Who’s ready for some pop culture trivia this morning? In the 18-49 age group, what has been the highest rated TV series for the past two seasons? The Walking Dead. In case you’re not familiar with it, The Walking Dead is about some people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Who knows what the newly crowned Video Game of the Year is? Fallout 4. I’m obviously not a gamer, but I’m told that Fallout 4 is about life after a nuclear apocalypse. For the past two seasons, one of Fox’s top comedies is a show called The Last Man on Earth, which is a nasty show about life on earth after a virus apocalypse. One of the most-hyped new shows on NBC this season is a show starring Rob Lowe called You, Me and the Apocalypse. It’s about living in the days leading up to an asteroid apocalypse. You have to admit, in our culture today, there’s a real fascination with the end of the world, isn’t there? TV and movies try to imagine all the ways that it can happen—viruses, nuclear war, asteroids or comets, alien invasion, zombies, technology—even global warming. They try to figure out all the ways that it can happen, but the only reason they can keep generating ratings and selling tickets and video games is that, inherently, people know something’s coming. And it isn’t good. You see—God has planted an understanding of Himself and His coming wrath deep inside every person He’s ever created. That’s why even people who vehemently deny the existence of God will watch Doomsday Preppers. God hardwired us to know that this world is coming to an end one day. And I think that the current popular fascination with the apocalypse is a sign that it’s coming soon. At least we know this—it’s sooner now than it’s ever been. But what’s coming isn’t a zombie apocalypse. It isn’t somebody wandering around the earth looking for another survivor to have sex with. It isn’t sitting with your AR-15 eating Beanie Weenies in a fallout shelter. The apocalypse isn’t a Hollywood creation. But it is coming soon. And Joel gives us a glimpse of what it’s going to be like in our passage this morning. Remember a few weeks ago, we started our look at this book by understanding the overall theme of what the prophet Joel is talking about. Throughout the book, the underlying theme has been the apocalypse—or as the Bible calls it, “The Day of the Lord.” Remember we said The Day of the Lord is the time when God pours out His wrath on sin-marred and sin-scarred creation. Just like He destroyed everything on earth with water in Noah’s day, one day He’s going to destroy everything on earth with fire. I believe the Bible teaches that the Day of the Lord starts with the Rapture of the Church, and ends with the 1000-year rule of Jesus on earth called The Millennium. Just like Noah and his family were caught up in the ark and preserved from God’s wrath in the flood, believers from the church age will be caught up in the Rapture and preserved from God’s wrath in the apocalyptic Day of the Lord. For everybody who’s left behind, the Day of the Lord will be a terrifying time. The Book of Revelation uses images of seals and trumpets and bowls and woes to describe the increasing horror of what it will be like for those who are alive during that time. Global disease and famine and war are just the beginning of it. Fire from space. Water turning to blood. Mass slaughter. Cruelty and horror like the world has never seen before. But in the midst of all that—God is still faithful to keep His promises. And our passage this morning specifically shows how God will keep His promises to Israel.
To understand what Joel is talking about here, we need to have a quick overview of how God has dealt with His people throughout history. Out of all the people that God created, out of His great love and mercy, He chose to deal with a specific group of people in a special way. He called those people, Israel. That doesn’t mean that God didn’t love all the other people. It means that He desired that His specially chosen people would be the ones who would be His witnesses to everybody else. God’s desire has always been to draw people from every tribe and tongue and nation to Himself. And He chose Israel to be His instrument to do that through. God showed His strength through Israel. God gave His Word through Israel. And eventually, God gave His Son through Israel. But throughout Israel’s history, they continually rejected God. The entire history of your Old Testament is filled with Israel’s stiff-necked rebellion against God. They begged God for the law, then they broke it every chance they got. They begged Him for a king, then they followed those kings into idolatry and immorality and all kinds of wickedness. And when, through Israel, God sent His Son Jesus Christ—the Messiah of Israel, they rejected and crucified Him. John 1:11 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” You would think that after all of that, God would finally be done with them, wouldn’t you? And there are some people who think that. Some people think that the church has somehow replaced Israel, or somehow become Israel. