Joel 2:12-19; 26-32
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;16 gather the people.Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations.Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
The Lord Had Pity
18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.19 The Lord answered and said to his people,“Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
26 “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.And my people shall never again be put to shame.27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
HEAR:
In this book, the prophet Joel announces that God’s righteous judgment is coming to confront Israel’s sin. At the beginning of chapter 2, he speaks about the imminent disaster, a “day of darkness and gloom”, in which no one would be able to endure. Joel calls on the people of God to return to the Lord – to pray and repent – while asking God to spare his people. God responds to their repentance with passion for his land and pity for his people (v.18).
Use this time to listen to the Holy Spirit and pray. Specifically think about:
Where do you need to repent and return to the Lord? Return with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, rend your hearts and not your garments to God (vv.12-13).
In what ways do you fail to see the Lord for who he is? See that he delights in showing mercy and that his mercy triumphs over judgment (v.13; Micah 7:18; James 2:13).
Do you see the Lord as in your midst (v.27)? Declare your want for him and his presence.
RESPOND:
Joel shows us that the Lord’s heart is always to rescue and revive. That he reverses the Day of the Lord from judgment into salvation. He defeats the threatening invaders, restores the devastated land to make it abundant once more, and he gives his divine presence to his people.
Use this time to pray quietly to yourself or to pray for the whole room:
Intercede on behalf of the western church – pray that we may return to the Lord and seek him until he comes (vv.12-13; Hos. 10:12; Isa. 55:6-7), that we may be set ablaze by the presence and power of God.
Pray for an outpouring of the Spirit to transform and empower the people of God. Pray for holy dreams and visions to be awakened once again (vv.28-29).
Intercede on behalf of the unsaved, that the Spirit may fall afresh on them and that they would call upon the name of the Lord (v.32).
Pray for a culture of worship and prayer that would take root in our hearts, that we would love Jesus more than we loved him before (vv.26-27).
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