11/03/2024
The Lord, our God is moving in great ways across the nations of the world. He is raising up evil men to bring judgment in the form of war on nations disobedient to him. We see famine and pestilence and fires and floods throughout the world. People are swept away into eternity to face the judgment of Almighty God and yet many look upon it as though it is a natural occurrence or result of global warming.
The prophet Joel saw the devastation of The nation of Israel by locusts and fire as evidence of the coming day of the Lord. He told the priests to put on sackcloth and declare a holy fast and call the elders and everyone who lives in the land to come to the house of God and cry out to the Lord.
To in Joel chapter 2, he then compares the devastation of the locusts to a mighty army, that invades the earth and causes the earth to shake, and the heavens to tremble in the stars in the moon to no longer shine. The Lord himself at the head of his army is commanding the dreadful day of the Lord. Who can endure it?
Repentance is the key. Joel chapter 2, verse 12 “even now declares the Lord return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and morning“
The Lord tells the priests what to say in their in repentance. “Let them say, spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of ridicule among the nations. Why should they say among the nations, where is their God?”
It’s then and only then that the Lord takes pity on his people.
He promises to send new grain and wine, olive oil to satisfy them fully so that they will never again be an object of scorn among the nations. “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.“
“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. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord, your God, and that there is no other: never again will my people be shamed. “
All of this precedes Joel 2:28,
“And afterwards, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old man will dream dreams, and your young man will see visions. “
The apostle Peter saw the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as a fulfillment of this prophecy. And it was!
Yet, verse 30 goes on to say, “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.
Judgment, and the final judgment is still to come!
It is the cross of Jesus Christ that saves the world from judgment. For in his grace, love, and mercy he made the way for us to be reconciled to a holy and righteous God, who rightly condemns the world to judgment, but his mercy sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. There is no blessing outside of this cross, and there is no life outside of Lord Jesus. Repent, turn away from sin and unbelief. Call on the name of Jesus, trust in him as the one who is raised from the dead, And believe in your heart that he is the Lord. And you will be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. This is how you avoid the coming dreadful day of the Lord.
Let us continue to call all people to repentance and humility, so that we may be able to endure the judgment. He is bringing on this world, and even the church for he has said, “judgment begins in the household of God“
