I have been debating about how to handle our series on the prophets. Originally we were going to do Amos today, but we’ll put him off until next week. Instead we’ll look at Joel. We’re basically going through the Minor Prophets in the order in which they are in the Bible. That order is roughly the order in which they were written. Hosea is pretty clearly the oldest. Malachi is certainly among the most recent. Two of those 12 though stand out as very different from the others. They are Jonah and Joel. What to do about them? Jonah we’ll put off for last among the minor prophets. Joel, however, I’ve decided to cover in order.
Several things set Joel apart from the other prophets. One, we really have no clue as to when it was written and it is absolutely impossible to date it. Biblical scholars guess anywhere between 800 B.C.E. and 300 B.C.E.
Two, the destruction envisioned is not coming from another nation, but from the forces of nature – a massive plague of locusts.
Three, nowhere does Joel tell us what the people actually did to upset God. All the other prophets give an account of what the people are doing wrong. Joel however, just calls for the whole people to return to God with all their heart.
And four, Joel never gives any clue as to who the audience is. Is it the northern kingdom of Israel? Is it the southern kingdom of Judah? It is certainly not a foreign nation, but the whole thing is vague.
Joel is a small book, only three chapters, but biblical scholars think it was written at different times – perhaps centuries apart – and yet it also reads like a cohesive whole. On the whole it’s a strange little part of the Bible, yet it gives a grand vision of God and it delves into some deep issues.
I wish Joel’s message could reach Americans today. We are a nation with deep and bitter divisions. There seems to be no end of those divisions in sight. Rather each faction seems to be entrenching itself ever more deeply. There is little to no constructive dialog, and very little in the way of practical compromise.
I probably don’t have to make a list of the divisions, you know them well, but I am going to list several major ones just so that we realize how bitterly divided we are as a nation; and realize just how much stress and tension we live in on a daily basis.
There are sharp divisions about race and racial justice, privilege and responsibility.
Divisions about policing and criminal justice.
Divisions about energy sources and the environment.
Divisions about issues of gender identity, sexual orientation, and human sexuality in general.
Divisions about political leaders and parties.
Divisions over voting practices, gun rights, abortion policies, and education.
Divisions over healthcare and paying its costs.
Divisions over taxation, government financing, workers wages, and more.
Divisions over immigration policies.
The list could go on and on, but let me round it out with one more obvious one – the coronavirus pandemic. Divisions over mask wearing, opening and closing businesses, regulations on religious organizations, vaccinations, and who actually knows and speaks the truth.
Sometimes it is surprising we’re functioning as a nation at all! We are incredibly divided over so much. It’s like we are a cook pot constantly boiling over.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Why can’t you all just get along?” That’s a fine thing to say to children playing on a playground. But it’s naïve in the extreme when it comes to the real world. Issues are real. Consequences are real. There are winners and losers. People get hurt. Others get exalted. Someone somewhere has to do the labor necessary to make things happen.
And so I do not take lightly what I am going to say next. Our nation would do well to take a lesson from Joel. Joel is not written to a nation that was divided, but the response he calls for is what we need.
What Joel calls for is a common response from all the people: repent by fasting and returning to God in worship. He calls on all people to make their relationship with God central in their lives; the first thing in their lives, the defining thing in their lives.
This should not be new territory for any of us. We know that we are all sinners in need of God’s grace. Ultimately we all need God’s grace for salvation. We can’t earn it. We can’t deserve it. It’s a simple as that. That makes us all equal and all needy before God. I believe that when people recognize that first and foremost in their lives it puts other divisive issues in context.
That doesn’t mean they’ll be worked out easily, but it does mean that everyone recognizes that what is ultimate is their common need. The conversation goes from there. It goes forward with humility and respect.
Issues about race, gender, and sexuality – we are all sinners in need of grace.
Issues about the environment and use of resources – we are all sinners in need of grace.
Issues about laws, policing, voting policy, government taxing and spending – we are all sinners in need of grace.
I encourage you to read Joel in its entirety. It’s only three chapters long. Unless you know it’s between Hosea and Amos you probably won’t find it by just flipping through the pages of your Bible. Joel begins with a locust plague that will utterly devastate the nation – total loss of all field crops, the fruit trees wither, vineyards are barren. But moving on Joel says that maybe, just maybe, with a complete response of humility from the entire nation the crisis can be averted. We never know if it was or wasn’t. But Joel concludes with God pouring out lavishly on the nation in the end regardless of whether they responded well or not.
Our nation is not facing anything like an immediate locust plague that will destroy everything. Our situation is not so immediately dire. But the truth remains that we are all subject to God – that goes for all faiths and those of no faith and those who are atheists. It is an unavoidable truth. We need God. We need God to be merciful to us, no matter how perfect we try to be, or think we are.
Joel tells us that God is ultimately merciful and loving. We need not fear. But we do need to recognize reality.
Who knows how long it will be before our nation starts to come together again. It’ll either be a long time or it’ll be some crisis that threatens our very existence as a nation. Regardless, we do well to live knowing our need for God, and our relationship with God, is central to everything about us. That will make us good Christians. And it will make us good citizens of this nation. Then we will be agents of restoration and renewal rather than agents of ongoing division.
The road Joel called for wasn’t easy. The faith-filled road for us isn’t easy either. But it is the truth. There’s no point denying truth. And when that truth is ultimately good, then there is great reward in living it now.
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