“Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?” (Joel 2:17).
TEXT — Joel 2:12-17
Message
In May, 1940, during the early days of World War II, Britain was at its wit’s end when the German forces encircled its port at Dunkirk, threatening to eliminate its isolated troops there. There was no human hope for the young British soldiers. But the British monarch knew where help lay: heaven. He called on his people to seek the face of God in penitent prayer. The Lord answered by releasing a heavy storm that disrupted the German Air Command’s plan to attack Dunkirk; but He allowed serene weather at Dunkirk that enabled the British forces to be evacuated to safety.
Nearly 3000 years earlier when Judah faced extinction following devastating plagues and drought in the land, Prophet Joel also asked the people to turn to God in repentance from their sin that had attracted the Lord’s judgment. Judah had been brought to its knees as God punished the land for the people’s apostasy and immorality, among other transgressions. Locust plagues combined with drought so ravaged the land that there was even no livestock for temple sacrifices. Joel told the people what the Lord desired to avert the ravaging destruction: all the land, including the nobles, priests and ministers must show sincere godly repentance. He went on to plead that God should be kind to spare His erring people, so the heathen neighbours would not question His greatness and superiority over their idols.
The way out of the challenges tormenting man is to find the escape route offered by a God who readily forgives the unpretentious evil doer seeking mercy through Jesus Christ. This sets him on a new path of hope.
There is a call today for all believers to seize the horn of the altar of intercession and plead with the Almighty to spare His people.
Thought for the day
The Lord will only deliver those who humbly run to Him in the day of trouble.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
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