A Minor Prophet with a MAJOR Message
Welcome to Peter’s first-ever sermon.
As you will hear in this PODCAST, this fisherman-turned-preacher’s initial foray into the world of sermonizing is memorable in extreme.
And whether you realize it or not, Peter’s first sermon out of the gate is all about… Grasshoppers. As in locusts. Lots and lots of locusts.
A plague of locusts. A past-plague of locusts. A coming plague of locusts. And a future (even future for us) plague of locusts. See it there in Acts 2:14-16?
Listen as I read it to you, and see if you can hear ominous chomps of locusts: “Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, ‘Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel.'”
See any locusts in that? No? Well, then, keep listening. Because as you are about to hear, it is vital that we do.
His name is Joel. He is one of so-called 12 “Minor Prophets.” But make no mistake about this: Joel may have been a “Minor Prophet.” But there was absolutely nothing minor about his message.
Let me ever-so-briefly remind you of structure of the Old Testament…
Including these words Joel wrote and Peter quoted:
‘In the last days,’ God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’ (Acts 2:17-21)
Now, in Peter’s original audience, every Jewish man and woman in attendance knew Joel’s words and could quote them verbatim. (though, most of us today cannot). Therefore, they knew not only these final four verses of what we know as Joel chapter 2, but also the verses that preceded Joel’s prophesy, which began:
The Lord gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, you leaders of the people.
Listen, all who live in the land.
In all your history,
has anything like this happened before?
3 Tell your children about it in the years to come,
and let your children tell their children.
Pass the story down from generation to generation.
4 After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops,
the swarming locusts took what was left!
After them came the hopping locusts,
and then the stripping locusts, too! (Joel 1:1-4)
So… how did this financial and sociological disaster, prophesied by God’s prophet, Joel, relate to those standing and listening to Peter, as well as us today?
If nothing else, the threat of empire-destroying locusts remind us of 1) our need to repent; 2) God’s promise of deliverance; and 3) God’s promised blessing. These things are true and have remained true throughout human history.;
You see, Joel’s book – while short (only three chapters) – is quite significant. Joel begins by describing a literal infestation of locusts that had already destroyed the land.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you wine-drinkers!
All the grapes are ruined,
and all your sweet wine is gone.
A vast army of locusts has invaded my land,
a terrible army too numerous to count.
Its teeth are like lions’ teeth,
its fangs like those of a lioness.
It has destroyed my grapevines
and ruined my fig trees,
stripping their bark and destroying it,
leaving the branches white and bare. (Joel 1:5-7)
In time, the Assyrians would sweep in like a plague of locusts and obliterate the ten northern tribes of Israel. 100 years earlier, Joel prophesied about these events in his second chapter:
Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem!
Raise the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let everyone tremble in fear
because the day of the Lord is upon us.
It is a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains,
a great and mighty army appears.
Nothing like it has been seen before
or will ever be seen again. (Joel 2:1-2)
Yet, it wasn’t too late for Judah. With God, there is always hope. For individuals and for nations.
That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish. (Joel 2:12-13)
As I’ve said so many times before, when it comes to God’s economy, repentance is the coin of the realm. It was in Joel’s time, it was 100 years after Joel, it was in Peter’s day, and it is today in the 21st century.
Then the Lord will pity his people
and jealously guard the honor of his land.
The Lord will reply,
“Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy your needs.
You will no longer be an object of mockery
among the surrounding nations.
I will drive away these armies from the north.
I will send them into the parched wastelands.
Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea,
and those at the rear into the Mediterranean.
The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”Surely the Lord has done great things!
Don’t be afraid, O land.
Be glad now and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things……The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts……Then you will know that I am among my people Israel,
that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other. (Joel 2:18-27)
And here’s is God’s promise:
“Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.
But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved (Joel 2:28-32)
Sound familiar? These are the words Peter quoted in his first sermon in order to rekindle the memory of Joel’s words in the minds and hearts of those who were listening.
And, for our benefit, Joel prophesied of a moment that is still yet to come:
I will gather the armies of the world
into the valley of Jehoshaphat. (Armageddon)
There I will judge them
for harming my people, my special possession,
for scattering my people among the nations,
and for dividing up my land……“Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
live in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy forever,
and foreign armies will never conquer her again……I will pardon my people’s crimes,
which I have not yet pardoned;
and I, the Lord, will make my home
in Jerusalem with my people.” (Joel 3:2-21)
Yet, before the day of God’s great victory when He will rebuild His home in Jerusalem, He promises us that He would pour His Spirit upon His people! And, just like the thousands of people who were reached by Peter’s words, just as we are today, all we need to do is repent… and receive God’s blessing!