The Old Testament prophet Joel gives an urgent message especially for our day. Like the three angels of Revelation 14 he makes three calls to judgment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel 1:14,15: \u201cSanctify ye a fast, Rev. 14:7: \u201cFear God, and give<\/p>\n\n\n\n
call a solemn assembly,\u2026 for the give glory to Him; for the hour day of the Lord is at hand\u2026.\u201d of His judgment is come: and worship Him\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel 2:1: \u201cBlow ye the trumpet Rev 14:8: \u201cBabylon is fallen,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in Zion, and sound an alarm in is fallen, that great city\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
my holy mountain\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joel 2:15-17: \u201cBlow the trumpet Rev. 14:12: \u201cHere is the patience<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a of the saints: here are they that solemn assembly: Gather the peo- keep the commandments of God, ple, sanctify the congregation\u2026.\u201d and the faith of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three chapters of Joel can be better understood by following this outline:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
JOEL<\/em><\/strong> (An applied outline)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n III. Second Call to the Sanctuary (Joel 2:1-14)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n V Earth\u2019s Last Hour (Joel 3:1-21)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Summary: <\/em>The church is dying for lack of preaching about Christ\u2019s atoning death and substitutionary life. Only this will bring the Holy Spirit and holy living among God\u2019s people. Now God calls His people to gather by faith at heaven\u2019s sanctuary where He sits to judge His people. Those who gather will be blessed with the blotting out of sins and the latter rain. Those who do not gather there by faith will be cut off eternally.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Conditions in the Church<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the prophet makes his three calls to judgment he gives us a vivid picture of conditions in the church. Realizing that the first part of our outline looks like we are promoting the Weimar diet, we are quick to point out that the four elements listed are not to be taken literally. Wine, meat, oil and fruit are symbols:<\/p>\n\n\n\n WINE = blood = the substitutionary atonement of Jesus on the cross<\/p>\n\n\n\n MEAT = flesh or bread = the substitutionary obedience of Christ in His life on earth<\/p>\n\n\n\n OIL = God\u2019s Spirit = the enabling working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God\u2019s people<\/p>\n\n\n\n FRUIT = Fruits of the Spirit = the good deeds and character of God\u2019s people<\/p>\n\n\n\n The palmerworm, the locust, the cankerworm and the caterpillar have been robbing God\u2019s people of these blessings. False teachings are stripping the church. The \u201cBabylonian palmerworms\u201d are flogging God\u2019s people on to greater piety as a way to merit the latter rain. This takes away the meat offering. \u201cAtheistic locusts\u201d within the church tell us there is no standard to fall short of. This takes away the wine. \u201cSpiritualistic cankerworms\u201d among us suggest that we must relax and let the Spirit do our holy living for us. This takes away the oil. Will God again resort to \u201cChaldean caterpillars\u201d to awaken His people? Joy has left because the \u201cmeat offering\u201d and the \u201cdrink offering\u201d are withheld from the church. (Joel 1:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The First Call<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The church is in sad shape. Rather than giving up on her, God calls His church to gather at the Sanctuary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord, Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.\u201d Joel 1:14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are called to gather at the heavenly sanctuary. It is a call for all the church to come to the solemn day of atonement. As ancient Israel gathered around the earthly tabernacle once a year afflicting their souls, so we are to come \u201cto the general assembly,\u2026 and to God the judge of all\u201d (Lev. 16:29-31; Heb. 12:23). Atonement day is judgment day. We have come to the judgment of the living. We have every reason to fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although many that hear the call to judgment cry over conditions in the church, this is not enough. The situation is too serious to stop there. We not only are affected by these conditions but have aggravated them by buying in to the \u201cwormy\u201d ideas. Like Daniel we must confess our guilt for the terrible conditions in the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Second Call<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Joel\u2019s second call adds a warning trumpet to the day of atonement summons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains\u2026.\u201d Joel 2:1-2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the trumpet announcing the day of atonement is added the sound of alarm at an enemy\u2019s approach. Apparently God uses Babylon\u2019s army to purify His people. He warns that His great army is going throughout the land in scorching, shaking judgment leaving no life unentered, no soul untested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While His army advances on earth God is in heaven judging the church. Who can abide the day of His coming in judgment? Who will be able to stand when He appears in heaven\u2019s most holy place? None of His people on earth have characters so pure as to pass the judgment\u2013they fall far short of perfect obedience. Only those who depend on the mercy of God are accepted. They recognize their need and pray for Christ\u2019s intercession in their behalf. The \u201cmeat offering\u201d and \u201cdrink offering\u201d of Christ\u2019s perfect life and atoning death are counted theirs and their sins are blotted out. (Joel 2:1-14; Mal. 3:1-6; Lev. 16:30; Rev. 3:5.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Third Call<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A third and final time the call to heaven\u2019s sanctuary is given:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation\u2026.Let\u2026the ministers\u2026weep\u2026and say, Spare thy people, O Lord\u2026.\u201d Joel 2:15-17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one is to remain uncalled. The consequences of failing to come with faith and repentance to the judgment of the living are severe and eternal: \u201cfor whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people\u201d (Lev. 23:29). If we wait till Jesus no longer stands as mediator our faith, our pleading, our prayers will bring no answer\u2013they will go up \u201cfor ever and ever\u201d. In this day of judgment our hope of eternal life centers on the application of Christ\u2019s flesh and blood to our accounts in heaven. While Jesus ministers we may send all our sins beforehand to judgment where they will be blotted out of heaven\u2019s record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from gathering to judgment, no other remedy exists for God\u2019s church. When God\u2019s people gather to heaven\u2019s most holy place by faith \u201cthen will the Lord be jealous for His land, and pity His people. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto His people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:\u201d (Joel 2:18, 19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Lord will do great things. He will blot out the sins of His people (my people shall never be ashamed\u2013Joel 2:27). Afterward He will pour out His Spirit in latter rain and His sealed saints will go forth to proclaim the gospel more fully. It will come to pass that whosoever hears and believes, calling on the name of Jesus, will be saved under this loud cry message. The righteousness of Christ in heaven is the secret hiding place. All who are hid in His righteousness will be delivered (Joel 2:28-32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earth\u2019s Last Hour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time when God is restoring His people He will call all the heathen nations to gather round for sentencing. They come thinking to defeat God and His people in the battle of Armageddon; but God will then turn the tables on them and pay them back for all the evil they have done to His people (Joel 3:1-12). Next the thundering voice of God is heard from heaven and His people are glorified (\u201cthen shall Jerusalem be holy\u201d). Their sinfulness is removed and shortly Christ comes to claim them as His own. He takes them to a land of milk and to the river of life. All accounts are settled and eternity begins. (Joel 3:13-21.)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Old Testament prophet Joel gives an urgent message especially for our day. Like the three angels of Revelation 14 he makes three calls to judgment: Joel 1:14,15: \u201cSanctify ye a fast, Rev. 14:7: \u201cFear God, and give call a solemn assembly,\u2026 for the give glory to Him; for the hour day of the Lord […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thinking-aloud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1246"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1249,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246\/revisions\/1249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuarycall.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}