The Minor Prophets: Joel

The Minor Prophets: Joel
Insights I take from reading through the minor prophets

He's been calling you since the beginning of time ...can you hear Him?
Can you hear His voice above the noise?
Above the rumbling of your life?
He's calling you clearly.
He's calling you with the same words that John the Baptist cried out in the desert wilderness.
He's calling you with the same words that Jesus lifted up among the crowds
He's calling out ... "repent."

What's it mean to repent? To really turn to God? It's no haphazard prayer. It's not something done lightly. When we confess our sins He is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, but when we confess our sins its not merely a retelling of current events. Repentance & confession aren't just made up of words, but of a disposition of our soul.

I remember the first time I felt really sorry for my sins, that I had committed, I knew, against Jesus Himself (Ps 51:4). I was taking communion for the first time as a boy, and I finally understood what it mean that Jesus died for my sins. And with tears, I took the bread, truly understanding what it meant that Christ gave His body for mine. I took the juice, truly understanding what it meant that Christ's blood was shed for me. And with my heart broken apart, I repented & confessed my sins, seeking to follow God's way in life and not my own.And that's repentance. That's also exactly what Israel needed to learn in the book of Joel.


As Scripture says, "The Lord is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. this is His mighty army and they follow His orders. The day of the Lord is an awesome terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?

      That is why the Lord says, 'Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don't tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead.
     Return to the Lord your God for He is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. he is eager to relent and not punish."(Joel 2:11-13)

It's this beautiful and stunning imagery in Joel that coincidentally almost parallels Hosea's prophecy. In Hosea, God's people have torn God's heart with their sin, yet out of it, God chooses to spill out love from His heart instead of wrath (Hosea 11:8). In Joel, we find a similar parallel but instead of God's heart being torn, God wants us to tear out our own hearts.

What I think God means by "tear out your hearts" (v. 13) is in the ancient world, to tear one's clothing was a sign, it demonstrated your grief and experience of loss in a real and effectual way. So when God is saying, "repent" (2:12). When God is saying "Turn to me" He means it in a way that is more than just empty words and lofty promises and new year's resolutions. He wants us to tear out our very hearts to show our repentance. To be completely broken before Him, knowing what the sin cost, knowing what the sin did, knowing what the sin requires to be taken away.

Every time I take communion I take a long look at my soul and pray the prayer Psalm 139: search me, know me, try me and see, look for my sins Lord. What do I need to truly repent before you?

It becomes a much different story to look at repentance this way. When I go before the Lord and say, "I'm sorry I've messed up" and He says back to me, "It's okay, just tear out your heart and we'll be square" It clearly becomes a situation that requires more than a simple apology. It requires divine surgery. It requires me to give up my old heart, and get a new one instead (Ezek 36:26)