Major Points from the Minor Prophets

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. 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. Before them, fire devours behind them if flame blazes. Before them, the land is like the garden of Eden behind them, a desert waste nothing escapes them. They have the appearance of horses. They gallop along like cavalry.

With a noise like that of chariots, they leap over the mountain tops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish. Every face turns pale. They charge like warriors. They scale walls like soldiers.

They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other. Each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. They rush upon the city.

They run along the wall. They climb into the houses like thieves, they enter through the windows. Before them, the earth shakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and moon are darkened and the are no longer shine. The lord funders 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. 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, return to the lord your god for he is gracious and compassionate slow to anger and abounding in love.

And he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing, grain offerings, and drink offerings for the lord your god. Below the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast call a sacred assembly, gather the people, consecrate the assembly, bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and that bride her chamber, let the priests who minister before the lord weep the portico and the altar.

Let them say, spare your people lord, to not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples? Where is their god? Then the lord was jealous for his land. And took pity on his people.

The Lord replied to them, I am sending you grain, new wine, and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully. Never again while I make you an object of scorn to the nations. I will drive the northern horde far from you pushing it into a parched and barren land its eastern ranks will drown in the Dead Sea, and its western ranks in the Mediterranean Sea, and its stench will go up its smell will rise. Surely, he has done great things. Do not be afraid land of judah.

Be glad and rejoice. Surely, the lord has done great things. Do not be afraid you wild animals for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green the trees are bearing their fruit, the fig tree, and the vine yield their riches. Be glad people of Zion rejoice in the lord your god for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains as before.

The threshing floors will be filled with grain, the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years the locals have eaten. The great locust, the young locust, the other locusts, and the locust swarm, my great army that I sent among you, You will have plenty to eat until you are full, and you will praise the name of the lord your god who has worked wonders for you. Never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the lord your god, and there is that there is no other, never again will my people be shamed.

And afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophecy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days.

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth blood and fire and billows of smoke, the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord. 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. Okay. Do turn back to Joel.

Chapter 2, we're gonna be looking at, looking at most of the book this evening. And, as Paul has already said this is a series that that Andy has been doing actually in these minor prophets and he's been looking at some of the major points within each 1 of them, and, he's given me this 1 Joel, and I think I know why. It's it's it seems to be a little bit of history in many ways. We don't we don't we don't know an awful lot about Joel. We we know he's he's kinda speaking into a time of national calamity That's pretty clear from chapter 1 as we'll see.

Most people think he was active after the Babylonian exile around 505 hundred BC. But but after but apart from that, we really don't know who he was. There's no mention of any kings in the book, which would help us to date it. There's no explicit dates about particular events, which would obviously help us to orientate ourselves. There's no reference to the Babylonians.

Which which and they often help us to kind of get get to grips of where we are in the old testament. So there there's not really much to go on in terms of detail about him. And that's okay because it tells us that this prophecy was supposed to be kept and could be called upon in all kinds of different situations, just like some of the Psalms, to remind god's people of the major point that he is trying to communicate which we'll come to, in just a moment. But before we do, let's bow our heads and pray. Father, we do thank you that, that these ancient words inspired by the Holy Spirit preach by the prophet Joel preserved from generation to generation read by so many thousands millions of your followers all across history and even today, we thank you that these truly are your words, and we pray that you might speak to each 1 of us this evening.

And we ask it in Jesus' name. Oh, man. I want you to, to imagine for a moment that that the world as we know it is about to end. Huge comet has just plummeted into the earth. And there is an enormous cloud of superheated dust heading straight towards you and will be upon you in a matter of minutes.

And in those minutes, you have an opportunity to record a message and send it to another world. 1 last opportunity to broadcast anything to anyone who might be able to pick it up. What would you want them to know? How would you summarize the history of our planet in just a couple of minutes What language would you use to describe the human race and the things that we have done? What we will love?

What will we like? What did we achieve? Where did we fail? Where should we have done better? What could they learn from us?

