Hosea 13:7 - Amos 9:10
The message of Joel and Amos is a warning of impending judgment. The Lord God has set the plumb line and the Israelites have been found untrue. (Amos 7:7-9) The Lord has set out the basket of fruit, and the time is ripe for judgment. (Amos 8:1-2).
The message of Joel and Amos is a call to repentance. It is a “call to the sacred assembly” to consecrate themselves before God.
But, there is also a message of restoration, when God talks about “repairing the broken places” and “restoring the ruins” (Amos 9:11)
Amos 8:11-12
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.”
This prophecy points to the inter-testament period when the word of God was absent from Israel, before the coming of the Lord. It also points to the time before the second coming. Notice that the famine is in the “hearing” of the words of the Lord. The Word of God is here, both the written word and living Word; but people will not be able or willing to hear it.
According to 2 Timothy 4:3-4; people will turn their ears from the truth. And Matthew 4:4 reminds us “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Without the words and Word of God, there is no life.
The “days are coming”, and may already be here, when there is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord in our world.
Joel 2:28-32a
“And afterward, 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. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved;
These voices point to the crucifixion, Pentecost, and the last days. It Matthew 27:24 we are reminded that the world went dark from the sixth to the ninth hour while Jesus was on the cross. Later in Act 2, Peter stands up at Pentecost and speaks these verses in describing the disciples when the Holy Spirit came upon them.
At the end of Peter’s message, he says “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The “days are coming”, and may already be here, when the Holy Spirit will be poured out again much like Pentecost and a vast number will call upon the Lord to be saved.
Joel 2:12-13
“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, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
It is the call for repentance.
It is the call for an emotional rending of our hearts; to weep and mourn over our sins; to weep and mourn over the lost.
It is the call for action; to fast, to pray, to proclaim the gospel.
It is the call for remembrance of the grace, compassion, and love of our God.
The “days are coming”, and may already be here, when a remnant will rise up, rend their hearts, and serve the Lord.
It is your call.
