Responding to Joel's Warning Now

For today's sermon, I'd like to spend the majority of our time in one of the shortest books of the Old Testament. It's just three chapters long, and yet there's a lot packed into those three chapters. There's a great natural disaster. There's judgment. There's the day of the Lord. And there's the establishment of the kingdom of God, all prophesied and walked through in three chapters of the book of the prophecy of Joel.

Now, you know, over the years from time to time, I've come in and out of the book of Joel and have had a message that you can hardly give one on the day of the Lord that doesn't take you through Joel. But today, rather than just sort of coming and going, I'd like us to use the record of Joel as the guide to walk us through the significance of this day.

And Joel provides a pretty remarkable perspective. Of course, it was written long ago and quite a time before John later had the vision and the revelation that was recorded for us. And Joel's prophecy doesn't just tell us what's going to happen. You know, it's important to know what's going to happen, but it moves beyond that even to tell us why it's going to happen and indeed how we should respond. You know, what should we do with these words? Because that's a huge significance of prophecy.

Prophecy doesn't exist just to say, here, heads up, you know, headline of the future. That is it in part, but prophecy is really intended to impact our life today, create change today as we read what it is that God will do. What is His plan and purpose?

How does it impact me? It should bring us all back around to evaluating our life now and allowing it to impact us. Again, very much as Mr. Oliver spoke to in the first message. And so we're going to spend our time primarily in the Book of Joel today. I would say if you have a marker to keep it there because we'll go back and forth to other places, but we'll continually come back to the Book of Joel.

And the title of the sermon is Responding to Joel's Warning Now. Responding to Joel's Warning Now. Indeed, the emphasis behind the message is a call, is a trumpet call, is a warning. So as we go through the Book today, I'd like to keep in mind two questions, really, at the back of our mind. And that is, what does the Day of the Lord have to do with me? You know, is this just kind of a future event, or does it have something to do with me today?

And also, how will I respond to its warning today? Just consider those things as we walk today through the Book of Joel. Let's begin in Joel chapter 1. I guess this might be modeled a little more after a Bible study, but again, I think the emphasis for this day is very relevant. We go to Joel chapter 1 and begin in verse 1.

I would title this section, The Wake-Up Call. The Wake-Up Call. And in Joel 1, verse 1, it says, The Word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. You know, that's about all we know about Joel. Not a whole lot. Not a lot about who this man was or his history. We do know that he is a prophet called of God, given a message to deliver to the people of God. The name Joel or Jo-el means Yahweh is God. And he wrote at a specific time in a specific place when Israel and Judah still dwelled in the land.

The time before the Assyrians came and removed Israel to the north and the Babylonians hauled out Judah to the south. They're still in the land, but it's a perilous time and a precarious time. You can't say those two words together, but it's a time where, you know, there's a lot riding on the line. Will they be faithful and respond or will they continue to go their own way? Written around 800 BC is the time frame here. Verse 2, it says, Hear this, you elders, and give ear all you inhabitants of the land. It says, Has anything like this happened in your days or even in the days of your fathers? They say, tell your children about it.

Let your children tell their children and their children another generation. And so something has happened in the land of Israel. You know, something so dramatic that it has changed life, just totally turned things upside down. Life, as usual, has been interrupted. And it's so dramatic that the message is, don't forget. And more than that, pass it on. Pass it on to the next generation. You know, we have things in life that we'd kind of like to forget, maybe.

In my mind, I was thinking, I kind of like to forget the COVID years. You know, let's just kind of set that on the shelf and move on. But there's things in life that you can't necessarily just walk away from and forget, either. Mr. Oliver mentioned 9-11. In fact, yesterday was the 25th anniversary, and Darla and I got up in the morning and turned on the news and having some coffee, and what were they doing? You know, there was the ceremony, there was rehearsal, you know, names were being read, stories were being told.

Literally another generation. My wife was pregnant with our daughter when 9-11 happened. Another generation growing up now, being told about that day. Because for our country, it was a day that was just so dramatic. Nothing else like it had happened. And as Mr. Oliver said, it changed things suddenly. So this is what happens in the nation of Israel and Judah, and they say, pass this on, don't forget, remember the lessons.