1 last opportunity to broadcast anything to anyone in the universe. What would you say? And the reason I ask is because that question was put to a number of people in a recent newspaper article. And, the answers they gave were really, really interesting to that question. There was a novelist called Mohsen Hamid, and he wrote this entities of the cosmos greetings from the humans of earth.

Our world as we know it is coming to an end. Humans are a biological life form. Our individual existence is characterized by impermanence. We live and then we die. Our greatest achievement is that we are not entirely overwhelmed by our awareness of this predicament.

But the desire to live forever was strong in us. We gave birth to machines that we hoped would help us achieve this wish We hoped to merge with these machines. Now in our attempt to extinguish our mortality, we are on the verge of extinguishing ourselves. Fare well. May our example be of benefit to you?

James Dyson, who is the inventor of of Dyson Hovers amongst other things, wrote this very briefly. I find it implausible that the world is coming to an end. Engineers will find a way to avoid this catastrophe. And lastly, the, the biologist Richard Dorkins writes this. We dreamed of a final theory of everything and a complete understanding of the origin of all things, including time.

Perhaps you already have that. It is among our griefs that we perished before we could reach it. If you had the opportunity, couple of minutes to broadcast anything to anyone, what would you say? And the reason I share that with you is because in the book of Joel, this is not hypothetical. That day is coming, and it is called the day of the lord.

And according to the prophet, that phrase can refer to any occasion where the lord comes and steps into human history to judge or to save, but usually it refers to the future day when the lord will return to earth in great glory. And when he does, it will be the end of the world as we know it. And as Joel announces that day, his message is clear. It's not an encouragement to take better care of the world. It doesn't promise that if we work really hard on our engineering, we'll be able to avoid it altogether.

He doesn't claim that our biggest problem is scientific knowledge and the lack of it So whoever you are in the universe, that's what you ought to pursue. It is much more important, much more serious, much more wonderful. The great and final day of the lord is coming, do not let yourself perish with the enemies of God, turn and be blessed. If the New York Times were to interview Joel, that is what he would say. And based on this morning's service, I think that's what Dave would say as well.

Get ready, sort yourself out because the day of the lord is coming. And this evening, what we're gonna do is to just take that major point and carve it up into 2 sections. First, we're gonna look at the judgment that is described here. What is it like? Who is involved?

What are we to expect? And then under our second heading, we'll look at the response. How is our response described? What should be involved? And what must what must it be like?

So the first heading this evening is this, the Lord's righteous judgment, a land laid waste. The lord's righteous judgment, a land laid waste. If you just want to turn to chapter 1 of Joel, And we'll start with the first words of his prophecy in verse 2, which draws our attention to the locust again. Here, 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?

Tell it to your children and let your children tell it to their children and their children to the next generation. 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 are the locusts have eaten. So here we find, here we start with Judah who are in the middle of a national crisis.

Like a thick cloud rumbling in from the ocean, these locusts have arrived. And it seems that this is not an image. It's not picture language. This is the real deal. Wave after wave after wave of these locusts come at them from over the hills.

They march in their ranks. Their sound is deafening. Their teeth are like lions. Just like when the sun comes up in the morning, and the dawn comes and the land is all bright. So these locusts have come up over the horizon, and they have darkened the whole earth.

They're compared to an army. The fields are ruined. The ground is dried up. The grain is destroyed, the new wine is gone. The fresh olive fails.

The storehouses are in ruins. The granaries have been broken down the grain has dried up. Just like they did in Egypt, all of those years ago, They have come through the windows under the doors over the walls. Before them, you can imagine the land would have been like a beautiful garden of Eden, but after them, it is a wasted desert. They have been totally consumed.

By these locusts. And of course for us, it it it's difficult to imagine what that would be like. So I was I was asking Laura this week what the council would do if this happened. She's an emergency planner for Surrey County Council. Surrey is quite rural.

I presume that there is at least uh-uh some healthy farming industry here. I don't really know, but she she had no idea. They got no idea. They've got no backup plan. Nothing.

Nothing at all. They're not expecting it. They've got no mitigation. Nothing. And fair enough.

Really, I suppose. But in an agricultural community, where where this is your main business, this is an economic personal national and spiritual disaster. Why? Because they now cannot bring the grain offerings and the drink offerings to the lord. And Joel wants them to know that this is not a result of climate change.

