Becoming What We Are

Last time we talked a little bit about the sanctifying work of God in our lives. In other words, God sets us apart for Himself for His special and Holy purposes. We discovered in I Thessalonians 5:23 that every part of our being – body, soul, and spirit are set apart for God.

What’s interesting in the Bible is that we are also told to sanctify ourselves. That is what God told Joshua to tell the people. Another thing that adds somewhat to confusion over this topic is that sometimes the Bible speaks as though the sanctifying work is done and sometimes it tells us to do it.

Look for example at Colossians 3:9,10. “…seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” There you have the statement of accomplished fact. We are supposed to behave in certain ways because we have put off the old self.

However, if you look at Ephesians 4:22. In this verse we are told “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life.” So here we are to do something that Colossians tells us we have already done.

You can see a similar comparison in Galatians 5:24 and Colossians 3:5. In Galatians we have crucified the flesh and in Colossians we are supposed to put to death our members.

For whatever it’s worth, here’s my opinion. When we come to faith in Christ many things take place instantaneously. Among those things is the fact that we are dead, buried and raised with Christ. We also have been made righteous in God’s sight. We have forgiveness of our sins. Old things are passed away and all things have become new. All of that is a positional fact based upon what Christ did for us on the cross. However, not all of this has evidenced itself in the way we live out our lives. Therefore we have a challenge. Because the old self has been crucified with Christ we are to make that real in our life by putting to death those deeds that relate to the old self. Since we have put off the sins of the flesh through our union with Christ, we are to make that real in life by putting off the things that related to that condemned nature.

We’ll talk more about that in the days ahead, but this is the source of victory in our lives. Instead of trying to reach some ideal state in order to be right with God and to please Him, we’ve already been placed in a position of being right with God. There’s no condemnation. Now it’s a matter of working out what we already are.

Sanctified Completely

We’re continuing our study in the book of Joshua. In Chapter 3 verse 5, Joshua says to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

To sanctify means to set something apart for a special purpose. In our culture we often have a special set of dishes that we don’t use every day but they are set apart for special occasions. The same thing may be true for some of our clothes. In the Christian realm, God has set certain things apart for Himself. He uses the word “holy” to describe these things. Holy doesn’t mean perfect; it means set apart or dedicated for God’s use.

The people of Israel on this occasion were to dedicate themselves to God for His special use. In their religion this meant certain rituals of cleansing and washing, but it also meant repenting of sin and confessing allegiance to God and His Word.

In the New Testament, we find that sanctification is a work of God. Paul writes in I Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are a couple of things here that I find encouraging. First, it encourages me to know that this is something that God does. I have my responsibilities in this as we shall see, but it is good to know that sanctification is first an act of God. Second, this sanctification involves every part of me. It’s not just a spiritual thing. My whole being – body, soul and spirit are involved. And finally, I’m encouraged by the fact that God keeps me that way. It’s amazing that he uses the word “blameless” here. In Christ, our sins are washed away and removed from us as far as the east is from the west. Those awful stains of sin have been removed. Paul is asking God to keep us that way.

So many times we fail to recognize how thorough the work of God is in our lives. If you are one of those who has come to God through Christ by faith, take some time today to consider and thank God for the way that He has set you apart for His special purposes.

T4G - - Some More Thoughts

Last week I had the privilege of attending the Together For the Gospel Conference in Louisville, KY, with our pastor and his dad. We had a wonderful, God-exalting time of praise, worship and preaching. It’s been a long time since I have been so deeply affected by the preaching of God’s Word along with the singing of great old and some new hymns. It’s an amazing thing to hear more than 5000 men lifting their voices in song to the Lord. During one of the sessions they asked us to stand based on the decade of our age and I would guess that half of the men there were in their twenties and thirties. It was encouraging to me to see this many young men together in one place to hear the preaching of the Word. And the preaching was not trivial fluff!

