Skip to main content

338. The Promise Realized At Pentecost

Joel 2:12-32,
Key Verse:  Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity.”
Joel 2:13

The reason that I chose to put this passage here is mostly because of Peter’s reference to it, as we will see later.  Scholars do not agree on exactly when Joel was written so it is unclear exactly what calamity, or plague of locusts Joel is referring to earlier in his book.  That is what makes the application of this passage appropriate at this time in the life of Christ.

True, in matter of fact, Joel is referring to the Lord’s restoration after a devastating plague of locusts has destroyed the land. Joel explains, earlier, that the locusts are a punishment from God because the people have wandered away from Him and as a result have lived lives of disobedience. In other words, God has once again kept His promises made in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. He has been faithful to His Word, to punish when His people disobey.

Now, throughout the life of Jesus, the Jewish people have lived under the invasion of not locusts, but another type of army, a Roman one, but many of the results of living under Roman oppression are similar to the damage an army of locusts can achieve. Crops are seized to feed hungry soldiers.  Income is heavily taxed, leaving most of the citizens in poverty.  Only the leadership, guilty of compromise, truly enjoy a life of ease and comfort.  As part of the compromise, however, the leaders rob the people of life itself under the guise of religious rules which are equally oppressive. In the end, the most blatant disobedience is shown by leading the country to murder innocence for selfish reasons.

Yet, even now, those who rend their hearts and repent of their wrong are being offered the blessing of forgiveness and restoration.  “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you, never again will My people be shamed.”  (Joel 2:25-26)

When Peter refers to this passage, he will expound upon how the people will see this promise fulfilled right there among them as they are gathered to celebrate the Pentecost harvest festival at the temple. God is going to do an amazing work of restoration that will fill those who receive it with something that can never be taken away. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, in John 4, He had said about this gift, “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (John 4:14B) 

A restoration, a filling is about to occur outside of everyone’s expectations, outside of their comfort zone where God does His best work. “And afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”  (Joel 2:28-29)  Come quickly Lord Jesus.


Hymn: “Gracious SpiritDwell With Me”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

258. "Remember, Always Remember!"

Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Little Light of Mine

Scripture: Psalm 130 Listen Link: www.lcepc.org then look for “sermons” tab. It’s the first Sunday of Advent. Today we lit one candle and heard the passage, in Isaiah 9, about the great light! We have heard that the great light is the child born to us on Christmas day. It is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Christmas is a day we will truly celebrate as we have for years and years, and our ancestors before us for centuries. Christmas is coming! Advent means coming! It is good to spend the next few weeks reflecting on all that it means for us. We begin from the depths of darkness. The world is still suffering the effects of sin. We are still suffering the effects of a world broken by sin. And not just the consequences of our own sins. According to Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” The fires in California, the floods and storms on the East coast, and all the other natural disasters we hear ab...
Post a Comment
Read more

August 13 What Is Fitting

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—how much less for a slave to rule over princes! ~Proverbs 19:10   On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ~Acts 12:21-23  Wow! Well, what in the world can there be to benefit us here? First of all, perhaps we should review the first Biblical definition of a fool, penned by no other than Solomon’s Father, David himself. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1) It is not fitting for the fool to live the blessed life. Why should they when they deny from whom all blessings flow?  King Herod was a fool. Now, just to be clear, this is not the Herod who ruled at Jesus’ birth and ordered the slaughter of the male children in Bethlehem. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more