By Rabbi Dr. Esther Boucher
A MESSAGE FROM JOEL
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When the prophets speak to us they are charging up something in our spirits, releasing
something in us for the fulfillment of what is being spoken. The word of prophecy, once
spoken begins to set things in divine order for us. Isa 55:11 States His word shall not return to
Him void, but shall accomplish its purpose. Today's sermon is from the book of Joel. Joel is
only 3 chapters long but is packed with wisdom for us.
Israel like America today had gotten used to prosperity. There is danger in prosperity as it can
get your eyes off of the Lord. Israel was expending its time and energy in the pursuit of
pleasure, in drunkenness and carousing. Sexual sin and immorality were rampant. Joel issues
a warning to the faithful remnant within Israel and God is telling us today it is not because
sinners are sinning that a nation becomes judged. It is because the believers in the nation lose
their savour. God is calling His people to wake up.
Vs 1-5 Here we see Joel addressing the elders or leaders of the country as well as its citizens.
There had never been such devastation and Joel admonishes them to learn from it. They are
to tell their children and their grandchildren. The prophecies Joel spoke of would relate to
generations and generations to come until Christ returns.
We are to instruct our children by our testimonies of how God brought us through hard times.
Vs 3 Is actually a declaration of victory. It assures them that regardless of how bad it looks,
they are going to survive and have a testimony to tell. It is when we cannot
possibly save ourselves that's when God can show Himself strong on our behalf.
Vs 4 There are 4 waves of insects indicative of not only future events but also nature and
operation. The first locust were called cutting locust on Palmer worm and they cut off the top
of the stalks. They got the fruit of the crop. Next we see the swarming locust and they eat
the stalks, the hopping locust or canker worm eats the stubs of the crop. When they are done
there is nothing left but a bare field. If that isn't bad enough, we then see the destroying locust
or caterpillar which eats the seeds under the ground leaving no hope for the plants to recover.
So why was Israel being subjected to such devastation?
In Lev. 26 We can read about 5 cycles a nation will go through when it rejects the Lord. God
has levels of protection and degrees of defense which, He can provide, based on our attitudes
and actions.
Lev. 26:14-17 We see cycle one. When a person begins to walk in sin, one of the first things
that is going to attach itself to you is sickness of one kind or another.
Vs 18-20 Cycle two is crop failure. Israel experienced the anguish of famine.
Vs 21-23 Cycle three wild beasts will come in to ravage the nation, to kill the innocent. We
have seen an increase in terrorist acts.
Vs 23-26 Cycle four speaks of a sinning nation being overrun and controlled by an outside
power. A military dictatorship will be imposed on them.
Vs 27-39 Cycle five is destruction, captivity and enslavement in a foreign land.
Joel Vs 6-14 The reason Israel fell to the Assyrians is because the leadership and the spiritual
leaders were no longer obeying the Lord. The spiritual leadership had become so used to
prosperity that they had turned their eyes away from God. There is a lesson here for us
today. Many times disaster in the life of a Christian, as in the life of a nation, can be directly
traced back to the spiritual condition of that person or people. As goes the spiritual life, so
goes the physical. Without a strong spiritual foundation and commitment, without a vital and
active faith, the believer has no hope of warding off the attacks of the enemy. This is
especially true if the believer is engaging in sin and is to proud or stubborn to admit it and turn
from that sin. God is demanding and expecting more personal commitment from His church.
The children of Israel had let down their standard, they had not rendered unto the Lord what
rightfully belonged to Him. They reaped what they had sown. They had no one to blame but
themselves. If we Christians will repent and turn to God, He will heal our land despite bad
leadership or bad legislation. Israel was also failing to teach essential truths to the people.
They were failing to intercede. They were putting their faith and trust in God's provision
rather then in God himself. There was no more praise or joy because they failed to teach
more praise or joy because they failed to teach worship, praise and repentance. The people
experienced a dryness of spirit. They loss their appetite for God's word, they had a weakness
of heart and lack of joy. The cure is to this is repentance.