Speakers included Ligon Duncan, Thabiti Anyabwile, John MacArthur, Mark Dever, RC Sproul, Albert Mohler, John Piper and CJ Mahaney. Each one spoke for about an hour with a half hour time when they all sat together on the platform discussing the issues raised in the message. I would strongly recommend that you download the free mp3 files of the messages and listen to them. It will provide a feast for your soul. I especially recommend the following:
RC Sproul – The Curse Motif of the Atonement
John Piper – How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice
John MacArthur—The Sinner Neither Able Nor Willing: The Doctrine of Absolute Inability


Thabiti Anyabwile had a very interesting talk explaining in biblical terms the difference between race and ethnicity and the importance for us to have a Christian worldview that denies the category of race, i.e. that there are distinct biological differences between those of different skin colors. His message can be downloaded here.

As I mentioned, the other highlight of our time together was the singing. We sang mostly older, well-known hymns. The list of songs can be found here. We sang one old hymn by Isaac Watts titled, “How Sweet and Awful is this Place.” After we had sung it, many of us with tears in our eyes, all looked at one another as if to say, “where did that song come from?” The words are definitely encouraging. I’ve posted the lyrics here on my blog. I definitely urge you to take a look at this powerful song.

Besides all of that, each time we came back to a new session, there were 3 or 4 books for us on our seats. By the end of the conference we each (5500 of us) had received 15 books! Now I guess I won’t be able to be a slacker.

As you can probably tell, I came away very encouraged and challenged to live a life that would be an example of a Faithful Man.

I trust that you too have had some good times of spiritual refreshment lately either with brothers in Christ or through your churches. It’s so important to hold one another up as we try to be faithful men for the Lord.

Staying on the Victory Side

In Joshua 1:8, he commanded the people to prepare provisions for themselves because within three days they would be crossing over the Jordan River to take possession of the land that God had given them. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh reminded Joshua that Moses had promised them that if they led the way and fought with the rest of the people until God had given them rest, they could then return to the east side of the Jordan and have their possession there. (verses 12-15)

In our study of the book of Joshua we have seen that the Promised Land doesn’t represent heaven as some think, but a condition of living by faith in the promises of God and a place of victory and obedience. You’ll have to review some of the previous posts to study this out. If that idea is correct, then even though these tribes were allowed to stay on the other side, it is not the best or ideal place for them to be.

In I Chronicles 5:25, 26 we see one of the results of this choice. They were the first to be taken captive by the king of Assyria. Also in the Song of Deborah in Judges chapter 5, verse 16 tells us that in Reuben there was great searchings of heart. We don’t have time to go through the whole thing here, but basically everybody else was out fighting and they were in their homeland enjoying peace and prosperity. They did some serious soul searching over the situation, but still didn’t go out to face the foe and stand for God. The question we need to ask ourselves as faithful Christian men is, “On which side of the Jordan will we spend our experience?” Will we spend it on victory side or on the side of compromise, laziness and defeat? We can go across and fight some battles, but do we return to the comforts of ease or do we stick with the fight to take possession of the possessions God has promised to us?

Together For the Gospel Conference

It's been a busy couple of weeks. My wife and I had the opportunity to get away for a couple of days during spring break.
The highlight of this week has been that I had the opportunity to attend Together For the Gospel conference with a couple of friends. I'll probably be writing a couple of blog posts on the things that were highlights for me. Tim Challies does an excellent job reporting the details of the conference over at his blog here.
For me the most challenging and encouraging messages were those by John Piper and R. C. Sproul. More on those later. Also, I was tremendously encouraged by the singing. All of the songs were uplifting and God-honoring. I and many of those around me had never heard one particular song that we sang. Afterward we looked around at each other as if to say, "Where did that come from?" The song was by Isaac Watts and was entitled How Sweet and Awesome is this Place. The original title used "awful" instead of "awesome".

Here are the words for your consideration and meditation:

1. How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!

2. While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
Lord, why was I a guest?

3. Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there's room;
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?

4. 'Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly forced us in
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

5. Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

6. We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart, and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

Escape Before Judgment Falls

When the Israelites came to the Jordan River and prepared to cross, there was a delay of several days while the spies checked out Jericho. As we saw last time, Rahab, a woman of faith was there and needed to be rescued. This reminds me of the way God has demonstrated His mercy so many times in Scripture.

