they return back to themselves in a round, desiring good ways, but never forsaking evil ways." Each person needed to refocus their mind on their extreme dependence upon God. When we consider His graciousness, compassion, how He is slow to anger, how He abounds in lovingkindness, and will relent of evil, it should move us to humbly serve Him. David Platt serves as pastor at McLean Bible Church in Washington, D.C. There is a loud warning of the coming day of the LORD: a day of devastation and darkness. Israel had failed to heed the past prophetic warnings of earlier prophets, and Joel's appeal for repentance and his warning of coming destruction, is one more demonstration of the nation's continued rebellion against the God of their forefathers, and their refusal to heed His Word and obey the covenant promises they made at Mount Sinai. Turned from Him, then, and fearing His justice, turn ye to Him, and flee to His mercy. Friends, God loves you, and He desires that you return to Him with a rend heart. The implication is that the locust plague mentioned in chapter one was sent by God in an effort to wake up the people from spiritual slumber. Paul gives a reason for his rejoicing (2 Cor 7:9-10). The reason and grounds for the people of God to return to him is his character as he has revealed to his people. For example Verse twelve teaches us that those who truly repent move with a sense of urgency. He wrote it with no regrets but also some regrets because he knew it was important that they repented of their sins. For three things are to be considered in every true penitent, conversion of the mind, confession of the mouth, and revenge for the sin. It will be a time such as the world has never seen, nor would ever see again. We have a merciful God who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; He relents over disaster (, Rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4), Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Verse thirteen tells us how great and awesome the God is that we serve. He is the founder and chairman of Radical. Fruits of repentance will be seen when our motives are genuine and true. The second patch promises an age of popular access to divine will through the empowering of the spirit of God. See Luke 15:11-32. Not only were the priests instructed to mourn and callfor a sacred assembly, but the entire nation wascommanded to fast and to cry out to the Lord their God, in sincere repentance of heart. Thats really, really, really good news. (Amos 3:3). He is the author of several books, including Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, and Something Needs to Change. In each, the soul acts false; else ignorance would be expelled by the light of reason, and negligence be excluded by zeal of will, and malice be quenched by diligence of memory (of divine things). First, the noun pairs refer to the family household: the heirs, sons and daughters, old and young men; in other words, every generation and every gender will have divine access to divine will usually reserved only for the specialists. Gods kindness is meant to lead his people to repentance (Rom 2:4). Fasting, weeping, and mourning are all evidence of true, genuine repentance. (c.f. Worldly grief produces death. And so we are continually returning to Him. You may call yourself a Christian, but are you still walking in the way of the world? It is to Gods people that this warning is given. This can be particularly difficult to do, but may we be humble towards correction from others, and loving when we call each other to turn back to God. The lectionary unit Joel 2:12-13 and 28-29 (Eng 3:1-2) are two patches in the quilt. Joel 2:12-13 The message of Joel is intriguing. Verse 14 accents that this is only a possibility. When then the reason seeks that Highest Good and finds, the will receives and loves, the memory anxiously keeps and closely embraces, then the soul turns with the whole heart to God. The mourning ritual is taken into verse thirteen: Rend your hearts and not your clothing (2:13 NRSV). When we realize the reality of the punishment that will come with a failure to act and the possibility that God could deal out retribution at any moment, there will be little delay in moving toward God. Its just basically a laying bare of your heart before God and asking God to renew you and change you and restore you. Like this is, its such a beautiful moment. : "Turn quite to Me," He saith, "with all your heart," with your whole mind, whole soul, whole spirit, whole affections. Our ability to gather in our churches have been compromised. 2 Tim 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. And then, oh God, once they do, and for all of us who have, help us to continually turn from sin to you. And He relents over disaster. as in Joel 2:13. He rejoiced not just because they showed sadness. : "There is a conversion with the whole heart, and another with a part. Both for the nation of Israel and for unsaved Gentiles alike, the precious truth of this passage is that it is never too late for sinners or backsliders to turn away from their sins, to return to the Lord with all their heart, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation. the Great Tribulation, which is sometimes called the Time of Jacobs Trouble. This is why we can repent, because of who God is, merciful and gracious, and because he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us in Jesus Christ. The creedal statement finds