Good Morning Friends,
“Then you will know that I am in Israel, that
I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people
be shamed. And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons
and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men
will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my
Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the
moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And
everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” (Joel 2:27-32)
It is probable that Joel lived in Jerusalem
in the frantic last days before it fell to the Babylonians. It was a time of
judgment upon God’s people. Already God had sent plagues upon the nation in an
attempt to bring them to repentance. They had not listened even to His sharp
discipline. Even harsher discipline awaited them – they would face years of
captivity and oppression.
God was pouring judgment upon His people, but
He would not always pour judgment upon them. Joel prophesied of the judgment --
and of a glorious day that would come later. The later day would be a day of the
Spirit coming. It would be a day of a new message from God, delivered even
through young people, the sons and daughters of the land. But the blessing of
the Spirit would not be restricted to the young. Even the old men and old women
would feel His touch and respond to His call. Signs and wonders would appear in
the sky, a glorious day.
It would be a day of salvation. Not just for
those of the right nationality. Everyone would be offered the salvation that
Joel was predicting.
And that day has come! Peter quoted Joel’s
prophesy in his sermon in Acts 2 and declared that the day of which Joel spoke had
come in Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:17) We live in that day. A day of the Spirit. A
day of in which God’s new message is going forth through young and old alike. A
day of salvation!
Thank God you live in that day!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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