Joel 2:28-3:21 Being Prepared

Joel 2:28-3:21 Being Prepared

The book of Joel falls naturally into two parts. In 1:1–2:27 we read about a terrible locust plague that came over Israel as a judgment from God and how the people repented and God restored their fortunes. Then in 2:28 to the end of the book we read about how God at some future time is going to pour out his Spirit far and wide to bless his people and how he is going to gather for judgment the nations which have rejected him and his people. Or to put it another way, the first half of the book describes how God fought against his own people to make them honor him alone. And the second half of the book describes how he will fight against the nations who refuse to honor him alone.¹

Joel presents two different opportunities based on two points of view. The prophet was able to see two points in time. He saw Jesus during His first coming. He also saw Jesus during His second coming. During the first coming of Jesus, Joel saw the opportunity of salvation. During the second coming of Jesus, Joel was the certainty of judgment.

This presents every one of us with these same two opportunities: salvation or judgment.

OPPORTUNITY #1 – INDIVIDUAL SALVATION

TIMELINE – 500 BC – 33 AD

First Coming of Jesus

“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.” (Joel 2:28, HCSB)

“I will even pour out My Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.” (Joel 2:29, HCSB

Second Coming of Jesus

“I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke.” (Joel 2:30, HCSB)

“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.” (Joel 2:31, HCSB)

“Then everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh 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.” (Joel 2:32, HCSB)

Since the first coming of Jesus Christ, there is the opportunity for salvation everyone who chooses.

Gift cards often come with expiration dates. Sometimes I will stuff one in my wallet and forget about it. A gift card can be worth $100 one day, and then the next day you might as well throw it in the garbage because it has expired. You have missed the opportunity to spend it!

God’s gift of forgiveness is like a gift card that is more valuable than anything we can imagine. He paid for it with his Son’s life. God is holding that priceless gift card out to us, waiting for us to take it. If we don’t accept it and use it, however, it’s of no value to us.

A gift card is only plastic unless it is redeemed. Don’t wait to claim God’s gift before it’s too late.²

It changes the scope of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit entered an individual to fulfill a specific job. At the first coming of Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters every Christian to help in every decision. At the second coming of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit will be completed.

It widens the scope of God’s plan.

In the Old Testament, salvation was only for the Jews. At the first coming of Jesus, salvation is opened up to everyone. At the second coming of Jesus, salvation will be completed.

OPPORTUNITY #2 – WORLDWIDE JUDGMENT

At the second coming of Jesus, there will be the certainty of judgment for everyone else. This section describes the judgment of the unbelieving world.

At the last judgment each one is consciously confronted—perhaps for the first time—with God’s verdict. Here everyone becomes a ‘person’, recognizing God’s holiness and their own sin; here everyone becomes ‘solitary’…Eternal death means to exist in the solitude of God’s wrath, that is to be alone in sin, without any ethical communication with the other spirits, and at the same time conscious of one’s sin, and aware of what one is missing³.

Hell is not going to be a cozy place where you will hangout with your friends enjoying a party. You will be very alone. You will be more isolated than any prison. It will be just you and God’s wrath. One of those judgments which will happen will be the judgment of the nations when Jesus returns.

TIMELINE – POST 1948

“Yes, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,” (Joel 3:1, HCSB)

GOD’S REASON – The nations are judged because they scattered God’s people the Israelites (3:2-6)

TIMELINE – POST-TRIBULATION (Still Future)

“I will gather all the nations and take them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there because of My people, My inheritance Israel. The nations have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided up My land.” (Joel 3:2, HCSB)

Here, the Lord declares that, in the day of the Lord, He will judge all nations on the basis of how they treated His people—including those who sold Jewish boys and girls into slavery and used the money to indulge their flesh. This has happened throughout history. In A.D. 70, the Roman general, Titus, killed one and a half million Jews and sold thousands into slavery in a three-month period alone. In our own day, of course, there was the horror of the holocaust of World War II.⁴

GOD’S PERSONAL RETRIBUTION (3:6-11)

God will personally exact judgment on the nations based on how they treated (or mistreated) the Jews.

“Look, I am about to rouse them up from the place where you sold them; I will bring retribution on your heads.” (Joel 3:7, HCSB)

The Scriptures make it quite clear that salvation is always by grace through faith, totally apart from works. During the Tribulation, the Jews will become the dividing line for those who are believers and for those who are not. Only believers will dare to violate the laws of the Antichrist and aid the Jews. Their pro-Semitic acts will be the result of their saved state. As James would say it, they will show their faith by their works. The unbelievers will demonstrate their unbelief by their anti-Semitic acts. The judgment of the Gentiles, then, will determine who among the Gentiles will be allowed to enter the Messianic Kingdom. Only believing Gentiles will be allowed, and the evidence of their faith will be their pro-Semitic works.⁵

GOD ROUSES THE NATIONS – (3:12-15) (Matthew 25, Revelation 19)

“Let the nations be roused and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the surrounding nations.” (Joel 3:12, HCSB)

“Swing the sickle because the harvest is ripe. Come and trample the grapes because the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because the wickedness of the nations is great.” (Joel 3:13, HCSB)

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (Joel 3:14, HCSB)

“The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will cease their shining.” (Joel 3:15, HCSB)

GOD ROARS TO BE A REFUGE FOR HIS PEOPLE – (3:16-21) (Revelation 20-21)

“The Lord will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites.” (Joel 3:16, HCSB)

“Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will never overrun it again.” (Joel 3:17, HCSB)

“In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house, watering the Valley of Acacias.” (Joel 3:18, HCSB)

“Egypt will become desolate, and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah in whose land they shed innocent blood.” (Joel 3:19, HCSB)

“But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.” (Joel 3:20, HCSB)

“I will pardon their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, for the Lord dwells in Zion.” (Joel 3:21, HCSB)

For believers, that means that now is the time we should be prepared to share the Gospel.

On his first day of teaching his class of 250 college freshmen, R. C. Sproul carefully explained the assignment of three term papers—due on the last day of September, October, and November. Sproul clearly stated there would be no extensions (except for medical reasons). At the end of September, some 225 students dutifully turned in their papers, while 25 remorseful students quaked in fear. “We’re so sorry,” they said. “We didn’t make the proper adjustments from high school to college, but we promise to do better next time.” He bowed to their pleas for mercy and gave them an extension, but warned them not to be late next month.

The end of October rolled around, and about 200 students turned in their papers, while 50 students showed up empty-handed. “Oh, please,” they begged, “it was homecoming weekend, and we ran out of time.” Sproul relented once more but warned them, “This is it. No excuses next time. You will get an F.”

The end of November came, and only 100 students turned in their papers. The rest told Sproul, “We’ll get it in soon.”

“Sorry,” Sproul replied. “It’s too late now. You get an F.”

The students howled in protest, “That’s not fair!”

“OK,” Sproul replied, “you want justice, do you? Here’s what’s just: you’ll get an F for all three papers that were late. That was the rule, right?”

“The students had quickly taken my mercy for granted,” Sproul later reflected. “They assumed it. When justice suddenly fell, they were unprepared for it. It came as a shock, and they were outraged.”⁶

So everyone here have two different opportunities today. You can choose judgment. You can choose to live your own life your own way, without any need for a Savior and Master. However, God is the Judge. He has made the rules. He has given the test. At the end of time, there will be an eternal final test. Will you say to the Teacher in Heaven, “I forgot to be prepared. I didn’t do what you expected.”? Will you end up with an “F”?

The other opportunity today is for salvation. That salvation is open to everyone, no matter your background or circumstance. Are you willing to take the advantage today of making the decision to follow Jesus today.