Take the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for example. God came to Abraham and told him about His plans to destroy the cities. Abraham negotiated with God as long as He could but it became obvious that the destruction would take place. Before God destroyed the cities, He sent His angels to the cities to rescue Lot. Lot is described by Peter as being righteous.

It’s the same thing that happened to Enoch. He was taken by God before the flood came to destroy every living thing on the earth.

I believe the same thing will be true when the earth is to be judged during the Great Tribulation. Christ is going to come to take to Himself all of His children who are on the earth just before this period of terrible judgment comes upon the nations of the world. Some people refer to this ‘taking away’ as the rapture of the Church.

Paul tells us in Romans 11 that blindness has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. There is a process going on right now where God is calling out a people for His Name. There will come a time when that process will end and God’s approach to world events will change.

Peter writes in his second epistle that people keep going on thinking that the judgment of God is not going to come upon the earth. Everything continues as it always has. (2 Peter 3) Peter explains the reason why nothing seems to be happening. God is long suffering, not desiring that any should perish. He is waiting until He has completed bringing in all of those who have been His before the foundation of the world. These are the ones who Jesus said the father gave to Him and of whom He would lose none. (John 6:39)

Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 5, “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” He goes on to speak of sudden destruction like labor pains coming on a pregnant woman. He then he contrasts people who will face this sudden catastrophe to his Christian brothers who are children of the light. And then we find this written in verse 9, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God always watches out for those who are His, even when it comes to God’s judgment on mankind. Christians are not immune from the ordinary trials and tribulations of this life. Disasters, diseases and other catastrophes come upon saved and unsaved alike. But when God in His wrath judges the people of earth in that Great Tribulation, Christians will be rescued before the judgment commences just like the examples we have examined in this study.

Faith that Works

When Joshua and the people were preparing to cross the Jordan to the Promised Land, they prepared for their invasion by sending a couple of spies to check out Jericho. Most of you remember the fact that they found a hiding place in the home of Rahab, a prostitute. When the authorities came looking for the spies, Rahab lied to them about their whereabouts and sent them away secretly.

Hebrews 11:31 tells us, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.”
James 2:25 explains, “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?”

The story in Joshua and the additional information given to us by the New Testament writers provides us with a lot to think about. What do we know from the story that shows us Rahab’s faith? In what way was she different than her fellow citizens?

In this short story, she explains to the spies that he knows that the Lord has given the Israelites the land. She admits the terror has fallen on them, all the inhabitants are fainthearted and that their hearts melted with lack of courage because of what they had heard God had done to other nations around them. It sounds like Rahab was not the only one who believed the stories they had heard about what had happened. The citizens as a whole were terrified. What made the belief of Rahab different than the rest?

It seems to me that she acted on her belief. She took the risk of hiding the spies instead of turning them in, she helped them escape, and she asked to be rescued. When she was told what it would take to be rescued, she believed what they said and did what they told her to do. I think that’s why James says she was justified by her works. James writes that faith without works is dead. But Rahab demonstrated her faith with her actions and in so doing was rescued when that pagan city was destroyed.Shouldn’t this teach us something about faith in Christ? So many times we hear what God has done, and sometimes there is a certain amount of awe and fear associated with it, but often it isn’t mixed with the actions that true faith produces. May God grant us the kind of faith that produces obedience.

Results of Meditation

Joshua was the man God chose to lead His people across the Jordan and into the Promised Land. In God’s challenge to Joshua He said, “This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Here is a tremendous promise related to Christian meditation. I say “Christian” to distinguish it from the various types of eastern meditation that are out there today. In order to meditate on Scripture, we have to take it in, perhaps memorize it and then spend time mulling it over and over in our mind, thinking about what it means and how it applies to our situation. This is not an easy thing to do in our culture that is so visually oriented and busy. But learning to do this has great rewards.

The first thing we see is that meditation on God’s Word will help us to observe and do all that is in it. God has given us His word to be followed and obeyed. Meditating on it helps us to do that.

Second, Joshua was promised that his way would be prosperous and he would have good success. Of course, prosperity and success in this context is not what we usually think of in our current culture. Prosperity and success here are measured in God’s terms based on a godly life that glorifies Him.

