Rend Your Heart, and not Your Garments

It is common to read in the Bible about people tearing their cloths in anger or fear; for regret, sadness, repentance or other such negative reasons.  Of course, there was nothing wrong with those exhibitions of angst.  However, if a person or a group of people demonstrated sorrow outwardly, while their heart and mind remained indifferent, then the rending of their garments was meaningless.  God saw that His people were tearing their cloths because of their difficulties, but in relation to their own guilt, their hearts were unaffected.  So, God said plainly, “I wish you would rend your heart instead of rending your clothes” (Joel 2:13).

There is no doubt that Joel’s prophecies here rise above and beyond the mere plagues of his own day.  The nation spoken of Joel 1:6 is more than just a reference to the swarms of locusts which were denuding the land.  In fact, while I believe he was perhaps referring prophetically to the Assyrians, and to the pending judgment, which (at the time of the writing of this book) was probably only a few generations away, he was ultimately speaking of an invasion that still (to this very day) hasn’t happened yet.  The Day of the Lord is in view.  And, while THE DAY of the Lord must surely refer specifically to the second advent of Christ, the event is so grand and significant that the 7 years preceding that day, and the millennium following it, are so inextricably connected to it as to be (in many cases) included completely in the title.

The day of the Lord has been forecasted with specificity since the days of Enoch (Jude 1:14-15).  When we speak of the imminent return of Christ, we are connecting ourselves to the imminent day of the Lord.  Prophetically, the “last days” really began with the ascension of Christ from the Mount of Olives, 40 days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3 & 9-11).  The day of the Lord will conclude the last days; the end times.  It makes no difference that so much time has elapsed since these prophecies were issued.  In fact, the elapsed time just makes it that much more likely that we could be the last generation to live in the kingdom of men.  The kingdom of heaven is at hand (II Peter 3:2-13), and so, the day of the Lord is at hand (Joel 2:1).  It is near.  Chronologically, it is next (Romans 13:11-12).  Eschatologically, it is close by.  Spiritually, it is in us (John 14:17).  Biblically, it is all around us.  In fact, the church lives in a moment of pause just before the doors of heaven are opened.  His hand is on the doorknob, so to speak.

Since the day of the Lord could arrive at any moment, and since it will be a very dark day for most of the earth’s inhabitants, we have a critical mission to complete in the meantime.   As Paul wrote, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” (II Corinthians 5:11).  The pain, death and disaster that will accompany the coming of the day of the Lord are incomprehensible, especially to us in our cushy culture (Joel 2:2-11, 30 & 31).  It is for this reason exactly that we must preach hellfire and brimstone (and salvation by grace too) to the world around us.  The only reasonable response to the impending judgment of God is authentic repentance (Joel 2:12-13 & 17).  Who knows, if the world would rend their hearts and turn to Christ, the day of His wrath could be delayed for centuries or more (Joel 2:14 & 18).  Our gospel proclamations truly should be as sharp as a trumpet blast (Joel 2:1 & 15).  Of course, if the world does not repent, Christ will come sooner rather than later, and Israel will repent for sure when they see Him. Then blessings will flow like nobody has ever seen before (Joel 2:21-29).  In that day, the Messiah will call to Himself a people, and they will call upon Him with glad and glorious reciprocation (Joel 2:32).

 

 

A Great Plague

It appears that Joel wrote this prophecy in response to a great plague of locusts (Joel 1:2 & 4), which was accompanied by a drought and by wildfires (Joel 1:19-20).  It was a time of famine in Palestine.  It should have been no surprise.  Moses had forewarned the Jews about such things (Deuteronomy 28:15, 16, 37-39).  Their disobedience was sure to remove God’s blessings and to bring instead many curses.  And, the curse which Joel lived through was bad enough that he felt the need to write about it.  Yet, as he wrote concerning the happenings of his own day, God lifted his eyes deep into the future to see the great and final day of God’s judgment (Joel 1:15).  For example, the nation of actual locusts in Joel 1:6-7 must surely be a harbinger of the demonic locusts of Revelation 9:1-11.     

