SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/3/2015
9:18 PM
My Worship Time Focus: “Blow the
Trumphet!”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Joel 2:1-11
Message of the
verses: “1 Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm
on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is
coming; Surely it
is near, 2 A day of darkness and gloom, A
day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the
mountains, So there is a
great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations. 3 A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The
land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind
them, And nothing at all
escapes them. 4 Their
appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. 5 With a noise
as of chariots They
leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire
consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle. 6 Before them the people are in
anguish; All faces turn pale. 7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor
do they deviate
from their paths. 8
They do not crowd
each other, They
march everyone in his path; When they burst through the defenses, They do not break ranks. 9 They rush on the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the
houses, They enter
through the windows like a thief. 10 Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The
sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness. 11 The LORD
utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is
he who carries out His word. The
day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?”
In today’s SD we are beginning to take a look at the
second main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s outline which he has entitled: “The Imminent Day of the Lord” and this
covers verses 1-27 of chapter two with the remaining five verses going into the
last main point of his outline. We have
mentioned that the theme of the book of Joel is “The Day of the Lord” and it
has three aspects to it with today’s main point being the second main point.
What Joel is telling them after they get their attention off
of the locusts is that the locusts represent something that is even worse that is
coming towards them, and according to verse 20 they come from the North. It is believed that what Joel is referring to
is the Assyrian invasion which happened under the reign of ing Hezekiah and it
took place in 701 BC and is told about in Isaiah 36-37. Dr. Wiersbe writes that “the prophet gave the
people three timely instructions.” The
first one is our first sub-point which is entitled “Blow the Trumphet!” and it
covers the first eleven verses which are quoted above. By the way this prophecy that Joel is writing
about will happen in about 100 years from the time he gives it.
In earlier SD’s we have looked at the uses of the trumpet
in the lives of the Jewish people, and they were used for a warning to the
people, they were also used to call assemblies, announce special events, mark
religious festivals, and warn the people that war had been declared as seen I Numbers
chapter ten and Jeremiah 4:5; 6:1 and Hosea 5:8). We have already looked at the reason for this
trumpet, to warn of war and to call a fast as seen in Joel 2:15, a time of
fasting and prayer.
We see the words “The Day of the Lord in verse one and
also in verse eleven so this must mean a very special period that God had
planned and would direct. God is the One
who brought the locusts and God will bring the Assyrians. I find it much easier to understand that God
did this than to look and see what God is doing in my day, but God is still on
the throne, and is still working to bring about His plan for this world, and
the plan is, as we have been looking at through the book of Revelation is to
take back control of planet earth and to install His Son on the throne in
Jerusalem to rule over the Millennial Kingdom.
Now we have learned in our study of both the books of Kings, Chronicles,
and also Isaiah that the Assyrians came close to defeating the Southern
Kingdom, but the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night taking
care of the Assyrian Empire.
I have tried to highlight the words “they, their, and
them” in this section of verses to show the destruction that would come by
these people, and it will be terrible destruction indeed. What Joel is doing is once again using the locusts
to describe what the men of Assyria will do.
Joel describes the locusts as like horses, but the Assyrian’s will be
riding real horses when they come.
Dr. Wiersbe concludes “The prophet makes it clear that
the Lord will be in charge of this invasion; this is His army fulfilling His
Word (Joel 2:11). God can use even
heather nations to accomplish His purposes on this earth (Isa. 10:5-7; Jer.
25:9). The awesome cosmic disturbances
described in Joel 2:10 are Joel’s way of announcing that the Lord is in charge,
for these signs accompany ‘the Day of the Lord’ (3:15; see Zeph. 1:14).”
8/3/2015 9:53 PM
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