Psalm One offers a similar promise to the one who meditates on His law day and night. The psalmist tells us that we shall be like a fruitful tree rather than dry sawdust. Whatever such a person does shall prosper.

Isn’t that what we want in our lives? If we find ourselves falling short of this ideal we should look at the quality and level of our meditation on God’s Word. How are we doing in that area?

God's Rest Our Rest

When the Israelites crossed the Jordan river into the promised land, there were only two who had been among the original group that had been delivered from Egypt. Those two were Caleb and Joshua. The rest of the people died in the wilderness because of their unbelief.

According to the book of Hebrews, there is a picture here that the Holy Spirit wants us to grasp.

You’ll have to read Hebrews 3 and 4 to see the whole context, but I’ll summarize the argument here. Hebrews 3:7 says “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” What that means is that today, we should not be like the people of Israel were in that day when they disobeyed God in the wilderness. God swore that because of their disobedience, they would not be allowed to enter His rest, i.e. the promised land. They did not enter in because of unbelief. (verse 19)

Hebrews 4:1 tells us that the promise of entering God’s rest remains. God’s rest is explained in that God rested on the seventh day after He had created the world. Since there remains the possibility that some would enter into it and since those to whom the message was first preached did not enter into it, there is still a designated time for some to enter that rest. The designated time is TODAY. His conclusion in verse 9 and 10 is that a rest remains for the people of God and the person who has entered into His rest has ceased from his own works as God did from His.

We so often find ourselves striving and laboring to try to achieve what God has already given us by His grace. When you picture God, do you picture Him struggling and toiling over events in the world? Do you think He is worrying about the political situation and the crises around the world? I don’t think so. God is offering us the opportunity of entering into the rest He is in right now. It means we cease from our labor like God did from His. The struggling to be acceptable and approved by God is over.

But the people in the Old Testament weren’t able to enter in because of unbelief. The same thing will hinder our entering in. God calls upon us as His people to believe Him and trust Him and all of the promises He has made to us. Have you entered into the rest God has prepared for you?

Christ our Representative

The last time we saw that Adam was our representative when he sinned and therefore his sin is our sin and we became guilty in him. The great news in the gospel is that Jesus Christ is the second Adam. In other words, He also is the representative for the people who are in Him. Romans 5:15 and following says, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.”

Verse 18 goes on, “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

The thing I see happening all the time is that Christians rightly recognize their status as sinners because of Adam, but they’ve somehow missed the point of this chapter which is that in the same way that Adam made us sinners, Jesus Christ made us righteous. One is as equally true as the other.

As we continue our study in the book of Joshua and the associated lessons, we are going to see over and over how Christ is the representative for His people and what He has done, we have done in Him.

Baptism in the Spirit

Today, over at Adrian's Blog he asks the question, "What is the Baptism in the Holy Spirit." Here are my thoughts along with a suggestion for further study that I would encourage all of you to tackle.

I think there is a lot of confusion related to terminology when it comes to discussing this subject. I don’t think that defining the baptism in the Holy Spirit involves whether or not spiritual gifts are present in the church today or whether or not speaking in tongues is involved. I also believe that as far as possible we should form our definitions from Scripture rather than by personal experience. That is why there is so much disagreement and confusion because of the fact that people’s experiences can and do differ.

In verses such as Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33 and Acts 1:5, John is said to have baptized in water but Jesus Christ would baptize in the Holy Spirit. In the passage in Acts, the Christians are told that this will take place “not many days from now.” Within a few days, of course, the day of Pentecost arrived with the sound of wind, the flames of fire and the speaking in tongues.

But the question remains. “What is the baptism in the Spirit?”

I think the biblical answer is given in I Corinthians 12:13. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” This verse uses the same terminology (in one Spirit we were baptized) as the other verses from the Gospels and Acts. This passage is in the context of the body of Christ having many members with many gifts composing but one body.

I take it then that every person who is a Christian and part of the body of Christ has been baptized in one Spirit into one body. I would suggest therefore that the baptism in the spirit is the operation of the Spirit of God that places us into the body of Christ.

