The Day Of The Lord
Text: Joel 2:1-11
Introduction
1. Illustration: God has done everything He possibly can to keep you out of Hell and still leave you as a person with free will. Now some Christians argue otherwise that it is in fact God who sends people to hell. Peculiar Pilgrim blog writes, "No one would choose to go into hell ... Not one person would decide to enter an eternity of flaming torment over an eternity in heavenly bliss ... The Lord Jesus Christ, who will sit upon the throne of his glory (Matt 25:31-46) will judge the hearts and minds of every living person. Jesus will say to many on that day, "I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness." (Mat 7:23) And thus, he blames God for sending us to hell.
But when a criminal is sent to jail, we don't blame the judge, do we? We blame the criminal. The judge isn't responsible because he's just following the law, in fact, his hands or decisions are bound or tied by the law. It was the criminal who broke the law and that's why they were sent to jail. Likewise, God is bound by who he is, a holy, loving, righteous and just God and by His decision to give us free will and then not violate it by keeping us from making bad decisions. So it's not God who sends us to hell but our decisions and the repercussions that we must live with.
2. In the roughly 20 years that I have been preaching I never considered myself a "hell, fire, and brimstone" type of preacher. I prefer to focus on God's love, grace and mercy. However, we must recognize that God is a righteous and just God as well. How can God be righteous and just and not judge people for their actions?
3. How can we share God's truth and not share the whole truth? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should chase after people waiving our Bibles in the air and shouting, "You're on your way to hell!" Yet there are some people that need to hear that hell is real and it is eternal!
4. We need to warn people that...
A. About the consequences
B. That Hell Is Real
C. God is Righteous And Just
5. Let's stand together as we read Joel 2:1-11.
Proposition: We need to warn people that a life of sin leads to an eternity in hell.
Transition: We need to...
I. Warn People About The Consequences (1-2).
A. Sound The Alarm
1. Sometimes in life we have to do things that make us uncomfortable. Like telling someone they can have that last piece of pizza when it's calling your name. Or telling a Michigan fan you like their blue shirt!
2. Well sometimes we have to confront people with their sin and the consequences it brings. Sometimes we just have to do things that make us uncomfortable.
3. So Joel begins this chapter with, "Sound the alarm in Jerusalem! Raise the battle cry on my holy mountain! Let everyone tremble in fear because the day of the LORD is upon us."
A. The signaling alarm or "trumpet" (sôpar) made from a ram's horn is to be blown, as it is in war, heralding an attack, or on other occasions announcing news of great import.
B. Shôphar denotes a "horn," likely a ram's horn, which is hollowed for blowing. It was not used as a musical instrument but rather served a number of functions centering upon summoning. The Day of Yahweh, a period of judgment and vindication of Yahweh over his enemies, is announced by the shôphar (The Complete Biblical Library Hebrew-English Dictionary – Sin-Taw, Under: "8223").
C. The second verb is more general, indicating that a loud noise is to be raised, whether by horn or voice.
D. The inhabitants of the land shake, either in anger or, more likely, in terror at the news they hear.
E. As the site of the temple, the dwelling of God himself, it is the natural source for his warnings. It is also where the people gather to meet the onslaught.
F. The reason for this alarm is again "the day of the LORD".
G. The phrase "Day Of The Lord" is used in the OT prophets to signify a time in the history of mankind when God directly intervenes to bring salvation to his people and punishment to the rebellious (New Spirit-Filled Life Study Bible, 1106)
H. It is not always clear whether the Day is remembered or anticipated, but in either case, it is a matter of distress.
I. The Day's nearness indicates its imminence, as is usually the case with this predicate adjective "upon us" (David W. Baker, The NIV Application Commentary – Joel, Obadiah, Malachi: From biblical text...to contemporary life, 53-54).
J. In this case Joel tells the people to sound the alarm because the judgment of God is coming.
4. He then illustrates the seriousness of the judgment when he says, "It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of thick clouds and deep blackness. Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains, a great and mighty army appears. Nothing like it has been seen before or will ever be seen again."
A. The nature of the Day is described in terms used verbatim in Zephaniah 1:14-15.
B. Zephaniah 1:14-15 (NLT)
“That terrible day of the LORD is near. Swiftly it comes— a day of bitter tears, a day when even strong men will cry out. 15 It will be a day when the LORD’s anger is poured out— a day of terrible distress and anguish, a day of ruin and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
C. These are used elsewhere of a theophany, a visible manifestation of God in his awesome power.
D. There is particularly a strong tie-in with the Exodus event, where "darkness" was one of God's plagues on Egypt, in the description of which the synonym translated here as "gloom" also occurs.
E. What God established at creation now returns, an appropriate parallel to this empty, lifeless landscape, stripped of the vegetation that he also created.
F. The second clause also has Exodus ties, but these are later in that story, when God guides Israel using a "cloud" and actually appears to them and Moses in a theophany.
