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?