refuge
Posted on by Barbara Lynn Seibel

REFUGE

  • How would you define the word refuge?
  • Can refuge be a place, person, or thing?
  • What qualities are essential for a place, person, or thing to be deemed a refuge?

Consider the following definitions:

1 : shelter or protection from danger or distress

2 : a place that provides shelter or protection

3 : something to which one has recourse in difficulty

  • Do these definitions change or reinforce your own for refuge?

It is raining where I am at today.

Having one of the umbrellas in the picture above while outside would certainly provide a refuge from getting drenched.

  • Is there a refuge that can meet all the above definitions?

If you have been following this series on the book of Joel, you should have a strong sense of the context leading up to today’s verse of Joel 3:16.

In case you have started at today’s post here is a quick review:

Joel is a prophet of the Lord of Judah. The Lord sent Joel to share a message with the Judeans about their current distressing circumstances involving a series of devastating locust invasions followed by drought and fire.

The Lord reveals that He sent the locusts to wake up the Judeans because they had been neglecting to acknowledge and worship Him wholeheartedly. At this point both Joel and the Lord call the people to a holy fast and prayer vigil to stay further judgment and devastation by the Lord’s heavenly army.

It is also revealed that while the Lord was disciplining the Judeans, the neighboring nations began to mock the Lord’s ability to provide for and defend the Judeans. In addition, these nations began to take advantage of the Judeans by abducting them and selling them into slavery.

Giving the implication that the Judeans heeded the message from the Lord and His prophet Joel, the Lord promises to restore the Judeans not only physically with abundant agricultural supplies but a surprising spiritual bounty where all, whether young, old, male, female, freed person, or slave will receive His Spirit personally to witness to the surround nations.

With the gifting of His Spirit, the Judeans are then told to proclaim the Lord’s message of judgment against the nations who had ridiculed Him and His people.

Our verse for today

ESV  Joel 3:16 The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

This is not the first time the book of Joel has mentioned the Lord speaking in a commanding voice.

Nor is it the first time we have been told that the heavens and the earth quake at the sound of His voice and His presence.

Consider these earlier verses:

ESV  Joel 2:10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

Compare them with Joel 3:15-16:

ESV  Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 16 The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

Several elements are identical between these two sections of Joel:

  • Earth and heaven shaking
  • Sun, moon, and stars going dark
  • The Lord speaking loudly

What is different between these two sections of Joel?

  • The order in which the similar items occur
  • A sense of doom exists in Joel 2:10-11
  • A sense of hope exists in Joel 3:15-16
  • Where the Lord is speaking from

Compare the following verses with Joel 3:16:

ESV  Joel 2:1 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

The Lord is on His holy mountain directing an army descending upon Zion.

ESV  Joel 3:16 The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

In Joel 3:16 the Lord is roaring from Zion, specifically Jerusalem.

  • Why is this difference of where the Lord speaks from valuable to consider?

Joel 2:1-2 was still a warning to the Judeans.

Joel 3:16 is a warning to the surrounding nations who abused the Judeans and scoffed at the Lord.

This difference highlights the Lord is reminding His followers that He will warn them first when they stray from wholehearted devotion to Him and give them an opportunity to return to Him.

It also highlights the Lord has commissioned His followers to share this message of warning with the surrounding non-followers.

  • What comes after the roaring voice, shaking earth and trembling heavens in 3:16?

ESV  Joel 3:16 The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

But the Lord is a refuge.

But the Lord is a stronghold.

Consider again the following definitions of refuge:

1 : shelter or protection from danger or distress

2 : a place that provides shelter or protection

3 : something to which one has recourse in difficulty

Add to this the following definitions of a stronghold:

1 : a fortified place

2a : a place of security or survival

  • Who is the Lord a refuge and stronghold for?

His people

The people of Israel

The Lord, through His prophet Joel, is communicating His faithfulness to fulfill His covenant promises made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Lord, through His prophet Joel, is encouraging His followers to share not only the warnings in this book, but also the hope that can be found in Him alone.

But the Lord is a refuge.

But the Lord is a stronghold.

  • Did you know the Bible has 95 occurrences of the word refuge in the ESV translation?
  • Did you know all but one of these are in the Old Testament?

Here is the only use of refuge in the New Testament:

ESV Hebrews 6:18  so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

Challenge for the week

Read through this search on the word refuge at BibleGateway.

Then email me or leave a comment on the blog to generate further discussion about what it means to you the Lord is a refuge and how one can be encouraged that they are one of His people today.

Blessings,

Barbara Lynn

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