Joel 2:12, commentary and pictures

Therefore now the Lord calls His people to turn and return to Him with all the heart, with fasting and with weeping and with mourning as the expression of true repentance. That turning must be inward and sincere, rending the heart and not the garments, for outward fasting and prayer have no value before God without a broken and contrite spirit, humiliation of soul, and purification within. It is given in view of the approaching great and terrible day of the Lord, when judgments come upon the world for iniquity, and it rests on His character as gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, who turns from threatened evil and may leave a blessing behind Him. The turning is joined to blowing the trumpet in Zion, sanctifying a fast, calling a solemn assembly and gathering all the people, while the priests and ministers weep between the porch and the altar praying Him to spare His people and not give His heritage to reproach. Everyone is urged now, without rest or delay, to seek the Lord most earnestly, confess wrong, and repent in living faith, with the assurance that He graciously receives, comes near, hears, heals backslidings, and may turn away His judgments.

Call to Wholehearted Return

Therefore also now the Lord calls His people to turn and return to Him with all the heart, with fasting and with weeping and with mourning as the expression of repentance. This call is addressed personally to one who has turned away, to seek God, face his condition, and learn what is needed to be saved. The turning commanded must be inward and sincere, rending the heart and not the garments, not merely an outward show or display. It is inward heart repentance rather than outward display, turning fully to Him with self-denial and sorrow and grief.

Outward fasting and prayer have no value before God without a broken and contrite spirit. What is required is inward grace, purification and humiliation of soul.

Turning means humbling the self and returning to Him with the whole heart. It means breaking the heart before God in repentance and confession, giving up exalted opinions of self, and seeking the Lord as little children in deep humility. It means giving God all that there is, seeking a better righteousness than one's own standard of principle, becoming conscious of inability to fathom God, and coming with a contrite heart.

Those who have not wholly given themselves to the world and its corrupting influence can so humble themselves, turn, and will find acceptance and pardon. They will find instruction about what is needed to be saved. The call applies personally to one who has turned away and backslidden, urging him to return, make a new start, and humble himself. It urges taking practical steps without conferring with self, heeding warning, and working out salvation with fear and trembling, because God is in earnest.

Judgment Near, Mercy Offered

The call to turn with all the heart, with fasting and with weeping and with mourning, is given in view of the approaching great and terrible day of the Lord, when judgments come upon the world for iniquity. It is God's most solemn call to His people to arouse from spiritual lethargy and careless security and to seek His face with repentance and humiliation, that they may be prepared to stand when He appears. Its setting is widespread rebellion and crisis, when the sins of cities and towns have reached to heaven and it is time for men to pray in humility before God. The world is fast becoming as before the flood, evil rule is set up in the earth, God's law is trampled under foot, His Sabbath sanctified and blessed in Eden is set aside and polluted, and a rival first-day sabbath is exalted.

The appeal rests on God's character as gracious and merciful, slow to anger, patient and of great kindness, who turns from threatened evil. The return must therefore be inward and sincere, rending the heart and not the garments, and not merely an outward show. There is hope that He will relent and leave a blessing behind Him, even provision for a grain offering and a drink offering to Him.

The turning is joined to blowing the trumpet in Zion, sanctifying a fast, calling a solemn assembly, and gathering the people. The congregation is to be sanctified, the elders assembled, the children and nursing infants gathered, with even bridegroom and bride leaving chamber and closet. The priests and ministers of the Lord are to weep between the porch and the altar, praying for God to spare His people and not give His heritage to reproach and heathen rule where the nations ask where their God is.

Fulfillment and Present Urgency

The preparation commanded was fulfilled in the seventh-month Advent movement and midnight cry, when the waiting people of God in the autumn of 1844 were fully aroused, turned from worldly concerns, confessed wrongs, and sought pardon and acceptance with broken hearts. That fulfillment came because the call belongs to the time when the great day of God is at hand, requiring the heart to be rent and not the garments in turning to the Lord with fasting and with weeping and with mourning. It was a work of inward heart repentance rather than outward display, of turning fully to Him with self-denial and sorrow and grief in preparation to meet the Lord.

That preparation means deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul, confession of sin and of wrongs, forsaking the world and weaning affections from the things of this world, and healing of controversies and animosities. It means penitent broken-hearted supplication for pardon and acceptance, self-abasement and prostration of soul, persevering prayer and unreserved consecration, with little ecstatic joy reserved for the future. The same call gives authority to preach that the hour of God's judgment has come, rousing people from careless security under a power of the Spirit that cannot be resisted to confess sins and seek mercy and forgiveness in the name of Jesus.

The call is addressed to ministers everywhere to stop and consider and turn to the Lord with all the heart, seeking renewed strength and effectiveness by repentance, with fasting and earnest prayer, and by faith laying hold on God's mighty arm. This turning is urgently required because they are living on the verge of the eternal world and will in a little time meet eternal consequences face to face, so present spiritual decline and inefficiency is not a state that ought to exist and must be changed. The call is to everyone now, without rest or delay, to seek the Lord most earnestly, take practical steps, and heed warning instead of conferring with self. That seeking means confessing wrong and repenting of sin, giving God all that there is, seeking a better righteousness than one's own standard of principle, becoming conscious of inability to fathom God, and coming in deep humility with a contrite heart to work out salvation with fear and trembling while laying hold of His promises by living faith, because God is in earnest.

Those who answer wholeheartedly are assured that God graciously receives those who humble themselves and turn to Him, comes near to them, and manifests the glorious power of His salvation in their midst. He hears their petitions, heals their backslidings, waits to receive all who turn with the whole heart, and may turn away His judgments. Outward fasting and prayer have no value without this broken and contrite spirit and inward grace, purification and humiliation of soul.