Joel 2:1-17
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the LORD is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like swift steeds, so they run.
5 With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.
6 Before them the people writhe in pain;
All faces are drained of color.
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break ranks.
8 They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not cut down.
9 They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter at the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
11 The LORD gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible;
Who can endure it?
12 "Now, therefore," says the LORD,
"Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."
13 So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the LORD your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14 Who knows if He will 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 sacred assembly;
16 Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"
Repentance as the Day of the LORD approaches, that is the message given through Joel here. God commanded the trumpet to sound as a warning to cause trembling as the people considered their accountability to Him on that day of reckoning. It would be a warning by dark clouds and gloom all around, similar to the day our Lord died on the cross (Matthew 27:45-46) as a warning of the final day of judgment to come. They faced a consuming fire behind them and before them like that guarding the way back to the Garden of Eden which Adam and we as his descendants were barred from reentering. It is therefore a certain judgment we all face (Hebrews 9:27) after death as foreshadowed here. Israel would be overrun by a great and terrible unstoppable army with a hint looking towards the great battle at Armageddon to come much later in time. People in both cases will run back and forth like caged animals vainly seeking escape but finding none until a great earthquake shakes them into facing their end with the heavens trembling and the sun, moon, and stars losing their light (Matthew 24:29, Revelation 8:12, Joel 2:31-32) to see and hope by. Who can endure the day of the LORD which is so great and very terrible? Those who turn to Him with a whole heart humbled and surrendered through action to receive Him (John 1:12) as brokenness is seen in sincere godly sorrow for sin (2 Corinthians 7:10) as described here, “with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Repentance follows a heart torn by conviction of offense towards God which is our sin, trusting in His work of grace and mercy (John 6:29) to deliver us from our deserved sentence of divine justice in judgment. He is truly gracious and merciful! Israel was therefore called to repent and offer thanksgiving in worship and praise as offering themselves as sacrifices (Romans 12:1). They called on their interceding priests who themselves wept in repentance as fellow sinners to ask for mercy that all the people would know their God. We have the final and great high priest, Jesus Christ, now who offered an eternal sacrifice once for all (Hebrews 7:26, 10:10) who come to Him who is without sin (Hebrews 4:15-16) to mediate (Hebrews 8:10, 9:15) perfectly for us and to keep us from the condemnation of eternal and final judgement! As our high priest He can spare His people and show us our God in Himself as no priest before or after could ever do. Our call to repentance by faith in Him and His atoning work has kept us secure in the Day of the Lord to come as proven by His resurrection from death to life (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 1 Peter 1:3, John 5:24).
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