"The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
Joel 2:10-13
This is talking about a time preceding the Second Coming, which it mentions is "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness" (verse 2). It talks about all of the things that are coming, including this part in the first part of the selection with quaking and trembling and darkness. But even then in the midst of it all, God asks us to turn to him, explaining later in the chapter that "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered" (verse 32).
I think the "rend your heart and not your garments" part means that God doesn't care about an outward sign of our repentance, but a real inward change. He needs to cleanse the world, but not us if we choose to cleanse ourselves, with his help. :)
Luckily, we aren't going through the "great and very terrible" accelerated turmoil and destruction that precedes the Second Coming. We can stay ahead of the game and turn to the Lord now, before things get that bad. :) Today, let's turn to the Lord and remember that God can help us with our current problems, even as he can help us in darker circumstances. And let's turn to him and be willing to sincerely offer our hearts and our brokenness to him for healing. We can be more than we are, through him. Let's be willing to work for that.
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil."
Joel 2:10-13
This is talking about a time preceding the Second Coming, which it mentions is "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness" (verse 2). It talks about all of the things that are coming, including this part in the first part of the selection with quaking and trembling and darkness. But even then in the midst of it all, God asks us to turn to him, explaining later in the chapter that "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered" (verse 32).
I think the "rend your heart and not your garments" part means that God doesn't care about an outward sign of our repentance, but a real inward change. He needs to cleanse the world, but not us if we choose to cleanse ourselves, with his help. :)
Luckily, we aren't going through the "great and very terrible" accelerated turmoil and destruction that precedes the Second Coming. We can stay ahead of the game and turn to the Lord now, before things get that bad. :) Today, let's turn to the Lord and remember that God can help us with our current problems, even as he can help us in darker circumstances. And let's turn to him and be willing to sincerely offer our hearts and our brokenness to him for healing. We can be more than we are, through him. Let's be willing to work for that.
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