Blow The Trumpet!

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;

For the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand!”  Joel 2:1

        Joel was a prophet of God who prophesied in a time when Judah was in a great period of devastation.   Locusts had destroyed all the crops causing a horrible famine in the land.  They even stripped the bark from the fig trees.  People and animals were dying by the thousands. It was the greatest plague anyone had ever seen and Joel could only believe it was the judgement of God.

       This is backed up in Deuteronomy 28:38-46 when Moses warned Israel what would happen to the nation that was disobedient. “These are the curses that shall come on you.  Locusts will consume all your trees and produce.”  Joel said that this time had come and he began warning the people to beware.  Look at these next two verses:

1.         “Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all

             the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is  

             at   hand”     Joel 2:1

2.            “The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?”  Joel 2:11

Joel calls for Repentance:  Verses 15 – 17 is not only a warning to the people, but to the leaders of the congregation to admonish the people who were living sinful lives.  The same thing is true today; don’t wink at sin!  What does it mean to ‘wink’?  It means to close our eyes against the sin and slaughter going on around us.  We say, “Oh, it’s so terrible to have all these abortions”.  Oh, it’s so terrible everyone thinks it okay to commit adultery, to have sex with anybody and everyone.”  “It’s so terrible that this happens and that happens and immediately after we say it, we forget it!  We close our eyes to sin.  We don’t want to speak up and tell people when they’re doing something wrong – even in our churches.  Let’s not be blind to it and believe it isn’t happening.

        Joel crosses over from his time to a time to come. [Joel 28-29]    In those days a few were given dreams and vision as a way of prophecy, but God was saying that in the days to come, His Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, young and old.  They would be given visions and dreams of prophecy.  There would be no select group, but on lowliest to the highest.
        This time has come – the captives have come and continue to return to Israel.  It began in 1948 when Israel became a nation as was told would happen.   Peter saw it coming in Acts 2:14 when he quotes Joel.  Now go to Rev. 6:12 and look what happens here.  The Moon turns to blood!  Matt. 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
         In Joel 3:13 it speaks of the harvest being ripe in the world so we know he is speaking of the last days.  How do we know what last days are?  Look at 2 Tim. 3:1-5

 “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,   traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

         Today, multitudes are walking on the edge.  They want both Jesus and the world.  I tell you it is impossible to live like that, but they have been deceived into believing they can.  This Valley of Decision is the place of God’s final verdict.  He is saying to the undecided, “Now is the time.  Either you are for me or against me.”  (Matt. 12:30)  

         There are 6 steps the church must take to help people make a decisions for Christ:

·       Understand the seriousness of sin.

         ·       Understand the consequences of sin

·       Teach repentance

·       Call a solemn assembly

·       A time for fasting and prayer

         ·       Teach that the blood of Jesus covers every sin when people confess and repent.

        Those who are society calls ‘worthless’, or ‘bums’.  [Menservants and maidservants], in Joel’s day, servants were considered beneath their owners.  They couldn’t be used by God.  They were the

‘low life’.  But God says in those days, he is going to make them prophets!  Their station in life is not the issue; the issue is the matter of the heart.  So be careful and don’t ‘esteem yourself above others’. (Phil. 2:3)
        “Blow the Trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm in the Holy Mountain! Let the people of the earth tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand”.  It’s time to get our act together; to become a strong ‘people of God’.  It’s time to wake up and take a stand in our family, our church and our community.  Let the voice of God’s people be heard!
        How can we expect our young people to serve God, when we do deceitful things?  Quit acting in church like we are so righteous and then outside of church take on the character of the devil.  Quite being deceitful, trying to see what we can get away with.  It’s time to turn to God in repentance.  Call a solemn assembly, get on your knees, fast and pray.  It can turn a nation back to God.  Don’t worry about whom the president is or how he got there – God puts people in authority and takes them out. 

REPENT!   REPENT!  REPENT!  Turn from how you’re living – change!  You can make a difference in this world by preparing for the world to come.