The exact when and where of Joel’s prophecies is not clear, but in a way, it doesn’t really matter.  His experience points not only to a day that we must all consider, but also to principles that are universal.  As I’ve already mentioned, Joel spoke of the Day of the Lord, or of Judgment Day.  But, we are not there yet.  However, the things we think, say and do now are related to the coming judgment of God.  Notice that Joel claimed that the agricultural troubles of his day were a result of the lack of joy in the population (Joel 1:12).  This is a very deep observation.  The people were without joy for the same reason that any man lacks joy.  The absence of joy is an indication of an absence of 2 crucial life ingredients: humility and gratitude.  When we are humble and grateful, we can always find a reason to smile sincerely… even when we are hurting.  When we are proud and bitter, happiness is stranger to us… and it becomes an annoyance when we see it in others.  Miserable men are less productive for a couple of reasons: 1, because they aren’t as industrious, and 2, because their misery usually stands between them and God, thereby preventing God’s blessings.

Of course, when we speak of mirth and misery, we must remember that there is a variety of brands.  There is seasonal or temporary pleasure in sin, otherwise nobody would ever venture into it in the first place (Hebrews 11:25).  And, there is a proper place for tears and sadness (Ecclesiastes 3:4).  So, the joyless Jews were unhappy with their plight in life, but actually God’s prescription for them called for more sadness, but a different kind of sadness.  The same God who is the source of true and pure joy, at that time commanded His people to lament, howl, meet solemnly and to cry (Joel 1:13-14).  Rather than more feasts, God instituted fasts.  Because of their choice to forsake the holy joy of their Lord, God removed joy (temporarily) from the menu (Joel 1:16 & 20).  The greatest plague was not the grasshoppers in Israel, the greatest plague was the immoral depression of the nation.  Can you find some colorations between Joel’s nation then and your own nation today?

 

 

Falling and Falling Again

Israel fell because of sin.  Their economy, their political security, their military might, their culture and unity… all of those things were taken from them because of their sin (Hosea 14:1).  So, what was the solution?  They did not need a brilliant economist as king.  They did not need a master statesman who could work out compromises between hostile domestic factions.  They did not need a military mind that could reorganize their army with flawless strategies.  They did not need a local hero to give them a reason to come together.  What they needed was to listen to their prophet, Hosea.  They needed to repent of their sins, to confess their guilt and to look to God for mercy (Hosea 14:3).  Obedience to God gives one the strength to walk on.  Disobedience binds our feet together and leaves us sprawling and immobile (Hosea 14:9).

Hosea gave the nation a solution to their problems.  It was the only solution actually.  He said, “Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto Him, ‘Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips’” (Hosea 14:2).  God’s anticipatable response was declared just as plainly.  He said, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely…” (Hosea 14:4).  True, they had fallen.  But, it was not necessary for them to stay down.  Immeasurable blessings were available to them if they would only be willing to submit themselves to their God (Hosea 14:5-8).  He was willing to lift them up (I Peter 5:6).  It was not God’s desire to see His people fall.  And, when they fell, it was not His desire for them to stay down.  He wanted them to prosper, but only in obedience (Genesis 3:22-23).

In Proverbs 24:16, we read about the failures of just and unjust men.  Obviously, failure and difficulties are universal.  There is no question about whether we will fall or not, the only question is whether we will stay down or get back up.  In Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Solomon teaches us that the key to staying on one’s feet is to have a partner in life.  And, what partner is more reliable than God Himself?  In Psalm 55:22, David wrote, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you: He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.”  Difficulties in life do not necessitate moral failures… especially more of the same things that brought those difficulties upon us in the first place (if that is the case).  We frequently use hard times as an excuse for us to do our own thing, but we don’t have to do that.  Job is our excellent example in this regard.  Problems do not entitle us to sinful pleasures.  As the old saying goes, when life throws you a lemon, make lemonade.  Of course, Israel had brought her problems on herself, but that was no reason to stay in them.  After all, God did give her a better option.

 

 

The Way Up

There are 2 things on display in Hosea 13: the attitude of humanity, and the attitude of divinity.  Of course, everything starts and stops with God’s point of view.  We are dirty mirrors at best, not lights.  God is light and there is no darkness in Him (I John 1:5 & James 1:17).  Because of the great chasm between God’s perspective and ours, many things about His ways appear to be upside down and backwards to us.  His ways transcend us (Romans 11:33).  But, more than His ways being unattainable to us, they literally appear to be inverse.  Here in Hosea 13:1 we read that when Israel was humble and weak she was very prosperous.  But, when success, pride and confidence set in, she destroyed herself.  This is the way of God with us.  When His creatures are sure that we have it all together, it is then that we are sure to fail.  When we see our inadequacies clearly and recognize our need for God, it is then that we succeed.  

