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| Copyright © 2001 by The Voice of Prophecy |
| Ken Wade |
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P.O.
Box 53055 |
| February 23/24, 2002 |
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Joel--Joy in a Time of Sorrow CONNIE: When things go drastically wrong, is God to blame? Or are we? Join us today as we look at a biblical book that was written during a time of great calamity, and search for God's answer to times of trouble. Giving God's trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy. CONNIE: I'm Connie Jeffery, LONNIE: and I'm Lonnie Melashenko, and we're very pleased that you've chosen to join us today as we dig into God's word for answers to some of the hardest, yet most pervasive questions in the universe. CONNIE: That question is, Who do you blame when bad things happen? LONNIE: In his book Disappointment with God, Philip Yancey tells a heart-rending story of a mother watching her gentle, Christian daughter slowly dying of cystic fibrosis--an excruciatingly painful death. And when things like that happen, I think all of us begin to wonder . . . CONNIE: Where is God in this? Why do bad things happen to good people, while those who never glance over their shoulder to even give God a nod seem to go through life trouble-free? LONNIE: And Connie, our answer often is to say "Well, remember there's a devil in the world too. Don't blame God when bad things happen." And we can take comfort in that thought. But is that always the "final answer?" Could it be that it sometimes misses the mark and attributes to Satan things that just might be sent from God in order to wake us up--get our attention? CONNIE: In other words, maybe we shouldn't give the devil as much credit as he sometimes gets for bad things that happen. Are you suggesting that God sometimes allows these things to come in order to slow us down and turn us back to Him? LONNIE: It's a question that's worth wrestling with, and one that the book of Joel, which is the focus of our program today, definitely addresses. To help us with this, we've invited an Old Testament theologian, Zdravko Stefanovich to join us. He spoke with Ken Wade. KEN: I want to welcome Dr. Stefanovich to our program today. ZDRAVKO: Glad to be here KEN: You come originally from Bosnia. I guess it was Yugoslavia when you were growing up, right? ZDRAVKO: That's right. KEN: You grew up in the city of Sarajevo, and I wanted to invite you to our program today because I feel like your own personal experience as well as your expertise in the Old Testament could really contribute to our understanding of Joel. Dr. Stefanovich you're going to be going back over there, I guess tomorrow morning you'll be on an early flight to Belgrade, is that right? ZDRAVKO: That's right. KEN: And what will you be doing there? ZDRAVKO: I will be doing some teaching, and witnessing for my Lord. KEN: Oh great! So some evangelistic meetings or something
like that? KEN: As we think about the book of Joel, of course, Joel comes to comes as a message to a nation that has been deeply wounded, and has really suffered a catastrophe haven't they? ZDRAVKO: Right. KEN: What's the nature of that catastrophe? ZDRAVKO: Well we should really look at the text of the book in order to understand the immensity of the catastrophe that struck the nation, but it was actually calamity, calamity that could be viewed as natural calamity, but the prophet looked at it as a warning to people. KEN: There has been this terrible plague of locust that has come and Joel responds with God's message and says, "Look, these things have come about. There needs to be a repentance to take place in order to overcome the difficulties you're having now. And I thought, you come from a nation that obviously has seen a lot of tragedy, as well don't you? ZDRAVKO: Yes. KEN: In fact you were telling me about your brothers recently, their homes were destroyed in the fighting. ZDRAVKO: Right. KEN: How have the people of Bosnia responded to that type of thing? ZDRAVKO: Well, as human beings it's so typical of us that when we face a tragedy, there is then a feeling of dismay and a lack of understanding, why do bad things happen in this world, and why do people suffer, especially innocent people. But then what I like about it is that in this whole situation, is that in spite of this immense tragedy some people, especially Christian people that I know, they have decided to take on a positive attitude, and to turn around and to wonder what can we do in this type of situation. How can we help people around us, and is it something that we can learn about life and God in the midst of this tragedy. KEN: And so in other words, they have actually taken the bad situation and tried to turn it into something good. ZDRAVKO: That is right. KEN: What type of things then were being done there as far as…did people have the tendency to go out and say, "well this is the judgement of God on you, you better repent," or were they doing something else there? ZDRAVKO: Well, some were doing that, and others felt so miserable that they didn't have time to think a lot about religion and God the first moment. But I was very much alarmed by in the time of war, there was some people who argued that only a certain type of people should go on, should be protected, and there was some kind of polarization based on religion and ethnic belonging and so on. Yet when we look at the message of the Bible, you know the message of the Bible is a message of God's love to everyone, and I'm thinking in particular of a group of people, a group of Christians that I know who decided to go into full time humanitarian aid in the city of Sarajevo and