Verse 4 tells us what this was. It says, With the chewing locust left, the swarming locust is eaten. With the swarming locust left, the crawling locust is eaten. And with the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. And so there was a locust plague that swept through the land. And not just a small infestation, literally a swarm that came and devoured everything. Everything to the scale that it changed life as they knew it.

Every blade of grass was devoured, every leaf on the tree, every bit of the crop in the field. I've never been through a locust plague. I've seen grasshoppers on some summers that I thought it's almost like a plague, but it's really nothing compared. I grew up reading The Little House on the Prairie books, and we read those to our children, and it seems in one of the books she's describing what was a major locust plague in this country.

And as I recall the story, the fact was you couldn't even sleep because you could hear them chewing, and the noise was so loud. So this comes in and just decimates the land, leaves virtually nothing.

And the fallout of that destruction is felt by the whole nation. And so as we continue on, we notice that the locust plague has become now, is going to be a type. It's going to be a forerunner of a warning of something greater yet to come.

If we go to verse 5 then, the warning begins. Joel says, Awake! Awake, you drunkards and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth. You know, he says, Wake up! Be awake! Pay attention! You know, snap to attention here, because something dramatic has happened. And you know, even if you're a drunkard and the wine is cut off and eventually it's gone, you're going to sober up. You're going to have to wake up and look around and consider, What is it that I need to learn here?

Joel's addressing a people who have become comfortable and accustomed to abundance. You know, Israel at the time in Judah are doing okay. They're living life. They're enjoying the good things that they had, probably assuming that tomorrow would be just like today. Eat, drink, and be merry, right, as we've already heard. And it sounds a lot like the modern tribes of Israel today. It sounds much like our country today as well, where life is good, life is prosperous, and yet it can kind of lull you into a sense of complacency. But suddenly, everything changes. The food is gone, the crops are gone, the wine is gone, and the land is decimated. And Joel says, Wake up out of your stupor.

Verse 6, it says, For a nation has come up against my land, strong and without number. His teeth are like the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He says, He has laid waste my vine and ruined my fig tree. He has stripped it bare and thrown it away. His branches are made white. Of course, God's message threw the prophet to the nation. So there seems to be something more being portrayed here than simply a locust plague. And as we continue to walk through Joel, we'll see that this imagery begins to take on the appearance of an evading army. You know, an army that just kind of comes in and overruns everything. A little farther ahead, in Joel 2, verse 25, God refers to this locust army as, My great army, which I sent among you. And so this is actually judgment. This plague was a judgment from God, and the point was to wake them up, to snap them to attention and hopefully bring about change. And so there seems that there's multiple facets of fulfillment throughout the book of Joel. Okay, in one sense, it's in the immediate, here's the plague, will you turn to God? But as it extends out even beyond that, for a time, we know the Assyrians came in from the north, and they devastated Israel, hauled the people off in the captivity. And not long after that, just a number of generations, then the Babylonians came in as well, and hauled the people out of the land, and killing, and burning, and destroying Jerusalem and the surrounding area. So here we have a warning. God uses the locust plague as a warning of judgment upon the nation, which would be fulfilled not only in the short term, but ultimately, if you have a broad horizon, it extends on into the end of the age, in the coming of the day of the Lord. And again, the message from Joel is, wake up. Wake up.

Verse 8 says, lament like a virgin, girded with sackcloth, for the husband of her youth. He says, you know, you're to mourn a lament like a betrothed woman, whose husband died before the event, for the wedding, and you're grieving the loss. This is what the nation was supposed to do, as they considered just how far they had strayed from God.

Verse 9, he says, the grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, who minister to the Lord. They can't even do their job at the house of God. The sacrifices and the grain offerings are no more. Verse 10, the field is wasted, the land mourns, for the grain is ruined, and the new wine is dried up, and the oil fails.

He says, be ashamed, you farmers. We say, be dismayed. Wail, you vine-dressers, for the wheat and the barley, because of the harvest of the field has perished. The vine has dried up, and the fig tree is withered. The pomegranate tree and the palm tree also, and the apple tree. All the trees of the field are withered. Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.

