Joe 2:15-17 | KingComments | STEP | Here the trumpet is blown for the second time. The first time this happens in . There it is to warn that the enemy is coming. Now it happens to call the people together (cf. ). In the trumpet the voice of God sounds. He calls to come to Him. In everything that has already happened to the people (Joel 1) and in everything that will happen to the people in the future, it is good that they realize that it has to do with God . Therefore the people must come together before His face. When the people come into the presence of God, it means first and foremost that they will humble themselves. There is every reason to do so. Is not the enemy coming to them because of their unfaithfulness to the LORD? At the same time, and given the seriousness of the situation, the body’s needs will have to be abandoned. There must be fasting so that all can focus on what God has to say, without being distracted by everyday food and drink. Besides, what will a person worry about eating and drinking when his life is at stake? How closely fasting and humbling oneself are connected is shown by the instructions for the Day of atonement ( ). The word ‘humble’ used there can also be translated as ‘fasting’. The last part of the verse is word for word equal to . The fact that there are two calls for fasting and meeting shows the urgency of the call.

‏ Joel 2:15-17

The Trumpet Blown for the Second Time

Here the trumpet is blown for the second time. The first time this happens in Joel 2:1. There it is to warn that the enemy is coming. Now it happens to call the people together (cf. Num 10:7). In the trumpet the voice of God sounds. He calls to come to Him. In everything that has already happened to the people (Joel 1) and in everything that will happen to the people in the future, it is good that they realize that it has to do with God. Therefore the people must come together before His face.

When the people come into the presence of God, it means first and foremost that they will humble themselves. There is every reason to do so. Is not the enemy coming to them because of their unfaithfulness to the LORD? At the same time, and given the seriousness of the situation, the body’s needs will have to be abandoned. There must be fasting so that all can focus on what God has to say, without being distracted by everyday food and drink.

Besides, what will a person worry about eating and drinking when his life is at stake? How closely fasting and humbling oneself are connected is shown by the instructions for the Day of atonement (Lev 23:27 ; 29 ; 32). The word ‘humble’ used there can also be translated as ‘fasting’.

The last part of the verse is word for word equal to Joel 1:14a. The fact that there are two calls for fasting and meeting shows the urgency of the call.

Everyone Should Come

The whole people, with no exception, are called upon to a solemn assembly. No excuses for the elders, the small children should not be forgotten, even the nursing infants should be gathered. All classes of society, political, religious or families, are expected to express their feelings regarding the sin committed against God.

If there is sin before God, there is no distinction. Everyone is guilty of punishment. Judgment will affect all, therefore all are involved in the call to come to God. Children and infants also have to deal with the sins of the people and the consequences thereof (cf. Lam 4:4; Jona 3:5 ; Jona 4:11).

In the general call we also have an indication to take our children as young as possible to the meeting. It is good to take them to all places where believers are together. This applies to meetings of all kinds. They can be involved at a young age in everything that has to do with the life of the church of God.

The Lord Jesus says to the religious leaders who blame children for honoring Him: “Have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?” (Mt 21:16). He appreciates what comes from the mouths of children and infants. Although children have few and infants have no awareness of what they are expressing, God recognizes it as praise to Him, praise that He Himself has placed in their mouths. So it is with humility. Let the children be present.

The gathering of the church has its joyful, but also its sad causes and moments. It is therefore a reflection of everyday life. We should not polish our meetings into a shining experience when there is reason to humble ourselves. Nor do we have to submerge the meetings in sadness when there is reason to rejoice. Sometimes joy and sadness alternate within a meeting. Let the coming together of the believers really be the true reflection of what lives in the hearts of the believers who come together and let the children also have a part in it.

Bridegroom and bride, that is the newly married man and the newly married woman, are mentioned separately in this whole. They do not think of weeping and mourning and also fasting is not part of a wedding. But they too cannot escape the call to take their place before God. They renounce their right to cheer, eat, drink, and even sexual intercourse, which they may enjoy as newly married to participate in common fasting and prayer. An appeal to the first year of exemption (Deu 24:5) is not possible. The excuse “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come” (Lk 14:20) does not apply here either.

Assignment to the Priests

When the whole people are called, the priests are told where to stand and told what to do and say. The priests represent the people before the LORD. In them the LORD sees all the people. A priest is supposed to know what is due to Him, what is appropriate for Him. He is not supposed to act according to his own insight – for he is “a servant of the LORD” – but must fully abide by the prescriptions the LORD has given. In doing so, his priesthood is to the satisfaction of the LORD and to the blessing of God’s people.

In the New Testament, all believers are a spiritual priesthood and may bring spiritual sacrifices (1Pet 2:5). They too are expected to know God’s thoughts about the condition of His people. From a spiritual point of view, they too would do well to take to heart the task of the priests in the book of Joel.

The priests take their place in the midst of the people, outside the sanctuary, to call together with the people to God with an appeal to His faithfulness. They have to stand “between the porch and the altar”. This tells us that they can only take their place in the presence of the LORD, the porch, because the sacrifice is brought upon the altar. They can only exist before Him because He accepts them in the value of sacrifice. They themselves have nothing to sacrifice. But in taking that place it is as if they remind the LORD and also themselves of the sacrifice.

They are instructed to cry, which means that they repent of their unfaithfulness and realize that by doing so they have earned God’s judgment. They have lost all rights to be accepted by Him. Then they have to open their mouths to pronounce what is said to them. Here the Spirit puts in their mouth what is to be spoken (cf. Hos 14:3), in order to move the heart of God to intervene for “Your people” and “Your inheritance”.

They plead with God in view of Whom He has always been for His people and inheritance; at the same time they plead with God in view of His glory opposite the enemies. Moses also uses this second argument after the people sinned with the golden calf (Exo 32:12; Psa 42:3 ; Psa 115:2).