Rend Your Hearts

Blow a trumpet in Zion,

And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

For the day of the Lord is coming;

Surely it is near,

A day of darkness and gloom,

A day of clouds and thick darkness.

As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

So there is a great and mighty people;

There has never been anything like it,

Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

A fire consumes before them

And behind them a flame burns.

The land is like the garden of Eden before them

But a desolate wilderness behind them,

And nothing at all escapes them.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like war horses, so they run.

With a noise as of chariots

They leap on the tops of the mountains,

Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,

Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

Before them the people are in anguish;

All faces turn pale.

They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like soldiers;

And they each march in line,

Nor do they deviate from their paths.

They do not crowd each other,

They march everyone in his path;

When they burst through the defenses,

They do not break ranks.

They rush on the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the houses,

They enter through the windows like a thief.

Before them the earth quakes,

The heavens tremble,

The sun and the moon grow dark

And the stars lose their brightness.

The Lord utters His voice before His army;

Surely His camp is very great,

For strong is he who carries out His word.

The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,

And who can endure it?

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,

“Return to Me with all your heart,

And with fasting, weeping and mourning;

And rend your heart and not your garments.”

Now return to the Lord your God,

For He is gracious and compassionate,

Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness

And relenting of evil.

Who knows whether He will not turn and relent

And leave a blessing behind Him,

Even a grain offering and a drink offering

For the Lord your God?

Blow a trumpet in Zion,

Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly,

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders,

Gather the children and the nursing infants.

Let the bridegroom come out of his room

And the bride out of her bridal chamber.

Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,

Weep between the porch and the altar,

And let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord,

And do not make Your inheritance a reproach,

A byword among the nations.

Why should they among the peoples say,

‘Where is their God?’” ~Joel 2:1-17

God allows us – both personally and collectively, as the Body of Christ, or as a nation --- to be brought down to our knees.

It is then that He calls us to come to repentance and back to Himself.

It is a gracious invitation He gives and that invitation is given in two ways:

It is a Personal Repentance

It is also a repentance of humility - because of our sin.

It is a repentance of sorrow - because we have offended and wronged God.

It is a repentance of the shame we hold - because we have offended and wronged God in the life that we have lived.

We have a broken and contrite heart.

Hear Psalm 51:17 – “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise”.

The broken and contrite heart brings us back home to our Lord. And when we return to God we are to be thoroughly converted to Him and His teaching and law.

Joel 2:12: “Return to Me with all your heart – fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

Verse 13: “...rend your heart and not your garments.” “Return to the Lord your God.”

As I was preparing this message, I was curious about this word “render” and what it means in context, as it speaks of  rending your garments.

In later centuries it was possible to buy a garment that was designed just for rendering.

Now, what does this passage in Joel tell us are the reasons to return to God?

1.    He has been compassionate toward us.

2.    He is slow to anger.

3.    He is abounding in love.

4.    He relents from sending disaster or catastrophe upon us.

These descriptions of God  - as reasons for us to return to God are summed up in John’s writings –

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Now, all that has been said up to now has been describing repentance from a personal point of view.

Repentance for – and from – each of us individually.

There is also a repentance which is not directed toward individuals. That repentance is what would be called a National Repentance.

We sometimes hear people say that the United States is a Christian nation. But is it really? Can a nation – in itself - even be Christian?

A nation is made up of individual people. Each person must make decisions on how they will live their lives – within the guidelines of that nation, of course.

However, in order for a nation to be a Christian nation, there must be a National Repentance. And that repentance must be – in purpose – for the glory of God.

And, that witness must be a Christian witness before, and in association with all other nations of the world.

If that witness is a Christian witness, all the nations of the world would be brought together in the unity of the Spirit.

In reality, a united world requires a mood of preparation – a preparation of peace.

 There would be a healing of the wounds that created the conflicts and wars between the nations of the world.

This lack of conflict and wars would create the healing of wounds, hurts, and divisions.

Joel 2:17 is very clear concerning the extent the church must be willing to minister in order to achieve this peace.

Joel says: “ Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, and do not make Your inheritance a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

To sum up Joel’s statement there we could say it like this:

 “Leaders must lead;

“Leaders must plead with God;

“Leaders must warn the people of the consequences of disobeying God’s clear requirements.

When personal and national repentance has been made –

When people have returned to the Lord – that is, truly converted and dedicated their lives to Him – then, He will take pity on us (vs. 18); “Then the Lord will be zealous for His land and will have pity on His people.”

He will supply our every need (vs. 19) – we will have enough to fully satisfy.

Then, His grace will be fully sufficient for our needs.