Joel prophecies the invasion of Assyria and foretells of the Battle of Armageddon. Go with
me to Joel 2:13 God wants you to seriously repent. So many believers have an outward
facade of repentance but their heart is far from the Lord. It is possible to have a great
emotional change, to weep in remorse for sin. It is possible to make
restitution for wrongs. And it is also possible that all of that is not enough to work a change of
heart on the inside.
Satan comes against people for two very basic reasons: 1.) They are in God's will or 2.) They
are out of God's will.
Joel is desperately trying to warn them that these calamities are befalling them because they
have let down God's protective shield around them.
Vs 18-22 Speaks of the millennial reign of Jesus and how Jesus is going to redeem the time
Israel has been trodden down and abused. Fourteen blessings are listed Vs 23- 32 speaks of
restoration in the natural and spiritual realm. There will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit
and a harvest of souls around the globe. God has given each church a vision that He wants us
to meet with faith in our hearts so we can fulfill His destiny for each of us and His church.
Recently we as a church have experienced a Gideon revival. That's a nice way of saying
more people were leaving than staying. It was scary, but God is taking the church to a new
level of maturity. We are in transition, a time of stretching. We have had a multitude of
prophetic words spoken to us as a corporate body and to individuals. As soon as those words
are spoken the devil responds by trying to push us into unbelief so he can steal the word from
us. We must be militant in what God has spoken to us. The devil is like the locust; he will try
to steal your hope by presenting the illusion of an empty field. God requires us to have a solid
faith in His word.
When the Lord gives us a word He doesn't give it so we can pick and choose which parts
we'll receive. If we confess what God has said in spite of the worst circumstances, the Lord
will marvel at our faith and the prophetic word will bear much fruit. Many times to see a
prophetic word fulfilled you have to exercise your authority over the devil in faith. You have
to learn to submit and work with those the Lord has placed over you. We need to learn about
responsibility and accountability in the church. Submitting to authority prepares us to handle
the authority God will entrust to help us deal with issues of character, relationships and
attitudes. If we don't have a humble servants heart our prophecies will be hindered. We need
to operate in corporate faith, working together, stopping at nothing to see God's prophetic
word fulfilled. We all have to put our shoulder to the wheel to see God's word for our church
come to pass. God has called us to be over comers, the Joshua generation who press in and
on through the wilderness to the Promised land. God promises He is before us. We've got to
trust God. His word is going forth in this hour to prepare us for what is ahead, for he new
thing He is doing. We can't
see completely what it is all about, but the seed is being planted today for what God will
accomplish in the future. God is going to ask us to do things that seem impossible, and they
are impossible without His help. He may ask us to do something foolish, but God chooses the
foolish things to confound the wise. We can't rely on our senses for the word of the Lord.
Isa 55:11 Says God's word goes forth from His mouth and does not return to Him empty. It
accomplishes what He desires and prospers in the things He sent it to do. God used Joel, a
prophet, to tell Israel what was to come. His word was fulfilled and His word will be fulfilled.
Once God speaks the word the word goes out
and begins to set things in divine order so that when we mature according to plan, God's plan
comes to pass. The devil wants to destroy and steal the word away from us so we cannot
fulfill God's destiny. Satan will do anything to cripple, blind and mislead us, to
keep us from moving into the fullness of God.
Joel spoke of things to come that affect all generations until Jesus' return to reign for a
thousand years. Prophecy is being fulfilled on a daily basis. A day of judgment for all nations
is coming, a day of spiritual and physical restoration is coming, an outpouring of the Holy
Spirit has begun and the fields are white for the harvest of souls around the globe.
The devil says you should give up, turn back, but it doesn't matter what the devil says. It
doesn't matter what the neighbors say, what your friends say, what your family says or what
the people say. Our God who promised is faithful! And if nobody but you believes that, it is
still enough. Will you go on with God to the destiny He has for you? Will you go on with
God to the destiny He has for your church? It's time to wake up and get busy with the
Father's work; it's time to move out of our comfort zones. It's a time to prepare for spiritual
warfare; it's time to step forward into our destinies. Will you take that step? The choice is
yours.
something in us for the fulfillment of what is being spoken. The word of prophecy, once
spoken begins to set things in divine order for us. Isa 55:11 States His word shall not return to
Him void, but shall accomplish its purpose. Today's sermon is from the book of Joel. Joel is
only 3 chapters long but is packed with wisdom for us.
