THE MINOR PROPHETS SPEAK TO TODAY??
JOEL 2:12-17
“These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”
1 Corinthians 10:11 NLT
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[STUDY NOTE: Often in the prophets the prophet not only gives a call to repentance but God through him/her provides the form of the prayer as well.]
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Let them pray:
Spare your people, Lord!
Don't let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don't let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
"Where is your God?"
The consistent call of God in the prophets is "turn to me while there is time." Always he says give me your hearts or, in other words, return to me with all your heart. Whether Jesus or the prophets speaking, when we are in trouble, when we are in danger, when we are out of God's way, the call is not change your behavior. The call is always give me your heart.
This is the call to repentance: Give me your heart. Then often God immediately says he is not interested in their standard outward shows of repentance--in this case tearing their clothing-- but he looks for hearts of repentance. Heart broken by their repentance. Or as here in Joel, "tear your hearts."
This rending is always followed by his call, "return to me." We cannot repent until we acknowledge that the we somewhere, somehow have turned away for God, until that awareness causes our hearts to be torn--whether from love or fear, it does not matter. These two things are marks of all repentance--the rending of our heart and acknowledgement that we are away from our God, we have a need to return.
Now some of us are afraid to talk about a God of judgment (politically incorrect and all that)--the old he's going to strike me down with a lightning bolt. How can a God of love do that! But Joel says God does not act quickly like that. He is slow to anger because he is filled with unfailing love. He is more eager to relent than to punish. His very habit of calling us again and again to repent, sending many warning signs and prophetic words, demonstrates his judgment is based in mercy and compassion, his punishment that of a parent figure--based only in love, designed to save from more hurtful future consequences.
But note, when there is a community or congregational call to repentance, individual repentance is not enough. No isolated sitting in a confessional will do when the call is to a collective group whether an individual congregation or his representatives within a nation. Corporate repentance requires corporate action.
1. An urgent summons to announce a time of fasting,
2. A call to gather in solemn assembly (everyone, not just some),
(in this passage that specifically included the elders, the children, and even the babies, the newly married--even if is the day before the wedding or the wedding night.)
3. A call demanding that the ministers in God's presence lead the people by standing and weeping,
4. A call to prayer - specific prayer.
THE SPECIFIC PRAYER IN JOEL SEEMS VERY APPROPRIATE FOR OUR DAY. LET US TAKE IT UP. LET OUR ELDERS AND MINISTERS OFFER IT IN PUBLIC STANDING AND WEEPING.
Let them pray:
Spare your people, Lord!
Don't let your children become an object of mockery.
Don't let us become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
"Where is your God?"
Politics has betrayed us. The time to pray is now.
Prayer--not politics--is the preparation.
Prayer--not politics--is the answer.
Politics will not save us--only the Lord will.
Turning to politics for salvation insults God.
(whether spiritual, economic, issues of justice, or righting governance.)
QUESTIONS FOR COMMENT AND DISCUSSION:
1. When is the last time you heard a corporate call to repentance as a response to trouble in a congregation?
2. Do these Old Testament passages really contain instructions appropriate to our current day?
3. What might we find worth tearing our hearts?
Spare your people, Lord!
Don't let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don't let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
"Where is your God?"
-
The consistent call of God in the prophets is "turn to me while there is time." Always he says give me your hearts or, in other words, return to me with all your heart. Whether Jesus or the prophets speaking, when we are in trouble, when we are in danger, when we are out of God's way, the call is not change your behavior. The call is always give me your heart.
This is the call to repentance: Give me your heart. Then often God immediately says he is not interested in their standard outward shows of repentance--in this case tearing their clothing-- but he looks for hearts of repentance. Heart broken by their repentance. Or as here in Joel, "tear your hearts."
This rending is always followed by his call, "return to me." We cannot repent until we acknowledge that the we somewhere, somehow have turned away for God, until that awareness causes our hearts to be torn--whether from love or fear, it does not matter. These two things are marks of all repentance--the rending of our heart and acknowledgement that we are away from our God, we have a need to return.
Now some of us are afraid to talk about a God of judgment (politically incorrect and all that)--the old he's going to strike me down with a lightning bolt. How can a God of love do that! But Joel says God does not act quickly like that. He is slow to anger because he is filled with unfailing love. He is more eager to relent than to punish. His very habit of calling us again and again to repent, sending many warning signs and prophetic words, demonstrates his judgment is based in mercy and compassion, his punishment that of a parent figure--based only in love, designed to save from more hurtful future consequences.
But note, when there is a community or congregational call to repentance, individual repentance is not enough. No isolated sitting in a confessional will do when the call is to a collective group whether an individual congregation or his representatives within a nation. Corporate repentance requires corporate action.
1. An urgent summons to announce a time of fasting,
2. A call to gather in solemn assembly (everyone, not just some),
(in this passage that specifically included the elders, the children, and even the babies, the newly married--even if is the day before the wedding or the wedding night.)
3. A call demanding that the ministers in God's presence lead the people by standing and weeping,
4. A call to prayer - specific prayer.
THE SPECIFIC PRAYER IN JOEL SEEMS VERY APPROPRIATE FOR OUR DAY. LET US TAKE IT UP. LET OUR ELDERS AND MINISTERS OFFER IT IN PUBLIC STANDING AND WEEPING.
Let them pray:
Spare your people, Lord!
Don't let your children become an object of mockery.
Don't let us become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
"Where is your God?"
Politics has betrayed us. The time to pray is now.
Prayer--not politics--is the preparation.
Prayer--not politics--is the answer.
Politics will not save us--only the Lord will.
Turning to politics for salvation insults God.
(whether spiritual, economic, issues of justice, or righting governance.)
QUESTIONS FOR COMMENT AND DISCUSSION:
1. When is the last time you heard a corporate call to repentance as a response to trouble in a congregation?
2. Do these Old Testament passages really contain instructions appropriate to our current day?
3. What might we find worth tearing our hearts?
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A WORD FOR TODAY:
Don't let your special possession become an object of mockery, a joke for unbelieving foreigners.
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