Joel writes about a future day of the Lord that is not local and limited but universal and complete!
Read: Joel 2: 25-32
It is the Day of the Lord…Judgement Day.
A man hangs on a cross as the sky goes dark. The sin of the whole world, not just of the Jewish people, is being judged and dealt with, the price paid once and for all. The promise given many years before to Abraham, that his people would be a source of blessing for the whole world, is being fulfilled through the death of that one man…Jesus.
Three days later and his tomb is empty. His followers tell stories of seeing him alive and well, rising from the dead to prove that he was who he said he was.
Forty days later and his timid disciples are transformed. They burst out from hiding onto the streets, declaring God’s praises in languages they have not learned so that the crowds in Jerusalem hear in their own language and ask what’s going on.
And the answer they are given comes straight from Joel chapter 2.
The Temple and its sacrifices are not needed anymore. One perfect sacrifice has been made for the sin of the world.
From now on, everyone and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved, their sin forgiven.
But they are not just forgiven; their old life is counted as dead, having died with Jesus on the cross, and the Spirit comes, filling them up with the life of Jesus and giving them the new heart promised by the prophets.
This is the Day of the Lord to end all such days. Not local and limited, but universal and complete. One final sacrifice for all, ending the fear of a future judgement for sin for “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord”.
Joel promises that in the last days God will pour out his Spirit on all people. This is radical stuff! No one will be excluded from being filled and fruitful based on age, gender, or nationality. All who call on the name of the Lord will be filled with the Spirit…young and old, male and female, Jew and non-Jew”… and equipped for fruitful lives and ministry. Have you ever been put down in church because of your age or gender? Do you feel less adequate to do what God asks of you for a fruitful life because of your age or gender?
Joel and the early church would have none of it. Become who you are in Christ.
Pilgrim Traveller 