Israel like America today had gotten used to prosperity. There is danger in prosperity as it can
get your eyes off of the Lord. Israel was expending its time and energy in the pursuit of
pleasure, in drunkenness and carousing. Sexual sin and immorality were rampant. Joel issues
a warning to the faithful remnant within Israel and God is telling us today it is not because
sinners are sinning that a nation becomes judged. It is because the believers in the nation lose
their savour. God is calling His people to wake up.
Vs 1-5 Here we see Joel addressing the elders or leaders of the country as well as its citizens.
There had never been such devastation and Joel admonishes them to learn from it. They are
to tell their children and their grandchildren. The prophecies Joel spoke of would relate to
generations and generations to come until Christ returns.
We are to instruct our children by our testimonies of how God brought us through hard times.
Vs 3 Is actually a declaration of victory. It assures them that regardless of how bad it looks,
they are going to survive and have a testimony to tell. It is when we cannot
possibly save ourselves that's when God can show Himself strong on our behalf.
Vs 4 There are 4 waves of insects indicative of not only future events but also nature and
operation. The first locust were called cutting locust on Palmer worm and they cut off the top
of the stalks. They got the fruit of the crop. Next we see the swarming locust and they eat
the stalks, the hopping locust or canker worm eats the stubs of the crop. When they are done
there is nothing left but a bare field. If that isn't bad enough, we then see the destroying locust
or caterpillar which eats the seeds under the ground leaving no hope for the plants to recover.
So why was Israel being subjected to such devastation?
In Lev. 26 We can read about 5 cycles a nation will go through when it rejects the Lord. God
has levels of protection and degrees of defense which, He can provide, based on our attitudes
and actions.
Lev. 26:14-17 We see cycle one. When a person begins to walk in sin, one of the first things
that is going to attach itself to you is sickness of one kind or another.
Vs 18-20 Cycle two is crop failure. Israel experienced the anguish of famine.
Vs 21-23 Cycle three wild beasts will come in to ravage the nation, to kill the innocent. We
have seen an increase in terrorist acts.
Vs 23-26 Cycle four speaks of a sinning nation being overrun and controlled by an outside
power. A military dictatorship will be imposed on them.
Vs 27-39 Cycle five is destruction, captivity and enslavement in a foreign land.
Joel Vs 6-14 The reason Israel fell to the Assyrians is because the leadership and the spiritual
leaders were no longer obeying the Lord. The spiritual leadership had become so used to
prosperity that they had turned their eyes away from God. There is a lesson here for us
today. Many times disaster in the life of a Christian, as in the life of a nation, can be directly
traced back to the spiritual condition of that person or people. As goes the spiritual life, so
goes the physical. Without a strong spiritual foundation and commitment, without a vital and
active faith, the believer has no hope of warding off the attacks of the enemy. This is
especially true if the believer is engaging in sin and is to proud or stubborn to admit it and turn
from that sin. God is demanding and expecting more personal commitment from His church.
The children of Israel had let down their standard, they had not rendered unto the Lord what
rightfully belonged to Him. They reaped what they had sown. They had no one to blame but
themselves. If we Christians will repent and turn to God, He will heal our land despite bad
leadership or bad legislation. Israel was also failing to teach essential truths to the people.
They were failing to intercede. They were putting their faith and trust in God's provision
rather then in God himself. There was no more praise or joy because they failed to teach
more praise or joy because they failed to teach worship, praise and repentance. The people
experienced a dryness of spirit. They loss their appetite for God's word, they had a weakness
of heart and lack of joy. The cure is to this is repentance.