You know, not a very bright picture. Pretty bleak, in fact. Pretty down. And yet again, understand, something has happened here, then, that is sort of like the end of the world in some ways, to the people in that moment. But the lesson is playing forward. The question is, what will those people do? And for us, the question is, indeed, in light of the warning, we'll see, what will we do?

Again, this is a real devastating plague, meant to get their attention as a nation, and yet it contains that powerful lesson for us all. Abundance can lead to spiritual complacency, and turn our focus away from God. When things are going well, when things are good at the job, there's food on the table, the roof over your head, the family's doing well, and life's successful, those are good things. And we should rejoice in those things, and thank God for those things, but again, in that process, don't remember where the blessing has come from. Don't forget, rather, and give Him the glory.

Sometimes it takes something physically dramatic to wake us up. That was the condition of the land. They needed, woke up, and it causes them to ask themselves, What is my relationship with God? What are my priorities in this life? And am I truly seeking Him first? Joel's describing an event so dramatic that the people can no longer continue life as they did before, and they're forced to think about their relationship with God and consider it. At least they should have. Indeed, if they had, they would have asked and recognized why things went so terribly wrong.

Again, the question is, who will heed the warning? Verse 13 says, Cry out to the Lord. Okay, that's the message. Cry out to God. Repent. Turn. It's that cloth and ashes. And turn to Him again. Joel's calling upon the spiritual leadership here of the nation primarily to lead the people in that reform. He says, Call a fast. Call an assembly. Turn my people back to me, God says. Cry out in humility. And let's notice why, verse 15, it says, Alas for the day. For the day of the Lord is at hand, it shall come as destruction from the Almighty. It shall come as destruction from the Almighty, the day of the Lord. That phrase snaps us to attention. That phrase zeroes us in on the book, and yet it's not a phrase just for our day. It was written for them. When God intervenes and brings about judgment, you can call it a day of the Lord. Understand this locust plague, 800 B.C., in the nation was God's judgment upon the land, and the locust were His army.

It was a day of the Lord in their day, but it was meant to be a wake-up call for another day of the Lord that they faced, God's judgment upon the nation. Indeed, later, as the Assyrians and the Babylonians would come in. But also, you and I, when we read the day of the Lord, that takes us to something specific, doesn't it?

It takes our focus to the calamity of the end of the age. And that's appropriate because it's ultimately where all of this is pointing in type. The day that we associate with the day of the Lord has seals being opened, it has trumpets being blown, it has plagues and catastrophic events being poured out on the earth and happening on the earth. And it comes as destruction from the Almighty. And what will be the response largely to that time? You know, in this day and age, Israel and Judah had a choice to make, had a decision in light of what God had brought upon them. What would their response be? And will it be any different than the response at the end of the age?

Well, if you go to Revelation chapter 1, say, hold your finger, Joel, we'll be back. Revelation chapter 1 gives us a little insight into what the perspective of the majority of mankind will be at the return of Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7, it says, It says, Why would the nations mourn at the coming of Jesus Christ? I mean, you and I look forward to that as a beautiful event, a event we yearn for with all our being. And it says, Are they sorry for their sins? Are they mourning to turn in that way?

They're not. They're not. Indeed, prophecy shows that.

They're not repenting. They're not lamenting over their sins. They're mourning because Christ's return is not a happy event for the world in this manner. It is a judgment event. It comes as judgment, Joel said, from the Almighty.

