A God you can depend upon

Joel 2:18-27


What are the things that you depend upon?

Well for starters I know that when I catch the train, I depend on the train driver to get me to the destination, I also rely on the engineers who built the train and that they knew what they were doing so that the train would stay on track.

Well, what are some other things do we depend upon? How about our water or our electricity? Or what about the truthfulness of what products claim?

And are these things dependable? How did you survive the last time when the power went out? Or when was the last time you bought a product and it didn’t work?

Well, tonight we come to the second halve of chapter 2 in the book of Joel. And if you remember last week, we saw that God was faithful to his promises to bring judgment upon his people for their disobedience in the form of the locust invasion.

Now just as God was faithful to his promises of judgment, we will see that tonight, he is also faithful in his promise to restore and to save; he is a God who you can depend upon.

And will we also see how we too, can benefit from that faithfulness, from that promise keeping.

So before we being looking at the second half of Joel 2, let’s begin by praying.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for making yourself know to us and showing us the way of salvation through faith in your son. We ask yow now to clear our minds of any distractions and to teach us through your word, so that we can be ready to serve you, for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Point 1 - God’s faithful character which leads to his abundant restoration

Well, I don’t know about you, but I really don’t like silence, I get agitated and feel really awkward.

For example, in the midst of a group of friends, after a long meaningful conversation, the conversation suddenly goes quiet and at its moments like these where my body just wants to scream out with noise.

Or what about waiting for that job interview, you have just sent off the application and the silence you hear before they get back to you is so loud that you can almost hear it.

Well it’s kind of like this for God’s people here in Joel. The priests, the spiritual leaders of the community, the nation cry out to God to spare his people from the locust army, to save them from the judgment that coming from God’s own hand, we can see this in v17, they cry out to God “Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations’.Here is a nation that is eagerly waiting for a response from God.

Well God remains true this character and does hears their call of repentance, and we start to see the turning point of the book Joel, from judgment to restoration.

So read with me from verse 18, “then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people” We see that Gods great reversal of the previous chapters is underway

Now does it surprise you that LORD became jealous? We generally tend to associate jealousy with something bad, don’t we? Like feeling resentment or being envious of others.

But God’s jealousy describes God’s passionate concern, his zeal, for his land, for his people and for his name. It is a precise attribute in God’s character which leads the priest, the nation in verse 17, urged by Joel to appeal in prayer and through their repentance, God’s love is stirred and he has pity on them, his people.
Now, the Israelites knew that God was a jealous God and that he was concerned about his land, his people and his name.

And this is why they cry out in verse 17 because the special relationship between God and his people was under threat, God name was being mocked among the nations and God’s honour and faithfulness was being questioned.

Well, we finally see the answer that God’s people were waiting for, in verse 19. God says “Behold. I am sending to you grain, new wine, and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations”God is reversing the sorry state of these three traditional products of the land.
In chapter 1 verse 10, we read that “the ground had dried up, the grain had been destroyed, the new wine had also dried up and the oil failed.”

But now, the Israelite nation will once again be able to enjoy the blessings of their covenantal relationship as God will restore, pay back what the locust army had taken away.

However, this isn’t just a simple restoration and reversal, but notice what God says in verse 19, he says that “you will be satisfied” and again in verse 26, “you will have plenty to eat, until you are full.”

Now, I don’t know if you ever been to a European family get-together, but I remember when I was growing up; there would always be an enormous amount of food to eat from, I was never left un-satisfied.

In the same way here we see that God’s restoration is abundant, the Israelites will have all that they need, and they will be satisfied fully.

Now, back all the way in Deuteronomy 11, we read that God promised his people, that if they faithfully obey his commands, by loving God and serving him with all their hearts and soul, he would send rain on the land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that they may gather in grain, new wine and oil. God will provide grass in the fields for the cattle, and God’s people will eat and be satisfied.
Indeed it is what we see here, God’s faithfulness to his promises and the nation’s repentance leads to God’s abundant restoration.

God does send the rain, in verse 23; he sends the abundant showers, both the autumn and spring rains, so that they may have new grain, wine and oil.

He does provide open pastures that are green for the wild animals of the field in verse 22, and once again the Israelite nation will be able to eat and be satisfied.
However, what good are new grain, wine and oil, if the locust, the Lord’s devastating army, who took these things away from them, is still around?

Well, read with me from verse 20, God says “I will drive the northern army far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land, with its front columns going into the eastern sea and those in the rear into the western sea, And its stench will go up; its smell will rise. Surely he has done great things.”

The same commander who gave the locust army their orders to bring destruction upon the land is now issuing orders for their destruction.
The invaders which have caused such devastating destruction are removed far from them, they are exiled; they are then split apart defeated, and are finally drowned in the eastern and western sea to their destruction.

These three curses of exile, defeat and destruction, which were promised if Israel was disobedient in Deuteronomy 28 will now be reversed and turned upon their enemy, the locust army.

All that will remain of the army, that had ravished the land, is rotting flesh and his people will be saved because God is faithful.

Point 2 – The response to God’s faithfulness and its implications

How then should they respond? How then are they to react to this God, who is doing all these things for them?

Well, the Locust army had done great things, but this is certainly not a reason for further fear because as it says in verse 21, “the Lord had done great things”, indeed, we only need to turn to the first few pages of the bible, in creation, to see know this, and what about God continuing faithfulness to save his people in Israel’s history, it certainly a time to be glad and rejoice.

So firstly, the land is to respond as we read in Verse 21, “Be not afraid, O Land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.”

