JOEL 1:1-4,14; JOEL 2:12-17
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, you elders;
listen, all you inhabitants of the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.
4 What the devouring locust has left,
the swarming locust has eaten;
what the swarming locust has left,
the young locust has eaten;
and what the young locust has left,
the destroying locust has eaten…
14 Announce a sacred fast;
proclaim a solemn assembly!
Gather the elders
and all the residents of the land
at the house of the LORD your God,
and cry out to the LORD.
“The Lord has sent judgment on a land that should have known his goodness, but forsook his presence. But the Lord does not wish for his people to remain here!”
2:12 Even now —
this is the LORD’s declaration —
turn to me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
13 Tear your hearts,
not just your clothes,
and return to the LORD your God.
For he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger, abounding in faithful love,
and he relents from sending disaster.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
and leave a blessing behind him,
so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering
to the LORD your God…
17 Let the priests, the LORD’s ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say,
“Have pity on your people, LORD,
and do not make your inheritance a disgrace,
an object of scorn among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
‘Where is their God? ’ ”
HEARING:
Today, we want to contend for God’s glory in our city. As the Church, we want to raise our vision higher than our own circumstances to pray towards an end greater than ourselves. In this quiet time:
Spend time in prayer to hear and imagine what God thinks of this city, Boston. (Luke 19:41-44).
Ponder: where is repentance necessary? First for us and then for our city?
In the middle of a spiritually famished city, where is God providing prophetic voices (like Joel) to point towards new life through repentance? Ask God to send prophetic voice and experience to His people here.
Read through the book of Joel, especially the beginning, using the text to inform our hearts about the circumstances around us. We should be restless on behalf of our city’s desires.
JOEL 2:18, 25-32
Joel 2:18 Then the LORD became jealous for his land and spared his people. 19 The LORD answered his people:
Look, I am about to send you
grain, new wine, and fresh oil.
You will be satiated with them,
and I will no longer make you
a disgrace among the nations.
25 I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust ate,
the young locust, the destroying locust,
and the devouring locust —
my great army that I sent against you.
26 You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied.
You will praise the name of the LORD your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
My people will never again be put to shame.
27 You will know that I am present in Israel
and that I am the LORD your God,
and there is no other.
My people will never again be put to shame.
28 After this
I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 I will even pour out my Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.
30 I will display wonders
in the heavens and on the earth:
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
32 Then everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved,
for there will be an escape
for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
as the LORD promised,
among the survivors the LORD calls.
RESPOND:
After repentance, God is happy to embrace His people anew. Like the people and the priests in Joel, use your elected position before God to:
Ask God to jealousy pursue Boston. (Joel 2:18) Let repentance give way to new life as God satisfies the spiritual hunger of His people.
Ask God for His Spirit to be made manifest in His Church, that His people would be empowered to work with the Spirit to glorify God in new ways (Joel 2:28-31)
Intercede for those you know, that they may ‘call on the name of the Lord’ in our day. (Joel 2:32)
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