This is not just a freak accident that could have happened to anyone. The oil and the new wine and the grain are evidence of god's covenant blessing upon his people. When they are withdrawn or destroyed, it's a sign of his judgment. In deuteronomy 28, the lord says he promises that if his people disobey him, they shall carry much seed into the field, but shall gather in little for the locust shall consume it. This is a curse upon their disobedience.

But again, Joel wants to do more than just explain their situation. He is a prophet after all, and what you're typical profit does is he grabs hold of an event which has captured the nation and he uses it as an illustration. He turns it into sermon in order to make a bigger point, which is exactly what he does in chapter 2 and 3. And in his mind, these locusts who are like an army in chapter 1, become an army who are like locusts in chapter 2 and 3. It's kind of weird, but he does this amazing thing where he weaves these 2 images together of locusts and an army in order to describe what is going to happen on the day of the lord, the locusts are a picture of what it will be like.

On that great day. Let's see that for ourselves in chapter 3 verse 14. Maltitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the lord is near. In the valley of decision. The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer will shine.

The lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem. The earth and the heavens will tremble. And I want you to just to try to imagine this for a moment. Think think about the largest public event that you've ever been to. What is the largest public event you've ever been to?

Maybe a gig or a, sports event of some kind or a or a conference. And just ima just imagine being there and imagine the people 90000 inside Wemberley. All of them gathered for 1 purpose. When you listen to them and when you look at them, And when when you try to pick out distinguishing features in the crowd, it is just impossible. The only thing that makes an impression on you is the sheer size the volume of people altogether.

And that is the image here on the day of the lord. The nations are summoned into the valley of decision. Tire and sidon will be there. Judah and Israel will be there. That neighbor you bump into a few times a week, he's gonna be there.

The lady who gets the same trainers you every morning commutes into London with you. She's gonna be there. The mum you always see on the school run, she's gonna be there. Everybody that we have ever known will gather into the valley of decision multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision. But of course on that day, it's not them who will be making the decision about their future.

It's the lord. That's what the day is gonna be like. Or what about this battle language in chapter 3 verses 9 to 10? Have a have a look at that. Proclaim this among the nations, prepare for war, rouse the warriors, Let all the fighting men draw near an attack, beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears.

That's really interesting, isn't it? Because it's the opposite of the other prophecies in the Bible, which tell the people that the spades and the plowshares must be must the weapons must be turned into the spades and the power shares. So instead of a time of war, there's gonna be a time of peace, but here it's the opposite. The plowshares and the spades must be turned into weapons, but it's not them who will be fighting. It's the lord who will be coming against them.

In fact, it's so devastating. It's a kind of recreation. Did you notice that in verse 15 of chapter 3? In the beginning, god spoke, and he created the great lights. The sun and the moon and the stars, it was the end of chaos and darkness, but here it goes backwards.

Chaos and darkness return and the great lights go out. And so the point is if if if Judah thought that the locusts were bad and they were, Just imagine what it will be like when the lord returns for battle. It's funny the memories that, that stay with you. I remember when I was growing up with my brother, the, some of the fights we used to have were were were terrible, really. We were only 18 months apart, and, we we were fairly equal, and it got to a stage when I was about 7 and he was 5 and a half when he was starting to over take me in terms of physical ability, and, then you have to find new ways to exert your dominance as an older brother.

But, physically, he was able to take me from a fairly young age. But just occasionally, there were times when I would re I would really hurt him in a fight, and, he would cry out, and then there was this was silence in the house. And then this thundering sound as my dad would come roaring up the stairs ready for justice and judgment upon me. And that was just and fair enough. And I I think I think in some small way that is a picture of chapter 2 and 3.

The lord god loves justice and righteousness, but that love is holy. And therefore it must and it will deal with wickedness once and for all. 1 day that thundering will be playing for all to hear. And so before we look at our response to all of this and what we should do in light of is a big burden of this book. We just need to remember, I think, that this day, this day of the lord is still to come.

