Joel Study Intro Pt 3

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Biblical Inerrancy Pt 4: Inspiration

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Good morning, folks. We're going to start our third day now of looking into the

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Book of Joel. So, let's unwrap the

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Book of Joel. The locust industry is where we left off and I want to just do a quick rehearsal of what we've already looked through last week.

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Oops, that's our buddy the locust. So, last week we looked at the general, what the scholars generally believed about Joel and what is agreed upon on the

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Book of Joel. We quickly looked at what a prophet was. To understand

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Joel and who he is, we have to know what a prophet is. So, we looked at that very quickly. We also looked at some of the linguistic parallels with the other books, both

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New Testament and Old Testament. These are very important and they give us a good understanding when we actually dig into the verse by verse on Joel.

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Also, we did a brief consideration of the locust invasion and armies.

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We're going to look at that a little more today as well. We looked at the chiastic pattern of the

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Book of Joel. By the way, the pattern that I showed you is not the only pattern that I've read about.

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There's multiple opinions on how that book plays out, how Joel plays out.

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We looked at sentences, clauses, and phrases used to demarcate the

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Book of Joel. And we considered the day of the Lord. We'll look at that a little more closely too as we go the verse by verse, a very important theme in the

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Book of Joel. We also looked at, and we'll continue to look at, the imagery of locust.

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Okay, so locust, this is something that we really need to consider here. Locust was a promise by God to be a curse for disobedience.

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Deuteronomy 28, 36 through 38 says this, the Lord will bring you and your king whom whom

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I set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known.

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And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone and you shall become a hara, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the

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Lord will lead you away. You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little for the locust shall consume it.

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You shall plant vineyards and dress them but you shall neither drink of wine nor gather the grapes for the worms shall eat them.

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This is one of the curses that was promised to Israel with disobedience.

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And here we have it, the Lord, the Lord did this. The Lord will bring you and your king among whom you set over whom you set over you and and you shall carry in much seed into the field.

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But what will happen? The locust will consume it. This is nothing new in scripture.

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This is not a new concept. This is been told to them previous and they would have known this, meaning the audience of Joel.

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Continuing with this the same idea of the locust plague and the curse of it.

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Here we have Exodus 10 4 through 6. For if you refuse to let my people go behold tomorrow

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I will bring what locust into your country and they shall cover the face of the land so that no one can see the land and they shall eat what is left after the hail and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field and they shall fill their fill your houses and they show your servants and you can see all that these locusts will do.

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The locust again is not a new concept. They're going to eat all that's left after the hail.

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This concept of the locust again I must say here we're talking about the eighth plague.

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Joel's people would have known this. They would have understood this. They should have understood it.

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Something else that we want to keep in mind here too. This event was not only to teach pharaoh it was to teach all of Israel.

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So again I have to repeat Joel's people should have known this. This whole aspect of this curse if obedience is not there.

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If God is rejected and and not obeyed there there is consequences.

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There's big consequences. In this case we saw the plagues and we're talking now about the eighth one.

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This is also a far bigger event if we want to look at the big picture.

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It's the salvation of God's people. We have to understand this too that these plagues these curses and everything have an ultimate goal.

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The salvation of God's people. God's plan for instance with exodus we have

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Moses a savior figure. We have sin right. Israel coming out of sin being brought out of sin and headed where?

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So it's the promised land. Okay this is the big picture and we'll we'll talk more about that as as we get into the verse by verse as well.

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Next I want to talk about Deuteronomy 6 20 through 25. Again we're still playing on this same idea but I want to show you that scripture is full of this aspect.

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All right here we have when your sons and daughters ask you in time to come. When your sons and daughters ask you that means they were told they they were taught they are to remember this.

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What is the meaning of the testimony and statutes and the rules that the

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Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son we were

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Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. We were slaves to sin. All right if you want to take it to that level.

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All right we were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

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We didn't bring ourselves out of Egypt the Lord brought us out of Egypt. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and the

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Lord showed signs and wonders and great and grievous against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household before our eyes.

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And they brought us out from there and they that they that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to our fathers.

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Coming out of Egypt into the promised land remember that remember this my sons that he might bring us out and give us the promised land and and the

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Lord commanded us to do all the statutes. So at this time here they come out of Egypt right they come to this sinful situation.

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The Lord brings them out and what does he remind them to do to keep the statutes to keep my laws.

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Keep the statutes to fear the Lord our God for our good always.

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Okay is that's an important point too. Keeping these statutes obeying these laws it's not just a matter of legalities.

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It's a matter of the good of the people of God. Okay for the good that that he might preserve us alive as we are this day and it will be righteousness for us.

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Righteousness for us. Okay if we are careful to do all his commandments before the

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Lord our God as he has commanded us. And the Lord commanded us to do all the statutes to fear the

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Lord our God for our good always that he might preserve us alive and as we are this day and it will come it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all these commandments before the

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Lord our God. Joel's people should have known this.

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You're going to hear me say this over and over again. Locust imagery.

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Locust was a promise cursed from God for disobedience but with repentance there was a promise of restoration.

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We're going to see this same theme in Joel 2nd

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Chronicles 6 28 30. If there is a famine in the land if there is pestilence or bright or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates whatever plague whatever sickness there is whatever prayer whatever plea is made by any man or by all of your people

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Israel each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hand toward this house meaning the temple then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know according to all his ways for you you only know the hearts of the children of mankind so crying out yes the locust and the caterpillar are going to come the enemies are going to come but crying out in prayer making a plea before God this is necessary this is required okay this is clearly in scripture that Joel's people would have known that we should know then hear from heaven who hears from heaven

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God God hears the prayers of a righteous man continuing the same thought 2nd

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Chronicles 7 13 through 15. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command the locust to devour land or to send pestilence among my people if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then

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I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land now my eyes will be opened and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made doesn't matter whether it's the covid virus whether it's 9 11 whether it's a locust plague whether it's some dramatic storm no matter what it is whether it's armies coming in bow your knee to the holy

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God confess your sins and he will heal your land it's so clear when

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I who God God's the one that shuts the heavens up God's the one that brings the locust

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God's the one that devastates the land with pestilence and wicked people coming in God is in control of all of this you can see here where I've highlighted continuing with the same vein of thinking and the whole idea that that Joel's audience should have known this and they should have been in a repentant state of mind rather than a drunkard stupid sleeping not awake state of mind first kings 8 35 through 37 when heaven is shut this is almost the same verbiage when heaven is shut and there is no rain because they have sinned against you if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sinful ways again who does it who who is bringing this affliction

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God who is hearing their prayers God who is to be on their knees and praying

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God's people first kings 8 38 through 40 whenever prayer whatever prayer whatever plea is made by any man or by all my people eat

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Israel each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hand toward this house again who's hearing from heaven

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God's hearing from heaven who's doing the praying the sinful man is doing the praying in these verses we we see

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Solomon praying right and he acknowledges the curses are of the Lord he acknowledges that disobedience bring them that God brings them with disobedience uh this this to me is very reminiscent of Romans 8 28 through 30 and we know that for those who