The Black Watch
Joel speaks of a great and powerful army that is spread among the
nations in the Day of the Lord. From one
perspective, I think Joel is absolutely thinking about the Babylonians when he
writes this passage. You might think
that this would indicate a pre-exilic date for Joel, but I don’t think so. I think Joel is writing about the Babylonians
in the past so that he can set up the end of the chapter – which is where contemporaries
are now.
I think it is pretty easy to think about these verses as being
about the Babylonians. After all, they
swarm the earth like an unstoppable scourge.
Nothing they set their mind to is beyond their militaristic grasp. We know they conquered Assyria, Tyre, Sidon,
Jerusalem, and nearly every nation on their way to almost conquering Egypt,
too. No opposing nation gives them any
cause to even break rank – that is how powerful this army in Joel is. That is a fair description of the Babylonian
Empire.
However, I don’t think Joel is strictly speaking in a literal
sense here. Joel is talking on a very
deep spiritual plain as he talks about the Day of the Lord. The captivity and bondage of human sinfulness
is practically unstoppable. Nothing in
this world can even cause sin to “break rank.”
Sin just keeps coming and coming.
It is relentless. Because of
this, God’s judgment is equally relentless.
How many of us will be able to stand in the Day of the Lord? Because we succumb to human sinfulness, we
will fall before God’s judgment. We
shall all be guilty and accountable for our sinful ways.
I think fundamentally, this is Joel’s deeper point. Who among us can stand on the Day of the
Lord? Who among us can stand when the
Lord comes in judgment? I believe Joel
is reaching back in the history of the Hebrew people to make a point. Just as the Hebrew people could not stand
against the Babylonians when God wanted to teach the in judgment, so we shall
all not be able to stand in the final Day of the Lord.
Repent
However, judgment does not need to be the final verdict. Judgment is the constant threat on the
horizon. Joel knows this and desires the
people to know this, too. When we
repent, we can avoid the totality of the judgment. We may not be able to avoid the consequences
of our actions, but we certainly can avoid the totality of judgment.
Again, Joel knows this. I believe
he knows that the Babylonians took the Hebrew people into judgment and yet the
Hebrew people came out the other side. I
believe Joel knows the power of repentance first hand. By all rights, the Hebrew people should be
destroyed by the Babylonians. Their
culture should have swallowed up the Hebrew people whole. But God spares them. Alas, I’m now getting ahead of myself.
Again, let’s look at this passage from a deeper spiritual
perspective. If none of us can stand on
the Day of the Lord, then perhaps we should get comfortable kneeling. The only way through the Day of the Lord –
judgment – is humbly before God. When we
fall to our knees and repent, we can pass through God’s refining fire of
judgment. This is why Joel calls for a
fast. This is why Joel calls for us to
rend our hearts. He knows that the only
way through God’s great Day of Judgment is when we fall to our knees, confess
our sinfulness, turn away from it, and turn to God. Submission is the key to passing through
judgment.
Pity
Here in this section we see the fruit of repentance. The Lord has pity. God promises to restore to the Hebrew people
what the locusts took from them. Their
threshing floors and their fields will be full once more.
Historically speaking, I think what Joel is getting at here is a
promise to the Hebrew people. The
locusts – the Babylonians – took years of the Hebrew peoples’ collective life
as a nation. But because they repented,
God promises to restore those years and “give them back.” God promises to make the Hebrew people
fruitful once more. This set of verses helps
me to think that this book is best thought of as being post-exilic. Joel’s words would ring true with a people
who can see the Babylonian army and the effect of their national
repentance. These people would see God’s
mercy and pity upon them and know the truth in the words of Joel.
On that deeper spiritual plane I keep taking us to, these words
are also correct. God does restore our
mistakes. He does redeem our
sinfulness. We still deal with the
consequences, naturally. But when we are
willing to fall upon our knees and repent God can teach us through our
sinfulness and even redeem it. Even our
sinfulness can be part of the story that God uses to call us to His will. However, this can only happen when we humble
ourselves and fall before Him in repentance.
Outpouring of the Spirit
We end Joel 2 with one of the most famous quotes from Joel. Peter quotes this passage at the time of
Pentecost (See Acts 2:17-18). Joel tells
us that after the things that happen earlier in the chapter that the Lord will
pour out His Spirit upon the people.
This is another reason that I believe that Joel could be a post-exilic
book. I believe the natural reading of
this chapter is that Joel is trying to get the Hebrew people to see the coming
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is
the most important part of the chapter.
The Babylonians came and devoured the Hebrew people. The people repented in captivity. God relented and had mercy. Now the Lord is preparing to pour out His
Spirit upon all the people. Of course,
we know this happens in the Christian age beginning with Pentecost. Joel is attempting to bring the people to the
point of accepting the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Once more, on that deep spiritual plane, we find that this passage
speaks truth. When we sin, we put
ourselves in line for judgment. When we
humble ourselves and repent we can find ourselves free from the totality of
judgment. When we repent, we find
ourselves dwelling in God’s mercy and capable of receiving His Spirit.
But there’s more than just this.
Notice that Joel is clear about God’s Spirit coming on all people. Old and young. Male and Female. Slave or free. God’s Spirit is for everyone. All who humble themselves before the Lord
shall be free.
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