The Inevitable Day
Opening Prayer
Lord, make me secure in the knowledge that although sin abounds all around, You remain aware of who Your servants are.
Read Joel 2:1–11
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy hill.
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is close at hand—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was in ancient times
nor ever will be in ages to come.
3 Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste—
nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses;
they gallop along like cavalry.
5 With a noise like that of chariots
they leap over the mountaintops,
like a crackling fire consuming stubble,
like a mighty army drawn up for battle.
6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;
every face turns pale.
7 They charge like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.
They all march in line,
not swerving from their course.
8 They do not jostle each other;
each marches straight ahead.
They plunge through defenses
without breaking ranks.
9 They rush upon the city;
they run along the wall.
They climb into the houses;
like thieves they enter through the windows.
10 Before them the earth shakes,
the heavens tremble,
the sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord thunders
at the head of his army;
his forces are beyond number,
and mighty is the army that obeys his command.
The day of the Lord is great;
it is dreadful.
Who can endure it?
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psa. 23:4, NIV UK).
The first part of Joel 2 is a graphic description of a land under attack. I think it depicts an actual plague of locusts, which Joel develops into a warning of the coming of the Day of the Lord. The attackers resemble soldiers, horses, chariots and fire. The passage reads like a scene from an alien-invasion movie. Wave after wave of marauding attackers assail the city. Nothing can stop them. Conventional weapons and defenses are useless against them. They are irresistible, relentless and inescapable. So too, the Day of the Lord.
Joel’s depiction of the locust attack is reminiscent of the biblical portrayal of God as divine warrior or storm God. “Clouds and thick darkness are all around him… Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side” (Psa. 97:2,3, NRSV). Joel connects the two ideas to say that the God who brought the locust plague will also bring his day of reckoning. Nothing can stop the coming of that inevitable day. Christian tradition will build on this for its doctrine of final judgment. The Day of the Lord may be delayed until the end of time, but its coming is unavoidable.
The theme of inevitable judgment is a highly unpopular subject in today’s world, but I think it an essential one. Somehow, somewhere, even if it is at the end of time, we will all have to answer for our deeds. To pretend otherwise is to court disaster of another sort. As Fleming Rutledge puts it, “Wherever and whenever there is impunity, there will be no shortage of people willing to inflict the worst sort of treatment upon their fellow human beings” (The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, 308). On the other hand, the conviction that we will face our maker inspires us to live in the light of our individual accountability toward God.
Apply
Do you think it is true that today’s taboo subject is no longer sex but death? Does awareness of your mortality and expectation of judgment influence your life choices?
Closing prayer
O Lord, keep me aware that sustained evil will not go unpunished, whether nationally or individually, and that in addition to being a savior, You are also a judge.
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