elsewhere in Bosnia, to help those that were in the towns that were besieged, and inaccessible, and distribute mail and other humanitarian types of aid to help there needs. KEN: So it's kind of what Joel says here. Joel sees the plague come, Joel sees the tragedy that has stricken his people, and he uses that as an opportunity to remind them of there relationship to God and to call them back to that closer relationship with God. You saw that same sort of thing happening there in Bosnia then. ZDRAVKO: That's right, and what I like about the book of Joel is that right in the beginning when we look at the text. We realize that Joel's first thought was not that this tragedy brings a disaster on the people, and on the goods of the land, but he says, "How shall we come before God, we have nothing to bring Him." So in the book of Joel he put God in the first place, and we could see that in Bosnia, people who put God in the first place. They said regardless of what our feelings were, we had to put God in the first place and help our fellow human beings. KEN: Well praise the Lord for that sort of reaction, and Dr. Stefanovich we'll be praying for you, and ask that the Lord especially bless you as you go back to your home country share the gospel. ZDRAVKO: Thank you very much. CONNIE: I appreciate Dr. Stefanovich's insights into the book of Joel, drawn from his personal perspective as well as his theological expertise. Joel does focus on a time of trouble, but also points us forward to a time when God will make things better. And that's the message of our first song today, to, "It Won't Rain Always," sung by Karen Ritchey. CONNIE: Thanks to Karen Ritchey, who lives up in British Columbia, for that song. Karen brings a powerful testimony of her own passage through a time of tragedy to her music. LONNIE: Well, that song by Bill and Gloria Gaither really
picks up on the spirit of the book of Joel--recognizing that there will
be times of trouble, but that God has a good plan for our future. LONNIE: You've no doubt noticed that we like to invite people to our web page as often as possible. There is something new there every day--at least six days per week. You can read transcripts of our weekend broadcast as well as our weekday broadcast. CONNIE: And you can even listen to programs via streaming audio, but there's something more we'd like to encourage you to do. LONNIE: That's right, especially in times like this when the future seems a bit cloudy or uncertain, it's a good time to dig in to the good old book--the Bible--to find out what God has to say. And that's why we make the Discover Bible lessons available right online. CONNIE: You can take the entire Bible course right online via computer, or if you're in the US or Canada, you can have the lessons delivered to your home via the mail.. To access the lessons online, just go to VOP.COM and click on "Free Bible Guides" in the menu on the left side of your screen. You can start the lessons right away, or send an e-mail asking to have the lessons delivered to your home via mail. LONNIE: You can also enroll in the new Focus on Prophecy lessons from the same web page, or you can write to us to request the lessons. CONNIE: Our mailing address is Voice of Prophecy, Box 53055, Los Angeles, 90053. Again: Box 53055, Los Angeles, 90053, and in Canada, you can write to us at Box 2127, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7V4. LONNIE: We'll give that information to you a bit later
also, in case you didn't get a chance to write it down. Just remember,
we always like to hear from you.
What should you do when tragedy strikes--when the plagues
fall on you instead of on your enemies? That was the question that faced
the people of Jerusalem in Joel's day. It's a question we face whenever
bad things happen. What does it mean? Is it a time for reassessment? Time
to take stock and wonder whether some punishment is being sent your way
in order to call you up short and make you change course? Or is it just
the firebrands of the devil being hurled at you, to make your life miserable? You probably heard the story. Shortly after the terrorist
attack on the WorldTrade Center and the Pentagon a well-known Christian
evangelist spoke out, saying this was part of God's judgment on our sinful
nation. But almost no one in America was in the mood for such
things. He soon backed down amid a hailstorm of criticism. But as we look at the book of Joel today, we may find
that the evangelist was in good company--at least with some of the Old
Testament prophets. Before we go on to look at the broad implications of
Joel's message, let me ask you a question that brings it down to a personal
level: Have you ever had a visit from Job's comforters? You know what
I mean--when something had gone drastically wrong in your life--some tragedy
or setback--have you ever had a visit from someone who looked long and
hard at you, and then pronounced judgment: "You know, if you'd just
get your life straightened out, these kinds of things wouldn't happen
to you!" It doesn't feel a bit good to be put under judgment
on top of the hardship you're already enduring, does it? We call it "adding
insult to injury," and the story of Job and his comforters pretty
well puts to rest the idea that whenever something bad happens it's our
job to go and tell the person to straighten out their life. Unfortunately,
some Christians don't seem to have gotten the message! Jesus was forced to face this very issue when the Pharisees
brought a man born blind to Him and asked who sinned, the man or his parents,
to cause him to be born blind. Jesus didn't buy into their question at
all, but told them that the blindness wasn't the result of anyone's sin.
