Daily Blast - Minor Prophets: Day 8

April 20, 2020 Joe King

Scripture

Then you will know that I am among my people Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. Never again will my people be disgraced. 28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. 30 And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible[b] day of the Lord arrives. 32 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the Lord has said. These will be among the survivors whom the Lord has called.

Joel 2:27-32 (NLT)

Reflection

In Joel, one of the things that stands out is how things get mirrored. In today's passage, in verse 27, we see that God is saying that He will be with His people. This is a great promise that comes with the real surrender when we truly turn our hearts to God. This is what Joel was saying to the Israelites at this time. He was looking for them to truly turn to God and ask for forgiveness so when they did they would have a much greater knowledge of how much God loved them.

After this Joel expands even further. In verse 28, he says God will pour out His Spirit on all people. All people, that means everyone. As long as people call upon the name of the Lord, God’s Spirit is willing to move in them. And if they are willing to turn away from their sin as they ask for forgiveness they have the greatest gift of all.

What an amazing promise for all people. The amazing thing is we have the amazing promise still today.

In verse 31, we are reminded about the coming day of the Lord of which Joel has spoken about. Before it comes, Joel describes a scary time, saying the sun will become dark and the moon will become red. To us these days these things may not sound scary or even cross our minds, but to the culture of the time it would have been a big deal and this would have been something which would have greatly scared them. However, in verse 32, Joel says “But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”, and that is another promise we have for today.

Challenge

In verse 28 it says that “sons and daughters will prophesy”. This should be something that encourages us as God wants to speak to you and prophesy through you to others. Today’s challenge is to pray and ask God to give you listening ears so that you can prophesy to your friends, your family or whoever God is pointing you towards.