God doesn't take pleasure in judgment, but as we've sung about, and today even in a number of our hymns, there's a blessing He wants to pour out on all nations as the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea. But you can't get from here to there with the existing system, with those who would stand in its way. And so there is a day of judgment and a day of reckoning that at least sets the stage for the establishment of the kingdom of God. And so we see that the day of the Lord is two-sided, really. There's judgment, but there's also hope. Hope of what is coming. There's destruction, but there's also restoration. There's the end of man's government, but there's also the beginning of God's reign. And Joel walks us through that progression, but he says, don't waste the time today. Don't let the warning fall on deaf ears. If we go back to Joel 1, here Joel continues describing the devastation of his day and drawing the parallels. Joel 1, verse 16, he says, It's not the food cut off before our eyes, Joanne gladness from the house of our God. The seed shrivels under the clods, storehouses are in shambles, barns are broken down, for the grain has withered. How the animals groan, the herds of cattle are restless because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. So there's this famine now that's being described that is followed on the heels of the locust plague. You know, locusts came and ate everything, and maybe they thought, you know, we can fix this. We'll drill new seed. We'll plant a new crop. Well, now the famine comes and it says that the seed is shriveled under the clods. You know, it's in the field, but it just dries up. There's no rain. And it's like punishment or plague on top of plague. It's much like, as you would read through the progression of the day of the Lord, in Revelation, of plague on top of plague. And yet, they did not respond. They did not turn as God desired. Indeed, each blowing of the trumpet—there are seven blowings of the trumpet as are portrayed by the day of the Lord— each trumpet blast, yes, is followed with dramatic and difficult events. But each one is a call of warning, a call to repentance, a call to turn, and perhaps even move into a place where God would relent.

But we know the prophecies, man will not turn. But God offers that option. Verse 19, By what's happened in the nation that he loves, and he himself, at least, he is crying out to God. But by and far, the majority of the nation is not. But like Joel, brethren for you and I, our response to prophecy shouldn't be, well, that's interesting information. Our response should be to turn, to draw near to God, to solidify that relationship, to repent where we need to be repentant, draw near to him, and to live. Indeed, that's the reason God warns people in this way. It's not because he's a hard-hearted God that just likes to hurt people. He wants them to change, ultimately turn and live. I won't turn there, but Ezekiel 18, verse 32, God says, For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies. Therefore, he says, turn and live. Turn and live. That's God's desire, and that is the dominant message behind then as we move into chapter 2 of the book of Joel. It's a call. It's a warning. It's not too late. He says, turn and live. Joel 2, verse 1, Joel's describing a wake-up call for the nation, and for us today, he says, Again, for them, in the short term, it would not be that many generations before they would face a type of the day of the Lord in their time. But we extend this beyond, again, the long-term horizon to the end of the age. It's part of the reason we assemble on this holy day. Joel says, call and assembly. Bring the elders together. Bring the people together. Sound the alarm. It's one of the reasons on the Feast of Trumpets we assemble. God tells us to assemble, but it's also to blow the trumpet in Zion. Sound the alarm in my holy mountain, God says. And for us, that is spiritual Zion. The church is a place He dwells, and it is a place today the alarm must be sounded and must be heeded. Notice the expectation that exists for the church as we approach the end of the age. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1. 1 Thessalonians 5. Mr. Oliver highlighted the fact that no one knows the day or the hour, but that doesn't mean you just go about your business until it happens. You still prepare. You still watch. You're still ready. That's the point, really. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1. 2 He says, verse 4. 3 But you, brethren, and I've underlined you in my Bible, he's talking to me, he's talking to you, 4 but you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 He says, therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

So the church of all people should be prepared, should be watching. So what do we watch? Well, we watch world events. I think that's reasonable. What's going on in the world? Are things building? Are things seeming to lead to that end? It's important to watch, but most importantly is you watch yourself. You watch yourself. What is my spiritual condition? What is my relationship with God? And am I truly ready? Am I hearing the alarm? Sound the alarm. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Am I hearing? And am I responding? Joel 2, again back to this book, Joel 2, verse 1, Blow the trumpet in Zion. Sound the alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand. A day of darkness and gloominess. A day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. Locust plagues have literally been described as blotting out the sun as they come. Just this massive swarm of insects that is miles long. And, you know, we've had smoke that has sort of blotted out the sun to some degree in recent months. But here you have an insect plague that can do such thing. But remember, this is an event that is pointing towards so much more. The darkness, the day of gloominess, he's pointing to the day of the Lord. The prophet Amos says in Amos 5 verse 18, Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness and not light. It is a dark, difficult period for the world, but it will end with the dawning of the day. Sometimes the deepest darkness comes just before the light. And indeed, God will bring light, but it will be a day of difficulty to come. Revelation 16 lists the last seven plagues, and there it gives the fifth of the last seven plagues as darkness. So there's much darkness that is associated literally physically and even spiritually with this day. Not darkness from God spiritually, but from the agents of this earth. From Satan and the demons and those who actually would stand to resist the return of Jesus Christ. So again, the latter part of verse 2 says, A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been, nor will ever be such after them, even for many successive generations. So this is very specific language here describing an enormous army, an enormous invasion. It's kind of like what the locusts were, but it's yet future, and it describes it like of whom there has never been, nor will be afterwards. A day, a time, an event. There's never been anything like this, nor will be again. And we know that Joel is pointing ultimately to the day of the Lord at the end of the age, because the same language is supported in a number of other places. Let's just take a few examples here. Daniel 12 and verse 1.

