December 4
Joel 2:12-3:21
Psalm 136:13-26
Proverbs 28:27-28
2 John 1
Everyone
“And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the Earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:28-32 NIV
This passage in Joel is quoted by Peter at Pentecost and is used to explain the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He connects the coming of Jesus to the prophecies that the people of his day would have been very familiar with. He wants them to understand that Jesus came to fulfill the Law not to do away with it. Paul quotes Joel in Romans 10:12-13, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” (NIV) Again, Paul is using passages that they were familiar with to point to the salvation that is found in Jesus and to help them understand that God offers salvation to anyone who will accept Him.
Throughout Joel, he uses the phrase “the day of the Lord” to refer to coming judgment. God revealed to him that there would be a day when judgment would come on the world. In the first chapter he points to a day of judgment for Israel and calls on them to repent and turn to God. He refers to Israel being scattered and a period of persecution and suffering for the Jews because of their wickedness. But then he goes on to speak of a time when the Jewish people will return to Him, and God will restore them and save them. In that day, the nations who support Israel will be blessed and those who turn against Israel will be cursed. Israel is God’s chosen people. That has not changed. When the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God turned His attention to the Gentiles. For the last 2000 years, God’s focus has been on the Gentile nations. There is coming a day when His attention will return to Israel, and they will accept Him as their Lord. He has not forgotten them. They have experienced His discipline, but they will be restored. The last verse of Joel tells us that God will avenge His people and that He dwells in Zion. As believers we must pray for Israel. As a nation, it is very important that we stand with Israel. If we turn our back on Israel, we are doomed. God will not bless a nation that does not support Israel. There are numerous verses that give this warning. (Genesis 12:2-3, Genesis 27:29, Psalm 122:6, Isaiah 60:12, Zechariah 1:1-14, 2:8, Isaiah 41:11-12) We need to pray for our leaders to understand the importance of supporting Israel, but it is also important for us to pray for the Jewish people individually. Pray that God opens their eyes to the truth that Jesus is their Messiah so that they will be saved before they have to go through the Tribulation. Many will turn to Him in those days, but many will die during the judgments before they understand and accept Him.
Commentaires