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God made some unconditional promises to Israel. He promised them a piece of land that they’ve never fully claimed. But more importantly than that, God promised that Israel would completely and fully obey every aspect of His law. And that they would completely and whole-heartedly love and follow Him. But they’ve never done that, have they? And because of their rebellion, God’s promises to them haven’t been fulfilled yet. But God made His promises unconditional. So God’s promises to them don’t depend on their faithfulness—they depend on His faithfulness. So we know that there will be a time when all of God’s unconditional promises to the nation Israel will be fulfilled. But even though God has chosen to deal in a special way with Israel, His love for all people is evident in the fact that Israel’s rebellion has opened the door to God dealing with us Gentiles in a special way. God’s desire was for Israel to be His witnesses to the world, to draw all people to Him. But since Israel rejected Jesus, God is now using the church for that. And at the same time, the Book of Romans makes it clear that, during this age, He is using His dealings with the church to eventually draw Israel back to Him. Romans 1:11-12 says, “So I ask, did they [Israel] stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!” So—during this time that we are living in—between the cross and the Rapture—God is working in a special way through His church rather than Israel. That’s not going to last forever. Because God still has some promises to Israel to fulfill. And He’s faithful to fulfill His promises. The problem is—it’s going to take experiencing God’s wrath during the Day of the Lord for them to recognize Jesus as their Messiah and turn to Him. But even in the midst of that terrible time of wrath, God will pour out blessing on His people. That’s what our passage this morning is about. The first blessing God will pour out on Israel during the Day of the Lord is His Spirit. Look at verses 28-29:
JOEL 2:28-29
During that great and terrible Day of the Lord, God is going to pour out His Holy Spirit on His chosen people, Israel. If you think about it, that only makes sense. Because what’s the primary function of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit never draws attention to Himself, does He? The Holy Spirit always points people to Jesus. He convicts us of our need for Jesus by convicting us of sin and righteousness. But He not only shows us the problem by convicting us of sin—He gives us the solution by pointing us to Jesus. Israel’s problem is that they’ve rejected Jesus as their Messiah. As a whole, they don’t recognize that Jesus is God the Son. They might believe that a good man named Jesus was crucified, but if they do, they believe He was a martyr—not a redeemer. They don’t understand the fact that Jesus died as an atoning sacrifice for us. They don’t believe He is our Passover Lamb and when we allow His Spirit to place His blood over the doorpost of our heart, we’re saved from the wrath to come. As a whole, Israel rejects that. But one day—and Joel says that day is near—one day, the church will be raptured and God will pour out His Spirit on Israel in a far greater way than He poured out His Spirit on His church at Pentecost. And when He does, His Spirit will convict them of sin and righteousness and point them to Jesus as their crucified and risen Messiah. And Paul isn’t exaggerating in Romans 11:26 when he says, “And in this way, all Israel will be saved.” All Israel who is alive during the great and terrible day of the Lord, will be convicted of their sin. They will be drawn to Jesus. They will trust and accept Jesus as their Messiah. And they will be saved. God will pour out His Spirit on Israel during the day of the Lord. He will also pour out His wrath. Look at verses 30-31:
JOEL 2:30-31
There’s a reason Joel calls it the great and terrible day of the Lord. Because it’s going to be unimaginably horrific. The worst scenes from Walking Dead plus all the other apocalyptic movies and TV shows can’t even scratch the surface of what it’s really going to be like. And Joel just scratches the surface of it here. That’s why he says all of these things are going to happen at the beginning of the day of the Lord. It’s like these terrifying events are just the prelude. They’re just the opening scene of how God is going to pour out His wrath on His sin-marred creation. Peter describes the Day of the Lord like this in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” Terrifying. Indescribable. Wrath. That’s why earlier Joel asked the question, “For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome—who can endure it?” In that day, God will pour out His Spirit on Israel at the same time He is pouring out His wrath on creation. But because God has made unconditional promises to Israel and He’s always faithful to fulfill His promises… God will also pour out His mercy on them. Look at verse 32:
JOEL 2:32
You need to understand the word “saved” here in this context isn’t being used to describe spiritual salvation. Joel is using it to describe what’s going to happen to Israel in that day. After God pours out His Spirit on them, they will recognize Jesus as their Messiah. And when they recognize Jesus as their Messiah, they will be spiritually saved from their sin. They will be justified and redeemed and sanctified—bought with the precious blood of Christ. Just like you and I are when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and righteousness and draws us to Jesus and we willingly trust Him as our Lord and Master and Savior. At this point during the Day of the Lord, these people are saved just like you and I are. But they’re still in a world of hurt. They’re still in a world that God is actively pouring out His wrath on. And here—through the prophet Joel, God is telling them that He will deliver them. He will give them hiding places. He will be their shelter and their way of escape. He has to, so that they’ll be able to make it through to the Millennium where all of the rest of His national promises to them will be fulfilled. In these five verses, God is promising Israel that even though because of their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah they will have to endure the day of the Lord… they will be able to endure it because He will pour out His Spirit. And in the midst of pouring out His wrath—He will pour out His mercy.
