Joel the
prophet called upon the people of Judah to “turn” to the
LORD “with all” their “heart”, and they could
demonstrate their true repentance through “fasting, weeping and
mourning”. In chapter two and verse thirteen of his prophecy,
Joel tells the people to “rend” their “hearts”
and not their “garments” where we read:
And
rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your
God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repents him of the evil.
The
verse begins, “And rend your heart, and not your
garments, and turn unto the LORD your God:” Joel
began with the phrase, “and rend”
or “tear away or out and make wide or large” “your
heart” which refers to “the
inner man, midst, heart, soul, mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection
and memory”, “and not your garments”
which means “outward apparel, clothes and vestures”, “and
turn” or “return, go back
and come back” “unto the LORD” which
refers to “Yehovah or Jehovah who is the existing One and the
proper name for the one true God” “your God”
which refers to “the true ruler, divine one and true God”. Joel's
directive was for the people of Judah to “repent” within their
hearts and “return” “to the LORD”
rather than just outwardly ripping their clothes which was a normal
way of showing repentance.
The
verse continues, “for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repents him of the evil.” Joel
gave the reason the people were to tear their “hearts”
as he describe the character of God,
“for he is gracious”
which means “merciful and benignant” “and
merciful”
or “compassionate”, “slow to
anger”
which means “long-suffering and patient”, “and
of great”
or “much, many, abounding in and more numerous than” “kindness”
which means “goodness, faithfulness, a reproach and shame”, “and
repents him”
or “to be sorry, console oneself, regret and comfort” “of
the evil”
which refers to “bad, disagreeableness, malignant, unpleasant,
displease, wicked and worst than”. The reason why the people were
to “repent” in their inner man, was because the LORD's natural
character was to be “merciful, compassionate, long-suffering and
faithful” toward them.
When
we think about Joel's words in this verse, we may be inclined to obey
his directive. The benefit to “returning” to the LORD is that His
“grace and mercy” and His “loving and patient”
character desires change His plan from destroying people. Jesus
Christ wants to have a relationship with everyone even if they have
brought upon themselves judgment for their apostate ways. May the
Lord Jesus help us through His Holy Spirit to recognize when we need
to return to Him, and should He call us, let us obey His invitation
to change in any manner He desires.
Next
time Joel wonders, “Who knows if
he will return and repent”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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