¹ Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, ² a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. ³ Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. ⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. ⁵ As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. ⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. ⁷ Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. ⁸ They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. ⁹ They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. ¹⁰ The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. ¹¹ The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it? ¹² “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³ and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. ¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? ¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶ gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. ¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

 

Every so often I read again Shel Silverstein’s wonderfully amusing poem, “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out.” Have you heard it?

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout

Would not take the garbage out!

She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans,

Candy the yams and spice the hams,

And though her daddy would scream and shout,

She simply would not take the garbage out.

And so it piled up to the ceilings:

Coffee grounds, potato peelings

Brown bananas, rotten peas,

Chunks of sour cottage cheese.

It filled the can, it covered the floor,

It cracked the window and blocked the door

With bacon rinds and chicken bones,

Drippy ends of ice cream cones,

Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,

Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,

Pizza crusts and withered greens,

Soggy beans and tangerines,

Crusts of black burned buttered toast,

Gristly bits of beefy roasts. . .

The garbage rolled on down the hall,

It raised the roof, it broke the wall. . .

Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,

Globs of gooey bubble gum,

Cellophane from green baloney,

Rubbery blubbery macaroni,

Peanut butter, caked and dry,

Curdled milk and crusts of pie,

Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,

Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,

Cold French fries and rancid meat,

Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.

At last the garbage reached so high

That it finally touched the sky.

And all the neighbors moved away,

And none of her friends would come to play.

And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,

“OK, I’ll take the garbage out!”

But then, of course, it was too late. . .

The garbage reached across the state,

From New York to the Golden Gate.

And there, in the garbage she did hate,

Poor Sarah met an awful fate,

That I cannot now relate

Because the hour is much too late.

But children, remember Sarah Stout

And always take the garbage out!

Amusing, yes…and not amusing at all. In fact, the poem is fairly terrifying the more you think about it. It is, in fact, a prophecy and a warning: If you do not deal with your garbage your garbage will deal with you.

You are created in the image of God and are therefore called to live lives of holiness and joy that reflect the beauty of God. You are called to live life in relationship with God. But our sin is our garbage. It clutters are lives and we do not want to take it out. In fact, we love our sin until we learn to hate our sin. But sin, undealt with, brings pain and woe into our lives. Until we come to Jesus in faith and are saved, we inevitably meet the same fate as Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout: “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).

Many years ago, a prophet named Joel warned Israel of this. He told them that the reason their house was falling apart was because they had not taken their garbage out, they had not turned to the Lord God in faith and repented of their sin. In some fascinating ways, Joel tells them the lesson of Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout: Our sin, our garbage, threatens to destroy us. But God is merciful, and He can save us from the mess and the consequences if we will come to Him. He can forgive us. He can restore us. And He will if we will come to Him.

Let us consider the nature of judgment and the nature or that repentance that leads to forgiveness and life.

What judgment looks like.

Joel 1 spoke of a locust plague and called upon the people to lament. Joel 2 speaks of another invasion but this times calls upon the people to repent. Chapter 1 is about a calamity. Chapter 2 is about judgment. But exactly how the locust of chapter 1 and the army of chapter 2 relate is a bit complicated.

Many see chapter 1 as speaking of the past and chapter 2 as speaking of the future. Tchavdar Hadjiev points out that “[i]n Hebrews the verbs used in 1:2–20 are predominately perfect…which would normally indicate past events, while the verbs in 2:1–11 are mainly imperfect…which would usually look towards the future…”[1] This would seem to be a problem for those who argue that chapter 2 is simply another consideration of the locust invasion spoken of in chapter 1, albeit in some creative ways. But I am ultimately persuaded by Old Testament scholar Duane Garrett who forcefully argues that the “evidence is overwhelmingly against” the view that chapter 2 “continue[s] the account of the locust plague.” He points out that chapter 1 largely looks to the past whereas chapter 2 largely looks to the future. He also argues that “grammar and content demand that a significant shift has taken place: the prophet is looking ahead now, and he sees a human army on the horizon.”[2]

There is also language in chapter 2 that may suggest that the end of days is in view in Joel 2. Joel Barker has observed that “the day of the Lord” forms an inclusio for verses 1–11.[3] This section is bookended by references to “the day of the Lord” in verse 1 and verse 11. In other words, all that is contained in this section between these bookends, this inclusio, should be read as referring to the “the day of the Lord.”

