"I will pour out my Spirit"

David Anderson looks at the Prophet Joel and his message to a nation that had walked away from God.

It was a perceptive remark, one that contained a precious gem of truth. An elderly man, in the course of a general discussion on the state of the world, expressed to me his heartfelt longing: "What is desperately needed is the communicating word from heaven which expresses what God is saying and what he is doing."

Such a word came to Joel, the son of Pethuel, probably a Temple prophet around 400 BC. Joel, a common enough name, carried such a unique and awe-inspiring message to his nation that one scholar, RA Stewart, has commented: "This is one of the briefest and yet one of the most disturbing and heart-searching books of the Old Testament."

In his day, Joel was God's man for God's hour but, like all the Old Testament prophets, Joel speaks not only to his own age, but to ours.

The Day of the Lord

This inspiring prophecy, comprising three chapters of similar length to each other, focuses on one central theme: the day of the Lord.

For the Jews, the day of the Lord was regarded as a great climax to history in which, beyond the terrible judgments of God, there would emerge a new and better world. Prior to that climax, there would be various foreshadowings of the day when God would intervene to defeat his enemies and restore his people.

Thus, in a breath-taking narrative about a contemporary plague of locusts, the prophet reflects in turn on this first judgment (Joel 1), a future judgment, possibly an enemy invasion from the north (Joel 2:1-11, 2:20) and a final judgment (Joel 3). In each case, though its time reference and application varies, the message is the same: "Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand" (Joel 2:1).

Testing the Source of Prophecy

Joel's very name, meaning 'God is God', emphasises the much-needed truth that, whether it be in revival or in judgment, God is sovereign. Nothing can ultimately hinder his sovereign purposes: The Lord Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand" (Isa 14:24).

Another truth of vital importance here concerns the origin of this famous prophecy. In these days when rumours of revival abound, never was there a more paramount need for the church to head the biblical injunction, "Guard the truth" (2 Tim 1:14) and, "Test everything" (1 Thess 5:21).

Significantly, right at the outset of the book, we read that this message is "The word of the Lord that came to Joel" (Joel 1:1). In other words, what the prophet says is not something out of his own head, but is inspired by God. The most important aspect of any prophecy is not its message, but its source.

Whether it be in revival or in judgment, God is sovereign, and nothing can ultimately hinder his purposes.

If the source is not God but man, even if it be a wonderful and inspiring communication, it is immediately invalidated. When the true prophet speaks, like Joel here, it is God speaking and we need to open our ears to hear what he is saying.

The burden of Joel's message is that he sees the problem of the nation (Joel 1) which, in turn, calls for the priority of repentance (Joel 1:13,14; 2:12-17). Finally, in two glorious passages he describes the prospects for the future (Joel 2:18-3:21).

1. The Problem of the Nation

According to the prophet, there is something rotten at the heart of the nation. Something quite unprecedented has happened: successive swarms of locusts have come in ever-increasing numbers, laying waste the countryside, destroying the fragile economy, and leaving the barns empty and even the cattle perplexed.

Such calamities are not uncommon in Israel even to this day, although this particular locust plague was of unusual scope and size - not unlike the one which hit Jerusalem in 1915, possibly involving billions of insects, and causing widespread devastation.

Like all true prophets, however, Joel sees beyond the dreadful tragedy to what God is saying to us through it. How important it is, when significant events occur (e.g. the Aberfan disaster, the anniversary of which we are marking this week, or recent terror attacks), that we take time to pray the prayer of Samuel - not, "Listen, Lord, for your servant is speaking" but, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening" (1 Sam 3:9).

For the Israel of Joel's day, the all-important truth is that this plague was a sign from God, unmistakable and undeniable, that the entire land stood under his judgment. This was not a judgment that was specific to some folk and not to others. It was literally 'a plague on all their houses'. Everyone, from the greatest to the least, was called to heed what God was saying.

The suggestion is occasionally made that when Joel calls later for repentance in the light of God's judgment, he does not name any specific sin of which the people are guilty. Only a superficial reading of the text could reach such a conclusion. Indeed, it is striking how the sins of Joel's day parallel the problems we face in 21st Century Britain.

