Home • Preaching the Word •Joel
“Oh Well”…or “Oh My God?”
Preached January 13, 2010 at a Mission in Downtown Birmingham, AL by Jake Hanson
Joel 1-2:26
Yesterday a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Haiti, and we need to be in prayer for them. You may have also heard that this past weekend, Northern California was rattled by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake. It’s of course nothing new to the area, but I found one woman’s reaction to the earthquake quite interesting. A Los Angeles Times story which noted this woman’s reaction quoted her saying these words: “I talked to people who just moved here and they thought their life was ending, but for me it was just annoying,” said Sandra Warshaw, who has lived in Eureka [California] since 1985. [And then listen to what she said] “It’s like an ‘Oh, well’ rather than an ‘Oh, my God’.” The earth, the very foundation upon which we live, is shaking under this woman’s feet, and she doesn’t even take time to take stock of her life. Had circumstances been slightly different, had she been down the road where part of a building crushed a car, or had she been in Haiti yesterday with its great earthquake that destroyed thousands of lives, she may have lost her own life, and she says, “Oh well.”
What do you say in response to crisis? Our country today is in a significant economic crisis, with unemployment above 10%. We are in two significant wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are dangers all around us, both big and small. Terrorists want to kill us. Robbers want to mug us. Accidents might happen to us. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, lightning or other disasters are all possibilities which could kill us.
On a personal level, you are all here at Br. Bry. Mission. All of you are here, I believe, because of a crisis within your own life. Some are crises which you have created by your sin, and some of you are here because of a crisis which may not be your fault. But in the midst of this crisis in your life, are you saying, “Oh well”? Or are you crying, “Oh, my Lord and my God!”
The prophet Joel was writing to the people of God—the Israelites—in the midst of a great crisis. Hear these words, or follow along as I read from Joel 1:4. “What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.” The food of the people of God was being destroyed by insects. It was as if you or I were to walk into a grocery store and find the shelves empty, or to go in line for dinner here at the mission, and to be told there is not enough food for all of you. The people of God were in a crisis.
But there was also a military crisis. Verse 6: “For a nation has invaded my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.” Verse 7 tells us that this army took what was left of the food and destroyed or ate it.
And on top of the crisis of food shortage, and the military crisis, there was also a religious crisis. We do not know exactly why, but the people of God were not able to worship at the Temple with their offerings and sacrifices. They had been ‘cut off.’
The reason for this crisis is not given. But the Israelites were given a special, and unique promise—a promise which we as Christians do not have. This promise is to the Israelites, and to them alone. The promise is found in Deuteronomy 29-30 and says that if they are obedient to the commands of the Lord, and if they are faithful to Him, then they will be protected from their enemies, and they will be prosperous with plenty of food. But if they are not faithful to the Lord and His commands, then they will have foreign invaders and food shortages. Our promises as Christians are different. We are not promised prosperity, wealth and health for our obedience. And likewise, when we are disobedient, we are not promised adversity and difficulty, even though the Lord continues to discipline those whom He loves. We as Christians are given promises of a more spiritual nature. But the Israelites had this promise. This is why in Deuteronomy 30, the Lord calls on the Israelites to choose life by obeying Him, rather than death by disobeying Him. And we are called on to choose spiritual life by obeying Him rather than spiritual death by disobeying Him. And Joel is reminding the Israelites of this unique promise. If they heed the warnings of this crisis, they will be delivered. But if they do not, they will encounter further destruction. If they say, “Oh, my God!” they will be saved. If they say, “Oh well,” they will be destroyed.
This crisis in which the Israelites found themselves was a warning. And the crisis which we find ourselves in is a warning, a prelude for what is to come. Will you heed the warning? For a far greater crisis lies ahead for those who do not heed the warning. Look at verse 14-15. “Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders Andall the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.” The Day of the Lord is coming.
What is the Day of the Lord? In chapter 2, verse 2, we are told that for the Israelites, it would be an escalation of the locust plague. So thick they would be that it will be “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there ever be again after it…” And then chapter 2 continues to describe the coming of this army of locusts who destroy the land, and how they strike fear in the hearts of the people. But this plague of locusts was a type of the coming Day of the Lord on the last day—a day, Joel tells us, that the sun and the moon and the stars will be changed into darkness. In short, the Day of the Lord is the day on which the Lord makes His judgment on the people. And this Day of Judgment, Joel tells us, is very great, and greatly feared. You and I will tremble on that day.
Joel is not the only prophet to talk about the coming Day of the Lord. The prophets Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah and Zechariah all talk about the great coming Day of the Lord. And the New Testament warns us as well, calling it “the Day of Christ,” or “the Day of the Lord Jesus,” or sometimes even as just, “the Day”—“as you see the Day drawing near. It is the day of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead and to gather the faithful to Himself. Jesus Himself warns us, “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” These things—these earthquakes, and wars and financial crises and famines—they are the warnings, the sirens, the alarms to give opportunity to repent before the Day of the Lord when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. To judge you and I. But what do you say to these warnings? What do you say regarding your present crisis? What about the recent earthquakes? Do you say, “Oh well?” Or do you say, “Oh, my Lord and my God!”?
