Saturday, August 8, 2020

Joel -Prophet of the Latter Rain SERIES: An Unprecedented Repentance

Chapter II.

"I. Verse 11: "The day of the Lord is great and very terrible;
and who can abide it? " a. Four kinds of darkness are mentioned for the purpose of revealing how awful that day is: It is a day of "darkness," of "gloominess," of "clouds," of "thick darkness." Verse 2.
It is darker than
--the darkness of Egypt,
--or the darkness at the cross of Christ when He was crucified,
--or the darkness of May 19, 1780.
b. The "day of the Lord " is un­precedented. "There hath not been ever the like." Verse 2.
God's people were to make stand out before the world the seriousness of "that day."

2. Verse 15: "Blow the trumpet in Zion, . . . call a solemn assembly."
a.  "A solemn assembly "— a "day of restraint," as in the margin of Joel 1: 14. God's people, then, would be learning restraint, while the world is practicing indulgence.
b.  "Sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play,"— such is the ver­dict against those who made the golden calf against the last generation. Ex. 32: 5, 6; 1 Cor. 10: 7, 11.

3. Verse 12: "Therefore . . . turn ye even to Me . . . with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning."
a.  Fasting was practiced on the day of atonement. Lev. 23: 27. We are now in the antitypical day of atone­ment.
 4. Verses 13 and 14: "Rend your heart, and not your garments." This is true repentance. "Leave a blessing behind Him; " or, restore to com­munion with Him.

5. Verses 15-17:
a.  "Call a solemn assembly." Verse 15. Terrible things are at hand. Or­dinary round of worship will not suf­fice.
Call a special convention; exam­ine the state of the church.
b.  "Assemble the elders." Verse 16. Hold a church officers' meeting which will accomplish something.
"Sanctify the congregation." Stay by until a thorough reformation is wrought.
c. "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar." Verse 17. Call a workers' meeting! Poisonous theories, like a tainted atmosphere, are reaching the young. Cry to God, "Give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them..."
B.G.Wilkinson/1928