The most important aspect of any prophecy is not its message, but its source.

There were leaders who obviously did not listen to God: "Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land" (Joel 1:2). How many leaders, secular or spiritual, are listening to that still small voice - the voice of conscience and the voice of Christ? Some would rather sit on the fence than nail their colours to the mast! As someone remarked, "When did you last hear of a Conservative MP or member of the Cabinet who resigned on a matter of principle?"

In turn, there is usually a clear link between the kind of leadership we have and the kind of life we live. This is a common theme for the prophets and Joel was no exception to the general rule. Evidently, self-indulgence was rife, especially addiction to alcohol (Joel 1:5). Most people lived for themselves and were lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. As a result, the house of God was the first to suffer as the offerings dropped and then dried up altogether (Joel 1:13). Even wild animals, cattle and sheep are suffering (Joel 1:18-20).

Someone once said that the nation that refuses to learn from its history is condemned to repeat it. The facts were obvious. The nation was simply reaping what it had sown. Joy had gone (Joel 1:12), judgment had come, and, if they continued in their rebellious ways, worse would soon follow (Joel 1:15). So the crucial question for Israel here, as for our own nation today, was, 'Can this future judgment be averted? Can God restore this people, his people, who deserve only his wrath and judgment?'

2. The Priority of Repentance

Joel's answer is both clear and costly. In one of the greatest of all prophetic utterances in the Old Testament, he says that the nation's problems underline the urgent priority of repentance. "'Even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God'" (Joel 2:12,13). Repentance must be heartfelt.

Here, surely, is a word for us today. Such is the perilous state of Britain, with so many of its leaders devoid of conscience, and with so many people selfishly living for themselves, that the nation is morally bankrupt. Anything goes and everything is acceptable; the country having become spiritually rudderless because the Church so often fails to speak out. As a result, we are in grave danger of losing the wonderful Christian heritage that previous generations have bequeathed us.

There is usually a clear link between the kind of leadership we have and the kind of life we live.

At this very moment a persuasive combination of multi-cultural, humanistic, secular and New Age philosophies threatens to drown out the Christian voice and relegate it to the lunatic fringe. Only one thing can save us - only if we return to God and really mean it, will he forgive us, restore us and heal our land. That, in essence, is Joel's timely message. In it, we can surely hear echoes of 1 Peter 4:17: Judgment begins with the family of God.

What is needed in the first instance is not repentance in the nation, but repentance in the Church; one that begins in the pulpit (Joel 1:13), spreads to the few (Joel 1:14), and then reaches out from the people of God to our lost nation outside. Nothing else, nothing less, can bring God's mercy to a nation that has long since forfeited his blessing.

I believe that God is calling for spiritual leaders, heads of denominations, and leaders of local churches throughout the nation to recognise that things will not improve but only grow worse unless and until we weep for the sins of Church and nation in genuine and heartfelt repentance.

Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O Lord'. (Joel 2:17)

When leadership truly weeps, God will surely work. As the history of revival reminds us, it is the tears of repentance that are so often the harbinger of times of refreshing: "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19).

3. The Prospect for the Future

The concluding part of Joel's message (Joel 2:18-3:21) turns from the gloom of the present to the glory God has in store for his people, a future that will lead to unprecedented blessing on a universal scale for all who call upon the Lord. Material blessings will abound (Joel 2:19, 23-27). In particular, God will restore the years of waste and rebellion (Joel 2:25).

It is a timely reminder to us that, for the people of God, the future is always one to which we can look forward. Joel's prophecy looks towards Pentecost and beyond. The best is yet to be: "I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions...And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Joel 2:28-32).

I believe that God is calling spiritual leaders to recognise that things will only grow worse until we weep for the sins of Church and nation in genuine repentance.

There is a new dawn, says Joel, for the people of God, and a glorious future. For those who reject God, however, there will be a valley of decision in which people's destinies will be decided on the basis of their response to God: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near" (Joel 3:14). These are the two prospects facing the world in the coming days.

