3 Powerful Lessons from Joel

Have you ever really ventured into the Minor Prophets – those books from Hosea to Malachi tucked quietly into the Old Testament? Some of the books seem obscure but each has unique lessons to teach us. Here are three from Joel, and each is related to a promise.

The Flip Side of the Promise

We like the ‘positive’ promises but we tend to overlook the negative promises. This is the warning we see Joel. It opens with a promise of destruction. That sounds so negative, but this is a simple fulfilment of God’s promise. In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, God gave his people the promises to bless and to curse.

These promises tell the people that when they are obedient and faithful in worship, God would abundantly bless them. He gave them the law to guide their conduct so they could receive the blessing. However, these passages also promised them that if they were unfaithful there were dreadful consequences. He was true to his word blessing them during seasons of obedience such as the reign of David. He was also very patient with them and endured long seasons of disobedience before keeping his promise of suffering.

For us:

We cannot believe that God will overlook our disobedience and rebellion either. He wants us to be wholly devoted to him. When we are, we receive incredible blessings – his presence, wisdom and guidance, joy, peace, love, assurance and power.

Sometimes, we might be tempted to do what we want because we believe that God’s mercy and grace will overlook our sin. We certainly need God’s mercy and grace for salvation and daily life, but that doesn’t give us the excuse to rebel and do whatever we like. His mercy and grace are for our frailties not our stubborn, prideful rebellion!

Remember, that all through the years of suffering, the Temple worship continued in Jerusalem. The people often pointed out the Temple as their assurance of God’s protection, but the prophets made it clear – be obedient; worship without obedience is meaningless.

The Power of Genuine Repentance

Here is what the Lord said through Joel:

  “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“return to me with all your heart,

       with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

  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.  

Joel 2:12–13 (ESV)

Notice how consuming this repentance is. Remember that it is God saying this to his people. A flippant ‘sorry’ was not enough. He wanted, and still requires, a deep repentance and thorough regret for our sin and rebellion. We cannot just be sorry we got caught. We must be sorry that we needed to get caught.

This repentance and returning to the Lord included fasting, weeping and mourning. I confess that I have never gone that far with my repentance (fasting is hard). While this is not a legalistic requirement, it is an indication of where our hearts and lives should be as we approach God after failing to be obedient.

What we do:

There must be deep regret for what we have done. Our confession of sin needs to be comprehensive. There is great value to confession of each specific sin. To say it is to acknowledge it. There must also be a deep desire for genuine change. It’s not enough to admit our sin and guilt, or even to regret it. We must be willing to completely abandon all our sinful ways in order to follow wherever God leads us and do whatever he requires.

When we fully repent, we can be sure that God will restore us into his blessing. It is important to note here that repentance may not remove all the consequences of our sin. When your sin affects other people, the result of your words and actions are not necessarily erased. However, now you can make it through with God on your side.

The Promise of Power

 “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.

  Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Joel 2:28–29 (ESV)

Peter quoted this passage on Pentecost, declaring it fulfilled! This is our present reality foretold centuries ago. Here is a simple summary of this passage.

Our reality:

When the Spirit of God was poured out and given to all believers, he crossed age, gender, socio-economic and racial lines. He now freely gives the Spirit and all that comes with that gift – the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. Mentioned specifically in this passage is the gift of prophecy and the gift of revelation.

Prophecy is that gift that allows us to hear the voice of God and proclaim God’s will. It is a telling forth of the words of God. It includes declaring the things that will be as well as the things God wants to be – just as the ancient prophets did. This gift is for both men and women.

Revelation, visions and dreams, is the unveiling of the mysteries of God. Things that were hidden are now revealed as God makes his will and way plain to us. These visions are given with the Holy Spirit who walks with us and lives in us.

It should not be surprising that we have visions and dreams and prophetic words. These things don’t happen to us because of who we are. They don’t happen to glorify ourselves or draw attention to our accomplishments, but they are given to build up the church and glorify God. If you think you have a prophetic word and it will make people notice you or justify your behavior, it is probably not a prophetic word. So be careful.

Just as there were many false prophets in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ day, so there are many false prophets today. The visions and prophecy given by God never violate his word as recorded in scripture.

Your Turn

I want to challenge you today to embrace the lessons of Joel. I also want to challenge you to work ahead of me into Amos, Obadiah and Jonah and find some lessons there. Watch for lessons from these books over the coming weeks. And have you joined our Facebook page? Why not do it now?

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