A long time ago, a man named Edmund Burke said: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” This quote has pushed me to some uncomfortable places. It has filled me with resolve. It has reminded me of how Jesus selflessly laid down His life for me. And how Scripture says there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. It has made me courageous. It has brought me to tears of shame. And tears of gratitude for forgiveness and second chances. It has reminded me of historical heroes like William Wallace and Oskar Schindler, Harriet Tubman and Todd Beamer.
Today, we’re looking at the prophetic books of Joel and
Obadiah. These chapters are about Judgment and Turning to God for Deliverance. Let’s examine The Lord’s Word to Joel and Obadiah’s vision about Edom.
When we walk away from our time together today, I want
you to know When the day of the Lord
comes, God will restore His people and judge the nations.
Holy Father, open
our hearts and minds to the Scriptures today.
Pour Your truth – THE Truth – into us.
Help us grasp how these words apply to us. Let no one leave here unchanged. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Our text is divided into four (4) parts today:
1.The word of the Lord came to Joel about destruction
(Joel 1)
2.The day of the Lord is coming; return to the Lord your
God (Joel 2)
3.In those days, I will restore the fortunes of Judah and
put all nations on trial (Joel 3)
4.The vision of Obadiah about Edom: the day of the Lord
is near (Obadiah)
Now, let’s dive into the prophetic book of Joel.
Read Joel 1:1-7.
We know very little about Joel. In fact, the only biographical information we
have is his father’s name: Pethuel. The
name Joel was apparently quite common back in his day, and means “The Lord is
God” or “Yahweh is God.” Isn’t that
beautiful? Many scholars agree that the
book was written around 830 BC, during the reign of King Joash, and that it was
the first book of prophecy written. This
message was given to Judah about 250 years before the exile to Babylon.
In Joel chapter 1, we see a plague of locusts. Apparently, this was a literal plague of
locusts, and the worst the people had ever seen, and would ever see, according
to these verses. And this plague of
locusts was going to be used as a teaching opportunity for generations to come.
Locusts have no king, but march as an army, and when they
have plagued an area, it looks like the land has been scorched by fire! There are four different words used here:
devouring locust, swarming locust, young locust and destroying locust. The words used in your Bible translation may
be different. The devouring locust
“gnaws.” The swarming locust refers to
how the locusts travel in swarms. The
young locust “licks.” The destroying
locust “devours” or “consumes” to destruction.
This swarm has completely destroyed the grapes of the vineyard! Now, the swarm is compared to a human army…
These are destructive invaders. Keep in mind that this plague of locusts to
end all plagues of locusts is NOT God’s final judgment, but rather a warning to
the people of Judah! God is calling the
drunkard to wake up! The vines are
destroyed. The fig trees are stripped of
bark. Now Joel will provide some
instruction for the people of what they are to do:
Read Joel 1:8-14.
Grieve like a young woman mourning her husband. Let’s get our heads in the right place. This would have been intense mourning. This is the mourning of a woman still in the
honeymoon phase of marriage!
Grieve like a priest whose offerings have been cut
off! This would have been intense,
too. The priests ate from those
offerings. Plus, this would have meant
there was no worship happening. The
priests would have no purpose. There was
no olive oil, no grapes, no grain! The
entire economy is affected! Even the
land mourns!
Grieve like a farmer whose crops are destroyed. Declare a community fast. Call together a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of
the land at the house of God and cry out to the Lord! The Lord is calling for His own army to be
built!
Read Joel 1:15-20.
In these final five verses, we get a prelude to the Day
of the Lord. It is a day of
destruction. The picture of locusts were
just a warning. Now, referring back to
the locust plague with the Day of the Lord in mind, Joel speaks of joy and
gladness being cut off. The seed is
rotted and there are no crops. Creation
groans. Animals suffer and cry out. This is not going to be at all pleasant.
This leads us to our first principle:
Principle 1: Destruction will lead to mourning.
How might we apply this to our lives?
What areas of your
life or ministry feel decimated, and how are you working with the Lord to bring
life back to those places?
