Joel 2

The beginning of the chapter depicts a very dark and frightening image. It illustrates the day of the Lord, which is a day of judgement. It refers to an unstoppable dark army bent on ravaging a city.

⁷ They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: ⁸ Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. ⁹ They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

Continuing, it speaks of the earth shaking and the sky going dark. All is hopeless. All is lost. Then we come to verses 12 and 13.

¹² Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: ¹³ And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

I’ve heard it argued many times by non-Christians that God is merciless in the Old Testament but loving in the New Testament. They say that it couldn’t be the same God. Well, in this one chapter, we witness both faces of the Lord. He then pleads with Israel to come together and repent. God doesn’t want to punish them. He’s only trying to get their attention. Does he not do the same to us? Think of how stubborn and stupid we are compared to the Lord. He tells us to do that which is right, and yet we decide to go our own way. He has to get our attention. Sometimes, the only way to do so is to punish us, to let things happen to us that hurt us or scare us enough to come running back to him. He doesn’t want to do these things, but we, in our stubbornness, give him no other option. Or are you who believes that a child will behave best if he is never disciplined?

The good part is that he promises to save us when we call on him.

¹⁹ Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

But it goes on. Not only does he stop the attack, but he blesses us immensely.

²⁵ And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. ²⁶ And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

This word “restore” literally means to restore, complete, and to be at peace. In other words, all that was taken from you and all of the pain and hurt will not only be removed, but it will be healed and you will find yourself complete and at peace again. What a promise!

So, next time you feel like you are being attacked on all sides stop and think for a moment, “Is this Satan trying to keep me from doing God’s work, or is this God trying to correct my path?” If you find that you have been acting outside of his will or commands, then that would be a good time to turn to him with all you heart and take advantage of his promise for complete restoration.

Dear Lord, thank you for the lesson we can learn from the second chapter of Joel. Help me to always be aware of when you are trying to get my attention and to respond quickly. Please continue to be patient with me as I try to learn to follow your will.