Daniel 12 and verse 1, a prophecy of the end time.

Daniel 12 verse 1 says, At that time Michael shall stand up, one of these great archangels of God, one of these active people or angels who intervene on his behalf. At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as has never been since there was a nation, even to that time. He says, And at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book. Referring to the book of life. Again, this is a prophecy at the end of the age, but it's describing the worst time ever. He says, Such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. So how many worst times ever can there be? Well, in the scope of this context, one. Such as has ever been or ever will be. Jeremiah chapter 30.

Jeremiah 30 and verse 5. For thus says the Lord, We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. He has asked now and see whether a man is ever in labor with a child. He says, So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor?

And all faces turned pale. Just the blood drained from someone's face. It's fear, it's trauma, it's fright. Verse 7. For the day is great, and none is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble. But he shall be saved out of it. So again, describing a unique day. He says, None is like it. None is like it. There's a scripture to add, Matthew 24, verse 21.

Matthew chapter 24 and verse 21. It says, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world, until this time, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. We see great distress upon the world, but something that I love all throughout as well is we see hope. Right? Even in the depths of darkness, we see light. We see God saying, It is a day of judgment that is coming upon the world, but also my mercy is there among my people. My deliverance among my people. Each one of those verses that we read talked about God's care for His people, even in the midst of the day of judgment. And that should be encouraging for us, and it should encourage us to want to be a part of that remnant. Let's go back to the book of Joel then, chapter 2, verse 3. Joel 2, verse 3 says, A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Okay, again, describing the effects of this great army. Surely nothing shall escape them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like swift steeds, so they run. With a noise like chariots over the mountaintops they leap.

The noise of flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array. Verse 6, Before them the people writhe in pain, and all faces are drained of color. They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like men of war. Everyone marches in formation, and they do not break ranks. They do not push one another. Everyone marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down.

They run to and fro in the city, upon the wall, climb into the houses, and enter at the windows like a thief.

Probably a number of you will remember a song we used to have in our old hymnal. Right? Blow the horn, let Zion hear. And it was written about this invading army, and it was kind of an upbeat song. We used to sing it on the holy day most years, and I remember as a kid singing that song, it was like, Oh yeah, this is great, this is great, this is us, the conquering army coming to right the world. Except it's not us. It's part of the warfare and the rebellion and the turmoil at the end of the age that indeed will have to be intervened upon. And yet, again, it's like this army is like locust. In fact, there's still some scholars who say Joel is just describing the locust plague only. You know, this is talking about locust marching, locust leaping, the green disappearing, you know, as they grow through the land, the sound of their wings being like, you know, chariots and horses running into battle. But yet, when we look at the book of Revelation, we see a massive end-time army or armies described in this way as being like locust, including much of this imagery of Joel. Let's go to Revelation 9, verse 1. Revelation 9. And again, all of this isn't just to, well, I was going to say scare us. Maybe it's to scare us a little bit, you know, in a right and proper way. Scare us straight, you know. Take us down a path of repentance with God. But the fact is, you know, this is here because, indeed, this is coming upon the world. But there's a call. There's a trumpet. There's a warning. And there's an opportunity to respond. Revelation 9, verse 1. Then the fifth angel sounded, the fifth trumpet, And I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Verse 3. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. Okay, and we got the connection back to Joel. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree. But only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Says, they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. Verse 7. It says, the shape of the locust was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were the crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. Again, all sorts of descriptive language tying back to what it is that Joel was prophesying about.