Where have you become
complacent in life, work, or ministry?
How will you pursue Christ to recapture the energy and enthusiasm you
had when you first gave your heart to Jesus?
Do you still have
an intensely joyful and intimate relationship with Jesus? How will you keep that fire alive? If the “honeymoon is over,” how will you
rekindle that fire?
Now let’s take a closer look at The Day of the Lord.
Read Joel 2:1-11.
The Day of the Lord.
This is one of the main themes of Joel’s prophecy. The Day of the Lord begins with the Great
Tribulation. It includes the Millennial
(1000 year) Reign of Christ. It
concludes when that Millennial Reign ends and Christ establishes His eternal
kingdom on earth.
Reading these verses and J. Vernon McGee’s Thru The Bible
Commentary makes me want to curl up in an overstuffed chair and do some
interesting studies on the number of trumpets blown to get the Israelite
community moving under Moses’ leadership in comparison with the trumpets blown
when the walls of Jericho fell in comparison with the trumpet judgments of
Revelation. Maybe that’s something that
interests you…
Another study I’m tempted to rabbit-trail into is the
sound of Jesus’ voice. It’s been
described in Scripture as the sound of a trumpet, and as rushing waters, and as
the knock upon a door. Again, maybe that
interests you…
But let us stay on task, here. The Day of the Lord definitely leads us to
some interesting contemplations. It is
called a day of spreading darkness. A
day of judgment by fire that consumes everything before it. They appear like war horses. They are like a mighty army. Nations are horrified. This army is unstoppable.
This makes me want to study the four waves of locusts
from chapter one in comparison to the four horsemen of the apocalypse from
Revelation! Another rabbit trail for you
to follow, perhaps?
The Lord leads His army.
His voice is before His army.
Those who obey Him are powerful.
Those who don’t obey can’t endure.
Read Joel 2:12-27.
The Lord’s voice is calling out for repentance. Turn to Me with all your heart. Repent.
Believe. This was meant to be a
change in heart. And God specifies WHY
His people should have that change in heart:
because HE is gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in
love and HE relents in sending calamity!
There is no better reason I can think of to change.
When we repent, we are no longer under God’s judgment,
but under the blood of Jesus Christ. We
are hidden with Christ in God. Let that
soak in for a moment.
As a Christian, even though life may be difficult at
times, times when God is very obviously present, when He reveals Himself in His
Word, when He shows you which path to take – and you KNOW it’s HIM – those moments
make the difficult times TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Wouldn’t you agree?
Everyone is to assemble!
EVERYONE! No excuses. God wants to extend mercy. He doesn’t want to judge. He wants no one to perish. He wants to bless. And He WILL bless…here on earth and in
heaven.
Read Joel 2:28-32.
Joel 2:28-29 is God’s promise to pour out His spirit on
all people in the end times. In Acts 2,
we see the Holy Spirit poured out upon believers in Christ. Though Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32 in Acts
2:16-21, He doesn’t specify that Pentecost was the fulfillment of these verses. The Spirit of God is poured out every time someone
trusts in Christ for salvation and the Holy Spirit indwells that person. But there will be another outpouring of the
Holy Spirit like at Pentecost “After this” (Joel 2:28). The future outpouring of God’s Spirit will be
on ALL flesh. Ooh, I just got
goosebumps!
Joel also mentions signs and wonders that are coming to
mark the approaching of the great and terrible Day of the Lord. Signs in the heavens, and on earth, blood,
fire, smoke, the sun darkened, the moon turning to blood.
Which leads to our second principle:
Principle 2: The
Lord’s care for His people is worthy of rejoicing and praise.
How might we apply this to our lives?
Joel 2 pictures an
army going into battle. Soldiers wear
armor. Looking at the Armor of God in
Galatians 6:1-18, which pieces of the armor do you need to strengthen, and how
might you do that?
Where do you need
to obey God in sharing the Gospel message?
Now let’s move along to examine the Lord’s judgment of
the nations and His blessings to Judah.