I would like to pass along a suggestion that someone gave to me a long time ago with reference to understanding baptism, especially spirit baptism. That suggestion is to look at the prepositions the original language uses in describing baptism. Just to get you started, let me explain that there are basically three: in (en), into (eis) and upon (epi). The problem with English is that sometimes these are translated in a way that makes it impossible to tell them apart.

In Matthew 3:11, John says I baptize you in water into repentance, but He will baptize in the Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 describes baptizing into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So right there, between those two verses you have two different things that a person could be baptized into.

Acts 2:38 talks about being baptized upon the name of Christ into forgiveness. So the object of “into” is different from the other two and what looks like a similarity to Matthew 28:19 (i.e. being baptized in the name of Christ) is really different. One is a baptism into the name and the other is a baptism upon the name.

Some very interesting patterns emerge when you look at what people are baptized in and what they are baptized into. It clears up a lot of ambiguity on the subject, but it does take some digging using a good interlinear Greek New Testament.

Adam our Representative

One of the keys to understanding the Bible is the concept of a representative acting on behalf of his constituents. We in the United States have some concept of that when we elect representatives to our legislatures. There they make decisions on our behalf but not always the decisions we would make but those decisions impact our lives. We may have to pay more taxes or be at war with another country and yet we didn’t make those decisions ourselves.

The same thing happens in the Bible. For example, we are taught that Adam represents those who are his constituents. Jesus Christ also represents His constituents. This relates to our study in the book of Joshua because God promises Joshua that every place he sets his feet in the Promised Land is his. Now obviously God isn’t giving Joshua personally all the land. He is giving it to Joshua as the representative of all the people.

We need to take some time and work through this because it is central to our understanding of some important Scriptures.

Let’s start with Adam. Look carefully at Romans 5:12-16. First we learn that sin entered the world through one man, Adam. Christians generally believe that Adam’s fall is what brought sin into the world. Sin brought death with it and as a result death passed to all men because all sinned. Now the problem is that most people think that this passage is saying that since Adam sinned, other people have a sin nature that they follow and so they also sin and bring death upon themselves. But this is not what the passage is saying. What the passage is saying is that when Adam sinned we all sinned in him. He sinned as our representative and this brought guilt on all of us before we even had a chance to show our own sinfulness by committing sins ourselves.

We know this is true because it is explained in verses 13 and 14. Verse 13 says that there was sin in the world before the law came, but when there is no law, sin is not charged to anyone. However, verse 14 says that in spite of this fact, people died before the law came even though they did not sin like Adam did by disobeying a specific commandment. What that means is that their death was a result of the sin of Adam which was imputed to them.

In writing this, Paul says that Adam is a type of Christ who was to come. We’ll pick up on this more next time, but where he is going with this is that Christ also is a representative and what He did in that capacity is greater positively than the negative of Adam’s transgression.

Legalism Not the Path to Victory

The Promised Land was the place God had always envisioned for His people. He told Abraham that “All the land you see I will give to you and your descendents forever.” Genesis 13:15. Even though many did not ever see it because of disobedience and unbelief, it was His purpose to lead them there. In the same way it is God’s purpose to lead the Christian to a life that is full of faith and rest, even though there will be battles and hardships. But some will not enter into that experience because of disobedience and unbelief.

Sometimes we try to bring about the victory by putting ourselves under legal constraints. In other words we try to bring the law to bear on our lives with the hope that this can accomplish what God desires.

The problem with this is that it doesn’t work. In the Old Testament story, we’re told that Moses is dead. Joshua now is to lead the people. John 1:17 tells us that the law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The name Joshua is basically the same name as Jesus so we have the picture of Moses as representing the law being dead before the life of victory is entered.

That makes for nice illustrations, but is there reality to that in Scripture? I Corinthians 15:56 says “The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.” We find, then, that sin’s strength is found in the law. So if you try to enter a life of victory and try to empower it by bringing more law into your life, you actually empower sin in the process.

Romans 7:5 states, “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.”

And then in verse 7, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.”

So here again we see that even though the law is holy and the commandment just and good, it enlivens our sin and brings death.

