WONDERS

What wonders have you seen in your lifetime?

Perhaps you have traveled to one or more of the celebrated seven wonders of the world?

Or does the question cause you to think of wonders closer to your home and heart?

What does it take to stir a sense of wonder in you?

Read Joel 2:30:

^ESV  Joel 2:30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.

The Lord is speaking in this verse.

Prior to this announcement the Lord had just promised to pour out His Spirit upon His people, meaning all who call on Him as Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly.(See Joel 2:28-29.)

Now the Lord is telling His servants that He has even more planned.

What type of imagery is being used by the Lord to describe this coming judgment?

• Blood.
• Fire.
• Smoke.

Where else in the Bible, prior to Joel, have these three things been used as signs of the Lord’s presence and as wonders to behold?

The most frequently referred to event throughout the Old Testament is the experience of the activities of the Lord on behalf of Moses and the Israelites exodus from Egypt. (See Exodus 12:12-13 and Exodus 13:21.)

Do the Lord’s servants need to be concerned about these wonders?

Review Joel 2:1-3:

^ESV  Joel 2:1-3 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.

³ Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.

Remember Joel 2:1-3 came as a warning to the Judeans of Joel’s day because they had apparently been neglecting their relationship with the Lord.

Review Joel 2:12-13:

^ESV  Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

¹³ and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Having reviewed the above passages from Joel and Exodus do you agree that Joel 2:30 is not another warning but a statement of comfort to the Lord’s servants?

In Exodus, the wonders of blood on the doorposts, and the pillar of cloud or fire were used as protection and guidance by the Lord for the Israelites.

Joel 2:30 comes after a series of promises of blessings from the Lord to the Judeans that restoration will be done on a grand scale to those who have rent their hearts instead of their garments.

The intense imagery of even more wonders of blood, fire, and smoke is intended to encourage those who call on the Lord’s name.

• How does this imagery encourage you today?
• What wonders has the Lord been working in your midst?
• Are you looking for Him to show up every day for you?
• What else do you see in this verse?

My prayer for us today is ^ESV  Psalm 105:1-10:

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!

² Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

³ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

⁴ Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

⁵ Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

⁶ O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

⁷ He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸ He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

⁹ the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,

¹⁰ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.

Blessings,

Barbara Lynn

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