When god resurrected the lord Jesus Christ from the dead, he gave proof to the world that he was god's appointed judge. He is the 1 that we shall meet in the valley of decision. And so when we see disasters around the world and threats of nuclear war and political rumblings and environmental disasters, they ought to remind us in some way to get ready for that day. It's not that those things are judgments in the same way that the locusts were, but let them preach to you, let them preach to us that a greater day of disaster is coming upon the earth. In 2 thessalonians chapter 1, Paul says that god is just and he will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well.

This will happen when the lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know god and do not obey the gospel of our lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the lord. And from the glory of his might. We sang this morning, a new song or we heard it played to us, and I think we're gonna sing it again this evening.

Day of judgment, day of wonders hear the awful sound, louder than a thousand thunders, shakes the vast creation round. And to be honest, our world Our world has almost no comprehension of a god who would act like this, does it? It just does it just doesn't compute. It's not something that he would do. It in no way fits into popular images about who god is and what he ought to be doing.

And so it's it's good for us to be reminded that when Joel and Jesus and Paul talk about this day of the lord, They are not exaggerating and they're certainly not bluffing. They're loving us enough to tell us. That this is what the lord is like and we need to get ready for him. But what does it mean to get ready? Firstly, we've had the lord's judgment and land laid to waste, and this is the second second main heading, the lord's loving command.

To turn and be blessed. The Lord's loving command turn and be blessed. Just, go back to chapter 1 and let your eye fall down the left hand side of the column in your bibles across chapters 1. It's just amazing how many commands there are here. Here, listen, tell wake up, wail, mourn, despair, grieve, put on.

Come, declare, summon, fast. I mean, if you if you if you walked away from this sermon, thinking no response necessary here, then your your head is in the ground. Whatever else this is, it is a rousing call to action. They cannot, and they must not be passive in the face of what Joole is saying. In fact, in chapter 2, he even says, let the bride groom leave his room and the bride her chamber.

And that is really interesting because in the law of god, during the first year of marriage, a couple were to be to be left alone, really, I mean, the the the man wasn't even to be disturbed even in the event of war. He was exempt if he was in the first year of marriage, but Joel is saying, even if it's the wedding night, forget it. You need to turn now turn to the lord now. That's how imperative this is. And crucially, that's got to be sincere repentance.

And not just for show. It's wonderful words, wasn't it? That we had bread in chapter 2 verse 12. Even now declares the lord return to me with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning, rend your heart and not your garment. Return to the lord your god for he is gracious and compassionate.

John Wesley, who's a eighteenth century preacher. On 1 occasion, apparently, he came across sinful woman who who would come to him after a meeting. And I don't know what the meeting was. Perhaps he'd been preaching or it was a a small group. Gathering, and this woman said to him, oh, mister Wesley.

Please pray for me. For I am a sinful woman. And John Wesley replied, indeed I shall and indeed you are. And she said, how day? Speak to me like that?

Who do you think you are? To tell me that about myself. And then in his journal, he writes We can speak ill of ourselves a thousand times, and yet we are affronted when anyone says anything of the kind. That is not penitence. That's pretense.

That's vanity. And yet how easy it is to do that, isn't it? To talk evil of ourselves. Yes, I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner.

Yes. I'm a sinner god says I'm a sinner. It's true. It's true. But when that fact is highlighted, We are affronted.

We're insulted as if it wasn't true at all. It's okay for me to say it about myself And occasionally, it's okay for god to say it about me, but who do you think you are to say that to me? That's not repentance. That's vanity. And so Joel is very challenging on this point because through him, the lord is pleading with us.

To repent truly from the heart. Not to make a show of it. Not to talk about it with friends. But to realize that our hearts, not our garments, must be torn. Why?

Because those are the things that are so often attached. To the wrong things, aren't they? The only way to avoid a fate worse than locusts is this, sincere repentance. And so the question is, will we do that? Will we do that?

If you're not a Christian here this evening, will you do that. And if you are a Christian, will we make this the pattern of our lives, rend your heart and not your garments, return to the lord your god. But with all of that said, if we if we just left it there, we would be telling only half of the story because this book is not mainly about avoiding punishment It's about turning to the lord who loves you and who wants to shower blessings. Upon your head. And there are at least 3 wonderful blessings for us to meditate on briefly under this second heading.

