[JOE:1:1-20]; [JOE:2:1-32]; [JOE:3:1-21].
Lesson 322 - Senior
Memory Verse
"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" (Joel 2:13).
Cross References
I The Word of the Lord Concerning Israel and the Gentiles
1. Israel is given a poignant warning of the coming dispersion and the consequent desolation of their land, [JOE:1:1-12]; [DEU:4:25-28]; [LEV:26:14-39]; [PS:44:9-16]; [EZE:6:1-7], [EZE:6:11-14]; [EZE:36:16-20]. 2. A call to repentance is given, [JOE:1:13-14]; [DEU:4:29-31]; [LEV:26:4-42]. 3. The Day of the Lord, with the fury of its terrible judgments, is prophesied, [JOE:1:15-20]; [JOE:2:1-11]; [EZE:38:1-23]; [EZE:39:1-29]; [REV:9:1-21]; [REV:16:13-14]; [REV:19:11-21]. 4. Another call to sincere repentance is given, [JOE:2:12-17]; [ISA:1:1-20]. 5. A promise of help is given to the nation, conditioned on their repentance, [JOE:2:18-20]; [EZE:6:8-10]; [EZE:36:28-38]. 6. Great spiritual blessings will be poured out, as well as temporal prosperity given, in the time of Israel's restoration, [JOE:2:21-32]; [EZE:36:21-27]; [EZE:37:1-28]; [JER:31:1-40]; [ACT:2:1-21]. 7. The last great judgment of the unsaved is prophesied, [JOE:3:1-21]; [REV:20:7-15]; [REV:21:8].Notes
Very little is known about the Prophet Joel, other than that he was the son of Pethuel and that he lived in a period about 800 years before Christ. We can see from his writings that he was a man of God, and that he had been given a sweeping insight into God's plan for Israel. How significant that this outstanding prophet of God was named Joel, for the meaning of his name is Jehovah is God! The theme of his prophecy is a call to repentance and a warning of the consequences if that call is unheeded.The Chosen Nation
When the nation, Israel, had its beginning in the person of Abraham, a covenant was made that was far-reaching in its blessings and benefits. All nations of the world were to be blessed through the covenant. Because Abraham believed God, a son was given him. A nation came from this son of promise; and in the course of time God protected, schooled, and disciplined them, finally bringing them into the land of promise. While en route there, Moses warned them of the consequences of disobedience to the commands of God and told them of the blessings that would follow those who obeyed God's commands. But Israel soon forgot God and followed their innate desire to be like the nations around them. After years of patient dealing with the Israelites, only to see them lapse again and again into idolatry, God finally sent them into captivity. This captivity was a foretaste, it might be said, of the dispersion that was prophesied as coming upon them if they rejected the Word of God. In their captivity they cried to the Lord and He heard them, delivered them, and returned them to their own land. The Temple was rebuilt; and even though its glory did not compare with the glory of the former building, still it was the House of God and the worship of God was carried out there. The nation passed through a period of uncertainty and was finally conquered by the Romans. But the nation made their infamous rejection of God's mercy complete when they rejected and crucified Christ, their Messiah. They asked that His Blood be upon them and their children; and we can see that God not only gave them their request but also brought upon them the accumulated judgments for all the past rejections of His messages. Their nation was destroyed. Their cities and Temple were torn down. They were persecuted and scattered over the entire world. They were considered outcast in the world, despised and hated by the world. But they retained their identity and individuality and have prospered, in some ways, above other peoples of the world. The Jews have had, as a people, the greatest of wealth, and, at the same time, the greatest and most abject poverty. As a nation, they are worshipers of God in a nominal sense only, having denied the One who alone can give access to God. But God is not through with them, for He still remembers His covenant with their father, Abraham.The Warnings by the Prophets
Israel has suffered greatly for their rejection of God's Son and for their rebellion against the Word of God. But they cannot say that they did not know that these judgments would be sent to them. The Holy Spirit has preserved volumes of Old Testament warnings on the subject. And no doubt many more were given by the prophets than have been preserved for us. The warning theme runs through all Scripture. Over and over it is stated that if Israel would obey, they would be blessed; and if they disobeyed, they would suffer. The Prophet Joel is one of those whom God used to bring this great and vital message. No doubt Joel was a preacher of righteousness, and instructor in the ways of holiness and godliness, and a minister in the usually accepted sense of the word for most of his life. But the Holy Spirit has chosen to preserve only this single prophecy by Joel concerning Israel and the Gentiles. In itself it is a tremendous prophecy, three chapters that include a sweep of time from Israel's backslidings to the Great White Throne Judgment. Eloquent and masterful in its presentation, this prophecy deserves the best of our attention so that we can receive its message and not be like the people whom God desired to bless but whom He had to curse.The Scope of the Prophecy
