NORTHERN STYLE NEWSWATCH No. 41 CREDO
` Hear this, you old men . . give ear, all who live in the land '
The earnest Bible student will no doubt pick up on the opening verse from the Book of Joel, from which comes the title of this Newswatch. As is well known, Joel forms but one of the twelve Books of the Minor Prophets, seen in the Hebrew Scriptures as one whole. It therefore speaks to the whole of the twelve tribes of Israel of God's Governance, but in this Age, through the Gentiles being grafted into the Olive Tree (which is Israel), the message spoken by Joel speaks to all of God's people, both `ancient and modern'. The Book of Joel, in its own unique right, is a favourite hunting ground for the Lord's `modern people' - those redeemed through their acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour. One group, those of a `prophetic nature', delight in his many calls to repentance, whilst others, more of a charismatic nature, delight in some verses of chapter 2 to underpin the Pentecostal doctrine of `Baptism in the Holy Spirit'. But to use Scripture in this way is indeed to `cut up' the Word of God in much the same way as did King Jehoiakim in Jeremiah's day, and therefore the fulness of `the Word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel' is not brought out. In summary form the Book speaks of a call for the nation of Israel to hear the judgements that are coming because of their apostacy, AND the call for repentance which will see those judgements removed! The LORD's judgements are always compounded into His Mercy - which is always the ringing cry of His prophets.

However it is not our intention to launch into an exposition on the Book of Joel, but we limit our thoughts to the first four verses of the first chapter, leaving the remainder of this prophetic Book of Joel to the Lord in His Grace and Mercy to reveal! Our concern arises through the rapid pace of events that have occurred during the past twelve months, revealing an almost `jigsaw puzzle' that, once completed, will move us much closer to a significant shift in world affairs that are clearly revealed in Scripture as set in the last days before `the Coming of the Lord'! Clear physical events have taken place which are foretold in Scripture as being the birthpangs of those last days, and warnings from many ministries have been given concerning these events. And yet . . . there seems to be such a lack of understanding of what lies ahead that the words of Jesus Himself seem to be speaking more clearly than anything which the media can pronounce: (Luke 17:26)

" Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. "

Although these words written by Luke refer to the Tribulation period they reveal a lead-up to that period, and yet `the Church' slumbers, not realising the times which events are pointing to, which is why we are limiting this Credo to the first four verses of the Book of Joel.

Joel's name itself, as is well-known, has a meaning of `Jo (Jehovah) is God' - a stern name for a stern prophetic book for the people of God who have been called as one people to hear `the Word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel'. Joel was one of four prophets called to speak to the people of Judah at that time - the Northern Kingdom of Israel had earlier been dispersed by the Assyrian armies - a people gathered in and around Jerusalem, within which was the Temple of the LORD, the place where He dwelt amongst His people. Although this book is undated, it would appear (by using chronological charts produced by learned Bible scholars) that Joel spoke the Word of the LORD during the last seven years of King Zedekiah's reign before the collapse of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple and the taking of the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah into captivity in Babylon.

Those with an understanding of the use of numbers in Scripture will have a deeper understanding of the sterness of `the Word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel' so we need not deliberate on that. With this background to a sombre Credo we would turn to those four opening verses which Joel spoke to the people of Judah, and in order to bring out the fulness of what is being said we use the King James Version of the Bible. As we have said on many occasions, this version often brings out more fully the prophetic nature of what is recorded, whereas modern versions, in their desire to make the Word more readable, often use words that do not have the depth of meaning which is intended. Joel crys out:

" Hear this, you old men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this been seen in your days, or even the days of your forefathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. "

This was no light word that Joel was given to speak; his call was to `you old men'! This was not necessarily to elders in position of leadership but to those men who, because of their age, would be able to remember events of long ago. The call was linked to a question: Has anything like what I am going to speak of ever been seen in your long experience as the people of the LORD? Such a question was linked to the warnings from their sacred Books of the Law, which the nation of Israel lived by, through which a meaning and purpose was given to their lives as a people set apart and peculiar to the LORD. The cry `tell your children of it' refers back to the time and `the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on the side of the Jordan' before they crossed over into the Land of Promise. As we have seen before, the Book of Deuteronomy was set out as a form of a Marriage Covenant in use amongst various people of those days, but this time a Covenant was entered into willingly between God and the people He had closen to be His own! In the sense of a Marriage Contract all the people of Israel entered into this relationship with God, for it embraced - and still embraces - all the natural people of the nation of Israel from that time on the banks of the Jordan until Jesus comes once again for His people `the wife of His youth'.

