Greetings to you all greatly beloved of God and welcome to another episode of our daily study of the Scriptures. We bless the name of the Lord God for the gift of life and for His benefits on us each new day. Praise be to God!
Happy Sunday everyone!
In our today’s episode 599, we shall be examining Joel Chapter 2 titled:
The Day Of The Lord Is Near; Are You Ready For Him Now?
So far, we have seen in chapter 1 how Prophet Joel spoke about the invasion of Judah by different species of destructive locusts and how this attack brought about desolation and famine upon the land.
Now in chapter 2, we now see clearly that Joel was actually using that calamity to give the people of Judah a wake-up call so they could become conscious of the Day of the Lord. He used the army of locusts to describe poetically the ferocious human army that were planning to attack Judah.
They thought the locusts attack was terrible but failed to understand that the human armies coming to attack them would be worse. That’s why Joel enjoined them to repent.
Call To Genuine Repentance
12“But even now,” says the Lord, “repent sincerely and return to me with fasting and weeping and mourning.
13 Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough.” Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; he is patient and keeps his promise; he is always ready to forgive and not punish.
For Joel to have said the above statement, it shows that many of these people were pretenders. They were already used to the Jewish tradition of tearing their clothes during the time of mourning or sober reflection. But the problem is that their hearts were never converted.
That was why he said…tearing your clothes is not enough; let the repentance come from a sincere and broken heart.
Why? Because that is the kind of heart that God cherishes. Read Psalm 51:17
Our coming to God should not be as a result of fear of not being destroyed We don’t repent with the idea of: “God is so wicked that if I don’t repent, He will destroy me.”
Rather, our coming to God should be because “God is so gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness that He will spare me from what I deserve if I call upon Him for help.”
Then verses 18-20 enumerated the things that God would do when the people repent genuinely.
18 Then the Lord showed concern for his land; he had mercy on his people.
19 He answered them: “Now I am going to give you grain and wine and olive oil, and you will be satisfied. Other nations will no longer despise you.
The truth is that anyone that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Then Prophet Joel makes a stylish switch to a very powerful prophetic declaration which talk about the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, Joel 2:28-30.
Remember that Apostle Peter, during his sermon on the Pentecost Day also quoted Prophet Joel as a confirmation of what he wrote regarding the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
This prophecy is still being fulfilled till date. As a matter of fact, this is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, filling as many as possible that believe and making possess Godlike nature doing greater works for the Father.
Are you in the number? The Day of the Lord is near than you can imagine. Be on your watch!
To be continued…stay tuned and stay blessed.
Let’s pray:
Every good thing that the enemy might have stolen from you, I declare they are restored right now, in Jesus name.
Whatever that will make you to become disqualified on the last day, may you not venture into it, in Jesus name.
By the authority in the name of Jesus, I come against every devourer threatening your life, I pull down their strongholds and render them powerless, in Jesus name.
Someone is reading this message right now, you have been thinking majority of the good things you have planned to achieve appear not to be taking the shape you had wanted it to take. I decree orderliness into your life endeavours. I declare begin to receive clarity of purpose and let divine intelligence saturate your entire being right now, in Jesus name.
Bible Readings For Today: Daniel Chapters 10, 11 & 12 with Psalm 146
I call you blessed now and always.
Sunday November 22, 2020 (DDMI)