And again, the locusts are used as a picture of the relentless and terrifying end-time arbeys that literally mobilize when God's restraining hand is removed from the powers of spiritual wickedness.

It says, they swarm like locusts out of the abyss, and they go with clouds of darkness upon the earth. Verse 9. It says, and they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. I can't help but feel a little sorry for John. He was a simple first-century man, being given a glimpse into, let's say, end-time military technology, things that would happen at the end of the age, and he's trying to write these things down and describe them in a way that people might would understand.

And yet, for us, we can kind of read it and say, well, if this is armies, if this is warfare, we can make certain connections in our mind. Some of them are, I would say, speculative at best, but I just consider the fact that modern attack helicopters certainly have breastplates like iron. They certainly sound like chariots and many horses running into battle.

They certainly have sting in their tails. This is describing masses of army warfare and the calamity that will take place at the end of the age. And if you drop down just a few verses, verse 16, it describes a 200-million-man army, you know, just almost unimaginable, the scope of what that would be like.

And the interesting thing to point out here is that even in the midst of all this future distress, God is still placing limits on what these forces can do. Back in verse 4, it talks about what they were commanded that they couldn't harm and they couldn't touch. And it reminds us that God has the ability to use this army as the agent of His judgment. You know, this isn't driven by His Spirit.

This is driven by Satan and His Spirit. But we understand that even God in His awesome wisdom and ability can even use what Satan does against God to work out in the end according to God's purpose.

And so this is all part of the judgment that is coming upon man. I'm not going to go into a lot of details on that today, but again, just it is a day of darkness, a day of challenge upon the earth. As we go down to verse 20, we see mankind's response to all of this.

Just like in the book of Joel, what's the response to judgment? Are you going to cry out? Are you going to lament and mourn and turn to God? Revelation 9, verse 20 says, There will be a hardness of heart among mankind that none of this is going to soften them and turn them towards God. In fact, if nothing else, the majority will harden their heart in resistance to His coming. But you know, by keeping the Feast of Trumpets year after year, you and I are given the opportunity to catch a glimpse into these future events, to have an understanding of what God requires, and to respond now with a heart that is humble and repentant before Him, one that desires to put Him first.

We're so blessed in this nation with what God has provided, the opportunities, again, the blessings. You can go work hard with your hands and put your might to it, and you can be blessed with increase, provide for your families. These are wonderful things, but just like God told Israel, you're going to go into the Promised Land. You're going to forget Me. We are a nation that is facing that same challenge and decline as well. Will we hear the trumpet? It has sounded in Zion.

Back to Joel, chapter 2, verse 10. Joel chapter 2, verse 10, speaking more of this army. It says, And so we see something here additional to just the evading army. There's earthquakes, there's heavenly signs. There are things happening at the end of the age that, you know, it's kind of hard to exactly line Joel up with Revelation, because Revelation is a further revealing. It's Revelation, and it helps to set out a course of projection. In some of these Old Testament prophets, some of the prophecies, at least from our perspective, seem to jump around a little bit in the chronological order of things.

But the sixth seal, Revelation 6, 12, describes, which was opened just before the day of the Lord, these dramatic heavenly signs. And it says, And there's actually more than one occasion where there's darkness that descends. We read another verse earlier. In Revelation 8, verse 12 says, Again, heavenly signs are at the very least an obscuring of the heavenly bodies. Again, we've had just a little bit of smoke from wildfire, and, you know, you're not going to look up at night and see much of anything.

And you just imagine, with the cataclysmic events of the end of the age, all kinds of things thrown up into the atmosphere, a lot will be obscured. Joel 2, verse 11 says, Again, just like the locusts that he called his army, this...what will play out at the end of the age, even if God is not the spiritual instigator behind all the instability, he can still use it to his purpose and gives voice to this army.

For the camp is very great, for strong is the one who executes his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it? Who can endure it? And the answer is, none of us can apart from God.