But what are you to do? Look with me in chapter 2 verse 12. “‘Yet even now,’ [notice the urgency of this. We are not to wait for the future, but now “even now] declares the LORD, ‘Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And tear your heart and not your garments.’”
I was reading this week about a famous politician caught in an extra-marital affair, and out of it had a love-child. In order to save himself politically, he decided to go on national television and confess what the world already knew. But rather than tell the whole truth, he decided to tell half the truth, because he was not sincerely repentant for his sins. He thought that if he could go on TV and confess what he wanted to confess, rather than what was true, he could save his political career and continue to be a powerful person in politics. This is what Joel is talking about. This man had shown on the outside that he was penitent, but in his heart, he was hard, and just as selfish as ever, continuing to lie even to his wife. This politician had torn his garments, but not his heart. The Lord is asking you, to tear your heart, and not your garments. Do not just go to chapel, or go to church, or put out false tears to show others that you are sorry for your sins. Jesus commands us, “When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do for they neglect their appearance to be noticed by men.” Tear your heart! Change your ways. Do not say in your heart, “Oh well,” but rather say, “Oh my Lord and my God!”
And look at the character of the Lord God to receive you. Look at chapter 2 verse 13: “Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will notturn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him…?”
The Psalmist writes these same words in Psalm 103: “8The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. [and then he continues]9[the Lord] will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. 10He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him” (Ps. 103).
And how true is this for all of us in this room? For how many has the Lord withheld His judgment against you? How many of you should now be dead on account of your former way of life? Your alcohol? Your drugs? Your recklessness? Your hatred? For relationships ruined?
But still, many of you wonder if the Lord can ever use you again? You wonder if, even though you have been forgiven, whether or not you can ever be used. Look with me at the promises given to the repentant people of God in verse 18. After the people repent and cry out to the Lord, verse 18 says, “Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, and will have pity on His people.” And then what is described in the following verses for the Israelites is the restoration of their crops, and the return of the prosperity which they were promised. As I said before, we are not promised financial prosperity as the Israelites were, but we are promised spiritual fruit and blessings. And as we read these promises, I want us to consider, not how the Lord will make us rich with money, but how we are “made rich in [the Lord Jesus Christ]” and rich in the gifts which He bestows on us in speech and knowledge as 1 Corinthians 1 tells us.
What are we then promised? We are promised peace in the midst of crisis through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are promised fruitfulness as we sow the seeds of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are promised love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in all situations as we trust in Him. And perhaps above all, we are promised eternal and unhindered fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ when we repent and call upon His name. But some of you who have lived lives of sin may be wondering, “Can these be promised to even me?” And you may be wondering if the years which you wasted could ever be redeemed. The answer to both these questions is an emphatic, “YES!”
Look with me at the wonderful promise of restoration which we find, beginning in verse 23. “So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God; For He has given you the early rain for yourvindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.” You see, the Lord had taken away the promised blessings from the people because they were disobedient, but then returned the blessings to them when they repented. Their crops would once again be fruitful and their cupboards full of food.
And then look at these most wonderful words in verse 25. “Then I will restore to you [I will make whole to you. I will return to you] the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” Those wasted years would be restored, made completely whole. The loss from those years would be made into profit. What Satan meant for evil, the Lord will turn to good. And this is what we find in the lives of Paul, the chief of all sinners, who persecuted believers in Jesus Christ and was used to proclaim the Gospel and write much of the New Testament. And this is the story of Peter, who though he denied knowing Christ, was used to make others boldly claim Christ. And the list can go on and on. And the list can continue on to you and to me. The Lord can still use you and restore those lost years of your life. He can restore the years that the locusts have eaten in your life.
And read these last verses we will look at tonight, starting in verse 26. “You will have plenty to eat and be satisfied [remember the Lord is restoring what He had promised to the Israelites, but look at the next few lines for us as well] And [you will] praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame. 27 Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel [God’s people], And that I am the LORD your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame.” The people who put their faith and trust and obedience in the Lord Jesus Christ will never be put to shame because their rock, their shelter, their protection is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The first half of the book of Joel offers us a wonderful picture of the kindness of the justice of God that leads us to repentance.
It teaches us how we ought to repent, and finally it shows us the unconditional forgiveness and restoration which the Lord gives to all who would repent and believe.
As we look around the world and the crises which exist, and the crises in our own lives, remember that they are but birth pangs which are calling on us to repent and to turn to the Lord. When we encounter these crises, and we hear about these crises, and the judgments of God, let us not say, as the woman in the earthquake did, “Oh well.” But rather, let us call out, “Oh my Lord and my God!” And as Joel 2:32 says, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Will you call on the name of the Lord? Amen.