The Words Spoken by a Prophet

I can only imagine then what it might have been like for an Old Testament prophet, just one man, who cried out to all of the other people in the world at that time with a huge message that announced that God said you better get your act together or else judgment is going to catch up with you and that is going to be a very BAD day. Do you think the world jumped into action and said OKAY, we better get our act together? Or do you think they thought he was just one voice…that the rest of us hadn’t heard that message…so he must be the crazy one?

Have you ever asked yourself if you are the only person who thinks that something going on in this world is just plain crazy, or are you the one who is off your rocker and has become the crazy one? I have, for sure.

I can only imagine then what it might have been like for an Old Testament prophet, just one man, who cried out to all of the other people in the world at that time with a huge message that announced that God said you better get your act together or else judgment is going to catch up with you and that is going to be a very BAD day. Do you think the world jumped into action and said Okay, we better get our act together? Or do you think they thought he was just one voice…that the rest of us hadn’t heard that message…so he must be the crazy one?

Seriously, Mr. Prophet? Why would God threaten to judge us? He loves us so much. Look…I know this may be hard for you to believe, but we know He loves us more than we love Him. We know that! WOOPS. And there is no doubt that He loves us more than we love each other. And that’s another WOOP. And the WOOPS lead us to the self-realization of our shortcomings…our love for God has grown cold…love for the Church has soured…love for our family, friends, neighbors, and strangers has grown cold…worship of God has become stagnate and stale and in essence, non-existent…our lifestyles have become much more self-centered…our faith is weak…our soul is out of rhythm…we do what we want to do and then rationalize and justify our behavior. Hypocrisy, ritualism, idolatry, and spiritual apathy have invaded our everyday lives. That’s what everyone else does. That’s what my parents’ generation did…that’s what my grandparents’ generation did…and even the generations before them. If it was good enough for them, then it should be good for us. It’s what we have seen, and so it is what we do. And now you say STOP IT! God expects more of us. God wants us to get our act together…He wants us to REPENT? He wants us to tell our children to straighten up and get right with God, along with their children, my grandchildren, and the future generations. Are you saying God is willing to do whatever He needs to so He can get our attention? Are you also saying there will be consequences to our sin, there will be doom and gloom, there will be destruction and devastation, and ultimately, there will be judgment? That our hope for our present and future can only exist if we REPENT? Is that really what you are telling us? And the prophet named Joel gave and gives an emphatic YES! (A synopsis of Joel 1-2)

And the world, at that moment, unraveled; the people’s hearts and souls hung in the balance of their decision as they faced a do-or-die scenario.

Joel, which means “Jehovah is God,” who was the son of Pethuel, which means “Persuaded of God,” is all we know about Joel and his genealogy (Joel 1:1). There is nothing more recorded about his background. Bible scholars can’t even agree on when the book of Joel was written in history. All they can agree on is that his writing occurred sometime between 850 – 300 BC. How cool is it that all scripture is a timeless message? Scripture made sense to those at the time it was written and makes sense to us today (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.") It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” Not knowing when Joel foretold his message adds even more significance to the theme of a timeless message. Especially when you consider the message he foretold, consider the same synopsis of Joel being delivered and prescribed to us today…Joel’s message is just as fitting for us as it was for the tribe of Judah over a thousand years ago.

Seriously, Mr. Prophet? Why would God threaten to judge us? He loves us so much. Look…I know this may be hard for you to believe, but we know He loves us more than we love Him. We know that! WOE. And there is no doubt that He loves us more than we love each other. And that’s another WOE. And the WOES should lead us to the self-realization of our shortcomings…whatever they might be…MAYBE…our love for God has grown cold…our love for the Church has soured…our love for our family, friends, neighbors, and/or strangers has grown cold…our worship of God has become stagnate and stale and, in essence, non-existent…our lifestyles have become much more self-centered…our faith has grown weak…our soul has lost its rhythm…we do what we want to do while we rationalize and justify our behavior.

Hypocrisy, ritualism, idolatry, and spiritual apathy have invaded our everyday lives. That’s what everyone else does. That’s what my parents’ generation did…that’s what my grandparents’ generation did…and even the generations before them. If it was good for them…then it obviously should be good for us. It’s what we have seen, and so it is what we do. And now you say STOP IT! God expects more of us. God wants us to get our acts together…He wants us to REPENT! He wants us to tell our children to straighten up and get right with God, along with their children, my grandchildren, and all the generations going forward! God is willing to do whatever He needs to do to get our attention. We will experience the consequences of our sin, including doom and gloom, destruction and devastation, and ultimately, judgment. That our hope for our present and future can only exist if we REPENT! Is that really what you are telling us? And the prophet named Joel still would emphatically say YES!

The opening question from this Blog series on Joel is this: “Do we need to know what the consequences are going to be before we decide to turn back towards God? Do we need to be informed of what the doom and gloom, the destruction and devastation, will look like before we decide to get our act together? Repentance is turning away from our shortcomings and turning back to God. How’s your love life with God through your relationship with Christ? Do you need to make room for Christ or rekindle what you already have? Or is your candle already burning brightly? Is there any part of your act you need to get together? If so, God wants to hear from you! Right here and right now! And it is just between you and Him.