“The day of the Lord” often refers to the final judgment at the end of the age, but it is also used in scripture to refer to other acts of divine judgment before the end. This raises the question of whether or not verses 1–11 are referring to a non-apocalyptic, non-final judgment of military invasion (from, say, Babylon) or to the final judgment. I lean toward the latter view. In short, I agree with James Montgomery Boice that the cosmic language of verses 10 and 11 is an “obvious” reference to “the event referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24:29–31.”[4] There, Jesus said:

²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.³¹ And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

My approach, then, will be to see Joel 2 as a picture of future divine judgment necessitating the call for Israel to repent of their sin. I am of the opinion that this is the final judgment, but the central dynamic of sin-judgement-repentance-restoration does not depend upon that fact. It could be a reference to an earthly army or to coming exile. The principle of the need for repentance remains the same. What sways me ultimately to the view that we are seeing here a reference to final judgment and ultimately the return of the Lord is, as has been noted, the similarity of the cosmic imagery in Joel 2 and Matthew 24 and also the reference to the army as being led by the Lord in Joel 2:11.

Regardless of how one understands these various questions, it seems undeniable that what we have in Joel 2:1–11 is a picture of judgment. Let us consider the nature of divine judgment. First let us here the chilling words of our text:

¹ Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, ² a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. ³ Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. ⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. ⁵ As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. ⁶ Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. ⁷ Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. ⁸ They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. ⁹ They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. ¹⁰ The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. ¹¹ The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

From this amazing text we can extract a number of qualities of God’s judgment. These include:

• • None who should be judged will escape judgment. (i.e., “let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,” v.1).
  • God’s judgment is certain (i.e., it “is coming,” v.1).
  • God’s judgment will be terrible for the recipients of it (i.e., “a day of darkness and gloom,” v.2).
  • God’s judgment brings destruction and devastation (i.e., “Eden” is turned into “a desolate wilderness,” v.3).
  • God’s judgment is terrifying for the recipients of it (i.e., “people are in anguish, all faces grow pale,” v.6).
  • God’s judgment is unstoppable (i.e., “they burst through the weapons and are not halted,” v.8).
  • God’s judgment is cosmic in its scope (i.e., “the earth…the heavens…[t]he sun and the moon…the stars,” v.10).
  • God’s judgment cannot be endured (i.e., “who can endure it?,” v.11).

Behold the judgment of God! See and tremble! When the wrath of God comes upon the earth, those who receive it will have no recourse and will find no safe quarter. The picture here is one of withering and exhaustive justice against those who have turned from God.

In Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, the character of the Judge asks:

And the answer, said the judge. If God meant to interfere in the degeneracy of mankind would he not have done so by now?[5]

But God does wish to “interfere in the degeneracy of mankind.” And He has. And He will. And his “interference” is called “judgment.”

The judgment of God is a reality that we dare not downplay, dare not dismiss, dare not be silent about. It is as real a possibility today as it was in Joel’s day, and its nature should be heeded.

What repentance looks like.

Yes, God does “interfere in the degeneracy of mankind” through judgment…but also, praise God, through salvation. This gift of salvation is received when we come to know our need for it and when we repent of our sin and turn in faith to our Savior.

Verses 1–11 describe judgment. Verses 12–17 describe repentance.

¹² “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³ and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. ¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? ¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶ gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. ¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

You may have noticed something at this point that is quite fascinating: Joel never names the specific sins of Israel of which they need to repent (though drunkenness is mentioned in a different context in chapter 1). Hadjiev has summarized the clues that point to the possible sins in view here. Israel might be guilty of:

• the sin of worshiping other gods (because of the “return to me” in v.12);
• the sin of “empty ritualism” (because of the call to rend their hearts and not merely their garments in v.13);
• the sin of “wicked ways” (because of how the language of “all your heart” in v.12 parallels other Old Testament passages that speak of the people’s wickedness).[6]

Maybe so. But I am intrigued by Joel Barker’s observation that “by using the language of repentance while remaining silent on the nature of the sin, Joel makes his audience engage in self-reflection as they consider what may be prompting this situation…”[7] This is so very true. I like that Joel does not give us a list of sins. He wants us to provide that list, the list of our own sins. What is on your list? What is on mine?

