The Day of the Lord

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 95:1-7
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Nicene Creed
• Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 16
• Prayer
• Hymn
• Pastoral Prayer
• Hymn
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Hymn
• Benediction — Jude 24-25

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Sermon Title: The Day of the Lord

Scripture: Joel 2:1-27

I. The Day of the Lord Brings Judgment (Joel 2:1-11)

A. The passage is bookended by the phrase "the day of the Lord" (vv. 1, 11), framing the intervening imagery as a picture of that great and final day of judgment

1. The language of darkness, gloom, and thick clouds recalls God's terrifying presence at Mount Sinai — Exodus 19:16
2. The trumpet blast in v. 1 echoes the trumpet at Sinai; it is an alarm calling Israel to attention before God's approaching judgment

B. The locusts are described as a divine army (vv. 4–5, 7, 25), God's instrument of judgment

1. God explicitly calls them "my great army which I sent among you" (v. 25)
2. John picks up this imagery in Revelation 9:7, using Joel's locusts to depict the last days — horses, chariots, lion's teeth all echo Joel 2

C. The day of the Lord is not merely one future event but a recurring pattern of God's visitation in judgment and salvation, each instance a penultimate fulfillment pointing to the ultimate day

1. Examples: the Babylonian captivity, the return under Ezra and Nehemiah, the birth and death of Messiah, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70
2. The ultimate and final day is the one Paul describes in Acts 17:31 — God has fixed a day to judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ

D. Present-day catastrophes (pandemics, wars, natural disasters) are birth pains pointing to that final day — Matthew 24:7

1. God in His grace uses such events as alarm calls to wake His people from complacency
2. The question of v. 11 — "Who can endure it?" — is meant to drive us to repentance

II. The Day of the Lord Brings Repentance (Joel 2:12-17)

A. The most important words in this section are "yet even now" (v. 12) — no matter how deep in sin, God's hand of forgiveness remains open

1. Even obstinate, repeatedly unfaithful Israel is called back to God
2. God takes pleasure in relenting over disaster; His mercy is greater than His wrath

B. True repentance is a matter of the heart, not outward show — "rend your hearts and not your garments" (v. 13)

1. God is not like man, who looks on the outward appearance; He looks on the heart (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7)
2. Israel had been going through the motions of the sacrificial system while returning to sin — God demands wholehearted return, not religious performance

C. The character of God is the ground of the call to repentance (v. 13): "He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and he relents over disaster"

1. The king of Nineveh responded in the same way — "Who knows whether he will not turn?" (Jonah 3)
2. Warning against presuming on God's mercy (cf. Heinrich Heine): forgiveness is not God's "job" but an act of His sovereign mercy — Exodus 33:19

D. The call to repentance is universal — elders, children, even nursing infants (v. 16)

1. There is no "age of accountability" in Scripture; children are to be called to confess sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
2. Parents are charged with teaching their children the urgency of repentance

III. The Day of the Lord Brings Restoration (Joel 2:18-27)

A. God reverses everything taken away in the locust plague of chapter 1

1. Grain, wine, and oil restored (v. 19; cf. Joel 1:5, 10, 17)
2. The army of locusts is driven into the sea — their stench of defeat replaces their devastation (v. 20)
3. Gladness and rejoicing replace the dried-up joy of chapter 1 (vv. 21, 23; cf. Joel 1:12)

B. The climactic promise of v. 25: "I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten"

1. God's mercy does not merely give a blank slate — it lavishes abundance
2. V. 27: "I am in the midst of Israel" — the greatest blessing of restoration is God's own presence

C. God's grace restores more than what sin took away — it brings the fullness of God Himself

1. Christ's words to the thief on the cross: "Today you will be with me in paradise" — not merely a clean slate but the presence of God
2. 1 Corinthians 2:9: "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"
3. The word "wondrously" (v. 26) means what is difficult or impossible for the finite mind to comprehend — God's blessing on His repentant people will be extraordinary and all-surpassing