Movie goers in the late 20th century and certainly now have seen films dominated by computer-generated graphics (CGI). Myriads of warriors can be depicted moving with synchronicity against the enemy. Similarly, Joel does his best to describe a past scourge of locusts, the coming Assyrian invasion, and the promised arrival of God’s celestial army on “that glorious day.”
They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths. Joel 2:7
As you study Joel, you can remain confused, or you can understand that the book is both historic and prophetic, possibly at the same time. Telescopically, Joel can be referring to the looming threat from an army to the north, such as that led by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, or the triumphant future coming of the King of Kings. Both will be frightening undertakings, and those on the wrong side will be struck with unshakable fear.
Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale. Joel 2:6
Obedience
So what person does not have to worry about the approaching armies of man, or God? There are a few hints in Joel 2. Here’s the first, the obedient.
For strong is he who carries out His word. 2:11
Can there be anything but success, as God would define it, carrying out “His word?” As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the person who puts God’s word into action will do so with the unlimited might of the Lord.
Without question obeying God’s word is synonymous with doing his will. The Hebrew word here to “carry out” is “asah,” used generically hundreds of times in the Old Testament. It’s primarily translated “to do” or “to make,” but it’s also translated “to accomplish, administer, commit, perform, offer, and prepare,” to name a few. In every realm of life, in every aspect, in every way, the word of God applies, and should be “carried out.” James has some important things to say about this “doing.”
22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22–25
If you make the decision to apply God’s word in your life, you will be empowered to do so. As Christians, this power resides within, and it is the Holy Spirit. This passage in Joel was quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first filled the early believers (Acts 2:17-21).
It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. Joel 2:28–29
It is not the approaching armies that should cause us to tremble, but not carrying out the words in scripture, from the prophets in the Old and New Testaments, and Jesus himself.
20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:20–21
Contriteness
Obedience is an affair of the heart. So the contrite have nothing to worry about as danger approaches…
And rend your heart and not your garments.” 2:13
…for when we act out of obedience to God’s word, the Lord looks favorably upon us.
“But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:2
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17
“Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. 2 Chronicles 34:27
And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. 2:32
Reliance
When besieged, the reliant pour out their hearts before the Lord for deliverance. The model here is King Hezekiah of Judah, who, when looking down the Assyrian king’s barrel, literally laid out his ultimatum in the form of a letter, before the Lord, and prayed for deliverance.
14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” 2 Kings 19:14-19
5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. 2 Kings 18:5-6
Hezekiah is described as Judah’s greatest king, because he did what was right in God’s eyes, that is, whatever He said to do. As such, Hezekiah “was strong because he carried out His word.”
As a result, no Assyrian arrow was shot into Jerusalem.
32 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’” 2 Kings 19:32
Entrance Requirements—Psalm 15
The word for abide means “sojourn.” On a journey in David’s day you would set up camp, and sleep in a tent. At times, you would invite someone into your tent to fellowship with them.
Before Solomon, there was no temple, but the tabernacle; a tent in which was the presence of God, signified by the Ark of the Covenant. It was set up on a hill, as was the temple built on a hill, the Temple Mount. To enter either, you needed to be holy.
Theologian John Calvin viewed David’s words in Psalm 15 in this way: “The meaning of his discourse, to express it in a few words, is this, that those only have access to God who are his genuine servants, and who live a holy life”
Here we are given a simple list of qualifications to fellowship with God, to be invited into his tent. There is a simple test in this Psalm. If you cannot answer affirmatively to each characteristic, that area or areas requires work. This is not a test of your salvation but of your sanctification.
Walking in integrity is first, but this is almost overarching. When someone attempts to climb a ladder whose rungs consist of ungodly behaviors, there are none. There is no evidence on which to indict. We want to maintain short accounts with God, and one with integrity clears them each moment, like breathing out carbon dioxide and breathing in clean air.
It is not hard to maintain your integrity when you are wholeheartedly involved in righteous works. Gainful employment in God’s work keeps us honest. Idle minds and hands leave us open to straying into sin.
Truth telling is a habit learned from abiding with and in the truth. The “sum of Your word is truth” David tells us elsewhere (Psalm 119:160). It becomes both natural and easier to tell the truth than to concoct a self-serving justification. Use of, “but I was just,” is a key indicator of an oncoming lie.
Most certainly, we are not to connive to do evil against our neighbor, friend, or anybody for that matter. It starts with slander and ends with subterfuge.
This word “slander” describes a searching out process by walking, i.e. spying. We slander when we circle around someone to notice and report to another your assessment of that person, most always speculating on, but not knowing, that person’s motive. Don’t be fooled. This is an antagonistic action against your brother. In doing so “you slander your own mother.” Psalm 50:20
If allowed to progress, this seed sown with a few words of innuendo can become biting sarcasm, scorn, reviling, a fued, or malicious vendetta, even between friends. This war of words surely does not square with a life of integrity. Consequently, your invitation into God’s tent is in serious jeopardy.
Controlling what we say, and the purification of the well from which our words flow (the heart, Proverbs 4:23), is no easy task. James laments about the unbridled tongue, “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.” James 3:8
A man or woman on God’s invitation list rejects and condemns that which God considers a reproach to his character. If you find yourself disgusted with sin, yours and the world’s, this is where you should be. More importantly, you are now in a much better position to understand his grace and mercy. As they say, “there, but by the grace of God go I!”
In one area, though, a godly person can be harsh with words, by calling a reprobate a reprobate! The New Living Translation describes a reprobate or vile person as a “flagrant sinner.” As opposed to prejudging motives, to call someone out for what is clearly wrong in the eyes of God is to possess the disposition of God. John the Baptist called the leaders of his day a “brood of vipers.” Luke 3:7 On the other hand, when you see a “faithful follower” of Jesus, you weigh them down with honor, as medals weigh down a decorated soldier’s uniform.
Someone welcomed inside God’s tent is certainly the person who keeps their word despite the circumstances. Here it is described anciently, as “swearing to your own hurt.” You immediately think of Jacob, who loved Rachel so much, he served Laban faithfully for seven years to win her hand. “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her. Genesis 29:20 To lend some additional perspective, she was “beautiful of form and face” and he had “not yet gone into her” during that time.
But the obscure story of Jephthah in Judges illustrates this trait best. To win out over the sons of Ammon, he vowed to the Lord to offer up (sacrifice) the first thing that he encountered when he returned home victorious. Out walks his one and only daughter to greet him “with bells on,” who would thereafter spend all her days a virgin. He said this knowing he gave his word to God, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.” Judges 11:35
The Old Testament was explicit in its prohibition against lending to a fellow Israelite with interest. They were not to act as a creditor to their brother, but were to be generous. “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.” Exodus 22:25 A key word in the study of finance is leverage. You will hear that term a lot. It means to gain an advantage or a position of strength. Tax collectors were like this in Jesus’ day and they were despised. To lend with interest was to enslave your brother, as the Egyptians did God’s people. God wants us to be gracious as he is to us. If a man can lend a brother money with no strings, meaning he has really resolved to give it to him, he has the heart of God, and if a man repays the sum, he too has the heart of God. Both are welcome in God’s tent.
Bottom line, a just man cannot be bribed. This is simply another form of leverage applied to gain advantage over the innocent. Almighty God looks down on the person who is handed a brown bag of cash to see what they will do. He is very pleased when it is pushed away. A person of integrity cannot be plied away from what is right. He or she cannot be shaken nor will they stumble.
Paul quotes David in Romans 3:10, saying, “there are none righteous, no not one.” He is correct. But in reality, he failed to look in God’s tent. That is where the righteous hang out.