Repentance+in+Joel

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= 1. Introduction =

Throughout the Minor Prophets, the call of God’s messengers is similar - repent or you will not die. Throughout Israel’s history, God continues to call to them to return to Him. Yet, Israel’s idolatrous lifestyle that began all the way back in Abraham’s day continued on. Hosea shows this as they pretend to be God’s people, yet they commit horrendous acts of adultery with other nations and their gods by worshipping them instead. Joel’s central theme is to call them again to repentance. If they don’t, the full weight of the Day of the Lord will fall upon them. = = =2. Deuteronomy 28-30=

a. Chapter 28 – Consequences of Disobedience
To be able to see better the context of Joel, one must look back to Deuteronomy, where Yahweh laid out His expectations for Israel. In chapter 28, God states if Israel will diligently obey Him, He would bless them. This runs with the theme of the Pentateuch, which is if Israel obeys, they are blessed, if they disobey, they are cursed. The blessings are described in verses 1-14. But in verse 15, Yahweh switches to describing the consequences of disobedience. If Israel does not obey and observe all of His commands, then curses will come. One of the curses is in verse 38 which says, “You shall bring out much seed to the field but you will gather in little, for the locust will consume it”. This is a forewarning.

b. Chapter 30 – Restoration Promised
God didn’t stop in Deuteronomy 28. If Israel did end up disobeying and ignoring the commands God had set before them, chapter 28 says that they would be doomed and accursed. But that is not the end. In Chapter 30, restoration is promised if they were to leave Yahweh. God tells them if they remember their consequences, return to Him, and obey Him with all of their heart, then He will bring them back from captivity and have compassion on them. In verse 18, God prophesies that Israel will indeed turn away from Him because He has set before them life and death. They will be blessed, but then they will fall away. Yet He exhorts them to choose life in order that they may live (vs. 19). The way they do this is by loving their God, obeying Him, and holding fast to Him and in return, they may live in peace.

= 3. Israel’s Idolatry =

It didn’t matter what warning God gave to them, they still forsook Him and committed adultery (2 Kings 21:11; Jeremiah 5:7; Hosea 4:2,13). The book of Hosea is the personification of Israel’s idolatry in Hosea’s relationship with his harlotrous wife Gomer, who was a representation of Israel’s sin. God commanded Israel to hold fast to Him in Deuteronomy, yet they pushed Him away for other gods. They were so immersed in their sinfulness that they couldn’t return to Yahweh (Hosea 5:4). Hosea 7:10 says, “Yet they have not returned to the LORD their God, nor have they sought Him, for all this.” And now, as a result, the curses of Deuteronomy 28 are unavoidable.

= 4. Wake up Call =

a. Locust Plague
This all leads to Joel, who uses the impending doom of a coming locust plague unlike any other as a wake up call for Israel. Joel even calls on the older men of the time to see if they would remember any visitation of locust that had been as great as this one. There is no parallel. These locust were going to leave nothing but locust. This was pointed to in Deuteronomy 28:38, where God tells Israel that locust will consume their seed. Now, it is happening. But this disaster was only a foretaste. It was a picture letting the Israelites know what was coming. In verse six, Yahweh switches from describing a coming plague to describing a coming invading nation, which will lay waste to Israel in the same way that the locust did. They become an army that will take Israel into exile.

b. Exile
Because of Israel’s sin of adultery, God would have to fulfill His Deuteronomic promise. They had forsaken Him, now He would forsake them (Deut 28:20). Amos says in 7:11, “Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile.” Micah 1:16 also says, “Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, because of the children of your delight; extend your baldness like the eagle, for they will go from you into exile.” The result of Israel’s disobedience is the exile. Their doom is unavoidable. = = = = = = = 5. Day of the Lord =

