Salvation Day

In the midst of an entire chapter dedicated to the Final Judgment, the prophet Joel makes an important distinction between the wicked and the righteous. Just a few short verses after he has prophesied that the wicked will be trampled in the winepress of God's wrath, Joel says this: 

But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. (Joel 3:16)

This is an important clarification that should affect how Christians feel about the coming judgment. Make no mistake about it, the Day of the Lord will be great and terrible, but the people of God will have a refuge. God’s judgment is for the wicked. It's for the unbeliever… not for Christians. I like the way the CSB Study Bible puts it. It says, “it is judgment day for Israel’s enemies but salvation day for the people of Yahweh.”* 

In other words, the Day of the Lord means something different for the people of God than it does for unbelievers. On that day, the wicked will be crushed but the righteous will prosper. Judgment Day means salvation for us… but it means condemnation for them.

If you are a believer, then that should affect how you think about the Judgment. The wicked ought to fear Judgment Day. But as Christians, we look forward to it! Because we know that even as God pours out His wrath on the sins of man… He will be a refuge for His people. That is what enables us to agree with the prayer that is presented in the next to last verse in all of Scripture. "Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20) Amen! Come, Lord Jesus, come and rescue us from this wicked world!

*Madden, Shawn C. “Joel.” In CSB Study Bible: Notes, edited by Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax, 1367–75. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017.

God's Response to Repentance

“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."

Joel 2:25

In Joel 1, God sent an army of locusts against Judah as judgment for their sin. Along with the locusts, God also sent a prophet named Joel to call His people to repent of their sin and return to Him. And apparently... Judah did just that, because the second half of Joel 2 presents God’s response to the heartfelt return of His people.

Look at how God responds to repentant Judah. In Joel 2:25 God promises, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” The locusts had done several years worth of damage to the land. It should have taken years to catch up from that. But God promises to speed up their recovery by blessing their upcoming harvests.

What does this tell us about how God responds when we repent and return to Him? It tells us that if we will repent and return to the Lord, He will not turn us away. God blesses those who return to Him. And His blessing can go a long way to making us whole again, to restoring and rebuilding what sin cost us.

God can repay the years the locusts have eaten in your life. No matter how big a mess you’ve made of your life, no matter how high the cost of your sin has been, God can fix it. Now, I’m not saying that it will all go away overnight or that there will be no lasting effects of your sin. I’m saying that God has a unique way of healing the pain that sin has caused and of redeeming the scars and consequences that are left behind. So, repent and return to the Lord today.

Going Through the Motions

“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.

Joel 2:12-13a

In biblical times tearing your robes was an expression of sorrow or grief. The closest analogy for us might be a person pulling at their hair in anguish. So, in biblical times, when people returned to the Lord, they often grieved over their sins by tearing their robes, and fasting and weeping and praying for forgiveness. 

But Joel makes plain that just tearing their clothes wouldn’t be enough. That was only the outward form. What God wanted was the inward reality. They needed to do more than simply go through the motions.

Have you ever had someone apologize to you and you could just tell they were only going through the motions. Their mouth said the words, “I’m sorry” but they weren’t really apologizing. Maybe, they said something like, “Well, I’m sorry that you got offended.” or “I’m sorry that you can’t take a joke.” Those aren’t real apologies. They don’t admit wrongdoing. They don’t express grief for how they hurt you. They use the words “I’m sorry” like a trump card or a magical incantation that somehow steals your right to be angry that they sinned against you.

Sometimes, we do something very similar with repentance. We think we can do whatever we want to do and then just say “sorry” to God and get off scot free.

Joel says, you can’t just tear your clothes and be forgiven. Forgiveness is possible, but it’s gonna cost you a lot more than a new shirt. God doesn't want to see repentant clothes. He wants to see repentant hearts. We need to be heartbroken over our sin.

Have you ever really stopped to think about how offensive your sin is to God? Have you ever stopped to consider how disrespectful, rebellious, and even hurtful your disobedience is to Him? Have you ever wept over your sin? Have you ever fasted and grieved over it? Have you ever been heartbroken over your sin? Let me put it a different way… have you really repented of your sin? Or were you just going through the motions?

Abusing Your Blessings

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.

Joel 1:5

Why should the drunkards weep? Because they won’t have any wine to drink.

In chapter 1 of his book, Joel has been describing a great invasion of locusts that has devastated Judah, consuming everything in the land. The destruction of Judah's harvest was so complete that the locusts had not only eaten the fruit, but had also stripped the bark off the vines and fig trees. Now, all that was left were naked, white branches and vines.

This affected everyone in Judah... from the richest and highest in the land to the poorest and lowest. But Joel pauses in verse 5 to specifically address the drunkard. Why?  

Well, it's certainly possible that in their drunken stupor the drunkards had not noticed what was going on around them and were now in for a rude awakening. But I also find it interesting, that drunkenness is the only sin directly mentioned in the book of Joel.* Perhaps, the drunkards serve as a warning to us of what can happen when we take God’s blessings (that He provided for our good and His glory) and we abuse them and use them for sin. If we do that, then we can't be surprised when He takes those blessings away from us.

Are you abusing any of the good things God has given to you? Are you turning any of God’s gifts into sin? Is wine, or money, or food, or sex, or your own comfort and prosperity becoming a source of sin in your life? If so, then don’t be surprised if He takes them away.

*Dillard, Raymond B. “Joel.” In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, 3:618–24. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995.