Think on these questions as you dwell in Joel 2:1-11:

1. How does the imagery in Joel's prophecy depict the impending judgment of God, and what contrasts are emphasized in the description?

2. In what ways does Joel convey the severity and imminence of the day of the Lord's judgment, and how does this impact the people's perception of their ability to endure it?

3. How does the message of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection provide believers with assurance and deliverance from the wrath of God, and why is it crucial to spread this message?

Transcript:

So, as we arrive at chapter two, we're reminded of what we saw in chapter one. What did we have? We had the impending judgment of God, and it was two things that we were looking at. We were looking at first, locusts who are going to come and devour the crops, and an army that was standing at the border waiting to attack. And so, what happens as this second chapter of Joel begins? Blow a trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm. In other words, this call to repentance that we saw in the first part of Joel is coming back. They're letting people know something is going to happen here. This is coming. This is the judgment of God. And so, they're sounding alarm on the Holy Mountain. They're to return to the Lord, their God. And also, again, it's not just the people in the temple. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble. For the day of the Lord is coming, it's near. This is a promise that judgment is on the way. And this is a promise that it is not just something that's going to happen a few years down the road. This isn't going to happen in other generations.

It is near. And so, Joel continues to talk, and he mixes two different ideas here together. And as we look at it, we see this imagery of the army coming, and we see the idea of the locust coming. So we see this in verse 3. This is a powerful bit of imagery. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. This is coming through. It's going to be absolute, even though what's in front of them is green and lush and fruitful, when they get done coming through, it's all going to be destroyed. It's going to be a desolate wilderness, from Eden to the wilderness to desolate desert. What an amazing contrast that we see here. And so we have these continued imageries of this judgment that is coming. And we see here in verse 10, The earthquakes before them, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw their shining. This doesn't mean that they are going to lose their light here as this judgment is coming. It means that the sun is going to be blocked. It's going to be dark.

Not only that, but we know from reading the Old Testament, who are the sun, the Moon, and the stars? Think back to Joseph when he had his dreams. Who was bowing down before him? The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, right? This is also not only for these things during this judgment that they will not show their light, but also it's imagery for the people of Israel. They are going to withdraw from their shining. They are not going to be having the power they have because they are being judged. We see the amazing power of this judgment. What do we have at the end here? What's the final words in this 11th verse? For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome, who can endure it? And if we look back to what we read today, think about all these things that are happening, the devastation. You would have to think about this and immediately be thinking, How will I survive? How will I be able to endure this judgment? Will anyone survive? And so as we think about judgment, as we think about what this means for us, it's important for us to remember that God's judgment is at absolute.

When we talk about the judgment of God, it is a powerful and terrifying thing. And like I said two days ago, we have to remember that for us, because we are in Christ, that judgment has been poured out on Him. And so we should still, though, think about that judgment. Think about what has happened for our sin to be forgiven. What has happened so that we do not receive this great and awesome judgment that we cannot endure? Because remember, Christ endured it for us that we might be spared from the wrath of God. And while this has imagery of all this locus and these armies coming through and turning Eden into a desert and a deserted wasteland, that would be a small judgment compared to the wrath of God and our punishment in hell. And so, we should live in joy that Christ endured the day of the Lord. He endured the judgment of God on our behalf. And so may we look to that beautiful day where Christ was sacrificed for us, that beautiful day where He rose from the dead that we might realize that we have been spared from the judgment of God, not because of anything that we have done, not because we deserved it, not because God decided to be nice that day, but because the payment for our sin, the judgment for our sins sin was paid for us by another.

It was paid for us by Christ. And so, may we spread that good news. May we endure through the hardships of this life knowing that God has rescued us, and we have salvation from the wrath to come.