“‘The day of the Lord’ (literally, ‘the day of Jehovah’) is a technical phrase used initially by the Old Testament prophets to designate a future period of catastrophic judgment.”[i] The Day of the Lord has many characteristics, which set it apart from any other catastrophe in Israel’s - much more the worlds - history. Verse 2 speaks of unparalleled power. The description sounds similar to the scene at Sinai. In verse three, a fire consumes and misses nothing. Horses can jump over mountains (vs. 4,5), consume like fire (vs. 5), run and climb like men (vs. 7). These horses come as unhindered judgment. All of these catastrophes and more are coming as the ultimate judgment for the rebellious and wicked generations (Jeremiah 1:16). = = =﻿= = 6. Call to Repentance =

a. Call from Joel
But God always provides a way of hope because of His compassion and slowness to anger (Joel 2:13). In Joel, God reiterates his proposition in Deuteronomy thirty. In Joel chapter two, a complete definition of repentance is given by Yahweh as a way for the Jews to be saved. Again, God commands them to return to Him broken, and sorrowful for their sin (2:12). He desires genuine repentance, not sorrow that is only an outward appearance. Yahweh wants Israel to show absolute loss as they forsake the gods they replaced Him with (Hosea), and return to renew their relationship with God that they had abandoned. The words “return to the Lord” or “return to me” are used multiple times in Joel. Even though Israel had forsaken Him, verse 13 says His compassion keeps His arms open for their return. In verse 16, Yahweh tells Israel to take drastic measures as they return to Him to prove it is not another time of false commitment (Hosea, Joel 2:12). Maybe their repentance will turn God’s wrath. Perhaps He will contain the disaster. Or maybe after He passes in judgment, He will leave a blessing behind and Israel will not die completely as a result of repentance.

b. Call from other Minor Prophets
Other prophets also call Israel to repentance. Hosea 3:5 says Israel will return and seek the Lord as well as David their king. This is another key part in repentance. Israel must accept the ultimate Davidic King, the Messiah, in order to fully return to the Lord. This verse also gives a “time period” when Israel will do this, which is during the “latter days”. This is during the end times before Christ returns, but after the church age (Acts 15-Peter states these are the “latter days”). Hosea 6:1 continues the theme of repentance as he describes the healing God will bring with it. God’s righteous judgment will tear Israel, but their repentance will bring their healing. = = = = = 7. Hope - Deuteronomy 30 =

a. Hope for survival
Israel’s repentance will bring about three hopes. The first is their hope for survival. As discussed above, Deuteronomy 30 promises Israel restoration from captivity if they repent. Their repentance will not cancel the captivity, but if God is going to bring them out, then He will also bring them through. Just as they return to God, He will return them to their land (Deuteronomy 30:5).

b. Hope for restoration
The second hope is a hope for restoration. If they repent, Yahweh will bring Israel out of captivity (vs. 3), reunite them (vs. 4), restore their land (vs. 5), restore their wealth and prosperity (vs. 9), and most importantly of all, He will restore their relationship (vs. 6-8). God declares He will circumcise Israel’s heart, which means He will set them apart for Himself. He will protect them from their enemies (vs. 7) as He gives His people a new will to obey Him in place of their spiritual stubbornness.

c. Hope for nations
The last result of Israel’s repentance is that their salvation grants the world hope for salvation. If God had forsaken His own people, and they had no hope of returning to Him, then how much less hope would the world have to be saved. But God did have compassion on His adulterous people as He offered them a way of escape from death through repentance. So now the world has hope of salvation if they return to the Lord.

**Conclusion**

In Deuteronomy, God made it clear if Israel wanted to be blessed, they must obey Him. If they choose to disobey, they will bring upon themselves judgment. Israel then chose to reject their God and now judgment is coming. Repentance is now the only way they have hope of surviving it. And it is the only way they can have hope of restoration after it is over.

= Additional Resources =

Boice, James Montgomery. //The Minor Prophets, An Expositional Commentary.// Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983. Busenitz, Irvin A. //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah.// Fearn, Ross-shire: Christian Focus Publications, 2003. Feinberg, Charles Lee. //Joel: The day of the Lord. Amos: the righteousness of God. Obadiah: doom upon Edom.// New York: American Board of Missions to the Jews, 1948. Finley, Thomas J. //Joel, Amos Obadiah.// Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1990. Meyers, Jacob M. //The Layman's Bible Commentary: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah.// Vol. 14. 25 vols. Richmond, Virginia: John Konx Press, 1959. Price, Walter K. //The Prophet Joel and the day of the Lord.// Chicago: Moody Press, 1976. Walton, Bryan Beyer and John. //Bible Study Commentary: Obadiah, Jonah.// Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988.

[i](Boice 1983)

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