Weekly Message :“ A call to national repentance and God’s promise of future deliverance” (Joel 1 to 3) by Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Weekly Message : “Call to national repentance for God’s promise of future deliverance” (Joel 1 to 3)

& Bible reading & studying in one year on 12/19/2021   Joel 1-3

by Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce                                                                                                             Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel Music

            The prophet and His times

 Joel whose name means “Yahweh is God,” apparently wrote during the days of young King Joash (835-796), who was under the regency of priests when he ascended the throne of Judah at the age of seven (2Kings11:21). Though some date the book after the Exile, the enemies of Judah are not identified in the prophecy as Syrians, Assyrians, or Babylonians, as would be the case if the book were written after the captivity. The prophecy was occasioned by a severe drought and an invasion of locusts, which Joel saw as a punishment for the sins of the people. He also depicted this invasion of locusts as an army, a harbinger of a future military campaign in the Day of the Lord.                                          

 The day of the Lord,

 The day of the Lord, the major theme of this prophecy, involves God’s special intervention in the affairs of human history. Three facets of the Day of the lord are discernible. 

(1) The historical, God’s intervention in the affairs of Israel (Zeph.1:14-18; Joel1:15) and heathen nations (Isa.13:6; Jer.46:10; Ezek.30:3).

(2) The illustrative, whereby an historical incident represents a partial fulfillment of the eschatological Day of the Lord (Joel2:1-11; Isa.13:6-13);

(3) The eschatological. This eschatological “day” includes the time of the Great Tribulation (Isa.2:12-19:4:1), the second coming of Christ (Joel2:30-32), and the Millennium (Isa.4:2; 12;19: 23-25; Jer.30:7-9)

Chapter 1:13-14 priests. Called upon to lead the people in a fast and solemn public gathering of national repentance. Even the animals suffer because of man's sin, and they too cry to God.(vv.19-20)

 " Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to  the house of the Lord you God, and cry out to the Lord." (v.14) 

          Chapter 2:15-17 A call to national repentance in a sacred assembly from which no one, not even babies or newlyweds, would be exempt. (see Deut.24:5) in verse 28 afterward , i.e. after Israel’s future repentance and restoration (Zech.12:10;13:1) in connection with the second advent of Christ, as witnessed by the portents of verse 30 (see note on Acts2:16-21). The Holy Spirit will then be poured out on all classes in Israel who belong to the believing remnant (v.32).

          Chapter 3:1 At the second coming of Christ, Israel will be regathered to Palestine (Matt.24:31). In the verses 2-3 also at the second coming the Gentiles will be judged for their treatment of Israel (Matt.25:40,45) in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (which means “Yahweh judges.” and may refer to the kindron Valley on the E.of Jerusalem). In verses 4-8 more immediate judgment was announced on the Phoenicians and Philistines, who were notorious slave-traders. Verse 8 was fulfilled in 345 B.C., when Artaxerxes III sold the Sidonians into slavery and in 332 B.C. when Alexander the Great did the same to the people of Tyre and Gaza. Sabeans. A trading people who lived in Arabia.

          In the verses 9-17 A description of the campaign of Armageddon (Rev.16:14). Mic.4:3, the reverse of verse 10, cannot be fulfilled until after Armageddon. Your warriors (v.11). The Lord’s armies (Rev.19:14). The wicked are a harvest…ripe (v.13) for judgment (cf.Rev.14:18-19). In that day (v.18) is the day of Messiah’s reign in His earthly millennial kingdom.  Valley of acacias, or Shittim. A dry valley near the N. end of the Dead Sea.

 

Bibliography,

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.