The first part of the prophecy deals with the spiritual backslidings of the Israelites and their resulting dispersion into the whole world. Interspersed with these warnings are calls to repentance and to sincerity of worship that are equal to those found anywhere in the Bible. "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," is one of the pleas direct from the heart of God to His people. Israel had a form of worship but it was not sincere, for they were speaking the name of God with their lips while they departed from Him in their hearts. Outward worship is of no value unless the heart is turned toward God. Fasting, in itself, is valueless unless a sincerity of prayer and intercession, acceptable to God, accompanies it. The doing of penance-like acts in any form to gain the favour of God, while the individual continues in sin and iniquity, will accomplish nothing but securing the guarantee that the wrath of God will be poured on the supposed penitent. A form of godliness that denies the power of God will never admit its holder into Heaven. We might rend our garments in a show of repentance and still have hearts that are far from contrition. The message of the prophet was that they should put away their empty forms, ceremonies, displays of piety, and all such things that they had acquired by practice and tradition, and turn to God in sincere repentance if they wanted to avert the terrible catastrophe that was coming upon them. Israel did not hear the words of Joel, as far as making any lasting change is concerned. God's Word came to pass and they were scattered over the entire world. But God has not forsaken Israel, whom He foreknew and whom He loved; He is dealing with them again. The work that Israel should have done has been undertaken by others who have answered God's call and who have taken the responsibility of bringing to the world -" including the scattered Jews -" the news of the Messiah who came to save men from their sins. Individuals among the Jews have answered the call, but the nation remains in unbelief. Their rejection of the Christ is not only that which is in the past; for in the days of the Great Tribulation, before the full fury of that awful time breaks upon them, they will make a covenant and an alliance with the Antichrist -" the enemy of Christ. Shortly after, the Antichrist will break the covenant and will turn all his supernatural fury upon the Jews. This will be known as the time of Jacob's trouble. They will suffer as they have never suffered before, and in their suffering they will cry out to God for deliverance. It is at this time of sincere application to God for help that great events will be set in motion. The Church of Christ will not be on earth at this time. They will be with Christ around the Throne of God, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. There will be no one to whom the Jews can turn for consolation but to God. There will be no evangelising Gentiles who can tell them of the Christ who came, whom they rejected. A great majority of the Jews will be killed, but there will be a remnant that will survive who will cry out for the Messiah, to come and deliver them. (A preview, on a somewhat smaller scale, of this was seen in the attitude that many of the Jews took during their terrible persecution during the days of World War II. Many of them, as they were being led to various places of execution, cried out for the Messiah, for deliverance. How much more will this take place when the full fury of the time of Jacob's trouble is felt by them!) The Messiah will come; and at His coming, when the Jews turn from unbelief to the true worship of Him whom they once rejected, the Israelite nation will be born in a day. Whatever form of government they have at that time will be superseded by that government which God has ordained as the proper one for His chosen people. That government will have Christ as its Head. This coming of Christ is known as His Revelation. Israel now has a civil form of government, but we can see that that is not the true form of government that God has ordained for them. Naturally, the true government cannot be set up until the King is here to head it, and His coming will not take place until the Jews are willing to accept Him as their Christ. And as we have seen, it will take terrible suffering to bring the Jews to that place of submission to the plan of God. Tremendous things are prophesied in this passage of Scripture that we have under consideration and in others that bear upon the subject. We are told of the events in that short period of time between the call of Israel for their Messiah and the coming of the Just One. When Christ comes to the earth, He will come with ten thousands of His saints -" the armies of Heaven -" and will fight with the armies of this earth and overcome them. He will then set up a Kingdom of righteousness, and will rule for a thousand years on this earth. This thousand-year period of time is the Millennial Reign of Christ. There is a period referred to as the Day of the Lord, that is climaxed by Christ's coming at His Revelation, when He will come to bring terrible judgment upon those who oppose Him and who oppress His chosen people. Following this Day of the Lord, and during the thousand-year reign of Christ, Israel will be Christ's people by virtue of their own choice; and will be His people not only because of the promise that God made to Abraham, but because they will look on Him whom they have pierced and will repent of their sins and will be saved.Events Surrounding the Day of the Lord
As we look at the events of today it is often difficult to see them through the eyes of eternity, and our perspective is incorrect because of the seeming importance of the things which are now taking place. In order correctly to understand prophecy we must separate ourselves from an exclusive scrutiny of the present events and make a fair comparison of them with the events of the past and those that are to come in the future. The founding of Christ's Kingdom is actually a result of His first coming, but Christ will not come as King, in His Revelation, until He comes in the Rapture. We know also that the founding of the actual and Scriptural Kingdom of Israel, with Christ at its head, is connected with the founding of that civil government which has already taken place, and with the return of the Jews to their homeland that is also still taking place. And the great events of deliverance that take place in the Day of the Lord will not take place until the Jews cry out to God for deliverance. And they will not make that appeal until they have been oppressed and persecuted in their homeland, after their return there in unbelief. As sweeping as these coming events are, nevertheless, they can all take place in a surprisingly short space of time. No thousand-year period is needed for their consummation, neither is a century required for their fulfilment. In fact, Scripture places them all within a period of days, instead of a stated period of years or decades. But the true saints of God will be ready for the Rapture that can take place at any time prior to the setting up of the Antichrist on his throne of power.The Latter Rain
