Daily Blast - Minor Prophets: Day 5
Scripture
“Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty”
Reflection
Joel is an interesting prophet as there is no explicit date indicating when he wrote or who specifically he was writing to.
However, Joel quotes or alludes to lots of other prophets in his writing, so we know he was alive around the time of Israel’s exile in Babylon. His book is made up of prophetic poems that call God’s people, Israel, to repent of their sins and turn back to God, because judgement is coming.
So Chapter 1 is looking back to an event when a plague of locusts came and destroyed the crops and devastated the land of Israel. This was similar to the plague of locusts God sent on Egypt before Moses led God’s people out of captivity in Egypt. He describes a situation where the crops are ruined and famine was everywhere. He says “the joy of mankind has withered away”. Things are desperate, so Joel calls on the leaders of the people to repent and lead the people in genuine repentance and prayer so that their circumstances might change.
In Chapter 2, Joel looks forward to a coming judgement. He describes an imminent disaster coming to Jerusalem. The imagery he uses conjures up a picture of a heavenly army crushing all that stand in its way. Again, Joel calls on the people to repent and turn back to God to avoid this coming judgement. He calls on the leaders to pray for the people so this disaster may be averted. He tells them “to rend (to tear) their hearts, not their garments”. This means that God is asking for a change of heart, not just a superficial “I’m sorry, God,” it must be genuine for God to act.
Joel then explains that God’s mercy and love are more powerful than his anger. The prophet leads the people to repent, they turn back to God in obedience to God’s commands.
This reminds us that in the New Testament it says “It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance”.
Joel reminds us that repentance, turning back to God by saying sorry, is still important for us today. Jesus told His disciples “If you love me you will obey my commands” (John 14:15)
Challenge
Please go and look up 1 John 1:9 and pray that this may be our way of living and turning back to God.
Pray – Please God forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness because of what Jesus did for us. Thank you, Lord, that Jesus died on the cross so we might be forgiven.