IS ANYONE LISTENING TO THE SHOFARS BLOWING?
Joel 2:1,2 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 - a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to comes.
Judah and Benjamin or the Southern Kingdom as it is called had resisted the warnings of God’s prophets to repent of their idol worship and return to the Lord. Unfortunately they thought that they could worship the Lord and idols at the same time. They probably thought as many Hindu’s in that the more gods a person has the better they are to be able to be protected and provided for. The Lord God is a jealous God and even in the 10 commandments the Lord places as the very first commandment not to have any other gods but himself. The reason for this is that any other so called god or idol is in reality a demon or simply stone, metal or wood. Only the Lord is Almighty God, and there is no other God but him. If we were to worship or trust in other gods, then we might give demons credit for what the Lord has done.
Now because of their refusal to repent and turn to the Lord, God’s judgment would come in the form of the great empire of Babylon. They had the greatest, most powerful and terrifying army of its day. Now all they could do was set up watchmen to sound the shofar (ram’s horn) to warn the people of Jerusalem to shut the gates. The shofar wasn’t going to be a weapon as it was for Joshua at Jericho, or for Gedion when he fought the thousands. God was the difference then as the shofars were blown and his lack of help and presence would be the deciding factor for their being devoured now. Babylon would come and nothing could stop them. The reason was that God had his prophets blow the shofar for years warning them of God’s wrath, and they ignored the call to repent. Now there was no sign of anointing on the sound that came to the ears of God’s people. Judgment was close at hand, and the Jews were unprepared. All they could do now was to try and endure and accept God’s punishment on them.
I personally believe that Joel is also speaking to us today regarding God’s judgment on the entire world. For almost 2,000 years the Holy Spirit has been convicting people of their sin, the righteousness of Christ Jesus and God’s holy judgment. While many have sought forgiveness through Jesus, many have not and others thought that they could do like the Jews of Joel’s day and just add Jesus along with the other many gods that they look to. Gods of wealth, materialism, health, power, honor, security, entertainment and the list goes on and on. There was an old saying back in the 1970’s that if the Lord isn’t Lord of all, then he is not Lord at all. Just as in Joel’s day God demands loyalty, and he will not tolerate us putting our hope, faith and trust in anything else.
One of the reasons that I personally believe that Joel is speaking to us is the fact that he says that the army will larger and more mighty than ever has been or will be. Revelation 9:15,16 says, “And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million.” Nowhere in history has such an army been released to make war. The question might be, “Is anyone listening to the shofars blowing? Pastors all over the world are telling people to repent of their rebellion against God and to seek forgiveness in Jesus. They warn of the upcoming time of the antichrist and false prophet that will be ushered in by the great tribulation, but is anyone listening?
II Peter 3:3,4 says, “first of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and with water. By water also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” Then Peter gives this instruction, “since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scripture, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”
Peter and the other apostles knew of the danger of not taking the return of Jesus serious. They knew the importance of being ready to be with him. We realize that there will always be people that joke and laugh at the thought of Jesus’ return and the accountability that he will hold everyone to. While we can not make other people love, trust and obey Jesus, we can! While they may not be ready to meet their maker, we can! Let’s make up our mind to be ready at any given moment to see Jesus, whether it is at our unsuspecting death, the rapture or see him returning to the earth in the clouds.
Prayer: Lord as the old song by Charles Albert Tindley, “I want to be ready!” We love you Jesus!