Scripture gives a completely different answer for bringing a fruitful and victorious life. Bringing the law into it does not accomplish it. According to Colossians 2:23 we’re told that even though such legalistic endeavors “have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”

As we proceed through this study of Joshua, we’ll see that God has an entirely different approach to providing the victory and peace we seek.

The Picture of Victory

The leadership of Joshua as he led the Israelites out of the wilderness and across the Jordan River into the Promised Land is a great picture of God’s desire for each one of us as Christians. In my view, the Jordan River doesn’t represent death and heaven as some describe it but rather leaving behind a life of wandering and aimlessness and pressing forward into a trusting relationship with God that rests upon His promises and enjoys His peace and victory in life.

In the Old Testament example, those that wholly followed the Lord entered in to the promised land. In the same way, the New Testament Christian is challenged to enter into God’s rest.

Consider Hebrews 4:6ff “Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”

Think about what this is saying. God is offering a rest. He says, “There is a rest.” And He said that the person who has entered God’s rest has ceased from his works just as God has from His. This promise comes right on the heels of discussing the disobedience of the Israelites. I take this to mean that this life of rest and trust is the reality that the Promised Land pictures.

More on this next time.

Final Thoughts on Joel

We’ve been looking at the second chapter of Joel’s prophecy in the Old Testament. We’ve seen that the promise of the outpouring of God’s Spirit had a partial fulfillment on the day of Pentecost in that the very same Spirit is at work. But the specific fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy is awaiting a later time. We noticed that the darkening of the sun and moon did not take place on the day of Pentecost. In verse 31 we learn a little bit about the timing of these events. They take place before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. “Day of the Lord” is a phrase used several times in the book of Joel and refers to a time of judgment from God. The immediate context that the people would have had was the onslaught of locusts that had just come upon them. The prophecy here in verse 31, however, is of a greater and more cataclysmic day of the Lord.

On that day it shall come to pass that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance. I don’t see any other way to interpret this other than literally. I’m not a big prophecy buff, but it certainly seems to me that in That Day Jerusalem will be the focal point of the action.

Joel goes on to say in chapter 3, “Behold in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there.” Why will He judge the nations? He will judge them for what they have done to His people, Israel. He calls on the nations to arm themselves and fight. “The day of the Lord is near.” He repeats the fact that the sun and moon will grow dark. The Lord is going to roar from Zion. He is jealous for His people. Here again, it seems to me that this is a real judgment on nations which have attacked and plundered God’s people Israel.

But the Lord will be a shelter for His people, the mountains will drip with new wine, a fountain will flow from the house of the Lord. Egypt and the other nations will be a desolation but Judah will abide forever. And then here comes the amazing promise in verse 21, “For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the Lord dwells in Zion”.

God judges His people, but in the final analysis, they are His people and He will be merciful and forgiving for His own sake and for the sake of the covenant that He has made with them.

Next time we’ll go back pick up some of the lessons I’ve been learning from the book of Joshua.

Joel's Prophecy of the Spirit

It’s been a cold and blizzard-filled Sunday for us here in Michigan (Feb 10). We made it half of our 30 mile ride to church this morning and had to stop four times right in the middle of the highway because we could not see where we were going. So we turned around and came back home. It’s been kind of a slow day, but has given us some time to read and write.

We’ve been looking at the book of Joel for the last couple of posts. One of the things that has struck me is that God makes specific promises to the nation of Israel. After the immediate discipline of God by means of locusts, God promises restoration and peace. Some of those promises were obviously not for immediate fulfillment.

Consider specifically Joel 2:28: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

On the day of Pentecost, Peter referred to the outpouring of the Spirit about which he said, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.” (Acts 2:16) An interesting question is whether the events of that day are the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. I don’t see how it can be since Joel continues to describe events, which Peter also quotes, that didn’t take place. Joel speaks of wonders in heaven above, the sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood. These obviously didn’t take place on the day of Pentecost. What I think Peter means is that this Holy Spirit that came upon the church on the day of Pentecost is that same Spirit which the prophet Joel is talking about. The literal fulfillment of the prophecy with the signs in the heavens is yet to occur.

More next time.