Within the Book of Deuteronomy there is a continuous exhortation to remind . . to teach the people of the wholeness and completeness of the relationship for all people through the ages that were to come:

Deuteronomy 4:1 and 9
"Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you . . . .
Teach then to your children and to their children after them. "

Deuteronomy 6:1 and 6
"These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach
you . . . . . These commandments that I give to you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home . . . . "

Deuteronomy 11:19
"Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you
walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up . . . . "

The sombre exhortations to the old men to look back to see if what was to come had ever happened in the past, coupled with the instruction to `teach it to your children', was to remind them of God's Covenant with them, which, although they had forgotten it, was ever before Him, and no matter how disastrous the judgement that lay ahead would be, repentance would reveal the LORD's Mercy and Grace. Clearly these words will be fully outworked in the time of the Great Tribulation which lies ahead of us, but they can also be seen to be spoken for these days as prophecy `moves into fulfilment', for if we use the words of the LORD (spoken in Joel 2:28-29) as having been partially fulfilled on `the Day of Pentecost' (as recorded in Acts 2) and if we use these words for an ongoing `Pentecostal experience' then we cannot avoid accepting a partial fulfilment of the remainder of the Word of the LORD spoken by Joel as also being for our times - such is the danger of a `pick and mix' reading of Scripture.

And so we come at last to the words recorded in verse four of the first chapter of Joel, and once again we use the King James Version in order to bring out the full horror of the judgement that came, and is yet to come: (Joel 1:4)

"That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpillar eaten. "

There are four stages in the cycle of locusts: First comes the palmerworm, which comes from a Hebrew word meaning `the gnawing'. Then comes the locust, which swarms and is then followed by the cankerworm which devours, leaving behind the caterpillar which totally consumes everything left and then starts the cycle over again. In Hebrew it is recorded as:

"The gnawer leaves a remnant which swarms,
which leaves a remnant which devours,
which leaves a remnant which consumes. "
It is a progressive horror, and with our spiritual eyes we can see the hidden meaning which the use of the word `locust' by itself cannot convey. Apostacy is a falling away from God's Word, therefore our spiritual life suffers a `gnawing away' of the Truth - which takes us back to Genesis, to the Beginning, `Did God say?' Unbelief leaves behind a remnant which swarms, it covers over so that we cannot see the truth . . leaving behind the remnant of total unbelief in the Word of God and facing the total consuming of all understanding of what God is saying in these days - and so apostacy is complete!

Clearly there had been a catastrophic natural disaster through a plague of locusts consuming all before them, such as had never been seen in living memory. Joel uses this total disaster to speak of another coming disaster, this time through invading armies which would swarm over the land, destroying all before them and leaving the land desolate and empty. Such were the Words of the LORD that came to Joel, spoken to God's ancient people towards the end of a Probation Period. They are still speaking to His people in these days towards the end of another Probation Period, for we, like Israel, have had warnings of terrible disasters to come. In the days of ancient Israel this led to the people of Judah being taken into captivity in Babylon, so the question that must be asked in these days is: `Will it once again lead to a `captivity' of God's people (both ancient and modern) which will be seen in the days to come'? Such is the parallel for all Probation Periods, but if we finish on such a low note we would not be faithful to the Word of the LORD spoken to Joel, for in chapter two he exhorts those who understand the times:

"Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on My holy hill . . . "
so that in repentance we may know God's Mercy and Grace and find His chastening removed.

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