Great Things You Must Suffer, Part 2

We are going to enter into that portion of Joel which describes the glorious future that awaited God’s people. Yes they were going to face severe suffering almost to despair, yet what awaited them in Christ would make it all worth it!

With that let me make a couple of comments concerning the form of the prophecy of Joel. Laments in the Old Testament (which is what Joel 1-2:17 is) often times are followed by a divine assurance to God’s people that their best/welfare remained a priority to God. For example, in 2 Chronicles 20 Judah gathered for a corporate service of mourning on account of the threat of an invasion by the combined forces of four nations (the Ammonites, Moabites, the Meunites, and an unnamed sea people, 2 Chronicles 20:1-2). At the service, following a lament uttered by King Jehoshaphat, God gave a special word of assurance and a promise of victory to His people.