Joel considered the natural disaster of a locust plague to
be a call to repentance and a preview of the end of the world. If we
repent, the Holy Spirit will be poured out on us to prepare us for
victory as the world ends.
Key word |
REPENT |
Key verse |
"Yet even now, says the Lord, return to Me with your whole
heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not
your garments, and return to the Lord, your God." —2:12-13 |
Command verse |
"Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly;
gather the people, notify the congregation; assemble the elders, gather
the children and the infants at the breast." —2:15-16 |
Promise verse |
"Then afterward I will pour out My Spirit." —3:1 |
Difficult verse |
"I will assemble all the nations and bring them down to the
Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there on
behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel." —4:2 |
Surprise verse |
"Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak man say, 'I am a warrior!' " —4:10 |
Prayer: Father, may I consider natural disasters a call to repentance (see Lk 13:1-5). |