G. JOEL NOW EXPANDS on the nature of this Day. It is like a "mighty army," already introduced in the previous chapter.
H. A possible linking feature leading to this comparison is the invasion of a people like either "the dawn" or "darkness" as it spreads out like a net over the hills of Jerusalem in its slow, inevitable approach.
I. From the following verses with their military aspect, this army must still represent the nation of locusts.
J. Number and strength have swapped places from 1:6, here with the more frequent "mighty, great."
K. The army is without comparison from in all history, and also nothing will be its duplicate afterward, in the future (lit., "years of many generations,") (Baker, 54).
B. Like A Thief In The Night
1. Illustration: Can anyone tell me what happens every Wednesday at noon here in Mount Gilead? They test the siren that warns people that there is dangerous weather approaching, like a tornado. Now when we were still in the storefront this had a traumatic effect on me, because the huge speakers that carry this tornado siren were directly behind the storefront, and my office was right by the back door. Every Wednesday at lunch time I would literally jump out of my skin and my blood pressure would go through the roof! However, if there was a tornado headed our way I am comforted by the fact that the tornado siren is working.
2. We need to warn people about the day of the Lord because it will come unexpectantly.
A. 2 Peter 3:10 (NLT)
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
B. Here Peter tells us that the day of the Lord will come unexpectantly like a thief.
C. Paul also tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, unexpectantly.
D. We don't know when someone is going to break into our house, and if we did we would make preparations.
E. We don't know what is going to happen in the next day, hour or even second.
F. We all want to assume that we will have more time to get things right, but none of us in guaranteed that luxury.
G. We need to warn people that they don't know how much more time they have to get right with God.
H. We need to tell them that today is the day to get right with God, and it's too much to risk an eternity in hell.
Transition: That's the next thing we need to warn them about...
II. Hell Is Real (3-8).
A. Fire Burns
1. Now Joel describes what's about to come. He says, "Fire burns in front of them, and flames follow after them. Ahead of them the land lies as beautiful as the Garden of Eden. Behind them is nothing but desolation; not one thing escapes."
A. Joel now discusses this invasion dimensionally, with a play on what happens "before" it and "behind" it.
B. The first two clauses have parallel actions of fire and flame already encountered in 1:19-20. The invader pursues a "scorched-earth policy."
C. The previous states of the countryside are starkly contrasted in the last half of the verse.
D. Previously there was land "like the garden of Eden," a place of beauty, fruitful and luxuriant with trees and water. After the marauders' passing, it is only destruction, as lifeless as a true desert.
E. This second half-verse takes two other prophecies of hope and turns them on their head. Both Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35 declare that Yahweh restores his errant people, including making their ruins and deserts like the Garden of Eden.
F. Apparently Joel knows this traditional message of hope and also the rhetorical power it will have when reversed.
G. People's expectations, raised in hearing the familiar words, are shattered as they listen to the new meaning.
H. While from a conventional war one might expect refugees, in this case "even" these do not survive this attacker.
I. From the context, these survivors are not human but plants that will not be able to escape the locust horde (Baker, 55).
2. Then Joel says, "They look like horses; they charge forward like war horses. 5 Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops. Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots, like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble, or like a mighty army moving into battle."
A. Verses 4-5 provide five different comparisons of the invader with an army. Thus, this is not a literal army but rather a metaphorical one—the locust horde.
B. The first three liken the locusts to cavalry forces: the fierce look of charging horses, the swiftness of war horses, and the sound of the rushing chariots.
C. The description of the latter indicates the figurative nature of these analogies, since chariots cannot operate in mountain heights but need level terrain.
D. The verb is appropriate, since "leaping" (rqd) applies to both animals and insects. This poetic heightening of the actual illustrates the dread this unprecedented force brings on those who encounter it.
E. All three of these analogies are new to Joel. Not so the two that follow, however, since a "flame of fire" and the "mighty army/nation" occurred previously in this section.
F. The flame makes a noise as it consumes the chaff or stubble; the dry waste remaining after all the useful grain is gone.
G. The army/nation is not only powerful but is set out in full military array, ready for battle.
H. The litany of military metaphors drives home the awareness that this force is awesome (Baker, 56).
3. Then Joel says, "Fear grips all the people; every face grows pale with terror. 7 The attackers march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank. 8 They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step."
A. After this parenthetical interlude looking at those under attack, attention returns to the attackers, with two further explicit military comparisons.
B. They are like "warriors" and "soldiers" (lit., "mighty [men]" and "men of war", two synonymous terms.
C. Like runners in their lanes, each soldier moves straight ahead, "through" rather than around obstacles (Baker, 58).
4. Now I realize that this section is not necessarily talking about hell, but to these people it seems that way, a living hell. Our society wants to dismiss the concept of hell as if it's just a myth, but trust me, hell is real, and it is eternal.
B. Eternal Separation
1. Illustration: Daniel Meyers speaks about a book written by a cardiologist at the University of Tennessee that corroborates an important aspect of the biblical message. In the course of their emergency room work, Dr. Maurice Rawlings and his colleagues interviewed more than 300 people who claimed near-death experiences. What made Rawlings’ study distinct is that the interviews were not conducted months or years later but immediately after the experiences had allegedly occurred—while the patients were still too shaken up in the immediacy of the moment to gloss over or to re-imagine what they had experienced.
