Sound the Shofar Joel 2:1-17
Israel has slipped into apathy and complacency as a result, this disaster came there way.
Locust had come and had brought God s judgment, the locust are described as an invading army
6A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. 7It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white. 10The fields are ruined, the ground is dried upD; the grain is destroyed,
In today reading The trumpet is sounded to call people to Study, The Trumpet is sounded to call people to Humility , to war, announce the messiah, call to confuse the enemy, a Call to get together, and the trumpet is sounded to announce the King. It was also used to announce get up get ready we are moving.
1. Today the shofar is blown to get the People’s Attention
• 21 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill.
• We are called to reconsider our behavior they are fearful because they will face Gods judgment
• They were warned not to mix with other nations, don’t mix with other gods, don’t follow the ways of the
world or Bal
• We are being called to make preparation for a day that is coming
Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming.
• We are being called to Notice or observe our sinfulness and be converted to righteous living
2. The Shofar is blown not only to get our attention but it is blown as a Heart Alarm
• How is it with your soul?
• The shofar is blown to warn us about the Hearts Condition
• Israel’s heart condition was not good there lips honored God but their hearts were far from him.
• 5Wake up, you drunkards and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.
3. The Shofar is blown to tell Israel and all believers to Reposition One’s Self
Genuine repentance is the only hope they have for survival.
Israel must understand that their only Hope is to reposition their Soul
• 13Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God,
• God isn’t looking for mere external displays of religion; He is looking for heart change.
• He is looking for a people who are broken over their sins and who are willing to change.
• He is looking for a people who will be sorrowful over their sins and Reposition themselves
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4. The Shofar is sounded but many times this is not heard "That The God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac is
That our God is Good
• Consider the Good of our God
• Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
5. God is Good enough to Promise Restoration
• 18Then the LORD take pity on his people. "I am sending you grain, new wine and oil,
• God is Good enough to enough to satisfy you fully;
• God is good enough to never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.
• God is good enough to 20"I will drive the northern army far from you22 Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
• The Shofar is sounded to Let Israel know and us, there Is Hope of Revival
• May We listen for the Trumpet from heaven that calls us to erase this spiritual drought we have been living under
• May we hear the trumpet that summons us to revival of His presence?
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• May the trumpet sound loudly in our heart that will cause us to have Power in our services?
• May The Trumpet be heard in the highways and the hedges that is great enough to convict the hearts of those that are lost.
• May the Trumpet be heard that causes a revival of holiness in our churches?
• Oh that God’s people would seek His face and ask Him for the move of God we so desperately need in these days.
• May the trumpet sound in the souls of humanity that we might see how far we have fallen and that we would desire to get back to where He would have us to be.