And now you can look at me and say—Preacher, since I’m not a Jew, that was an interesting study about somebody else. What in the world does it have to do with me? I’m glad you asked. Because while the nation Israel as a whole is waiting until the Day of the Lord to experience those things, God has already made them available to you and me. That’s why Peter quoted these verses in his very first sermon at Pentecost. Turn with me to Acts 2. That’s page 628 in your pew Bible. 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, Peter preached his first sermon. Of course, we don’t have time to go through everything that happened that day, but here’s what I want you to see—In Peter’s sermon, he used what happened at Pentecost as an illustration of our passage in Joel. He didn’t say that Pentecost fulfilled Joel’s prophesy. It didn’t. But he did show us how what happened at Pentecost opened us up to those same kinds of promises. How? Well, in the same way that God will pour out His wrath on creation during the Day of the Lord, He already poured out His wrath on His own Son on the cross of Calvary. Look at Acts 2:22-23:
ACTS 2:22-23
Throughout their history, has Israel been stiff-necked and rebellious? Yes! But you and I don’t have any room to talk. Because each of us in here were born sinners and have committed sin each and every day of our lives. If anybody deserves to experience the full unmitigated wrath of an all-powerful God, it’s you and me. Yet Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God is going to pour out His wrath on His creation during the great and awful day of the Lord. But He has already poured out His wrath on His Son so that you and I don’t have to be there. Isaiah 53:10 says that it was the will of the Father to crush His Son and put Him to grief. Why? On Jesus, God poured out the wrath that you deserve. But not only has God poured out His wrath, He’s also poured out His Spirit. Look at Acts 2:32-33:
ACTS 2:32-33
Right before Peter started preaching, they had experienced some pretty spectacular things. Wind blowing indoors. Buildings shaking. Fire landing on their heads. Speaking in languages they’d never been taught. Crazy stuff, right? But all those signs were just God’s way of demonstrating to the people that something awesome had happened. The helper that Jesus promised was now here with them. And it wasn’t just a temporary, fleeting filling. In this new church age, the Holy Spirit of God was now dwelling in His people. That means that when you trust Jesus as your Lord and Master and Savior, the Holy Spirit of God moves in. Your breath is His breath. He is who animates you and gives you your new life in Christ. He was the one who showed you your need for Jesus. He inspired the Gospel you heard that pointed you to Jesus. He supernaturally opened your ears to hear the Gospel and your heart to receive Jesus. And when you willingly surrendered to Jesus as your Lord and Master and Savior, He breathed new life into you and moved in and now dwells in you. God has poured out His Spirit. Are you listening to Him? Are you responding to Him? God has poured out His wrath on Jesus for you. And He poured out His Spirit to draw you to Jesus. Finally, He’s poured out His mercy. Look quickly at Acts 2:38-39:
ACTS 2:38-39
When Joel used the word “saved” in our passage, he was talking about being protected and delivered from the wrath that God will pour out during the Day of the Lord. Israel is going to be delivered and protected right in the middle of it. But listen to me. Because you’ve heard the Gospel and have had the opportunity to respond… if you choose to continue rejecting Jesus and are left behind when the rapture happens… there will be no escape for you. Your opportunity for salvation and deliverance is right now. And right now is the only time you’re guaranteed to have. Jesus endured the wrath of God on the cross so that you would never have to endure it. When you repent of your sins and trust Jesus as your Lord and Master and Savior, your sins will be forgiven and you will never have to endure the wrath of God. You’ll never have to endure it here on earth during the Day of the Lord or you’ll never have to endure it in Hell for all eternity. You are saved from wrath. You are safe and secure forever and permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit.
When Peter preached his sermon, people from the crowd cried out to him, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Maybe you find yourself here this morning asking the same question. I’m going to tell you the same thing Peter did. Repent. That means to turn from your sins and turn to Jesus. Bow your knee to him as your King and Lord. And with Him has your King and Lord, you need to do what He calls you to do. The first thing He calls a new believer to do is to publicly profess Him in the waters of baptism. Baptism doesn’t save you—trusting Jesus saves you. Baptism shows the world that you’ve really trusted Him. What do you need to do? Repent and be baptized. And once you have been saved, you need to lead others to repent and be baptized. It’s really that simple.