More thoughts on Joel

Throughout the book of Joel, God is challenging His people to repent and turn back to Him. He has sent a plague of locusts and other “natural” disasters to get their attention. God’s promise to His people is that He would restore what the locusts have eaten. In chapter 2:26 He says, “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame.”

One of the things we need to ask ourselves is, “Who are these people?” In my opinion there is a tendency today to take what the Bible says, especially in the Old Testament and spiritualize it to the Church. There are definitely spiritual lessons that are to be learned in the Old Testament. Romans 15:4 for example says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

However, I believe that the promises given specifically to the nation of Israel are their promises. So the promise quoted above about not putting His people to shame is a promise to Israel. In fact verse 27 says, “Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel; I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.”

The locusts attacked the land of Israel and God’s promise of blessing was also made to them. I think one would have to conclude that the promise that His people would never be put to shame has not come to pass yet. That’s why many Christians look for a literal future establishment of the nation of Israel under the rule of Christ.

More on Joel

Well, the snow is piling up again in Michigan. Yesterday was a very tricky driving day here, but God granted us safety in our travels.

I’m looking this morning at Joel 2. Joel’s theme is “The Day of the Lord” throughout this small book. Chapter one had talked about the locusts and the devastation that brought to the land. In chapter two it seems as though he is talking about an army, but I suspect he is still referring to the locusts. There are so many that they just come in swarms going up into the houses through the windows and attacking whatever is in front of them. But these creatures have a commander – the Lord. Verse 11 says, “The Lord utters his voice at the head of his army; how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the Lord is great; terrible indeed—who can endure it?”

Just as in the first chapter, there is a call to repentance. “Return to me with all your heart,” the Lord says. He calls for all the people both young and old, even the infants, to be gathered together for an assembly. The bride and bridegroom should halt their preparations and celebrations and come to this assembly. What is the purpose of this meeting? To cry out to the Lord to spare His people. It’s interesting that here, just as in many other places in Scripture, the plea to God is that He not make his people a mockery so that people will say, “Where is their God?”

God responds to this prayer and shows pity on the people. He promises rain and food and plenty as He restores what has been destroyed by the plague. In addition to the physical healing of the land, God promises a spiritual work. We’ll look at that next time.

The lesson for us as men who desire to be faithful, is that we need to learn to have a repentant heart. When God disciplines and chastens us, we need to respond with humility and God-honoring repentance.

Thoughts on Joel

As I mentioned several weeks ago, when my daily Bible reading brought me to the Minor Prophets, I decided to slow down and give more thought to my reading since I have not paid much attention to this section in the past.

In the book of Joel, the theme seems to be “The Day of the Lord” since that phrase is repeated 5 times in this one little book. There are only 19 occurrences of the phrase in the whole Bible.

Chapter one talks about a swarm of locusts that has decimated the land having stripped virtually all green things from the landscape. Everyone is mourning the destruction and famine that has resulted from this calamity.

As a result of this, Joel’s call is to “Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; wail, you who minister before the altar; for the grain offering and the drink offering are withheld from the house of your God.”

I appreciate the fact that there is concern for the worship of God in the midst of the starvation that is coming to the people generally. Because of the famine, there are no grain or drink offerings for the Lord. “Joy and gladness are cut off from the house of our God.” This makes me ask myself what level of passion I have for the worship of the Lord. Would I be as concerned about the fact that proper offerings weren’t available as I was about whether I had the food and drink I needed for my own life?

One other observation occurred to me in this chapter from verse 18. “How the animals groan! Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.” It reminds me of the passage in Romans 8:19 which says, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope, because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”

The judgment of God is upon sin even now, and the plant and animal kingdom is not immune from the curse even though it was caused by our transgressing the commandment of God.

More thoughts on Joel next time.

The Super Bowl and Scripture

I'm not a sports fan and so don't have a lot to say about the Super Bowl, but over at the Shepherds Press blog there are a couple of posts on the importance of guarding your heart and teaching your children to guard their hearts while watching the Super Bowl and listening to all the hype surrounding it. A faithful man will want to do all he can to protect himself and his family from cultural influences that might negatively affect their spiritual lives. It's an encouraging read.