Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. 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. Joel 2: 18, 19, NKJV.
God of our parents, and our God, we come to You to ask Your blessing on our study today, in the holy name of Your Son, and our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Here we are again; this time to conclude our study on the topic, A Time to Pray. I will be filling in the missing devotionals in the days ahead. We began this study with the thought that God had abandoned His people. Further study showed that it was the other way around, God’s people, had abandoned Him! Being the compassionate God that He is, He heard the cry of His people. He saw their distress; and He showed them the way back home.
For us to appreciate the way God deals with His people, in all ages, a look at the Parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32), is always helpful. God will allow us to make our decision to obey, or not, to obey Him (12, 13). He will also wait patiently, for us to “come to [ourselves]” (17). And then, through His Holy Spirit, He will guide our feet back home (20), where we left Him. You see my friends, home is where Jesus is! There is where we receive a welcome as sons and daughters. When God’s people return to Him, there is “joy in heaven” (7)!
He not only receives us back home with a welcome party, He takes away the “filthy rags.” Many come home bearing a stench acquired from years of eating pig’s food (16). Then, mercy of mercies, He dresses us up, with royal apparel, heavenly clothing (22). His righteousness, a heavenly character! Only the “best robe” is good enough! Do not overlook the sandals! Now we are to go and publish “glad tidings;” we are to tell others “”what great things the [Father] has done for [us]” (Isaiah 52: 7; Mark 5: 18, 19)!
When God’s people pray, “the LORD will answer[.]” He will “pity His people.” Remember how bad things had become, that, ” The grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the LORD . . . The field is wasted, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails (1: 9a, 10). The priests did not even have what they needed to offer sacrifices to the LORD! When God’s prophet called them to repentance, this is what He said:
“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” (14)? And our loving, merciful, compassionate, God did just that, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them[.]” He “satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103: 5). Emphasis supplied. Then they would be prepared to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29: 2; 96: 9).
God has promised not to make His people “a reproach among the nations.” And, “God is not a man that he should lie” (Numbers 23: 19). America, the world at large, it is time to pray! God did not leave us – we left Him. We are seeing, and feeling, the pain of leaving God out of our nation, our homes, our lives. What will it take for us to repent, and come back to the Lord? He invites us to, “Seek [Him] while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous [person] his thoughts; let [them] return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on [them]; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55: 6, 7).
What will your answer be?