No one can apart from God. And that's part of the point, part of the lesson. Draw near to God now. Repent now and be part of his remnant. Verse 17, excuse me, I jump forward just a little bit. Verse 12, Don't just make this an outward appearance of repentance, but be cut to the heart. Draw near to me. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm. Who knows, verse 14, if he will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, and grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God.

So the God we worship is a merciful God. And for Israel and Judah's sake, in this day, God desired to relent. He desired to have them turn to him and then him relent from what it was that he purposed to do. And he gave them the warning and the opportunity. But we know the story. They never really did so. And eventually they experienced the repercussions of their choices. The Assyrians came in down of the north and hauled out the northern ten tribes. And generations later, then here come the Babylonians, the Judah in the south. And again, hauled them out of their land into captivity. It was the judgment, ultimately, of God, a day of the Lord in their day. Indeed, pointing to something even greater yet to come. Brethren, our opportunity to respond to Joel's warning is now. The trumpet is already sounded in Zion. And as Peter tells us, judgment is upon the house of God. Right? We've been called out of this world. We've been given God's Spirit. We've been given the opportunity to look into his word and see what it is he's telling us. Now is our day of salvation. Judgment now is upon the house of God. And the question is, then, will we hear? Will we respond? Indeed, what will the end result for each of us individually be? That's the trumpet blast that we come back to year after year after year on this feast. It's not just interesting prophecy. It's to our focus directly.

Verse 15 then says, Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, and assemble the elders. Gather the children and the nursing babes. Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber and the bride from her dressing room. It's like no matter what you have going on at the moment, there's nothing more important than this.

If you're the bride, ready to walk down the aisle, take a moment and pull the focus back where it must be first and foremost. That's what God is calling them to. Verse 17, Let the priests who minister to the Lord weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say, Spare your people, O Lord, and do not give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is your God? Verse 18, it says, Then the Lord will be zealous for his land, and pity his people.

The Lord will answer and say to his people, Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them. I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations, but I will remove far from you the northern army, and I will drive him away into the barren, desolate land, and with his face toward the eastern sea, and his back toward the western sea.

His stench will go up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things. God says, if you truly repent and overcome, your land will be saved. The blessing will come. And there's perhaps a bit of duality here, because the Assyrians did come down from the north. The Babylonians, the invasions, generally followed the Fertile Crescent and came in down from the north. And we know at the end of the age there will be a king of the north.

And so there's a call here, and there's an opportunity. And God says, if you repent and overcome, the outcome can be completely different. And as such, then the following verses here in Joel take on somewhat of a millennial tone. A millennial tone. You know, kind of past the day of the Lord in the time when the kingdom of God reigns. As I said, Joel kind of moves around a little bit in the chronological order here.

So let's make a little bit of a jump ourselves for time. Let's go verse 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour my spirit on all flesh. Your sons, your daughters, shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, and also on my men servants and on my maid servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days.

Okay, here's some of the strongest evidence actually that this prophecy of Joel isn't just for his day, that actually the majority of the focus is future. And we understand that this began, you know, Peter quoted this on the Feast of Pentecost, 31 A.D.

He says, this is what Joel is prophesied. You know, as the spirit is poured out. And we understand as the church age began, that was the beginning of this fulfillment, but it has a long horizon as well. There'll be a continual more, say maybe a little more dramatic fulfillment during the time of the heavenly signs just before the day of the Lord. And ultimately a fullness of fulfillment once the kingdom of God has been established. And the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. And mankind responds then to God.

That calling goes out en masse. Verse 30, it says, And so it's showing again the importance and the blessing of drawing near to God now, being reconciled to Him, being part of those who are called the remnant. That's a whole other sermon you can trace. God has always had a remnant and will continue a remnant, even bringing through this day. Joel 3, verse 1, And yet, as we know, coming up prior to the day of the Lord, what we would call a great tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble, it's going to be a very hard time for the modern-day descendants of Israel.

And here you're looking at slave trade and other things that are going on. After God deals with, frankly, Israel and Judah, I mean, that is a portion of their punishment for their end-time sins as well, He's going to turn to those nations who have abused them. Indeed, the Israelites of the end time, again, through the great tribulation, through the time of Jacob's trouble. But we come to Isaiah 34, verse 8, which says, Okay, year of recompense, so we do believe, and I believe rightly so, that the day of the Lord is a year period, that final year before the return of Jesus Christ.

