After all that; after the proclamation that the people were entirely wrapped up in their own interests and entertained by the things God had given them; after a call for the people to lament and mourn the loss of the very things, other than God, to which they had unduly clung. After an explicit description of the invader God was going to send to punish their covenantal disobedience, even after all that…”yet even now” the prophet says. Beyond all possible and conceivable hope, “yet even now”, after all their sin, Joel holds out God’s gracious mercy to a stiff-necked people. And isn’t that just like God. On the cross, “yet even now” He cries out, “forgive them for they know not what they do”. There are so many examples of God’s merciful patience in Scripture and countless times we can recall in our own lives where we know God’s patience must have been tested. Is not His patience tested by the church today? He has called us to love one another, to strive for unity in truth, to uphold the truth of His Word, to proclaim Him in every nation, to all peoples without prejudice, to be generous with our time and money, to forgive others their debts against us, yet like the visible representation of the Kingdom of God back then, we fail miserably, “yet even now” His merciful hand is held out to us. He is patient beyond belief, not to a fault as we might say of someone, but perfectly patient. It does in fact run out when He desires to use the circumstance to display the brushstroke of His wrath because His patience never outweighs His holiness. Joel is here, perhaps more than anywhere earlier, speaking the direct words of God. God is calling the people to return to Him in their entire person. And as prescribed earlier in Joel and a myriad of other places, their return will manifest in their willingness to fast and weep and mourn. These are three parts of the same thing. It’s a three part harmony which God is calling the people to sing in the key of repentance. Rend not your clothes He commands, who cares if their tear their cloths in some empty ritual. God says, “Tear your hearts”.
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