Joel prophecies the invasion of Assyria and foretells of the Battle of Armageddon. Go with
me to Joel 2:13 God wants you to seriously repent. So many believers have an outward
facade of repentance but their heart is far from the Lord. It is possible to have a great
emotional change, to weep in remorse for sin. It is possible to make
restitution for wrongs. And it is also possible that all of that is not enough to work a change of
heart on the inside.
Satan comes against people for two very basic reasons: 1.) They are in God's will or 2.) They
are out of God's will.
Joel is desperately trying to warn them that these calamities are befalling them because they
have let down God's protective shield around them.
Vs 18-22 Speaks of the millennial reign of Jesus and how Jesus is going to redeem the time
Israel has been trodden down and abused. Fourteen blessings are listed Vs 23- 32 speaks of
restoration in the natural and spiritual realm. There will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit
and a harvest of souls around the globe. God has given each church a vision that He wants us
to meet with faith in our hearts so we can fulfill His destiny for each of us and His church.
Recently we as a church have experienced a Gideon revival. That's a nice way of saying
more people were leaving than staying. It was scary, but God is taking the church to a new
level of maturity. We are in transition, a time of stretching. We have had a multitude of
prophetic words spoken to us as a corporate body and to individuals. As soon as those words
are spoken the devil responds by trying to push us into unbelief so he can steal the word from
us. We must be militant in what God has spoken to us. The devil is like the locust; he will try
to steal your hope by presenting the illusion of an empty field. God requires us to have a solid
faith in His word.
When the Lord gives us a word He doesn't give it so we can pick and choose which parts
we'll receive. If we confess what God has said in spite of the worst circumstances, the Lord
will marvel at our faith and the prophetic word will bear much fruit. Many times to see a
prophetic word fulfilled you have to exercise your authority over the devil in faith. You have
to learn to submit and work with those the Lord has placed over you. We need to learn about
responsibility and accountability in the church. Submitting to authority prepares us to handle
the authority God will entrust to help us deal with issues of character, relationships and
attitudes. If we don't have a humble servants heart our prophecies will be hindered. We need
to operate in corporate faith, working together, stopping at nothing to see God's prophetic
word fulfilled. We all have to put our shoulder to the wheel to see God's word for our church
come to pass. God has called us to be over comers, the Joshua generation who press in and
on through the wilderness to the Promised land. God promises He is before us. We've got to
trust God. His word is going forth in this hour to prepare us for what is ahead, for he new
thing He is doing. We can't
see completely what it is all about, but the seed is being planted today for what God will
accomplish in the future. God is going to ask us to do things that seem impossible, and they
are impossible without His help. He may ask us to do something foolish, but God chooses the
foolish things to confound the wise. We can't rely on our senses for the word of the Lord.
Isa 55:11 Says God's word goes forth from His mouth and does not return to Him empty. It
accomplishes what He desires and prospers in the things He sent it to do. God used Joel, a
prophet, to tell Israel what was to come. His word was fulfilled and His word will be fulfilled.
Once God speaks the word the word goes out
and begins to set things in divine order so that when we mature according to plan, God's plan
comes to pass. The devil wants to destroy and steal the word away from us so we cannot
fulfill God's destiny. Satan will do anything to cripple, blind and mislead us, to
keep us from moving into the fullness of God.
Joel spoke of things to come that affect all generations until Jesus' return to reign for a
thousand years. Prophecy is being fulfilled on a daily basis. A day of judgment for all nations
is coming, a day of spiritual and physical restoration is coming, an outpouring of the Holy
Spirit has begun and the fields are white for the harvest of souls around the globe.
The devil says you should give up, turn back, but it doesn't matter what the devil says. It
doesn't matter what the neighbors say, what your friends say, what your family says or what
the people say. Our God who promised is faithful! And if nobody but you believes that, it is
still enough. Will you go on with God to the destiny He has for you? Will you go on with
God to the destiny He has for your church? It's time to wake up and get busy with the
Father's work; it's time to move out of our comfort zones. It's a time to prepare for spiritual
warfare; it's time to step forward into our destinies. Will you take that step? The choice is
yours.
Copyright Gates of Praise Ministries 2006