#DailyDevotion Repent Daily So You May Stand In The Day Of The LORD
Joel 2 6People are in anguish before them; all faces get pale. 7They run like warriors and climb walls like soldiers. Each goes straight ahead, and they don’t turn from their paths. 8They don’t push one another. Each one keeps in line. They break through weapons without a loss in their ranks. 9They attack a city, run on the walls, climb into houses, and come through windows like thieves.
So this army, which I believe probably covers several events, one in near time, perhaps one on the Last Day or close to it, causes the people to twist their faces and either get pail or black, maybe ashen. It is such a horrific sight. Again we have this description which on one hand sounds like locusts but then it also sounds like a human army. They are pretty organized. In some senses it sounds a bit how the Greeks and then later the Romans fought. Because of this, some take it to be written during Alexander the Great’s time or Antioch Epiphanes’ attack on the land. Nevertheless, the picture drawn up here in words is to cause us to pause, repent of our sins and turn to the LORD God Almighty and our LORD Jesus Christ for refuge and help.
10 The earth quakes before them, and the sky trembles; the sun and the moon turn dark, and the stars stop shining. 11The LORD thunders ahead of His army because His army is very great, and mighty in doing what He tells them. Yes, the day of the LORD is great and very terrible, and who can stand it?
Sounds about like cavalry and chariots moving in his day. For us we may think of tanks and armored vehicles on the move. Apache helicopters come to mind when I think of the sky trembling. We see the imagery of judgment with the sun and moon turning dark, probably because of the dust being brought up by the movement of the army. Certainly this is prophetic also of the end days and the darkness that appears just before the judgment presaged by the darkness in Egypt before the last plague upon them. We can think of the darkness in Rev. 8:12, 9:12, and 16:10.
Verse 11 is shocking because as mentioned in the previous devotion, this is the LORD’s doing. He goes ahead of His army and He commands them in everything they are doing. It can and is only acting on the LORD’s orders. He is bringing this judgment upon His people because they would not repent. We note twice in Revelation the after the plagues the LORD sent upon the people of the earth, they still do not repent. So the day of the LORD is great and terrible. Joel asks, “Who can stand it?” On the one hand we should hear Amos 5, “18Woe to you who long for the LORD’s day! What good can the LORD’s day bring you? It is darkness and not light.” That is to say, before we long for the LORD’s day, we better make sure whose side we actually are on? Are we living repentant lives? Is there any sin we think we are hiding from God? Is there a sin we are justifying ourselves when committing it? On the other hand, if we are living repentant lives, trusting in our LORD Jesus Christ, we can listen to 2 Peter, “12waiting for and earnestly desiring the coming of God’s day. . .” We can join Paul in 2 Tim. 4:8 “all who love to see Him come again.” And we can follow Jesus’ teaching in Luke 21:28, “stand ready and look forward cheerfully because you will soon be set free.” So don’t put off repenting for later. We are called to live repentant lives daily through our baptism. If we examine ourselves regularly, confess our sins, and look to Christ, the Last Day is good.
Merciful Father, continually give us Your Holy Spirit that we may live repentant lives now so we can look forward to day of Christ’s second coming. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.