Read Joel 3:1-21.
Joel 3 reveals God’s judgment of the Gentiles and His
blessings upon Zion. Ultimately, this
book is about how wickedness brings judgment.
But God desires repentance and obedience, so He puts warnings in the
Scriptures for us! God is gracious and
compassionate and may relent in sending judgment and send blessing instead. That’s what He’s done for every person who
places faith in Christ for salvation.
There will be judgment.
For cruelty against people. For
those who have gone past the point of no return. For those who do not repent and believe in
Jesus Christ for salvation from sin.
And here is our third principle:
Principle 3: The
Lord will judge and restore.
How might we apply this to our lives?
Have you put your
faith in Christ for salvation from sin?
If not, what is stopping you?
How are you
preparing for the Lord’s return?
Will you receive
the believer’s judgment that determines rewards, or the judgment of the
unbeliever that determines where you will spend eternity?
Now, let’s read Obadiah’s prophecy.
Read Obadiah 1-21.
The name Obadiah means “worshiper of Yahweh” of “servant
of Jehovah”. Scholars believe this book
was written around 840 BC during a Philistine/Arab invasion or in 586 BC during
the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem.
Verses 1-16 speak of the destruction of Edom. Verses 17-21 speak of Zion’s
deliverance. God loves His people, cares
for them and provides for them. And He
will judge those who oppose them.
Obadiah’s vision is from God. We know nothing about Obadiah. Not even his father’s name, like we had from
Joel. Obadiah goes straight to God’s
message about Edom. God is going to
bring Edom down.
Since this prophecy to bring Edom down is already
fulfilled, and the Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two
edged sword, what does this tiny book have of value for us today? Here’s a question you might consider: How
might we be doing the same things Edom did in our day? We can look at the struggle between Jacob and
Esau (aka Israel and Edom) in Rebekah’s womb as a metaphor for the struggle
between the two natures in every Christian - the flesh and the Spirit. How might we look at this book through that
lens?
The sin that brought Edom down is the same sin that
brings many of us down today: pride.
This sin is bad news! Pride keeps
us from admitting we have a problem and we need help. Pride makes us feel invincible. Pride elevates us in our own eyes. God hates pride (Proverbs 6:16). God opposes the proud (James 4:6). Pride was Satan’s sin (Isaiah 14:13-14). And
1 John 2:16 says pride doesn’t come from the Father, but from the world. Scripture has much to say about pride. Check it out sometime.
How many of us are running our lives as if we are
God? How many of us are living without
God? This is absolute worldliness. This prideful worldliness led to Edom’s
complete destruction because of their crime against their brother.
Pride led Edom to stand and watch (and actually
participate in the violence) (v. 11) as Jacob was invaded and destroyed (v.
10). Edom gloated and rejoiced over
Jacob’s misfortune (v. 12). They looted
(v. 13), and utterly betrayed Israel by revealing their hiding places in Edom
to the invading Babylonians (v. 14).
God will judge sin.
God will bless His people. God is
currently blessing His people.
This brings us to our final principle:
Principle 4: The
Lord will judge all sins.
Which of Edom’s
sins do you find yourself committing?
How might you stop? Which of
Edom’s sins do you have a problem forgiving?
What action can you take right now to forgive?
If you are a
believer in Jesus Christ for salvation, which of the two natures (flesh or
Spirit) is more evident in your life?
What change will
you make today to treat others the way you want to be treated?
There is a balance between the judgment of mankind and the
blessings God will bestow upon His people.
This study has made me examine my thoughts on how I treat others, on my
motives, and on the Second Coming of Jesus.
It has made me more understanding of God’s desire to see no man perish. It has reminded me that “All that is
necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” And it has led me to ask myself which nature
I want to be led by. Will you stand by
and watch evil triumph?
Let’s pray.
Holy Father, thank You
for the Scriptures. May we treasure our
time in them. May we hunger to make time
to hear You speak to us through them.
Change us with every encounter with them. In Christ’s majestic name. Amen.
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