#DailyDevotion When God Calls Us To Repent, Will We Listen?

Joel 2 ³A fire devours ahead of them, and after them comes a scorching flame. Ahead of them the land is like the garden of Eden, but behind them a barren desert; nothing escapes them. ⁴They look like horses and run like war horses. ⁵They rumble like chariots as they hop on the tops of the hills. They crackle like fire burning up straw. They’re like a mighty people ready for battle.

One of the confusing things about prophecy is that sometimes it looks like a mountain range. You see the mountains right in front of you, but you also see the mountains behind them and still further mountains behind them if they are high enough. So too, sometimes a prophecy contains something in the immediate future, something in the distant future and sometimes still in the much distant future. These types of prophecies tend to have a common element or theme in all their predictions Jesus does this in Matthew 24. He predicts how His apostles and disciples will suffer soon after His ascension and then throughout history. He predicts the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman army and He also predicts the Last Day. We can see this in Matthew because we have the history behind us to show us what parts are indeed already fulfilled and what is still to come.

In similar fashion, Joel 2 seems to perhaps be one of these mountain range prophecies. The theme that seems to bring them together is the locusts in the previous prophecy in chapter one even though they are not called such in this chapter. It’s just that the “people” and “army” have a lot of the characteristics of locusts.

Now a stunning picture here is a fire devours ahead of them and a scorching flames comes after them. This is stunning because this is a picture of the LORD God Almighty. We see this in the following scriptures: Isa. 66, “ ¹⁵The LORD will come with fire. . .,” Mal. 3, “²But when He comes, who can bear it? When He shows Himself, who can stand it? He is like a refiner’s fire, like cleaners’ soap.” Ps. 50, “ ³Our God comes and isn’t silent; in front of Him a fire is devouring, and around Him a storm is raging.” Ps. 97, “³Fire goes ahead of Him, burning up His enemies all around.” Rev. Thomas Hass points this out in his commentary.



So this army, whether it be locusts, the armies of Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome or the demonic locust army of Rev. 9 is the LORD’s army. It is a theophany, an appearance of the LORD in His anger and wrath. I don’t remember if it was Martin Luther who said it but someone once said, “He may be the devil, but he is the LORD’s devil.” These locusts, armies or demons may have their own plans of destruction for their own sake, but they can only move and do their worst by the hand of the LORD for His purposes.

This army, whether for the people of Joel’s time or for ours, brings utter destruction. The destruction of the fields, vineyards, orchards and forest would not refer to Rev. 9, as those “locusts” were only allowed to harm those without God’s name on them. The LORD would have a different flame for Revelation. But that which was like the Garden of Eden is now made a wasteland. What would the people do? Would they repent before it happened like the Ninevites? Would they repent afterwards like the Jews returning from the Babylonian captivity? As we see disasters and destruction around us by nature and man what will we do? Will we dismiss it or see it as coming from the LORD’s hand calling us to repent for our sins, our nation’s sins, changing our behavior and turning to the LORD Jesus Christ for forgiveness? Only you can answer that.

Almighty God and Father, You warn us through disaster to repent of our sins. Give us eyes that see it so we do and forgive us for the sake of Jesus Christ, in who name we pray. Amen.