Well last week we began our study of the book of Joel, and we covered in depth the historical context of the book found in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. We spent a good deal of time looking at the Old Covenant parameters under which the people of Judah in that time lived in Deuteronomy 28. And we began to look at the present circumstance in Joel 1 concerning the plague of locusts that the Lord brought in judgment against Judah. 

And we're going to briefly summarize these things again in our study this morning, but I would encourage you if you were not here last week to go back and listen to that message so that you'll have a foundational understanding as to the context, the time, and conditions of this book and what God is doing in His redemptive plan. 

This morning we are going to continue to lay a groundwork for our understanding by contrasting the distinctives of the Old Covenant with the New Covenant, and how we see the New Covenant promised and developed throughout the scriptures and finally fulfilled in Israel at the second coming, and this relates specifically to the book of Joel in chapter 2:28 through the end of the book in chapter 3. Next time we're going to go back to chapter 1 and begin to exposit this book. 

We're spending a great deal of time introducing the book and laying some groundwork for our understanding. So I'd encourage you again to take notes, write down questions as we go, and we'll have a time of questions and answers at the end of each of our messages. 

Let's read in Joel 2:28. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. And also on My men's servants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls. 

For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as a payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine that they may drink. Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coast of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me swiftly and speedily, I will return your retaliation upon your own head, because you have taken My silver and My gold and have carried into your temples My prized possessions. 

Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. Behold I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them, and will return your retaliation upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabaeans, to a people far off, for the Lord has spoken. Proclaim this among the nations, prepare for war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears, let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around, cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord, let the nations be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe, come, go down, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, the stars will diminish their brightness, the Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but the Lord will be a shelter for His people and the strength of the children of Israel. 

So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain, then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no alien shall ever pass through here again. And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water, a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord and water the valley of Acacias. Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever in Jerusalem from generation to generation, for I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed whom I had not acquitted, for the Lord dwells in Zion." 

Well, I've given you four points on your outline. First, historical context; second, Old Covenant distinctives; third, New Covenant distinctives; and fourth, God's plan for Israel. 

And I'd like to begin by just briefly reviewing what we looked at last week in the way of the historical context of this book and the Old Covenant distinctives just to make sure our minds are fresh in thinking about these things. We looked at the timing of the book last week and determined to the best of our ability that Joel was written around 835 BC. This, as we saw in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, was at the end of a very wicked time in Israel and Judah. In the north, Ahab's house had been ruling for some time, and his wicked wife Jezebel had promoted all kinds of blasphemy, false worship, and seeking after other gods, primarily in the worship of Baal. 

Jehoram was the son of this dynamic duo and became king of Israel in 849. At about the same time, Jehoram became king of Judah in the south, and he married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. So there was a union politically between the two kingdoms, and we know that Jehoram had killed his six brothers to become king, and when his son Ahaziah died after a short reign, Athaliah killed every heir she could get her hands on and proclaimed herself queen of Judah. Her wicked reign lasted six years in Judah. So the historical context of the book of Joel is one of years of wicked rule in Israel and Judah. 

Worship of Baal, as we see in the legacy of Ahab, with Elijah and Elisha fighting against these things as the prophets of God. Everything had fallen apart, and the people of God had gone after other gods, and there was no righteousness in Judah. It is at this time, at the end of the rule of Athaliah, that we see the plague of locusts come upon Judah, and the prophecy of Joel come to the people of God. It is also at this time that we see Jehu come on the scene. We studied that last week, as well as the high priest in the temple in Jerusalem. And between these two men, they clear out the house of Ahab and Ahaziah and kill Athaliah and all the prophets of Baal. 

So God was working to clean out all the rot and rubbish using Jehu. He also got rid of Jezebel, and he uses Joel to warn the people and to call them back to repentance toward God. So that's the purpose of this plague, the locusts whom the Lord sent to Judah, to judge them and call them back, to set them back on the right path. 

In Joel 2:25, God promises that He will restore; if they repent, He will restore the years that the locusts have eaten, and then He says, "My great army," which I sent among you. The locusts were sent by God for judgment. It was a plague given by God to Judah because they had departed. And we saw that the parameters last week in Deuteronomy 28, under which God dealt with or related to Israel during the Old Covenant. 

Then we read through Deuteronomy 28, in verse 1, it says, "It shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you, then I will bless you." And He lists these ways of blessing. So if you obey, then I will bless you. This was a conditional covenant, conditional on their obedience to His laws and statutes. The blessings we saw were primarily physical, temporal, carnal kinds of blessings. 

