Joel 2:28-32
Chapter two began with an alarm of doom the day of the LORD is coming, and an army will come that is sent by God to bring devastation on Judea. The people are called to repentance, to return to God with a broken and contrite heart, and once that had happened the LORD had pity on His people and restored their land. As we read verse 27, give thought to what this would look like in your life, your family, the church, and the nation. “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.”
“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.” And it shall come to pass afterward, and in our instance gratification mindset we want that now, and I do not believe that mindset is a new thing but has exploded in our culture. If we explore the teaching of the prophets it is clear they were looking for a time, a day when God would allow His people to keep His covenants and laws by giving them a new heart. But one must remember that prophesy is often future, much has been fulfilled but some is still to come. The prophet Jeremiah tells of such a day in Jeremiah 31:33-34, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
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.” And it shall come to pass afterward, and in our instance gratification mindset we want that now, and I do not believe that mindset is a new thing but has exploded in our culture. If we explore the teaching of the prophets it is clear they were looking for a time, a day when God would allow His people to keep His covenants and laws by giving them a new heart. But one must remember that prophesy is often future, much has been fulfilled but some is still to come. The prophet Jeremiah tells of such a day in Jeremiah 31:33-34, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
This prophecy had its beginning after the cross after Jesus was raised from the dead, it began at Pentecost and each time the gospel is preached and a sinner looks to Jesus as their only hope of being in right standing with God, this once more is being fulfilled. You and I should never forget we serve a mighty God, who always keeps His promises, and to the people of Israel, we see salvation coming after the fullness of the Gentiles has come. This is recorded by the apostle Paul in Romans 11:25-32, and aren’t you glad that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
When verse 30-31 takes place what a day that will be for those in Christ, but for those who have rejected Him it will be a day of great fear, the salvation for believers who have entered into a personal relationship with the LORD, but judgment for all who have not. It is spelled out clearly in John’s gospel chapter 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
We end with verse 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.” We have two calls, all who call on the name of the LORD and the LORD’S call, the invitation was stated by Jesus in John 3:16, and the apostle Paul makes it clear, it includes everyone in Romans 10:13. But it is clear not all will call, many will let pride or the desire to find God by another way, but Jesus has stated in John 14:6; “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The HCSB study Bible on page 1487 under notes has this insight: “God does not save those who do not call on Him, and none call whom He has not called.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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