Posts Tagged: God punishes his own people

“On Reading Larger Chunks of Scripture”

On September 4, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

I like the YouVersion app on my phone a lot. I particularly use it to listen to Scripture while I’m walking the dog or doing other things. I also like their verse-of-the-day. However, sometimes I long for some context for their verse (or few verses, in some cases).

Now, in defense of the good folks who administer the app, they do give you the option of reading the whole chapter in which their verse/s occur. So, this is not really such a serious matter. People are busy. It is better to read and meditate upon a single verse or a few verses of scripture, rather than to do nothing. I get that.

Still, there are times when I especially need some context for the verse/s for the day. For example, today’s verse is:

“That is why the LORD says,

‘Turn to me now, while there is time.

Give me your hearts.

Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.’” (Joel 2:12, New Living Translation)

“That is why” leads off verse 12 in this translation. It provokes the question “What is why?”

The preceding verses in Joel 2 speak of the desolation and destruction that an army is about to bring on Judah and Jerusalem. Scholars debate whether this is a literal locust plague or a metaphor for an invasion of a foreign army. In any case, the most shocking thing for God’s people is the name of the general who is leading the invasion: It is their own God, the LORD, Yahweh!

And yet, there is hope for God’s people. There is still time to make peace with their God.

At least two observations come out of reading Joel 2:12 in its larger context. First, God does, in fact, punish his own people. This is a wonderful antidote for getting cocky about having God on our side or being on God’s side ourselves. And we are all prone to this. There are no exceptions! Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, men and women—you fill in the blank. Before we are too sure that Joel 2:1-11 applies to “those people” (whoever they are), we had better take a long look in the mirror.

Secondly, God does not want to destroy us or even punish us. Instead, God wants us to turn back to God. This is not simply a matter of behavior modification, although it certainly involves that. Notice that God inspires Joel to call people to heart-repentance. In fact, giving God our hearts precedes weeping and fasting.

And one final comment about Joel 2:12, as well as a general strategy for reading the Bible: While Joel 2:12 is good as a stand-alone, it is even better when it marches alongside the other verses. This is true of the entire Bible.

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