It's very important to note, in the Old Covenant economy, God blessed for obedience, and those blessings were primarily physical. They were blessings of food, crops, abundance, safety from their enemies, prosperity in general. And the cursings related to the same things. Deuteronomy 28:15 says, "But if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, and observe carefully His commandments and His statutes, then these curses will come upon you." And we saw twice mentioned one of the curses that God would bring is a plague of locusts, and also that there would be drought, no crops, no livestock, no children, invasion and devastation, and oppression from foreign armies. 

And we saw that this became quite severe in 586 BC when the Chaldeans sieged the city of Jerusalem, and as God specifically promised in Deuteronomy 28, this resulted in famine, even to the point of men and women eating their own children. These were, in fact, judgments sent to Israel and Judah for their disobedience and unfaithfulness to God. So these are the conditions under which God related to His people in the Old Covenant. Tremendous physical carnal blessings of prosperity when they were obedient, and unimaginable curses when they strayed from God and sought their own way.

Now as we come to the last third of the book of Joel, by way of introduction this morning, I want us to see what the promise of restoration here entails, when it is talking about, and who it's for. And also to explore the distinctives of the New Covenant and how God relates to us in the New Covenant time. And I hope, my prayer, is that this will bring a little bit of clarity to our understanding of how to study and interpret and apply the Scriptures under each of these historical times of the unfolding of God's redemptive plan. 

Well first, let's talk about where we find the New Covenant in the Scriptures. It's quite clear where we find the Old Covenant law of Moses. God emphasizes this time and time again. He instituted the Old Covenant through Moses at Mount Sinai, after he led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 

Now we also clearly know when the Law Covenant, the Old Covenant, ended. And we see this in Hebrews chapter 8. If you'd turn to Hebrews 8 with me please. Hebrews 8:6 says, "But now he," referring to Jesus, "has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant," speaking of the New Covenant, "which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them," that's such an interesting phrase there, "he says if there was no fault with the Old Covenant, God wouldn't have brought a new one. Because finding fault with them." 

The problem wasn't with the Covenant, with the law, the problem was with them. The problem is with us. We cannot keep the law. So there had to be a new covenant to accomplish God's salvation. And then he quotes Jeremiah 31 and the parameters of that new covenant. And if you go all the way down to verse 13, notice what he says. "In that he says a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." 

In the coming of the New Covenant, the Old Covenant vanished away and was made obsolete. So when was this new covenant instituted? Well, we see this in Luke 22, at the Last Supper, Jesus raised the cup and said this. "Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you." In Acts 2, at the day of Pentecost and the birth of the church, we see that a promise of the New Covenant, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, came into effect. 

We see this promised all the way back in Ezekiel 36. "I will sprinkle clean water on you, you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, from your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them." 

Now Jesus told the apostles in John 14 that he was going to go away, but he would send a helper, he would send the Holy Spirit. And remember he said, "he has been with you, he will be in you." This was a new covenant promise, this is something that hadn't existed before the day of Pentecost. So the indwelling of the Holy Spirit along with regeneration, a new heart and a new spirit is a New Covenant promise. 

Now if you look on the illustration that I gave you this morning of the tree illustration, thank you Bobby for drawing that for us, we can trace the New Covenant throughout the scriptures and I just, I think this is instructive for us. It's important to note that we see the new covenant existed only in promise in the Old Testament. The blessings of the new covenant first began to take effect after the cross, the day of Pentecost. 

So we first see this promise all the way back in Genesis 3:15 after the fall. And he says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." So we see the seed of the promise here. And this is a promise of a Redeemer, a promise of the cross of Christ and his victory over sin and death and Satan and hell and his resurrection. You will also see the promises of Ezekiel 36 that we just quoted and Jeremiah 31 also quoted in Hebrews 8. These are specific promises in the Old Testament of the new covenant blessings that would come ultimately for the nation of Israel. 

And we see a very important foundational promise or promises to Abraham in Genesis 12. Remember how we saw in Deuteronomy 28 that the old covenant was a conditional covenant. If you, then I, right? But in Genesis 12, we see that the covenant promises made to Abraham were unconditional. God said, "I will, I will, I will." He never says "if you." And as you study through the scriptures of the Old Testament, one thing that becomes very apparent is that God is very concerned with his unconditional promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Over and over and over, we see him say things like, "for my name's sake, I will keep my covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Even when they go into the land, Bobby and I were just reading that the other day, when Joshua was going to take them into the land, God says to them, "it's not because of your righteousness that I'm taking you into the land." This is always for God's sake. When God was going to destroy them, when he came down from Sinai, what did Moses say? "If you destroy them, then all the nations are going to know that you're not able to keep your promise." So it's all about God's namesake and him keeping his promise. 