So, the way to have is to give (Luke 6:38).  The way to live is to die (Matthew 10:39).  The way to lead is to serve (Mark 10:44).  And, the list of Biblical paradoxes goes on and on… by letting go, we retain; the way up is down; the last are first; the least are the greatest; the way to be strong is to become weak;  the way to win is to surrender; the way to be exalted is to abase yourself… I think you get the point.  And here, as Israel settled into a comfortable feeling of security, it was then that they were closer than ever to destruction (Hosea 13:3).  And, true to the pattern, their fruitfulness was leading into their coming desolation (Hosea 13:15-16), yet their destruction would lead to their rescue (Hosea 13:9).  One might think that to God every day is opposite day since so many of His responses are counterintuitive.  Or, one might guess that God keeps doing the unexpected thing in order to keep us guessing in dependence… which might be a little closer to the truth.  For example, what might the anger of God bring upon Israel?  In one case they got a king out of it… yet, in another case, they lost their king because of it (Hosea 13:11).  But, the real reason for the yawning gap between our expectations and God’s actions is because His ways are simply so very far beyond our finite experiences and intelligence.

Perhaps you do not like the ways of God.  Or, maybe you know someone who doesn’t like God at all and so they go about to invent their own version of Him.  But, out limitations and preferences have absolutely no bearing on what or who Jehovah really is.  In Hosea 13:4, God stated emphatically that there was no hope for Israel apart from Him.  If they hoped to be saved, they had to look to the one and only living and true God… their God, Jehovah.  This may seem so very narrow and restrictive, but in realty it should be liberating.  If there was 1 tool that could do every job in the world, wouldn’t it be simpler to get that tool than to stubbornly attempt to collect every other tool that has ever been invented or imagined?  God had (and has) generous plans for Israel… and for us (Hosea 13:14).  They had only to yield in order to get in on it.  That’s all we need to do too… yield.  Bow the knee… bow the head; the way up is down.

 

 

The Wrestler

Before Jacob was even born, he wrestled with his brother Esau (Genesis 25:22).  As he was being born, Jacob was holding on to his elder brother’s heel, as if to communicate that he resisted his brother’s precedence (Genesis 25:26).  Twice in adulthood, Jacob wrestled valuable things from his twin brother… the second time by wrestling with his father too (Genesis 27:36).  Then he wrestled with his father-in-law, Laban… first for Laban’s daughter, Rachel, and then for his wealth (Genesis 31:43, 44, 46 & 52).  Most famously, Jacob wrestled with an angel (perhaps a Christophany), and prevailed in that he received a blessing… although he certainly paid a price for it (Hosea 12:3-4 & Genesis 32:24).  As a nation, Israel was ever and always either being oppressed, fighting off oppression, fighting to prevent oppression or just fighting.  They were a warring people.  If we were to list all of the peoples with whom they crossed swords, the list would be very long indeed.  And, the nation wrestled with God.  He sent prophets to warn them about sin and judgment, but they denied that they were even guilty (Hosea 12:8).  In fact they antagonized Him with even more infractions (Hosea 12:14).  Jacob and his descendants were wrestlers, but not all of these wrestling efforts were wholesome and good.

A wrestler struggles with a difficulty, or with an opponent.  Ephesians 6:12 teaches us that we are presently wrestling with demons and devils.  We are wrestlers.  Sadly, sometimes we wrestle with God too, but not like Jacob did.  If we would wrestle with God in prayer, then we would be blessed for it.  But, instead, we wrestle against God.  We wrestle for the control of our daily habits and decisions.  It is our duty, yours and mine, to endeavor to resist sin and temptation.  I don’t know about you, but all too often I do a very poor job at this.  Like the hypocrites and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, I tend to magnify the things that I think I’m doing well; all the while I minimize the things with which I struggle.  The Christian life is meant to be a struggle, but God designs and desires that we be victorious (I Corinthians 10:13, 15:57, II Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:37 & I John 5:4).  There will be bumps and bruises.   There will be failures and faults (I John 1:8 & 10).  But, our calling is to get back up each time we fall… and (with repentance and faith) to get back into the fight.  We must put on our gospel armor and wage war with our own flesh, with Satan and with his demons (Ephesians 6:13-18).  Lately, I’ve stopped resisting the devil in certain areas in my life (James 4:7).  This is insanely foolish.  When we stop resisting him, we are immediately thrown to the mat and pinned down spiritually.  I John 1:9 is part of the solution.  So also is James 5:16, Isaiah 55:7 and Ephesians 5:15-21.  At least, these are some verses that I use.  What passages of Scripture give you strength to conqueror as you wrestle with temptation?