Joel
2:15, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn
assembly: 16.Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the
breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride
out of her closet. 17. Let the priests, the ministers of the
LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare
thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the
heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the
people, Where is their God?"
Joel
repeated the call of 2:1. The difference here is a call to national
repentance to be performed in a national gathering of all the people
before God. The priests were to proclaim a day of humiliation for all
the people regardless of age or distinction. Joel summons all ranks
and classes to assemble in the Temple for this solemn service.
Sanctify
the people! The people were to prepare themselves for this solemn
time. Under the Law, they were to wash themselves and their clothes.
They were commanded to cleanse themselves from all legal impurities,
to have given sacrifice for all transgressions of the Law. To be
obedient was to be purged and made worthy to be presented before the
Lord in His house.
Assemble
the elders, children, babies. No one should be excluded. Even the
bride and the bridegroom were to delay their festivities for this
solemn assembly. Everything must stop and all attention to focus on
the Lord of glory.
The
priests, the ministers of the Lord were commanded to take the lead in
this sacred work of penitence. They are compelled by the greatness of
the national trespass to stand weeping and praying between the porch
and the altar. It was here in the open court that the priests, with
his face toward the inner court and the altar, that he turned his
petition toward God in supplication for the sins of the people.
As
I read this text today, I cannot help but think what would happen if
God's people would approach God with the same intensity as was
required here. Such fervency that would drive us all to our knees in
convulsed groans of agony for the needs of the lost and Christ's
Church alike. I am reminded of Jesus' encounter with the weight of
His destiny as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. "And being
in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were
great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44. Is
not our destiny just a relevant. He (Christ) has given us, as the
Body of Christ, the urgent task to carry the message of deliverance
to all creation.
Do we not languish in such a state of national
trespass in desperate need of the sacred work of penitence. God help
us to fall helplessly into His embrace and become an example and
instrument of His salvation and deliverance. God send your fire among
us. May the Holy Spirit set us ablaze that we will never be the same.
Change us Lord into what you desire us to become. Make us instruments
of your salvation. Now is the time for us to mobilize all our
resources into ACTION for the cause of Christ! (continued)
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