Joel Chapter 3

Scripture Reading: Joel 2:28-3:21

Hope in God’s Promises

And everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved.
(Joel 2:32a NIV)

It’s easy to look at all the evil and suffering in the world and be overwhelmed with hopelessness and fear. We read of a few promises of hope from God in today’s Scripture reading. The promise of future judgement of enemy nations and the blessings for God’s people may stand out for you. In addition to those future promises of hope, there’s a couple of other promises we read that also give us hope today!

One of them is the promise of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know about you, but I get excited reading Old-Testament prophesies that have been fulfilled. The promise of the Holy Spirit in Joel chapter 2 verses 28 through 29 was fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. In fact, after the Holy Spirit comes and empowers the disciples, Peter preaches a sermon from these same verses here in Joel! This is the same Holy Spirit that resides in us today! Here are a few verses about the Holy Spirit to encourage you:

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26 NIV)

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. (Romans 8:26 NIV)

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:11 NIV)

There’s another promise in today’s Scripture reading that gives us hope: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! It’s important to understand that this isn’t a formula on how to get to heaven. Sin is at the core of all the evil and suffering in the world. Sin is what separates us from God. As we call on the name of the Lord, we recognize that He is holy, perfect, and without sin. We then recognize that we are sinners in need of a Savior. The loving, holy, perfect God is the One who saves us!

We have hope today because we have a Savior upon whom we can call! We have hope today because He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit! We have hope today because of the eternal future we have with our Creator!

Written by Pastor Vinh Luu