Nearly 50 percent of them reported encountering images of fire, of tormented and tormenting creatures, and other sights hailing from a place very different from heaven. In follow-up interviews much later many of these same people had changed their stories, apparently unwilling to admit to their families, maybe even to themselves, that they had caught a glimpse of something like what the Bible calls hell.
Dr. Rawlings concludes, "Just listening to these patients has changed my life. There is a life after death, and if I don’t know where I’m going, it is not safe to die."
2. We need to tell people that hell is real!
A. Revelation 20:14-15 (NLT)
Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
B. Christian comedian Mike Warnke once said, "Awe, now preacher don't start talking about no hell. I don't want to hear about no hell. Besides that I got hell figured out...I don't believe in it!
C. Well dear let me tell you something, I don't care if you believe in hell or not, because whether or not you want to believe in it doesn't nullify it's existence.
D. Hell is real, it's existence is real, and it is a real place reserved for those who reject the love of God by rejecting His Son Jesus Christ.
E. Let me tell you something today my friends, if you're here today and you have not accepted Jesus into your heart, and you walk out of here today and die, you are going to hell!
F. There's only one way to stay out of hell, and it hasn't changed in over 2000 years, accept Jesus.
G. If you're here today and there are loved ones in your life that have not accepted Jesus, you are not doing them a favor by not warning them about hell. In fact you are displaying the greatest act of selfishness known to man.
Transition: We also need to warn them that...
III. God Is A Righteous And Just God (9-11).
A. The Lord Is At The Head
1. People like to use as an excuse the statement, "How could a loving God send people to hell?"
A. Yes, God is a loving God, and in fact, the Bible tells us that God is love!
B. However, people like to forget that God is also a righteous and just God.
C. The question really is, "How can a just God let people into heaven who have rebelled against him and refused to accept his free gift of salvation?"
D. God has already done everything necessary to keep you out of hell, and if you refuse to accept it that's your fault!
2. What Joel describes for us next sound earily similar to end of the world, "They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows. 10 The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine."
A. Verse 9 describes the actual progression of events for the marauding forces: ranging around the city, attacking the walls, and climbing up to and into the house windows.
B. The final comparison to a thief likely does not refer to their means of entry, by stealth at night, but to their purpose, taking what is not rightfully theirs.
C. This, then, is the awe-inspiring picture of an unswerving foe (Baker, 58).
D. Continuing what begins in 2:1, there is an emphasis on the cosmic proportions of the Day of Yahweh and its greatness and awesomeness.
E. The idea of the sun and moon being darkened should not be taken as a figure of speech (Whiting, 512f; Chapelle, 556).
3. But most importantly I want you to notice what Joel says next, "The LORD is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is his mighty army, and they follow his orders. The day of the LORD is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive?"
A. The Lord is at the head of the column!
B. The mounting litany reaches its climax in verse 11. The focus moves from humans (attacker and attacked) to the earth and heavens, and now specifically to the Creator of all, Yahweh (1:1), Israel's own covenant God.
C. He now reveals what is going on from his perspective, and it is not a comforting message to his people.
D. The first audience knew that something dire was afoot, since Yahweh's thundering (lit., "gave/lifted his voice") is usually an awe-inspiring event that does not bring good news.
E. The location of his thundering is what is troubling here: "at the head of his army."
F. The locust swarm is not just some freak of nature, a random storm that, though devastating, is entirely natural.
G. It is rather a force brought and controlled by God himself (Baker,59).
H. God is not only a God of grace, mercy and forgiveness, he is also a God of judgment!
B. Holy
1. Illustration: The final judgment will not take place so that God can determine the condition of each person's heart, for he had known the final condition of every heart before time began. Instead, the final judgment will take place so that God can display his glory to all mankind by demonstrating his justice and mercy simultaneously.
2. Because God is a holy God he will judge people fairly.
A. Revelation 19:11-13 (NLT)
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. 12 His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.
B. Some of the words that are used to describe God are just, righteous and holy.
C. How can God be just, righteous and holy yet not judge people for their sin.
D. On the day of judgment you can stand before God on your own merit or on the merit of Jesus Christ.
E. Jesus is holy, faithful and just while our righteousness is like filthy rags.
F. Which one will you choose?
Conclusion
1. Now I am sure that some are thinking, "Pastor I don't like hearing about this, I don't even want to think about it!"
2. Me neither! But I'm not doing you any favors by avoiding it. That would be like a doctor that wouldn't tell to change your life style or your going to die young.
3. How can we share God's truth and not share the whole truth? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should chase after people waiving our Bibles in the air and shouting, "You're on your way to hell!" Yet there are some people that need to hear that hell is real and it is eternal!
4. We need to warn people that...
A. About the consequences of not accepting Jesus
B. That Hell Is Real
C. God is Righteous And Just
5. Will you sound the alarm?
