Daily Bible Reading: Joel 2:16 to the end and Revelation 21

Joel 2:18-27 – The Lord may be angry. We may feel that He is out to destroy us, but want He wants is that we SEE the reasons for His disappointment and respond with the will as a community to CHANGE OUR WAYS. There is no doubt that the prophets anthropomorphize this God. But this is understandable in the context of the biblical narrative, for we were created to be “like him”: “God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27).

Just as the Lord was furious with his people, so now He takes pity. I will give you what you need, He says. “Never again shall I make you a thing of shame for the nations” (2:19). There will be “plenty” again. The “pastures on the heath [will be] green again, the trees bear fruit, vine and fig tree yield abundantly” (2:22). The people are told they should “rejoice in Yahweh,” that He will bring prosperity back to them.

“[Y]ou will know that I am Yahweh your God, with none to equal me. My people will not be disappointed any more” (2:27).

Joel 3 – Then come these very famous words of the prophet Joel, words of huge importance to early Christians and equally to early Friends.

“’After this I will pour out my spirit on all mankind. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men see visions. Even on the slaves, men and women, will I pour out my spirit in those days” (3:1-2). Portents will appear, portents of further disaster, but all “who call on the name of Yahweh will be saved” (3:5).

Joel 4 – The nations of the world will be put on trial for what they have done to God’s people. Tyre, Sidon and Philistia will be punished for what they have done to God’s people. They must prepare for war: “Hammer your ploughshares into swords, your sickles into spears” (4:10). These words reverse the words of Isaiah 2:4 which we like so well. There will be no peace for those nations that work to undermine and destroy God’s people.

“When that day comes, the mountains will run with new wine and the hills flow with milk, and all the river beds of Judah will run with water” (4:18). “Egypt will become a desolation, Edom a desert waste on account of the violence done to the sons of Judah whose innocent blood they shed in their country. But Judah will be inhabited forever, Jerusalem from age to age” (4:19-20).

Revelation 21 – Then he sees “a new heaven and a new earth” (21:1). The sea disappears – the abode of evil. And the holy city, the New Jerusalem, come down from God, “beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband” (21:2).

A voice calls out “You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.” (21:2-4).

Then the One sitting on the throne spoke: ‘Now I am making the whole of creation new’ he said. ‘Write this: that what I am saying is sure and will come true.’ And then he said, ‘It is already done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty; it is the rightful inheritance of the one who proves victorious; and I will be his God and he a son to me” (21:5-7). 

What wonderful words! No wonder they live through history. Even though I admit I cannot understand or relate to a lot of the detail described by this apocalyptic writer, the pain he describes I can relate to and the hope he has, that I get too. It is not only the pain of the martyrs he describes here; it is the pain that everyone who has lived and tried to live faithfully – the pain from routine family agonies, faithfulness gone seemingly unrewarded, the efforts of human beings who have tried and tried to make this world a better place. Oh, that we might hope to see it all redeemed even if we must wait to the very end of time.

The bride of Christ is described – the bride IS the NEW JERUSALEM, the Jerusalem of Ezekiel’s vision (see Ezekiel 40-47). The dimensions of the city are pure mathematically; the twelve walls are “faced” or decorated with precious stones: diamonds, lapis lazuli, turquoise, crystal, agate, ruby, quartz, malachite, topaz, emerald, sapphire and amethyst. And the twelve gates are single pearls (21:21).

There is no Temple in the city “since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb [are] themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it” (21:22-23).

The pagan nations and all the kings or ruler of the earth will contribute to the treasures of the city and “the gates of it will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there” (21:25).

Daily Bible Reading: Joel 1:1 through 2:16 and Revelation 20

Introductory information in the Jerusalem Bible indicates that the book may have been written around 400 BC, post-exile, when there was no king, more focus on public worship and a reliance on some of the earlier prophets, especially Ezekiel and Obadiah. Joel’s contribution to the prophetic tradition is his emphasis on “outpouring of the Spirit on all God’s people in the messianic age” (1140-1141). Early Christians saw this prophesy fulfilled with the coming of the Spirit on the followers of Christ at the Pentecost gathering described in Acts 1. “Joel is the prophet of Pentecost” (1141).

Joel 1 – A plague of locusts and other vermin has invaded the land and laid it waste. “For a nation has invaded my country, mighty and innumerable; its teeth are the teeth of lions, it has the fangs of a lioness. It has laid waste my vines and torn my fig trees to pieces” (1:6-7).

“The priests, the ministers of Yahweh, are in mourning. Wasted lie the fields; the fallow is in mourning. For the corn has been laid waste, the wine fails, the fresh oil dries up” (1:9-10). And “gladness has faded among the sons of men” (1:12).

The ministers of the Lord should put on sackcloth and lament, for “the house of our God has been deprived of oblation and libation” (1:13).  The day of Yahweh is near, Joel says.

Joel 2 – The land is desolate, so the prophet cries out to Yahweh. “Sound the trumpet in Zion, give the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble, for the day of Yahweh is coming, yes, it is near” (2:1).

The Day of Yahweh will be a day of “darkness and gloom, day of cloud and blackness” (2:2). The coming of the locusts is described again, this time as if it were an invading army. “Like fighting men they press forward, like warriors scale the walls, each marching straight ahead, not turning from his path” (2:7).

But it is the Lord, Yahweh, who leads this army on. “Yahweh makes his voice heard at the head of his army, and indeed his regiments are innumerable, all-powerful is the one that carries out his orders, for great is the day of Yahweh, and very terrible—who can face it?” (2:10-11).

But, instead of urging destruction as we might expect, the voice of the Lord says this – Come back! “’come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning.’ Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn; turn to Yahweh your God again, for his is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent” (2:12-13).

Everyone should assemble and pray to God not to make his heritage a thing of shame. Yahweh will answer this prayer. “Sound the trumpet in Zion! Order a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly . . . [let everyone say] ‘Spare your people, Yahweh! Do not make your heritage a things of shame . . . why should it be said among the nations, ‘Where is their God?’” (2:17).

Revelation 20 – An angel from heaven comes down with the “key to the Abyss” (20:1) in his hand. He overpowers the dragon (the devil and Satan) and chains them up for 1000 years. He will be released at the end of 1000 years, but only for a short time.

The martyrs come to life then too and reign with Christ for this 1000 years – the “first resurrection” (20:4), but the rest of the dead stay in the Abyss.

When the 1000 years are over, Satan will be released and will come out to deceive the nations. Armies will be mobilized for war and they will besiege the saints. They will soon be overthrown and consumed. Then the One on the great white throne will see earth and sky vanish and the book of life will be opened. Hades will be emptied of the dead and all will be judged “according to the way in which he had lived” (20:14).

“Then Death and Hades will be thrown into the burning lake. This burning lake is the second death; and anybody whose name could not be found written in the book of life was thrown into the burning lake” (20:15).