Jesus throughout the Scriptures: Pre-exilic Prophets 1 (2)
Pray Psalm 104.24-30.
O LORD, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions—
…You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth.
Sing Psalm 104.24-30.
(Creation: The Spacious Firmament Above)
How many are Your works, O LORD, which You have created by Your Word!
The earth and sea with creatures teem—they look to You to care and feed.
You give to them, they gather all; You hide Your face, they fail and fall.
You take their breath, they gasp and die; You send Your Spirit, they revive.
Read Psalm Joel 1, 2; meditate on Joel 2.28-32.
Preparation
1. What was God about to do?
2. What was He seeking from His people?
Meditation
Joel’s ministry was probably late in Judah’s history, before the exile to Babylon. He envisioned the invasion of Babylon as a plague of locusts, stripping the nation and leaving nothing (1.1-6). Nothing like this had happened before, and it would be so terrible that it would be remembered for generations (1.1-3). Joel addressed his words to the elders and all the inhabitants of the land (1.2). The invading nation will take everything and leave the land a waste (1.6, 7). The sacrifices will cease (1.8, 9); the crops will be ruined (1.8-12); and the priests will wail and lament, for the sacrifices shall cease (1.13). The people should be called to fast and prepare themselves for great hardship (1.14-18). The prophet cries out to God because of the desolation (1.19, 20).
Joel speaks in the past tense, a device known as the “prophetic perfect”, preaching and writing as if future events were already a done deal, to emphasize their certainty. This is the LORD’s doing (2.11). Joel calls the people to repentance before the day of the LORD’s wrath (1.13-15; 2.12-17), though he knows this will not happen. He thus turns in chapter 2 to call the people to prepare for the coming day of judgment, which is but a portent of a more distant day of judgment yet to come (ch. 3). Nevertheless, God will “be zealous” for His people; He will remove their captors, renew their fields and vines, and restore to them the years of waste (2.18-27). Then, as the people experience this restoration, they will know that God alone is LORD and there is no other (2.27).
This great restoration depends on the outpouring of God’s Spirit (2.28-32), which comes as the result of Jesus’ work of redemption (more on this in our next installment). Then the captivity of God’s people will be released, as Jesus had prophesied (Lk. 4.16-21), and the LORD will come dwell among His people and to shelter them from harm (3.14-17). Then, before the great and final day of the LORD, God will “acquit” His people of all their guilt and cause them to live in peace forever with Him (3.18-21).
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Jesus is The One through Whom our acquittal is given.
He is The One upon Whom we fix our eyes to learn from Him and of Him.
He is The One we look to, Who exemplified faith and faithfulness.
We must “consider Him Who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself… (Heb. 12.1-3).
Pondering His life on earth is interesting and often puzzling. For example: “Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there” (Matt. 21.17). We can safely assume that He stayed with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, as they were His dear and hospitable friends in that city. Previously, He had had that little chat with Martha about her being “worried and troubled about many things” and said that Mary had chosen the one needed thing, and that was to sit at His feet and learn from Him (see Lk. 10.38-42).
During a fun conversation with our daughter Kristy about this passage, she said she thinks Martha “over-corrected”. And here is why she said that: “Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry” (Matt. 21.18). Jesus was hungry after having stayed with His ever-hospitable friends? Why? How did that happen? Did Martha over-correct? Maybe. But there may be a larger picture here.
We remember then what happened when He left hungry. Jesus went to a fig tree for sustenance and found the tree to be barren. And in His hunger, He cursed the fig tree and it withered away. It should have been bearing fruit and it was not (Matt. 21.19). But here’s the point.
Jesus taught His disciples about Himself and about the Kingdom by reminding them of prophecies and happenings in the Old Testament. And here we have in Joel, as part of God’s judgment, the use of a fig tree.
“The field is wasted…The vine has dried up, and the fig tree has withered…surely joy has withered away from the sons of men” (Joel 1.10, 12). The disciples knew their Scriptures and Jesus was using their knowledge to align their hearts with Him as the Messiah, Savior, and All-Powerful King.
God began this book by teaching us to use current events as witnessing and remembering tools:
“Has anything like this happened in your days, or even the days of your fathers?
Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation” (Joel 1.2, 3).
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handwork.
Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language where their voice in not heard” (Ps. 19.1-3).
Everything leads to God. Every occasion speaks of Him.
Everything should bring our focus onto Jesus—bugs, armies, fig trees, hunger, sickness, joy, disappointments, weather—whatever is before us speaks loudly of Him and can be used by us to rejoice in Him and share our joy, reverent fear, and amazement of Him with those in our Personal Mission Field.
“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice,
for the LORD has done marvelous things! (Joel 2.21)
Reflection
1. What are some ways you try to connect with people in your Personal Mission Field to talk about Jesus?
2. What “marvelous things” has God done for you during the past week?
3. What are some issues you might use to start a conversation about Jesus?
Calling on God supposes knowledge of him, faith in him, desire toward him, dependence on him, and, as evidence of the sincerity of all this, conscientious obedience to him. Those only shall be delivered in the great day, who are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Joel 2.28-32
Pray Psalm 104.31-35.
Pray that you will glorify the Lord in all your work today, and that you will meditate on Him sweetly throughout the day, praising Him for all His goodness.
Sing Psalm 104.31-35.
(Creation: The Spacious Firmament Above)
LORD, let Your glory long endure! Rejoice! His works are ever sure!
He looks on earth, it quails and quakes, as we our songs of praises make.
LORD, let our meditation rise and bring great pleasure in Your eyes.
Consumed shall sinners ever be; O, bless and praise the LORD with me!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
For more teaching about the subject of this series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures”, download our free ReVision study, “We Would See Jesus”, by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
