Reversal

Joel 3:10-12

(10) Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior."

(11) Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O LORD.

(12) Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

This is at the end of the book of Joel as the Lord pronounces judgment on the nations. Basically, this tells them that they will be in serious trouble. And, for what it's worth, judging in the Valley of Jehoshaphat is kind of a play on words because the name "Jehoshaphat" comes from the word that means "to judge."

Verse 10 is what got me when I read this today. Frankly, until I read the note in my ESV Study Bible I read it backwards because I am used to seeing that imagery in terms of the final peace that will come when Christ returns in glory. While God's people will be able to turn their swords into plowshares, those who are not His will need to do the reverse. Of course, it won't help them, but they're going to want to put up as much of a fight as they can. The long and short of it is that you want to be on the winning team at the end.

This verse also makes me think of a basic hermeneutical issue. My school teaches a Dispensational hermeneutic. That means that they take every passage literally unless there is a very good reason to see it otherwise. But what to do with these plowshares and swords? Two hundred years ago it would have seemed perfectly reasonable to take this literally. Now we might see it as a general metaphor that we will not need weapons of war anymore. I think that is a perfectly valid interpretation, but isn't it conditioned by the culture? If we could have taken this literally 200 years ago and now realize that we don't need to do that, then weren't folks reading it wrong 200 years ago?

I'll have to bounce this off some friends.

Mercy in Action

Joel 2:18-19

(18) Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.

(19) The LORD answered and said to his people, "Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

This is a transition from all the calamity that had come upon the people. The land was in bad shape after the plague of locusts and the drought. And yet God relented toward His people.

What I notice in this account is that the people could not do anything to save themselves. Yes, there was a call to repent. However, it looks like God made the first move. He had pity on His people and then decided to send them "grain, wine and oil" so that they may be satisfied.

That is what He has done for any of us who know Christ. He has saved us. He is the one who does the action. Yes, we must repent and believe. However, He makes the first move. I don't know why He saved me, but I'm sure glad that He did!

Calling in Dryness

Joel 1:19-20

(19) To you, O LORD, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.

(20) Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

This passage comes at the end of a chapter that describes a terrible blight on the land. Locusts have devoured all the plants. There is a terrible drought. The priests don't have anything to offer at the temple. Basically, the nation is in trouble.

We all have calamity from time to time. How will we respond? We could shake our fists at the heavens and tell God that He doesn't know how to run our world very well. We could be like the new atheists who are sure of two things:

1. God doesn't exist
2. They hate Him

Or we could respond in humble submission to His authority. We could trust that maybe He knows how to run the universe better than we do. There are plenty of times when it seems that He is not good because of our circumstances. I think that as we go through Joel we'll see that He is more loving and good than we can imagine.

His Great Mercy

Joel 2:18-19
(18) Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.
(19) The LORD answered and said to his people, "Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

The book of Joel is pretty harsh. It describes the army of swarming locusts that the Lord plans to send upon the people in the day of the Lord. Perhaps the most vivid description of the desolation is that the land ahead of them would be like the garden of Eden, but behind them would be utter desolation. The plan is for total destruction.

The Lord still has mercy despite the justice due to the people. All they need to do is repent. I realize that this seems like a Catch-22 since repentance is a gift from the Lord. Yet the Lord grants it to whom He wills. he does this because of the jealousy He has for His land and for His people.

It's easy for me sometimes to focus too much on God's wrath and justice because I think that helps to support my theology. I guess I focus on those because I sense a need to balance the common idea that God is so loving that He gives folks a free pass without any justice. Yet I know that I need to focus on His mercy as well. I certainly wouldn't be writing this apart from His mercy!