Joel 2:13 (King James Version) 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
As we have studied in the text, over the past few months… we see a number of things happening here in this HISTORICAL setting. After the death of King Solomon, Israel is now a divided nation, there is the Kingdom of Israel to the north and the Kingdom of Judah to the south.
The Prophet Joel is speaking primarily to his people, the people of Judah. In this passage of scripture, we see that the Prophet Joel is doing exactly what a prophet of the LORD is to do—he has taken the circumstantial evidence and rendered a spiritual conclusion—the Prophet Joel is now prepared to speak the word of the LORD. He is illuminating and regurgitating God’s Words to the congregation of Judah.
The Prophet Joel is speaking in such a way that it leads me to believe that CIRCUMSTANCES are beyond trouble, circumstances are at critical mass; this thing is bigger than a problem, it is more than a situation, this is a bona fide LEVEL 3, CODE RED, CRISIS! The people find themselves in the midst of circumstances of which they had no control, no history, and no prospects in finding a quick and easy remedy. The people are in a crisis--a drought, famine, a plague of locusts; Judah is in CRISIS…
As we presented in our last dissertate, we spoke about the purpose of a CRISIS in the life of a believer. The word crisis, is a Greek word, that means "a turning point" A crisis is a place of decision, of opportunity, and of assignment, not NECESSARILY a place of destruction. I believe that there are only four reasons that we will ever find ourselves in a crisis:
- Error in Judgement or Ignorance in a situation (didn’t know or wouldn’t do better…just made a mistake)
- Conditions of the times (poor economy = lack of employment)
- The plan and attack of Satan (he seeks whom he may devour; steal, kill, and destroy)
- The ministry call of God on our LIVES (i.e. Joseph’s life, Daniel, Jesus, Paul…)
For the sake of time, I cannot elaborate more here, but, crisis in the life of a believer is to bring about spiritual and psychological change, and will therefore initiate behavioral change—if my mind is changed, and the spirit within me renewed, then my behaviors cannot remain the same. We must recognize that it is in those DRY times in our lives that God can bring about the greater thing; dryness causes friction, and friction causes FIRE, fire causes PURIFICATION! The Prophet wants to ignite a reaction in the people—They must CHANGE!
Now that we have a contextual understanding of the Prophet’s motivation to preach, we can now look closer at the message:
The Bible says in this passage, "Rend your Hearts and not your Garments…" what a peculiar metaphorical statement. Surely, Joel is not asking us to do something that is impossible for us to do. He does not expect us to rip out our warm beating hearts and present them to God! The Prophet is setting in place principle and priority in a way that the people could easily understand his meaning. Within that culture, it was common practice during a time of mourning or trouble, that the people would cry and scream and tear (or REND) their clothes as a sign of their distress. Isn’t that just like us today? —We easily offer that which is seen. We are partial to the external, because it does not require FAITH. The EXTERNAL is dependant upon what we can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. We will give our money; our time in our religious groups and social clubs, or present our eloquent speeches about how good God is, while all along refusing to give WHAT God TRULY desires! God demands a broken heart! This is when He does His best WORK in us. When we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service. And be NOT conformed to this world: but WE ARE transformed by the renewing of OUR MINDS, THAT WE (YOU & I) may prove what is that Good, and acceptable, and perfect will of GOD…. WE MUST REND TO GOD WHAT IS DUE!
Your tears at the altar will never save you. Your ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again’ will never be enough. Your guilt is not a requirement. It is only with true repentance that we are able to present ourselves as an acceptable sacrifice unto God. This is our acceptable service that during this time of brokenness, during this time of famine and crisis, that we REPENT and rend to God what is truly due Him!
That’s how I know that true BELIEVERS are an endangered species! The Prophet Joel tell us that we cannot experience God’s true nature, His grace and mercy without our heartfelt repentance—Our repentance is a pre-requisite for our rebirth! Our INDIFFERENCE brings about our destruction. So brothers and sisters, we must understand what TRUE REPENTANCE IS…true repentance IS A DAILY RENDERING UNTO GOD. If I rend something, to rend means to tear, to rip out… so I must completely rip out my heart, to tear those things that I hold as important to me and present it completely to God… there is no middle ground here, no reasoning, no gray areas… He wants your heart completely!
You see my will and character may change me, but that change is not necessarily repentance toward God. We have replaced the doctrine of repentance, with 12- step programs and easy answers. Unfortunately, often times, those easy answers bring about the hard times! We know more about creating wealth, than living holy. We know more about, planting our seed for a harvest, than we know about being consecrated unto GOD! But here is the test…here’s the test of true repentance…don’t miss this… how do I view the vile thing in my life…? Really, do I hate SIN? Do I really HATE the very thing I have loved for so long? True repentance changes our perspective, our appetites, and breaks the curse of sin in our lives.
The Message Bible read Joel 2.13 this way… 13Change your life, not just your clothes.Come back to God, your God. And here's why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe.
This is the God that we serve, a God that is kind and merciful, patient, extravagant in love, and always ready to cancel catastrophe… Here is the challenge for you:
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal LORD and SAVIOR…and you heard more than just my words… THIS IS YOUR TIME OF SALVATION! But, if you say that you know HIM, this is the word of the lord to you…REPENT…rend to GOD what is due…stop trying to be your own answer….let God act on you behalf…
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