Y’all God’s Word is sooo GOOD and today, I want to share MORE good news! Restoration is on the way!
Throughout scripture, we see the theme of restoration. Whether stated blatantly or depicted through the stories of scripture, we see RESTORATION. God is a restorer!
But first things first. What does it mean? The word restore means to replace; to renew or revive; to return.
For restoration to occur, first something has to be lost or destroyed. For visual learners, I want you to imagine an old dilapidated home that has long lost its function and beauty. Now imagine that new owners purchase the home and RESTORE the home making it functional and beautiful…again.
That is what God is doing in us. He is restoring us to our original glory!
The prophet, Joel, saw restoration happen firsthand.
Joel and Judah
Now that you have that picture in your mind, let’s go back to Joel. In this particular narrative in scripture, tragedy had stricken Judah. It was really bad, unlike anything that had happened before in its history (see Joel 1:2).
“Hear this, you elders; listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?”
Joel 1:2 CSB
A plague of locusts befell the crops (fruit) of the land. Everything the people had worked for was swallowed up and consumed in a moment.
It was so bad that the priests didn’t even have anything to offer God in the temple. When they realized they had nothing to offer God, they went straight into mourning! Not rejoicing. They mourned because they had no worthy offering to give.
“For there is no grain or wine to offer at the Temple of the Lord. So the priests are in mourning. The ministers of the Lord are weeping.”
Joel 1:9 NLT
Let’s pause here. When the ministers of the Lord recognized the loss and that they no longer had anything to offer or give to the Lord. They mourned (grieved deeply) because lack of offering impacted their relationship with God. It also impacted proximity to God. They understood that.
When was the last time you (1) recognized you had nothing to offer the Lord and (2) mourned over said loss?
We know that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice so we do not have to stand in a temple to make offerings for relationship with God, but this verse still should provoke something in the spirits of believers. Remember, the purest form of love provokes us to give. While you may not make literal grain offerings to the Lord, think about what has stopped you from giving Him your best. What severed your relationship with the Father?
The Call to WAKE UP AND WEEP
Joel called attention to what was lost…the land had been stripped bare. Practically, that meant that PROVISION had been lost. The fields for crops were ruined, the grain was destroyed, the grapes had shriveled, and the olive oil was gone! This was significant then and it is significant NOW.
Significance of what was lost.
There’s literal and spiritual significance. The people lost:
1. Grain – fruit of seed time and harvest, provision —> offering
2. Olive oil – anointing
3. New wine – blessings, the Holy Spirit
For all intensive purposes, the people lost everything. They lost what was needed for physical life (i.e. food, sustenance). This point is expounded further by the fact that even the animals cried out to the Lord (see Joel 1:18).
The people also lost what they needed spiritually. There was…
- No offering to maintain intimate relationship with God.
- No anointing of the Lord to do life. Anointing actually destroys the yoke of bondage and oppression (see Isaiah 10:27).
- No blessing of the Lord.
Now that you are fully aware of what was lost, how would you respond? The proper response is to…
WEEP.
Cry aloud. Wail. Mourn and despair.
Why is it so hard for us to weep?
Our society prefers not to express this way because it depicts weakness. But it’s important as believers, that we get used to it. Weep saint.
Fully expressing your sorrow through tears, humbles even the most prideful person. And the Lord desires humility from us. Humility allows God space to step into our situations and help us without having to fight through our resistance in the process.
We all NEED God. The sooner we recognize this, the easier it will be to humble ourselves and run to Him.
REND Your HEART
To rend means to (violently) tear something into two or more pieces. Allow your heart to break before the Lord! And repent!
“Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For HE IS gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love, and he relents from sending disaster.
Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, so you can offer a grain offering and a drink offering to the Lord your God.”
Joel 2:13-14 CSB
What a huge display of God’s unfailing character! And it doesn’t stop there. Joel 2 and 3 go on to further expound on the generosity and compassion of our God.
Promises Given in Response to Repentance
1. RESTORATION of FRUIT long stolen
2. The Holy Spirit
3. Salvation
4. Judgment against their enemies
5. Mercy from the Lord (Pardon for sins committed)
Repentance Yields Restoration
Upon repentance, what did God do? He RESTORED.
“The Lord answered his people: Look, I am about to send you grain, new wine, and fresh oil. You will be satiated with them, and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations.”
Joel 2:19 CSB
The people received grain, NEW wine, and FRESH oil. God is not a respecter of people, what He does for one, He will do for all. So this promise applies to us too, if we repent.
The Lord is sending rain for the repentant
I could go on and on about the nuggets hidden in Joel, but I’m going to close here with two verses I want you to hide them in your heart.
“Children of Zion, REJOICE and BE GLAD IN THE LORD your God, because he gives you the autumn rain for your vindication. He sends showers for you, BOTH autumn and spring rain as before.
I will repay you for the YEARS that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust— my great army that I sent against you.”
Joel 2:23, 25 CSB
Hang on, RESTORATION is coming!
Big Hugs,
Ayanna