The animals of the land should not fear when such a God is at work to restore the land, they are to fix their eyes on the Lord’s activity, of his faithfulness and restoration as the open pastures are becoming green, as trees are bearing their fruits and as the fig tree and vine yield their riches.

Secondly, what about God’s people, how are they to respond?
Well verse 23, “Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.” Verse 24, “the threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.”

Just like the land, we see that the people too, are to be glad and rejoice.
Why? Because by sending the rain God is demonstrating his righteousness, that he can be trusted to keep his promise of restoration to his people.

Now, living in Sydney, I don’t think we count every rain drop that falls from the sky as say a farmer would out west.

We don’t wonder if the rain is going to be enough, or if it’s going to come at the right time. But unlike us, the Israelite nation was a nation that was totally dependent on rain for not only their finances but also the very food they ate.
So you can imagine what a promise of abundant shower was like for them.

However Israel is to respond because of what God has done for them, they are to be glad and rejoice because the Lord is a jealous God who took pity on his people to save them.

Well, so far we have seen that God was a God who Israel could depend on because he was a faithful God who kept his promises to bring restoration and to save them from his judgment.

In verses 25-27, we see that God now makes three promises to his people, the Israelites.

So pick it up with me from verse 25, God says “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten – the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm, my great army that I sent among you.”

What does God promise them? Well we see that the truth about the locust army is finally made apparent to the Israelites that God sent the locust army. And they are assured that the devastation brought by the army over such a lengthy period of time will be repaid to them, will be restored.

Secondly, God promises in verse 26, that “they shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD their God, who has dealt wondrously with them. And God’s people shall never again be put to shame.”
No longer will Israel be put to shame. No longer will God’s name be mocked among the nations as it was in verse 17.

And finally, in verse 27, God says “You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.”

The Israelites will once again know God and never be put to shame because God will be in the midst of his people.

Now, one of the blessings of the covenantal relationship between God and his people if they lived under his rule was that God’s presence would be amongst his people and God’s promise here is that they will once again be able to enjoy the blessing of God’s presence amongst his people.

Now, next week, we will see that there is also a greater promise in the next few verses, one that involves God pouring out his spirit upon his people, but we will leave that to next week.

Point 3 - The Implications for us in light of the coming day of the Lord

Well we have just looked at Joel chapter 2, and we have seen that God was faithful in his promises to bring restoration, but what about Joel today, Is God still a God who is faithful and is he still a God who we can depend upon.
Well, the big theme that we seen being developed in the book of Joel is the day of the Lord.

We saw in the last two weeks that that the day of the Lord was a day of judgment, a day of condemnation, of punishment, of destruction and devastation.

However we can also see as we saw tonight, that the day of the Lord is also a day of salvation, a day of rescue, as God’s wrath and judgment of Israel was turned upon the locust army. It is also a day of replenishment and a day of abundant restoration.

Now the day of the Lord wasn’t just an event which occurred during the time Joel was written but as Joel 2 verse 31 also hints, there will also be a final day of the Lord where “the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood”.
The New Testament describes this day as when Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead.

Now, even after God’s demonstrated his faithfulness in Joel, Israel continued to rebel against God.

In fact by nature all of man-kind has rebelled, even you and I have rebelled against God, trying to live our lives our own way.

However, the punishment of Israel’s continued rebellion and our rebellion has been dealt with in one man, Jesus Christ, who took the full judgment and wrath of God to save us from our rebellion, from our sin.

The wonderful thing for Christians, those who have trust in Jesus as Lord, is that we are able to stand bold today.

It is because of Jesus we are able to stand fully absolved of the guilt and judgment we deserve for our sins.

And it is because of God’s faithfulness to restore us, to save us, which the whole Old Testament promises pointed to and which find their yes in Jesus as we read in 2 Corinthians 1:20.

Now, God hasn’t just saved us from his judgment but he has also abundantly restored us into a relationship with him.

Therefore, we read in Romans 5 that he has reconciled us by the blood of his son and in Ephesians 1 that he has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Also, as Christians we have a great hope, we read in Revelations 21, that there will be a new heaven and new earth where God’s dwelling place will be with man, he will dwell with them, and they will be his people.
We read that he will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former thing will have passed away.

However we are not there yet, Jesus hasn’t returned yet and we still live in a fallen world, a world which is effected by sin and suffering.

So, as Christians who have a great hope but currently live in this fallen age, let me ask you
Do you trust that God will continue to be faithful, that he will save you on the last day in the same way he was faithful to his promises in Joel? Do you depend entirely on God for your salvation? What about when you are faced with hard ship and trials, do you still depend entirely on God?

Well, turn with me to our second reading Romans chapter 8 and let’s pick it up from verse 31
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

If God is for us, who can be against us when we have such a great God, a God who has done great things as we read in Joel 2, a God who was faithful in his promises to abundantly restore and to save his people from the locust invasion, a God who has saved us and justified us through his son who died for us, who was raised to life and who is interceding for us.

Our God indeed is a God who you can depend upon because he is a faithful God who has done great things, so let us rejoice and be glad in the Lord.

So let me ask you again, do you depend entirely on God? If you do, then let me ask you, do you listen to his voice in his word? Do you thank him for all things through pray, do you rejoice and be glad in the Lord and are you concerned about the salvation of your non-Christian friends from the coming judgment?

Well, let me encourage you to depend on God, because as we have seen tonight, God is a faithful God who has kept his promises. And he will continue to keep his promises.

So let me finish with this great assurance that we have in Christ Jesus as we wait for his return in Romans 8:38-40.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Amen.