In the light of all this, who would not wish to be a Christian? What a thrilling prospect for those who love the Lord! What a dreadful prospect for those who reject his love and, in so doing, go their own way - the way of destruction. What a challenge, too, to each one of us!

As one of the Puritans of old once said, "Let us who love the Lord, live each day as if Christ had died yesterday, had risen again today, and was coming again tomorrow!"

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 11 No 2, March 1995. Revised October 2016.

Not all are prophets, but all are called to be prophetic witnesses...

It was just before he said goodbye to his disciples and ascended into heaven that Jesus commissioned them, when they had received the Holy Spirit, to be his witnesses (Luke 24:48-49; Acts 1:4-8)

When his promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, Peter explained that what had happened to the disciples was a fulfilment of a prophecy of Joel and stated the result - adding his own four words – "and they shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28¬-29; Acts 2:16-18).

Putting these two statements together the conclusion that we reach is that all Christians are appointed by Jesus and are enabled by the Holy Spirit to be his 'prophetic witnesses' to the whole world in general, and to their own generation and locality in particular.

Not All Are Prophets

Christ's witnesses function as prophets do, but this does not mean that every believer is a prophet in the sense that Paul had in mind when he asked: "Are all prophets?" (1 Cor 12:29); the presumed answer to which is 'No!'. The ministry of the prophet, to which Paul referred, is an important one, second only to that of an apostle; but this is a ministry given only to some persons.

Not all Christians are called to the ministry of the prophet. But all are appointed by Jesus and enabled by the Holy Spirit to be his 'prophetic witnesses' to the outside world."

It is also necessary to distinguish that 'prophetic witness' which Jesus expects his disciples to maintain among a world of unbelievers from the manifestation of the gift of prophecy which Paul sought to encourage in the assembly of the Lord's people in Corinth (1 Cor 14:1, 5).

All God's People Witnesses

God's primary purpose in calling a people to be his own, in both Old Testament and New Testament times, is for them to be his witnesses. Paul told a company of idol worshippers in Lystra that God had not left himself without witness in that he had given them rain and fruitful seasons, but it is evident from the context that these people needed witnesses to show them that such essential blessings are the provision of a loving God (Acts 14:15-18).

In Isaiah's day, the people of God were reminded that they were his witnesses (Isa 43:10; 43:12, 44:8) with the responsibility of bearing witness to the fact that Jehovah is the living and true God as compared with all idols.

The Shema Witness

"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord". These words repeated twice a day by orthodox Jews are called the Shema, from the Hebrew of the first word, meaning 'hear or listen'. In Jewish tradition, the last letter of the first word of the Shema and the last letter of the last word are printed in large type. These two letters are the letters of the Hebrew word 'witness'.

All believers are called to be witnesses: to listen to the living, speaking God and testify to his truth."

This statement which is part command, part creed and part covenant is an excellent summary of the witness Israel and the church today is called to sustain. The command is to listen, for God is a living God who speaks. The creed declares that he is one and besides him there is no other God. The covenant is implicit in his name Jehovah, who is the God who enters into covenant with his people.

New Testament Witness

By the time Jesus sent out his witnesses into all the world there was an additional piece of information to be added to the Old Testament witness: the God of glory had sent his Son to die for the sins of the whole world and had raised him from the dead. The essential aspect of New Testament witness is the fact of the resurrection (Acts 1:22).

Seven times over Luke informs us of this (Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:39; 10:41; 13:31; 17:18). No witness can claim to be truly Christian which denies, explains away or omits this fundamental truth (1 Cor 15:14-17).

Witness Word Study

The Hebrew word translated 'witness' literally means to repeat. It is part of being a witness to repeat what we have seen and experienced. However, the repetition may be that implied by the Old Testament's insistence that there must be at least two witnesses to establish the truth of any matter (Deut 17:6)- a principle which is carried over into New Testament teaching (Matt 18:16).