its fullest expression in Exodus 34:6-7 and abbreviated in other passages (Numbers 14:18; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:3). HYMNS Lost in the night ELW 243 O come, all ye faithful ELW 283, H82 83, UMH 234, NCH 135 Spirit of gentleness ELW 396, NCH 286 Spirit of mercy, truth, and love H82 229 Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me UMH 393, NCH 283, CHORAL Rejoice, rejoice believers, Adam Gumpeltzhaimer, Baylor University - George W. Truett Theological Seminary. The Lord who is to be feared saith it. Joel 2:12-13 says return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments. When you come in this manner, it is because of a genuine disgust of your sin. True repentance goes farther than fear of punishment and the confession of sin. The first is with all your heart (Deuteronomy 11:13; 13:4; Joshua 22:5; 23:14; 1 Samuel 7:3; 12:20, 24; Jeremiah 29:13; Joel 2:12), which is a Deuteronomistic phrase to describe complete devotion of will. How close is your relationship with God? In conclusion, if you are walking in the way of the world, return to God with fasting, weeping, and mourning. , to turn, sc. How often have we considered our sins against God? It is to be freed from the clutches of sin and darkness and enter into His marvellous light. Some argue for a ninth century date, while others suggest a Persian period (500- 350 BCE). - Luther, Enarrat. The poet/prophet (and later Acts 2) extends the empowering work of Gods spirit beyond the heirs of the household. God, we praise you. Whereas rending your heart is when you genuinely understand the dreadful nature of your sinful flesh, and you cry out to God for help and restoration. The infestation was unusually severe, one so bad that no one living at the time could remember anything worse, 1:3. God said, "Return to me with all your heart" Generations before, the children of Israel entered into a covenant relationship with God. Rend your heart and not your garments. There are two types: godly vs worldly grief. The language that opens verse 12 connects it strongly with what came before: Yet even now (NRSV) and is followed by the formula says the LORD, which appears only here in the book of Joel that introduces the verse that follows. There, we seek to make disciples, multiply churches and provide humanitarian relief in ways that are biblically faithful and practically effective. Amen! Joel 2:12-13 begins with the temporal clause Yet even now; likewise Joel 2:28-29 begins with a temporal clause, then afterward. When we put these two patches together, it gives the impression that the repentance in the earlier section might give rise to the gift of the spirit in the second patch. For I am the Creator and Lord of the heart and mind, and therefore will, that that whole should be given, yea, given back, to Me, and endure not that any part of it be secretly stolen from Me to be given to idols, lusts or appetites." Rom 3:10-12, 18) Sin is not seeking God, it is to turn aside. How often do you think about your sins? Yet He can be entreated, because He is mercy; He can be appeased, because He is Goodness; He can cleanse, because He is the Fountain of grace; He can satisfy, because He is the Bread of life; He can soothe, because He is the Unction from above; He can beautify, because He is Fullness; He can beatify because He is Bliss. I just think about my kids when maybe one of them does something really wrong and they realize it, and they come to me or Heather in tears. Stratus synthesizes reliable data from different sources to clearly display the worlds most urgent spiritual and physical needs in an intuitive tool. The first produceth the light of knowledge, the second, the love of righteousness; the third preserveth the treasure of grace. It shows that fasting, with weepingand morning, is often associated with true repentance of heart. It is to say there is no God. This third sort is as a necessary medicine, that so the imposthume of guilt, pricked by confession, be purified by conversion, and healed by the medicine of affliction. They are to call upon the LORD to spare his people. The heart is the place where we love, desire, where we are motivated. Are we examining our hearts today? All are to be gathered: the elders, the children, even the nursing infants. Praise God that He is not a vengeful, unloving God who looks forward to dealing out retribution! Why should the nations say: where is their God? Is he not present? It likens them to a vast army of marching men of war who advance with unrelenting menace, in strict formation - but who plunder everything in their path like a well organised band of thieves. Trust in you as Lord of their life. And even as we pray this, we praise you for your word that tells us you are gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Well, God, I pray that theres anyone listening to this right now who has never turned from their sin and themselves and trusted in you, Jesus, to save them from their sin through what you did on the cross and your resurrection from the dead. They plead on the basis of Gods name and glory among the nations: why should Gods people be made a byword/a fool of, an object of mockery? He loved them and was ultimately concerned not for their comfort but for their righteousness (c.f. The narrative lectionary is a four-year cycle of readings Read more. from coming to judgment. For then do we see that a sinner is well converted, when by a worthy austerity of affliction he strives to efface what in speech he confesses. The reason given by Joel is the character of the LORD (Joel 2:13b). In Jesus name we pray. Paul wrote it out of anguish. Paul mentions a godly grief which is no loss. 1 John 1:9 tells us that God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteous if we confess our sins. This is a national calamity. Let then thy love be converted to Him, so that thou love nothing whatever save Himself, or at least for Him. Who knows? , to leave behind Him, sc. Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye, Who knoweth if he will return, and repent , Even a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God . This letter was not a cushy letter meant to make them feel good but it was a letter that could cause them pain. In this letter from Paul to the Corinthian church, we read of Pauls previous painful visit to Corinth (2 Cor 2:1), likely in the face of some opponents who drew the church away from Pauls teaching and hence, from the gospel he preached. by Bibianna Yeo, As we have been reading in the past weeks, when Joel was written, there had been a locust invasion leading to total devastation of the land (Joel 1:4). It also stirs up in others like passions, and provokes them also to repentance." The other instrumental clauses refer to mourning rituals of fasting, weeping, and wailing. Flee from Himself to Himself, from the rigor of justice to the Bosom of mercy. So help us then return to you and your love continually, and we might walk in intimacy with you. Even as we prayed on a previous podcast episode, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning. Is our focus on dishonouring and displeasing God? In this scripture, the prophet, Joel is pleading with the people of Judah to return to the Lord. 2 Cor 7:5-8 then tells us that Paul was comforted by the coming of Titus, who brought the good news of the Corinthians repentance. God might leave a blessing behind him and enable worship once again. God calls them to tear their hearts open, to expose their idols, and to return with a whole heart to himself. The book seems to be a patchwork of pieces sewn together into the quilt we have today. However, these things do not profit the person who has not changed his will. (Note: "He speaks after the manner of a terrified conscience, which is lifted up again with difficulty after a season of affliction, and begins to aspire after hope and the mercy of God. The first patch demands repentance, mourning the transgression of the past. The opposite of godly grief mentioned is not the absence of grief, but a worldly grief. And theyre like truly, sorry. See Matthew 3:8. The tearing of the clothes makes an outer expression of mourning in the face of death and disaster. The words of 2:12-13 are touching and reveal important things concerning genuine repentance and the nature of God. Amen! This is the Gospel, and this is the Christian life. And obviously, this is in one sense a picture of salvation. On the other hand, the public expression is here construed as more superficial and replaced with a transformation of orientation carried in the metaphor of the heart as the seat of the will. We need to avoid it at all cost because it makes us uncomfortable, or our world doesnt know how to deal with it. in Joelem, Opp., Jena 1703, p. We have the LORD, the merciful and gracious God, who is slow to anger and abounding/overflowing with steadfast love. There are some signs and indicators in your life that will help you determine this fact. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously. These latter two metaphors seem to indicate the strength and will (heart) of commitment and dependence (soul). Both grain and fruit harvests fail due to the devastating onslaught of this four-pronged locust infestation. In Joel 2:15, Judah was called upon to change their will and demonstrate a national assembly where each person called on the name of the Lord. To help us understand repentance, we will look at some other passages in the Bible. Singapores economy is set to shrink by between 4-7%, and the government is predicting more job losses. Pray to God that He may create in you a clean heart and that He renew a right spirit within you (Psalm 51:10). This returning is accompanied with fasting, weeping and mourning and a rending of hearts, not garments (Joel 2:12b). Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.. That God is gracious and merciful. The totaldestruction of Israel's wheat and barley crops, along with the failure of the entire fruit harvest, causes farmers and priests alike to mourn and lament bitterly. Amos 5:4 says For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:Seek me and live; So, seek God with all your heart, and you will live. The continued grace and mercy of God can be seen in His divine appeal to the people of Judah to repent of their sins and return to the Lord - for we read: "Evennow," declares the LORD, "return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning." The empowering of divine spirit will occur upon all flesh. The poet then explains what all flesh includes with a series of noun word pairs and verb synonyms. We go back to our passage in Joel as we wrap up our study. The imperative return to me only occurs here in Hebrew. And the consequences of their continued rebellion, apostasy, and disobedience, would result in judgement - the coming 'Day of the Lord'.
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