God According to God

compassionate gracious slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness maintaining love to thousands forgiving wickedness rebellion and sin does not leave the guilty unpunished

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A Study of Exodus 34:6-7

Why is change hard?

• Fear of the unknown
• Loss
• Effort
• Discomfort
• Fear of judgement
• Impatience
• Routines

Joel

• The book of Joel recounts the prophet Joel’s warning to God’s people about their impending doom.
• God is asking them to change.

722 B.C.

587 B.C.

Joel 1

• In Joel 1, the prophet describes the soon-to-be-invading armies
• “swarming locust” (1:4)
• “powerful and beyond number” (1:6)
• “teeth are lions’ teeth, and it has the fangs of a lioness” (1:6)

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Joel 1

• The people – even the priests – in mourning (8-9)
• Fields and crops ruined (1:10)
• Can God’s people avoid their fate?
• Joel seems to think so.
• He instructs them to put on sackcloth, fast, and cry out to the Lord (1:13-14).

Joel 2:1-11

• Joel begins to imagine again what the “day of the Lord” will be like (1)
• What do you think of when you hear “day of the Lord”?
• When God will bring justice!
• Joel is imagining the day when God comes to make things right.
• For God’s people at the moment, that means punishment, not blessing.

Day of the Lord

• The day filled with “darkness and gloom…clouds and blackness” (2).
• The invading army is larger than any previous or future army (2b).
• The land this invading army hasn’t touched is “like the garden of Eden,” but the land they’ve already touched is like “a desert waste” (3b).
• Nations are fearful (“in anguish”) as they see this approaching army (6).

Day of the Lord

• The army is very disciplined: “They all march in line…not swerving…They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks” (7-8).
• It’s not only people that fear the army: the “earth shakes, the heavens tremble” (10a).
• The great lights (sun, moon, stars) go dark (10b).

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Who is leading this great, foreign army?

• The 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? Joel 2:11
• How do you think the Israelites feel about this?
• How would you describe the God who is leading this army?
• So far, does God in this passage seem to fit any or all of the description in Exod 34:6-7?
• So far, has Joel spoken of this upcoming day as a certainty or as a possibility?

Joel 2:12-17

• Joel calls the people to repent “even now” (12a).
• God calls his people to return to him. This would include fasting, weeping, and mourning (12b).
• But God does not just want an outward show! He wants his people to rend their hearts, not their clothes (13).
• Why does Joel believe the people should return to God?
• “for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (13)

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Does God repent or relent?

• “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,” (2:14)
• nâḥam - to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
• What does Joel say the people should do if they want a chance at being spared?

Joel 2:18

• Look at God’s answer: He was “jealous for his land,” and he “took pity on his people”(18).
• If we were to read on, we’d discover God sending grain, wine, and oil to care for his people (19).
• We’d also see God driving the armies away (20).

Thoughts

• Was this fair?
• Would God really do this?
• How long did God give them?
• Did God give them a chance no matter how bad they were?
• Why did God do this?

Thoughts

• Why do God’s characteristics, listed in our theme verse and repeated in Joel 2:13, lead Joel to believe that God might relent?
• In what ways would God’s “relenting” be similar to humans “repenting” How would it be different?
• What phrase do you notice Joel adds to God’s description?
• (Answer: “he relents from sending calamity”). What do you make of this addition?

Closing

• We see a God who is not eager to punish.
• Joel reminds us that even when we think we are beyond reach, “even now,” we must return to God (2:12).
• It is never too late to return.

Closing

• From this passage only, if you had to put God on a scale with one extreme being “a real softie” and the other extreme being “really hard-nosed,” where would you put God?
• Do you think it’s true that we hope God will be extra-merciful (i.e., a softie) to our own selves, while we long for God to put sinful people in their place for their wrongdoing (i.e., be really hard-nosed)?

Closing

• Do we believe God is fair?
• Would we want a God that was not?
• Do we believe God will really punish? How does God punish? What will that "Day of the Lord" be like? Would we want a God that did not punish?
• How long will God give us? Aren't we glad we have a God that is slow to anger?
• Why does God want us to change? Aren't we glad we have a God that is looking out for our own good?

Homework

• Community reading of Jonah 4:1-11
• And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Luke 15:14-16

Homework

• Community reading of Jonah 4:1-11
• And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Luke 15:14-16