The New Testament word for witness is martus. This is the Greek root from which we get our English word 'martyr'. As F.F. Bruce has pointed out, by the time we come to the reference in Revelation 2:13 to 'Antipas, my witness', the Greek word 'martus' has begun its transition from 'witness' to 'martyr'. This stresses the cost of being a faithful witness.

The Greek word for 'witness' is also the root of our English word 'martyr'. Being a witness – that is, repeating what we have seen and experienced – comes with a cost."

The English word 'witness' refers to a person who has seen or can give first-hand evidence of some event. This quality of witness is emphasised in Jesus' words to Nicodemus. "We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen" (John 3:11).

Witnesses Stand Out

The English word for 'witness' is made up of two words: 'wit' (meaning 'to know') occurs in several well-known phrases such as 'to have the wit to', 'to keep one's wits about one' and 'to be at one's wits end'.

The second word 'ness' is of French origin and means 'nose'. It occurs in a number of English place names e.g. Dungeness, Foulness, Shoeburyness, also Walton-on-the¬-Naze - all places which project or stick out.

The English word 'witness' implies someone who sticks out because of what he knows."

It would be hard to beat this definition of a 'witness' that he stands out for what he knows! Before leaving the words used for 'witness' it is important to note that the words 'testify', 'testimony' and 'bear record' are all translations of the Greek word 'martus' and have the same meaning as 'witness'.

Universal Witnessing

Jesus' words make it clear that he expects his disciples to carry out their witnessing to the ends of the earth. "To all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47), "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) indicates our marching orders geographically to be to the ends of the earth. But there are other 'worlds' into which we must seek entry for his gospel. The 'worlds' of music, art, drama, sport, society and many others have all to be evangelised.

We have been given our marching orders: to take the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth and into every sphere of society."

We must regain the commitment of those early Christian witnesses who witnessed to Jewish rulers, to an occult magician, to a Roman jailor, to a Roman centurion, to Athenian intellectuals, to a rioting crowd in Ephesus, to King Agrippa and to a number of Roman governors. They didn't give their witness behind the closed doors of Church buildings in those days, expecting strangers to 'come and get it!'

Power-packed Witness

The secret of their powerful witness was their conscious receiving of the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised them the dynamic experience which they had appropriated. He had told them that when the Holy Spirit came he would bear witness and they also were witnesses (John 15:26-27).

But the initiative was the Holy Spirit's. He showed them where to witness. He directed Philip away from a revival to a deserted road; persuaded Peter to break out of his religious apartheid and sent Paul sailing to Europe and finally to Rome itself (Acts 8:26; 10:20; 16:10; 27:24).

Witness Confirmed

He enabled them to witness effectively by transcending their merely human wisdom (1 Cor 2:4). He backed up their words with demonstrations of his power. When Ananias and Sapphira lied about their offering they collapsed and died (Acts 5:1-11). When Elymas the magician resisted Paul he ended up with temporary blindness (Acts 13:6-11). As they witnessed he brought conviction to their hearers and multiplied the number of those who were being saved (John 16:8-11; Acts 2:37-41).

The secret of successful witnessing is the conscious receiving of the power of the Holy Spirit, who witnesses through and with us, and backs up our words with demonstrations of his power."

Speaking God's Words

The most simple definition of a prophet is 'one who speaks God's words' and it was Moses who expressed the desire "that all the Lord's people should be prophets" (Num 11:29). That wish was fulfilled when Joel's prophecy was made a reality on the day of Pentecost (Joel 2:28-29). Then Jesus' promise became true: "When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matt 10:19-20). This is what it means to prophesy and all true witnesses are prophets in the sense that Moses had in mind.

This is the only manifestation of prophecy in which all the Lord's people can share. They cannot all receive the ministry of the prophet and it is unlikely that they will all be able to speak a word of prophecy in the worship gathering of the Lord's people; but they can and they must be prophetic witnesses to the world. The one about whom they bear witness is called "the faithful and true witness" (Rev 1:5; 3-14) and they can have no higher ambition than that their witness is also faithful and true.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 2, No 5, September/October 1986.