Again, the year of recompense, but it says this portion of, for the cause of Zion. For the cause of Zion. So the day of the Lord appears to be, again, that final year, and in part, it's a time of divine judgment upon those who have abused and mishandled God's covenant, physical covenant people, Israel. Those tribes and those descendants. Verse 9 says, Prepare for war.

You know, it's the opposite of what we see of the millennial portrayal. God says, Get ready for a fight. I'm coming. Let the weak say, I am strong. Verse 11, Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. Let the nations be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Verse 13, he says, Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the winepress is full. The bats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon will grow dark. The stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake, but the Lord will be a shelter for His people and a strength of the children of Israel. I just love all the times it comes back to God's remembrance of His people, even throughout the time of calamity and judgment among the nations.

Understand, brethren, God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. His desire is that they would turn, that they would live, that they would be reconciled to Him. But yet it's better for them to face God, what we could say, in resurrection, at a point, than to continue on as they are, if they will not yield. And so they will be judged for the rebellious actions against God and His people.

Revelation 14 appears to be the fulfillment of this prophecy. Revelation 14, verse 17. Revelation 14, 17, Then another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire. And he cried with a loud cry to him, who had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vines of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. Again, Joel 3, 13, said, Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Okay, it's the same imagery as God saying, Okay, these are the forces, these are the nations that oppose me, let's gather them all together. And we know they stand now in opposition to fight at the return of Jesus Christ. Verse 19 says, So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

And the winepress was trampled outside the city. Blood came out of the winepress up to the horses' bridles for 1,600 furlongs. That winepress was trampled, the armies were tread, in that sense, underfoot, like one would get in a vat of grapes and tread. And it says, The blood came out to the horses' bridles for 184 miles. It's a sobering, sobering image of the cost of resistance and rebellion. Failing to heed the call, failing to turn, God says, Why would you not turn and live? But for those who would not, this is a day of judgment.

Revelation 19 shows us just who it is that executes this final judgment. Revelation 19 and verse 11 says, Now I saw heaven open, behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. No question who this is.

This is Jesus Christ, the Word of God, the Son of God. Verse 14, it says, And the armies in heaven, clothed in fineland and white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Again, brethren, God is a God of mercy. He loves the people of this earth.

He created them in his image for an incredible potential. To be a part of his family for eternity, but the time comes if evil will not turn, it must be dealt with. There comes a point here where it is so embedded. Therefore God in his righteous justice and in his judgment will not allow them to continue in their ways.

Good will triumph over evil. It is a day of darkness, but it leads to the greatest age of light that man could ever imagine under the reign of the kingdom of God. So let's conclude then back in the book of Joel with this beautiful concluding picture that Joel wraps up with. You know, the prophecy isn't just darkness for darkness sake. It leads to the dawn of a beautiful age. Joel chapter 3 verse 17 says, Verse 19 Indeed the day is coming where the seat of the rulership of God's kingdom will go out from Zion. Jesus Christ will reign in that place as King of kings and Lord of lords, and the blessing will flow out.

The forgiveness will flow out. Those who had not been acquitted, the guilt of bloodshed, he says, will be acquitted, and the blessing will go out.

So the conclusion is that of peace and reconciliation with God. Again, a time where the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth, as the waters cover the sea, and it is a blessing. And that's what we're moving into next in God's plan of salvation, right? The Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Eighth Day, all that God has in store. There is a day of darkness, but then comes the light and the blessing and the reign of his kingdom.

So that's the book of Joel on this Feast of Trumpets. And I hope it's given you a little deeper insight into this prophecy of old, and again, helped to bring to our remembrance and our focus what it is that God is doing in our life. And helped us to gain an appreciation of the warning that it imparts. Again, not to physical Zion only, but to spiritual Zion as well. So as we read the words of this prophecy and take them to heart, brethren, let us recognize the trumpet has sounded. The trumpet has sounded in Zion. The alarm has gone out. Let us, as the people of God, hear and respond.