There is much to take place in the period of time prior to the consummation of all things. Many of these events have already taken place and some are yet to be fulfilled. But all these events are set in motion or rather hinge upon a great event -" an event that is great in spiritual importance. This event has escaped the attention of the greater part of the religious world, strangely enough. Many who are supposed to be followers of Christ have not been made aware of the importance of this great dispensational signpost. This great event, upon which so much hinges or depends, is the outpouring of the Latter Rain. There was, as prophesied by Joel and interpreted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost, an early rain of the Spirit of God, in which the members of the early Church were baptized with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit, through Peter, left no room for doubt in any mind as to the meaning of Joel's prophecy concerning this event. He said: "It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy" [ACT:2:17-18]). And there need be no doubt regarding the rest of the prophecy concerning this spiritual outpouring, for Peter said that this same Power would be given to all whom God would call, of every time and in every place of the world. During the Dark Ages, when the light of the Gospel was all but extinguished in the world, there was a recession of this particular work of the Holy Spirit. It was not until the twentieth century that the Holy Spirit was manifested again in this same way and in the same magnitude. Martin Luther brought the doctrine of justification by faith to the world again after that experience had been lost sight of by the greater part of so-called Christendom, and had been received only by scattered individuals during the Dark Ages. John and Charles Wesley, following on in the light that was manifest in their day, sought for more of God, and through them the doctrine of entire sanctification was again brought to the world. And during a time of great spiritual hunger, in the months preceding April 9, 1906, God prepared a little group of people in the city of Los Angeles, California, to receive the third great Christian experience; viz, the baptism of the Holy Ghost. As we read the prophecy of Joel, we can unmistakably see that this outpouring of the Latter Rain was reserved for the time of the end, a time preceding and closely connected with the great Day of the Lord. That this great enduement of spiritual power was to be given to the Gentiles, as well as to the Jews, is clear from the words of Peter on the Day of Pentecost. But that it was not to be restricted to the Gentiles and refused to the Jews is also very clear from that passage as well as from the whole tenor of Scripture. Ezekiel wrote, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them" [EZE:36:25-27]). The time of this great spiritual transaction, that is of particular interest and benefit to the Jews, is definitely stated as being the time of the restoration of the Jews " when Christ is sanctified in the Jews before the eyes of the heathen [EZE:36:23]). This can be no other time than the Day of the Lord! At no other previous time will the Jews recognise Christ as their Lord and Saviour and accept God as their God in true worship. What spiritual works are to be done for them at this time? might be asked. For the answer to that question let us consider the above-quoted passage of Scripture. "Clean water" is to be sprinkled upon the Jews, and they will be delivered from their filthiness and from their idolatry. That could be nothing but the experience of justification and pardon of their sins. The words of Scripture are deliberately chosen, and in this case it is clear, from the use of the word also, that after the Jews are pardoned they are to receive another experience. In this second experience their heart is changed and their inward spirit is made new. This, too, is in keeping with other parts of Scripture, for God's plan is that those who are saved from their sin should go on to seek for and receive the second definite work of grace " entire sanctification. The Jews, then, are to be sanctified following their reconciliation to God. But a full restoration to spiritual favour would not be full unless they received all the spiritual blessings God has to give to all who come to Him. So, as we read the rest of the quoted passage, we see that they, too, are to be baptised with the Holy Ghost the same as we who are living in the time of the Latter Rain. God said: "And I will put my spirit within you." We wish to call attention to the usage of the two words we have set in bold-faced type. The word and clearly shows that this is another experience, separate from the first two, in the same manner as the word also proves that their receiving of entire sanctification is distinct and separate from the experience of justification, or pardon of their sins. The third experience is the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire! Now the word within is also very significant, for when Jesus gave promise of the coming of the Holy Ghost He said, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; . . . he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" [JHN:14:16-17]). Remember also that these words were spoken by Christ to the Jews, and that it was not until after the Day of Pentecost that they were understood as applying to the Gentiles! Here, in the Old Testament, we see the language of the New, the promises of the New, and the spiritual blessings of the New foretold. These blessings are not reserved for a few but are extended to all, "to the Jews first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God" [ROM:2:10];[ROM:2:11]).