79th Week Joel - A Minor Prophet (Click on the Title for a Video Introduction)

-
 

Click on the Link for a Video Intro

Monday, Joel Introduction
Joel Intro
Bart Strayer

THOUGHT
The purpose of the book of Joel was written to warn Judah of God’s impending judgment because of their sins, and to urge them to turn back to God.  The people of Judah had become prosperous and complacent.  Taking God for granted, they had turned to self-centeredness, idolatry, and sin.  Joel warned them that this kind of life-style would inevitably bring down God’s judgment. He has allowed our rebellion.  But soon the day of the Lord will come. 

It is about this day that the prophet Joel speaks, and it is the theme of his book.  On this day God will judge all unrighteousness and disobedience.  All accounts will be settled and the crooked made straight. 

Joel, therefore, urges the people to turn from their sin and turn back to God.  Woven into this message of judgment and the need for repentance is an affirmation of God’s kindness and the blessings He promises for all who follow Him.  In fact, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  Joel 2:32. 

PRAYER
Father, as we read Joel, help us catch his vision of Your power and might and of Your ultimate judgment of sin.  Help us choose to follow, obey and worship You alone as Your sovereign Lord.  Give us minds that are teachable and hearts that will feel and experience our Father God through the presence of the Holy Spirit.  In Jesus Name.  AMEN 


Tuesday, Joel Chapter 1
Joel I
Bart Strayer

THOUGHT
So why is Joel talking about an invasion of locusts?  I don’t get it!  I find it helpful to put things into context. Verses of the Bible tend to speak clearer and deeper to me if I understand the background.   

Many scholars believe that Joel is prophesying during the reign of King Joash.  Who is Joash?  Recall from our readings in 2 Kings?  Joash was the boy who became king at the age of seven.  His reign was marked by many positive things.  However, he failed to remove the high places of other gods, and the people of the nation continued to worship other gods. As we have learned, worshiping other gods displeases our God. 

So, after years of displeasing God in this way, we have Joel. The locust plague was only a foretaste of the judgment to come. Joel was trying to call the people to repentance and back to God.

PRAYER
Dear God, we thank You for the recently celebrated successes in our lives.  We ask collectively that You would speak to us throughout the book of Joel. Help us understand the meaning of Your Word and the message You have for us. In Jesus Name.  AMEN



Wednesday, Joel Chapter 2
Joel 2
Verses 26 & 32
Bart Strayer

THOUGHT
We see that the big theme of the book of Joel is that God’s judgment is coming, and those who repent of their sins will be saved. This is something we ALL must do and constantly reflect upon. We must justify our actions/motives to God and ask ourselves, “Are they good in His eyes?”  If not, repentance is crucial. 

One of my main goals in reading the book of Joel is for us to remind ourselves to tie these themes to the book of Joel. So when we need some good verses on repentance, we will know where to turn.

Verse 32:  “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If you choose to memorize one verse in Joel, memorize this one. This verse
can be pulled out of the Bible and needs no background context to support it. It is free standing. 

I would like to take a moment and remind us that not all verses are free standing. For example:

Verse 26:  “You will have plenty to eat until you are full and you will praise the name of the Lord your God.”

I loved what one of the writers said in the application portion of my Bible. “This verse is dependent on repentance.”  Joel is saying that those who repent will have ‘plenty to eat’.  Those who do not repent, will parish.

PRAYER
Dear God, again we thank You for Your Word. We ask that You would continue to point to areas of our lives that need repentance. Even some of the things that may seem minor, help us see our error and call ourselves back to You.  In Jesus Name.  AMEN

Thursday, Joel Chapter 3
Joel 3
Bart Strayer

THOUGHT
The application in my Bible summarizes the chapter so well.  The writer states the following:  

“Joel began with a prophecy about the destruction of the land and ended with a prophecy about its restoration.  He began by stressing the need for repentance and ended with the promise of forgiveness that repentance brings. Joel was trying to convince the people to wake up and get rid of their complacency, and realize the danger of living apart from God.”

Joel kind of reminded me of Jeremiah. Recall from our study of Jeremiah a couple of years ago that he was the guy standing on the wall of Jerusalem pleading with the people to turn from their ways and return to God.  The book of Jeremiah and the book of Joel are great books to read because they tell us that “for the record” there was someone standing on the wall warning the people that they were heading in the wrong direction. 

For the record, we have many Christian leaders (i.e. James Dobson, Tony Perkins, etc., along with many Pastors) that God has blessed with influential power saying the same message.  “This nation of ‘believers’ is heading in the wrong direction.”  And just like 2,700 years earlier, most of the people are
saying the same thing, “Man you need to relax, everything is fine, don’t be a fanatic”. 

Like the people who came before them, they will pass on with justification before the Father.  They used what limited power they had to influence a nation with a Biblical message.

PRAYER
Dear God, we thank You for this message of repentance and the promises of forgiveness. Help the words of this message to take seed in our hearts.  Help us again understand the message it has for us. In Jesus Name. AMEN

Friday, Review





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

210th Week, Song of Songs Chapters 5-8 (Click on Title for Video Intro)

-
Image
  Click of Title for Video Intro Monday, Song of Songs Chapter 5 Song of Solomon 5  Jane Jones THOUGHT The Book of Song of Solomon is really a truly amazing, love story. Solomon was very much in love; and just the fact that it is in the Bible, I think is truly amazing. It is a for sure fact that God definitely wants love to be first and foremost in our lives, first of Him, secondly for our spouse, and thirdly for our children. Chapter 5 tells us about a bad dream that Solomon’s lover had. Part of it referred to reaching out to her lover in the night, and he was gone. It was like a nightmare to her.  I’m sure we have all experienced nightmares at one time or other about our marriages, partners, or children. No matter what the nightmare, we do wake up in the morning to find that things are okay. That God has not left or forsaken us. We all have been praying so often, so hard, and so much for the Ruden Family. Our hope was that their house would sell soon, that Alan would fi...
Read more

3rd Week, II Thessalonians

-
Image
Week Three, II Thessalonians  Monday, Introduction II Thessalonians Intro Jeanie Boldt THOUGHT This letter was written by Paul about 2 months after he had sent the first letter to Thessalonica. Many in the church were confused about the timing of Christ’s return. Many thought that He could come at any moment so they stopped working for the Lord and just waited. Adding fuel to the fire was the continued persecution of the church. Many felt that indeed this must be the “Day of the Lord”. Responding quickly, Paul sent a second letter to this young church. In it he gave further instruction concerning the second coming and the day of the Lord. The letter begins with Paul’s trademark greeting. He mentions their perseverance in spite of their persecution and trials and uses this situation to broach the subject of Christ’s return. Paul shared that at this time Christ will vindicate the righteous who endure and will punish the wicked. We are closer to Christ’s second coming than the Thessal...
Read more

201st Week, II Kings Chapters 5-9 (Click on the Title for Video Introduction)

-
Image
  Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, II Kings Chapter 5 II Kings 5 Verse 13 Jane Jones Verse 13:  But his servants caught up with him and said, “Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?” THOUGHT Why do we think that everything great that comes from God is huge, impressive, hard and heroic? Obedience to God begins with humility. These first five chapters have been such great lessons on humility. We must believe that His way is better than our own. We may not always understand His ways of working, but by humbly obeying, we will receive His blessings. We must remember that (1)God’s ways are best; (2)God wants our obedience more than anything else;  (3)God can use anything to accomplish His purposes. The only thing that Naaman had to do to have his leprosy washed away is similar to what we must do to have our sin washed away -- humbly accept God’s mercy. We need to be humbl...
Read more