It wasn't God's judgment on anyone. Let's face it. Sin often has bad results. The very reason
God gives us rules to live by is to protect us from those bad results.
Remember, after Jesus healed one sick man, He said to him, " 'See,
you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.'
" That story's found in John 5. There's another text that says, "
'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when
you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
and He scourges every son whom He receives.' " (That's Hebrews 12:5-6,
NASB.) So, we mustn't dismiss too lightly the idea that God
sometimes throws stumbling blocks down in our path to keep us from going
the wrong way--remember the story of Balaam and the donkey! Looking at the barren land all around him, he asks, "Has anything like this ever happened before?" He describes the destruction wrought by the marching insects: "What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. . . . He has laid waste My vine, and ruined My fig tree; he has stripped it bare and thrown it away; its branches are made white" (Joel 1:4, 7 NKJV). In her book On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes what a locust plague looked like to a seven-year-old girl in Minnesota in the summer of 1872: A cloud was over the sun. it was not like any cloud
they had ever seen before. It was a cloud of something like snowflakes,
but they were larger than snowflakes, and thin and glittering. Light shone
through each flickering particle. . . . Plunk! Something hit Laura's head and fell to the ground.
She looked down and saw the largest grasshopper she had ever seen. Then
huge brown grasshoppers were hitting the ground all around her, hitting
her head and her face and her arms. . . . Laura tried to beat them off. Their claws clung to her skin and her dress. They looked at her with bulging eyes, turning their heads this way and that. . . . Grasshoppers covered the ground, there was not one bare bit to step on. Laura had to step on grasshoppers and they smashed squirming
and slimy under her feet. . . . They were eating the willow tops. The willows leaves
were thin and bare twigs stuck out. Then whole branches were bare, and
knobby with masses of grasshoppers. . . . In the plum thickets only a few plum pits hung to the leafless branches. The nipping, clicking, gnawing sound of the grasshoppers' eating was still going on. (pp. 194-204) Joel describes the locusts in his day like this: "They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks" (2:7). Laura Ingalls Wilder says that when the locusts started
marching, "No grasshopper turned out of it way for anything. They
walked steadily over the house. They walked over the stable. They walked
over [our milk cow]. They walked into Plum Creek and drowned, and those
behind kept on walking in and drowning until dead grasshoppers choked
the creek and filled the water and live grasshoppers walked across on
them." It's hard to imagine the sort of devastation a plague
like that would leave behind. It was definitely life-threatening to people
who relied on their yearly harvest for survival. How should the people respond to such a scourge? That's the question Joel takes up in the first part of his prophecy. Through Joel, God appeals for His people to respond properly to the hardships that have come their way. And a key aspect is repentance: "Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; wail,
you who minister before the altar; come, lie all night in sackcloth, you
who minister to my God; . . . consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly;
gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of
the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD" ( Joel 1:13, 14 NKJV). " 'Now, therefore,' says the LORD, 'Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.' So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him--a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? (Joel 2:12-14 NKJV). Joel makes it plain: When bad things happen, it's time
to turn to the Lord. Take the time to reexamine your life and see whether
it's on the right path. God is merciful, Joel reminds us. Who knows, maybe
He'll leave a blessing instead of desolation like the locusts left. When trials come then, when tragedy strikes, we can look to the Lord for understanding, for help through the time, but let's not forget that His hand is sometimes seen in tragedy. Not that we should point fingers at those who are suffering and accuse them of bringing it on themselves. No, Joel's counsel seems more personal than that. He appeals to his people: In this time of famine, turn back to God--each of you individually. Appeal to Him. Come close to Him, and receive His blessings--blessings that will be poured out in rich abundance: In the words of Joel, God promises that He will return and bless His people again: "The LORD will answer and say to His people, 'Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.' . . . The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 'So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame' " (Joel 2:19, 24-26, NKJV). Joel reveals a God who cares about His people--cares
enough to throw an obstacle in their way when they've gotten on the wrong
path. But who also cares enough to send blessings when they turn back
to Him. Even in a time of sorrow, Joel points the people to a God of love
who wants to bless them.
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