Rewards of Repentance
Joel 2:12-27
Have you ever gone through a grueling ordeal for a particular purpose?
You have studied long and hard for a test, and the grade is good.
You have been working out every day for a month, and you’ve lost so many pounds.
Perhaps one of the most rewarding is going through hours and hours of labor, and you get a beautiful baby when it’s done.
When the reward is realized, you tend to forget the struggle that it took to get there.
That’s why some people go back to school, keep working out, or have another child.
Joel talks about that from a spiritual perspective.
Joel is a short book and shrouded in mystery.
No way of determining a date is given—the closest is Joel 3:1 in reference to a captivity.
But many others think it was earlier on during the reign of Joash.
There is a locust plague that Joel warns about that doesn’t seem to have taken place.
So either the people repented and were delivered, or the locusts weren’t literal.
Whatever the case, this is still God’s Word!
And as any prophet does, he talks of repentance.
The Lord through Joel urges the people to turn to Him—repent, showing signs of penitence (2:12).
He urges them not to simply make a show of it, but to really mean it (2:13a).
As in Jonah the other day, we see God being merciful and gracious to those who are penitent (2:13b-14).
This outward show of repentance needs to reflect an inward reality (2:15-17).
This is a grueling show of penitence the Lord demands here, for their sin was great.
They are to fast and mourn together, purifying the people, purging the sin from them.
Then we see the result here. Let’s read Joel’s description of what the reward for repentance is like (2:18-27).
The Lord will pity His people and deliver them from harm.
They will be restored and blessed beyond measure.
It will be as if they had never fallen under condemnation.
What’s shown here are the physical blessings that represent the spiritual.
Since we are unsure of the time frame of this book, it is uncertain whether or not the Israelites took the Lord up on His offer.
There is no recorded locust plague that destroyed Israel in Scripture—assuming the locusts are even literal.
But the truths are very relevant for us today.
As stated, God is merciful and gracious to the penitent.
We always need to turn toward God in all that we do.
Repentance is never easy—it requires change, and we do not like change.
It can be very grueling, but the rewards, as we’ve read, are very much worth it.
Just as a mother is holding her newborn, the pain and struggle it took you to get there will be a distant memory when you experience the rewards of repentance.
We won’t experience them fully until we reach heaven, but heaven will surely be worth it all.
Do you want those rewards this evening?