Joel

Unlike the other prophets, Joel doesn't say who was King when he gave this message. According to www.gotquestions.org, (thank you Google!) it was between 835 and 800 BC, which would have put him with King Joash.

Joel starts off describing an "army" of locusts sent by God to destroy Judah for their sin. The images clearly present it as war and an attack. Joel then states that they cannot fight with regular weapons, but that the way to fight back, or defend themselves, is to turn back to God with broken hearts (2:13). God says: "I am merciful, kind and caring. I don't easily lose my temper, and I don't like to punish."

Joel does not acknowledge whether or not the the people turned back to God (we know they did not turn back permanently), but in 2:18, Joel says: "The Lord was deeply concerned about his land and had pity on his people." Then, in answer to their prayers, he made some promises. First, he promised to satisfy their needs (2:19); second, to defend their reputation (2:19); third, to rid them of the army of locusts that attacked and send them off to rot in the desert (2:20); fourth, he will restore what the locusts destroyed (2:25).

God then makes more promises that seem to apply to his people centuries later. I'm not a big prophesy buff, and in all my studies and learning in church, this next piece is applied to the church, beginning with Acts 2. Joel 2:28-29 -- "Later, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will even give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women." The passage goes on to speak of judgment on those who persecuted God's people and that he will protect and restore them.

At this point, I'm not as concerned about the intended audience for the outpouring and the judgment. Instead, I'm struck by a couple other things.

1. Sincere repentance is what God wants from us. Judah was not encouraged to invent a bug spray to get rid of the locusts. If they repented, God will take care of them.
2. God will accomplish what he promised. He promised to turn his people back to him, to restore the damage caused by his judgment, and to bless even more.
3. "I will even give my Spirit to my servants, both men and women." God envisioned a future where he would give his Spirit to both men and women. I guess he was depicting how freely he wanted to bless his people, because in Joel's day, it would have been just to men. Why is it that we limit God? On Israel Houghton's new CD, he sings a song entitled "Take the limits off." It is written as if God were singing it, asking us to take the limits off him that we put on him. We expect him to work one way, but he wants to do blow away our expectations.

My brother-in-law was stuck in Toronto on Friday evening due to his flights from the Ivory Coast getting re-routed all over the map. We went to the "Outback," ate huge steaks, and talked about what God was doing in his life and he encouraged me as well. Simply put, God wants to do so more much than what we expect him to do. He had two words more me, and I think it applies to the church as a whole - "Get Ready."

Bring it on.