And the first is this the lord will restore lost years. He will restore lost years. That's 1 of the blessings. 2 for those 24 to 25. Again, we had it read to us.

The threshing floors will be filled with grain. The vats will overflow with new wine and oil. I will repay you for the years, the locust have eaten. So here's this vision that in years to come, all that they had lost would be forgotten. As they told their children and their children told their children about the day of the locust, it will seem like a dream.

Because out of his wonderful love, the lord would store the land compensating the people for that which they had lost. And of course, ultimately, that is a vision of of life in the new eden, isn't it? Of life in the new creation, with this abundant, fruitful land where the lord will restore to his people, that great sense of fruitfulness. But also, but also it applies personally in a slightly different way. Charles spurgeon comments on this this particular verse.

You cannot have your time back. But there is a strange and wonderful way in which god can give back to you the wasted blessings. The unripened fruits of years over which you mourned. It is a pity that they should have been locust eaten by your folly, but if they have been so, be not hopeless concerning them. The lord can repay your lost years.

I personally find that very powerful. I'm sure I'm sure I'm sure lots of us as we look back on our lives can see years which the locusts have eaten. Years have wasted opportunity and unripened fruits, but in our repentance in some strange and wonderful way, the lord will restore to us the lost years, just like he does. In Joel. Firstly, he will restore the lost years, but secondly, the lord will pour out his spirit.

Can we go to chapter 2 in verse 28? And afterward, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophecy Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days.

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood. Before the great and coming before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord, and everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved. And again, in this promise, we've we've got we've got 2 things side by side together. We've got a blessing that is gonna follow repentance, and we've got another word about the judgment day.

And often in the old testament prophecy works a little bit like this, you'll have these 2 things put side by side and interwoven together And even though a time period exists between the 2 things, there is no mention of it at all. And that's what we have here. If they repent, there is something wonderful in store. 1 day, the lord will pour out his spirit on every single 1 of his people. They will prophesy.

They will speak to 1 another with the words of god and everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved. And of course, if you know the story, that is exactly the text that Peter preaches in acts 2. The scene is pentecost. It's the time to gather in the grain offering, something which couldn't be done in Joel. And he stands up to preach, and Joel comes to his mind, and he says to the crowds of Jerusalem, in your days is the fulfilling.

If you repent and turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, blessings will come from on high. You will be born again by the spirit and the lord himself will make his home with you. That is the heart of the new covenant promise, isn't it? Anticipated by Joel, a chow for all of god's people through repentance and faith. Isn't that a blessing?

That if you will recognize Jesus as the crucified and the risen lord of history, you will be saved Whoever you are you will be saved and the spirit of the everlasting god will come to make his home with you. So that when judgment day comes, when we find ourselves in the valley of decision, we will be sheltered in Jesus Christ because the wrath of god was spent on him for us. The lord is gonna repay the lost years. The lord is gonna pour out his spirit. And thirdly, and finally, the lord will restore his paradise.

Have a look at chapter 3 verse 17, right at the end. And then you will know that I, the lord your god dwell in Zion on my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy. Never again will foreigners invade her In that day, the mountains will drip with new wine and the hills will flow with milk and all the ravines of Judah. Will run with water.

And so here is is the great crescendo, not only in job, but in in all of history. A sinful people saved, filled with the spirit of god, and given a home in this stunning new Eeden, this new creation, where we will enjoy the lord's provision for all of our days, who cannot be moved by these words. Who cannot be moved by these words by this promise? Dave certainly was. Millions of others behind him certainly were.

What about us? The day of the lord is coming. Sincere repentance is a must, but not mainly to avoid punishment, but to enjoy the compassionate god who gives us every good and perfect blessing in Jesus Christ. Let's take a moment now just to, be quiet and to pray to the lord. Perhaps there's something that you would like to say sorry for something you'd like to say thank you for.

Perhaps there's people you'd like to pray for or maybe you'd just like to just be grateful for the wonderful blessings that are promised to the repentant here. Let's take a moment to pray.