Joel 2:12 - Forerunner Commentary

Joel 2:12

10 ^aThe earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
^bThe sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.

11 ^aThe Lord gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
^bFor strong is the One who executes His word.
For the ^cday of the Lord is great and very terrible;
^dWho can endure it?

A Call to Repentance

12 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
^a“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

13 So ^arend your heart, and not ^byour garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is ^cgracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.

14 ^aWho knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave ^ba blessing behind Him—
^cA grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?

15 ^aBlow the¹ trumpet in Zion,
^bConsecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;

16 Gather the people,
^aSanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
^bLet the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.

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Joel 2:13 >>

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Joel 2:2-14

In verse 13, the word "gracious" expresses God's free love, whereby He shows Himself good to us. And "merciful" there expresses the tender longing of His love over our miseries.

First, Joel says that God is slow to anger and longsuffering, and for a long time He endures the wickedness and rebellion of men and waits patiently for the conversion and repentance of sinners. And then he adds that God has great (abundant) kindness, having many resources and advantages of His tender love whereby He can call them to repentance. Last, Joel tells us that God may revoke His sentence of punishment when His conditions are met in verse 14. Up to Jesus Christ's return, God the Father and His Son are still lovingly offering forgiveness to the war-ravaged people alive on earth who may be willing to repent.

Excerpted from The Paradox of Terror and Rejoicing

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A Call to Repentance

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