The Lord will be at the head of the army. This means that the invasion will be God's doing. Joel is trying to impress on the people the awfulness of what is about to happen.
Even so, all is not lost. As I stated in an earlier section, the purpose of the Lord is always to elicit a response from us. The Lord desires that the people return to Him and repent. Whatever the situation, no matter how angry, and justifiably so, the Lord seems to be, His desire is always that we repent and turn to Him.
Repentance involves turning to God with all our hearts. It is an inward change, not a mere outward response. However, the inward response will produce outward effects. These may include fasting, weeping and mourning.
For the Lord is merciful. He is slow to anger and delights to forgive. It is in God's nature to look for an excuse to forgive, to find a reason not to punish. He would far rather bless than punish. The flipside of this is that when God does finally judge, it means that there truly was no alternative.
Joel again calls on the people to assemble before the Lord. This includes all the people, young and old, and it is to have higher priority than anything, even getting married (Luke 14:20). The priests are to call upon the name of the Lord.
Even so, all is not lost. As I stated in an earlier section, the purpose of the Lord is always to elicit a response from us. The Lord desires that the people return to Him and repent. Whatever the situation, no matter how angry, and justifiably so, the Lord seems to be, His desire is always that we repent and turn to Him.
Repentance involves turning to God with all our hearts. It is an inward change, not a mere outward response. However, the inward response will produce outward effects. These may include fasting, weeping and mourning.
For the Lord is merciful. He is slow to anger and delights to forgive. It is in God's nature to look for an excuse to forgive, to find a reason not to punish. He would far rather bless than punish. The flipside of this is that when God does finally judge, it means that there truly was no alternative.
Joel again calls on the people to assemble before the Lord. This includes all the people, young and old, and it is to have higher priority than anything, even getting married (Luke 14:20). The priests are to call upon the name of the Lord.
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