Verses 12–17 give us a powerful depiction of the nature of repentance. This includes:

• It is not too late to repent so long as time remains (i.e., “Yet even now,” v.12).
• True repentance is a return to God (i.e., “return to me,” v.12).
• True repentance is authentic and exhaustive (i.e., “with all your heart,” v.12).
• True repentance mourns over sin and its effects (i.e., “fasting…weeping…mourning,” v.12).
• True repentance is internal and not merely external (i.e., “rend your hearts,” v.13).
• True repentance will be met with mercy and not judgment (i.e., “he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster,” v.13).
• True repentance will result in great blessings (i.e., “leave a blessing behind him,” v.14).

This is no half-hearted and vague, “I am sorry God if I did wrong.” No, repentance is specific, grief-stricken, authentic, passionate, and hopeful. Repentance recognizes sin in its great ugliness and God in His great goodness. The repentant heart cries out with tears…but also with hope, for the very cry is evidence of the daring belief that God might meet us in our brokenness with mercy. I do so love J. Hardee Kennedy’s wonderful little line, “Hope devoid of presumption belongs to penitent men.”[8] Indeed!

There is a wonderful parallel between Joel and Jonah on two points that helps us understand what is going on here. While many Old Testament scholars argue that Joel is older than Jonah, others have argued the opposite view. If indeed Joel is quoting from Jonah, then Joel’s wording is so close to that of Jonah on two points that we can reasonably draw a parallel between Nineveh and Israel in terms of their sin, their need for repentance, and the offer of divine forgiveness and restoration. Note:

Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish. (Jonah 3:9)

Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? (Joel 2:14)

and again:

you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. (Jonah 4:2)

[the Lord] is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. (Joel 2:13)

In this case, by employing Jonah’s earlier language, Joel was saying in essence, “You have become Nineveh.” But he was also saying, “And the God who forgave them so wonderfully will also forgive you.” In truth, we need not solve the issue of Jonah’s or Joel’s dating to let the parallel stand: In both cases—Nineveh and Israel—we see the wicked repent and God forgive! Our repentance, then, should be as thorough as that of Nineveh after the preaching of Jonah: thorough, sincere, and humble.

That great Bruderhof leader of yesteryear, Heinrich Arnold, wrote:

Repentance is not an easy thing: it demands hard struggle…

Which of us takes our struggles with sin so seriously that we fight with loud cries and tears?…

Repentance does not mean self-torment. It may turn our lives upside down—in fact, it must—and at times we will feel as if the entire foundation has been swept away from under our lives. But even then we must not see everything as hopeless or black. God’s judgment is God’s goodness, and it cannot be separated from his mercy and compassion. Our goal must be to remove everything that is opposed to God from our hearts, so he can cleanse us and bring us new life—that is, so he can fill us with Christ. It is a wonderful gift when a person truly repents. A heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh, and every emotion, thought, and feeling changes. One’s entire outlook changes, because God comes so close to the soul.[9]

James Montgomery Boice writes:

In a Sunday school class one day a little boy said that repentance was being sorry for your sins. But a little girl added it was being sorry enough to quit. She was right. Repentance is essentially an about-face.[10]

Indeed! That is well said! Are you sorry enough to quit, to turn around, to go a different direction? This is the nature of true repentance.

In Matthew 3, we find the first sermon of Jesus. Here it is:

² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

There it is: repent! Through repentance we recognize our need for a Savior and in Jesus we find the Savior that we need! The penitent person, the person broken over his or her sin, the person who cries out for mercy, will be met not with wrath and lightning bolts, but rather with the open arms of Jesus.

Judgment is real. Tremble.

The love of God is real. Take heart!

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repent, for the King, Jesus, has come and is coming again.

 

[1] Hadjiev, Tchavdar S. Joel and Amos. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Vol. 25 (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020), p.30.

[2] Garrett, Duane A. Hosea, Joel. The New American Commentary. Gen. Ed. E. Ray Clendenen. Old Testament vol. 19A (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), p.333–34.

[3] Barker, Joel. Joel. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Gen. Ed. Daniel I. Block. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2020), p.78.

[4] Boice, James Montgomery. The Minor Prophets. Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1983), p.131.

[5] McCarthy, Cormac (2010-08-11). Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West. (Vintage International) (p. 141). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[6] Hadjiev, Tchavdar, p.35–36.

[7] Barker, Joel, 98–99.

[8] Kennedy, J. Hardee. “Joel.” The Broadman Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed. Clifton J. Allen. Vol. 7 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1972), p.73.

[9] Arnold, J. Heinrich. Freedom from Sinful Thoughts (pp. 56-57). Plough Publishing House. Kindle Edition.

[10] Boice, James Montgomery, p.133.