Message of the Week

Scripture: Joel 1:1-20 August 6, 2023

Message: "Wake Up!" by Pastor George Gnade

Intro.: 1. As many of you know, in our study of Elijah and

Elisha, we compared them to John the Baptist and Jesus.

a. John was very much like Elijah, calling people to

repentance. Just as King Ahab tried to kill Elijah, King

Herod had John put in jail and then beheaded him.

b. Just as Elisha followed Elijah and brought a time of

miracles and grace to Israel, so Jesus followed John the

Baptist and brought a time of miracles and grace to the

people of His day, grace now extended to us as well.

2. Today I would like to begin a new series of messages on

the prophet Joel. Joel, like Elijah, called the people to

repent of their sin. For that reason, like Elijah, he reminds

us of John the Baptist. But Joel, like Elisha, also reminds

us of Jesus.

3. After Jesus came, He promised God’s people that after

He died, rose, and went to heaven, that He would send the

Holy Spirit. And Joel, like Jesus, promised the people if

they would turn back to God, that there would be a time of

great blessing followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit.

4. Considering all the problems in our world today, I felt

Book of Joel would be an excellent book for us to study

next. It is only a short book, but it is full of a lot of

information that I believe will be of interest to us.

A. Joel begins his ministry in the middle of a crisis.

1. In chapter one, vs. 1, he begins by telling the people that

he has a word from the Lord to share with them. He wants

them to know he is not just sharing his opinion vs. their

opinions. He is speaking in behalf of the Lord.

2. In vs. 2, he asks them to listen to what God has to say to

them. “Hear this, you elders, listen all of you who live in

this land, has anything like this ever happened in your

days or the days of your forefathers?”

a. They were in the midst of a crisis in Judah that they

had never experienced before.

b. This was the kind of crisis that would be

remembered for a very long time, the kind of story you

would tell your children and your grandchildren probably

for generations to come (Vs. 3).

3. In vs. 4-7, Joel tells us all about the crisis. It has been

caused by an invading army, but not of men. It is army of

locusts who were eating and stripping the land of

everything in sight. No one knew what to do.

a. We might ask: What do you mean? What can

anyone do about a natural disaster?

b. Just because scientists do not have an answer

doesn’t mean there is no answer.

B. Joel told them there was a spiritual answer.

1. In vs. 5, God, speaking through Joel, tells them to wake

up! Many were simply getting drunk and hoping to sleep it

off. If this is what they thought the answer was, Joel told

them they were in trouble. By the time the locusts got

done, there would be no more vineyards left to make their

wine.

2. As a prophet, the first concern Joel had was for the

temple of the Lord because the grain offerings and drink

offerings were no longer being offered to God.

a. He said the priests were in mourning because the

fields were ruined and the grain destroyed.

b. The farmers were in trouble because there was no

more wheat or barley, and the fruit trees no longer had any

fruit.

c. Joel summarized the problem in vs 12 where He

wrote: “Surely the joy of the people is withered away.”

That is quite a play on words! Their joy was just as

withered as the trees and vegetation.

3. But as hopeless as the problem appeared to be, Joel told

them there was a remedy to their problem.

a. He told the priests to put on sackcloth and mourn

before the Lord. Not just for an hour or two, how about

spending the whole night!

b. In vs. 14, he spells it out more completely. “Declare

a holy fast! Call a general assembly. Summon the elders

and all who live in the land to come to the house of the

Lord your God and to cry out unto the Lord!”

4. In vs 13, he warned them that they were running out of

time! “The day of the Lord is near; it will come like a

destruction (sent from heaven itself), from the Almighty.”

a. Yes, this was a spiritual problem that demanded a

spiritual solution.

b. In vs. 19 he adds a prayer of his own: “To you, O

Lord, I call.”

5. Chapter 2 continues where chapter one left off.

a. He compares the locusts to a fire. In vs, 3, it says:

“Before them the land is like the Garden of Eden. Behind

them, a desert waste- nothing escapes them.”

b. He also so compares it to an invading army. In vs.

7-9 he writes: “They charge like warriors; they scale walls

like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from

their course… They plunge through defenses without

breaking ranks…”

c. Finally in vs. 10-11, he compared it to a natural

disaster in which the earth seemed to shake, the sky

trembled, and the sun and moon were darkened.” There

were so many locusts they probably did darken the sky. It

probably felt like the earth was shaking.

C. But the real issue is that this problem was sent by God

Himself!

1. In vs. 11-12, it says: “The Lord thunders at the head of

His army; His forces are without number, and mighty are

those who obey His command. The day of the Lord is

great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?”

a. Many scholars believe that this warning was meant

for all of us regardless of when or where we live! What was

happening to them was meant as a warning to all.

b. “The day of the Lord” is often used in Scripture to

refer to the end of history and the coming of Christ! We all

need to make sure we are ready for it.

2. Joel put it this way in vs. 12-13: “Even now,” declares

the Lord, “Return to me with all your heart … Rend your

hearts, and not your garments… for He is gracious and

compassionate...”

a. Like the nation of Judah, America needs to wake

up. We need to repent of our sins before it is too late. In

fact, our whole world needs to wake up!

b. In those days, fasting and mourning and rending

your garments were all outward ways of expressing your

grief. God wants us to know that crying over a disaster is

not the same as crying out to God for forgiveness.

3. God is calling everyone to examine himself and “rend

our hearts.” He is calling people everywhere to take a good

look at all the disasters around us and realize He is the

only hope we have. God desires changed hearts, hearts

that are open to Him. True salvation always starts with a

repentant heart and an open door to our hearts inviting

Him to come in (Rev. 3:20).

4. In Matt. 5: 4, Jesus said: “Blessed are they that mourn,

for they shall be comforted.” Most scholars agree this

“mourning” is a “mourning for our sins.” That is how

revivals begin, and that is what our world needs.