So we find the promises in Genesis 12. Let's look there first. Genesis 12:1. "Now, the Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse him who curses you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

Well, there's a promise here of a nation from the loins of Abraham, of a land for his people, and a blessing to all nations from the seed of Abraham. This promise is reiterated again and again to Isaac, to Jacob, to Israel. We see in Jeremiah 31, as well as Hebrews 8 and other places, that this new covenant was made with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It's important to keep in mind that God never made a covenant with Gentiles. We're going to come back to that later. 

So what we see in our tree illustration is that this promise to the patriarchs becomes the root of the new covenant blessings. And Paul develops this in Romans 11, as he explains God's salvation plan for Israel and the church. We need to turn to Romans 11, what we read this morning. In Romans 11:11, we saw Paul ask the question, "Have they stumbled that they should fall concerning Israel? Is God done with the nation of Israel? Have they fallen to a point where they cannot get back up?" And the answer is the strongest negative in the Greek. "No, no, no, no, no." May it never be. Perish the thought. 

And then he says the most interesting thing about God's salvation plans. It says, "but through their fall, through the fall of Israel, in order to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles." Not only is God not done with national ethnic Israel, but even the salvation that has come to the Gentiles in the church age is ultimately about God accomplishing the salvation of Israel, keeping his promise. It says "in order to provoke the Jews to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles." 

And then Paul begins to develop this tree illustration, explaining that the root of blessing traces back to the first fruits, the promises to the patriarchs that we see in Genesis 12 and following, the nation of Israel. And he says this in verse 18. "You do not support the root, but the root supports you." You see, the new covenant was made with Israel and Judah. The promise of blessing was made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Israel. 

And we will see that Jesus came the first time offering the kingdom to Israel, offering himself as the king. But he came to his own and his own received him not. Israel rejected and crucified her Messiah. And salvation has come to the Gentiles. The church was born at Pentecost. What we need to see is that we are blessed out of the new covenant made with Israel and Judah. We do not support the root, but the root supports us. And God will keep his unconditional promises made to Israel. 

God still has the nation in his plans. In order to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. And Paul explains that the natural branches were broken off. Why? Because of unbelief. We are grafted in through faith. But the emphasis of Paul's words here are that God is able to graft the natural branches back in, that their fullness will come when they believe. Look at verse 25 in Romans 11. He says, "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel." 

There's a remnant, as Paul explained in the first part of chapter 11. "Blindness in part has happened to Israel until, until what? Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion. He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Why? For this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins. Concerning the gospel, they..." Notice the contrast between Israel and the nations here. "Concerning the gospel, they, Israel, are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. The promises made to the fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why? For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." 

God made an unconditional promise to the nation of Israel. His promise is good. It's irrevocable. It can't be changed. Because it's only dependent on his character and nature to keep his word. It's not dependent on us, if you, like in Deuteronomy, in the old covenant. "I will make a new covenant," God says, "not like the one I made with Moses." We see throughout the course of Romans 9 to 11 a contrast between Israel and Gentile nations. 

And it's important to see that this continues after verses 26 and 27 of chapter 11, in the salvation of all Israel. Paul's intent here is to say God will keep his unconditional promises made to Israel because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. There's a temporary and partial blindness on Israel now, as salvation is primarily for Gentiles in the church age. But after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, God will turn back to Israel and deal with them as a nation and bring the judgments of Deuteronomy 28 on them, as found in the book of the Revelation. He will call them back to repentance. 

And when Jesus comes and sets his feet on the Mount of Olives and they look on the one whom they pierced, all Israel will be saved. Jesus will judge the nations and usher in the kingdom, and we will see the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. One of the most important things, I think, for us to understand when we're studying the Scriptures, especially the whole of the Scriptures and God's redemptive plan, is patterns. 

And we talked about this when we studied the day of the Lord in Thessalonians years ago. We did some messages on this. But we see a pattern with Israel, just like we see in each of the prophets. This idea of judgment by a nation, right? And call to repentance and promise of restoration. And you're going to see basically that same pattern play out in the final day of the Lord. You're going to see judgment by the Antichrist, by a nation or government. And then you're going to see God bring restoration and fulfill his promises, calling Israel back when they repent and believe in Jesus. That's Zechariah, when they look on the one whom they pierce. 

So the natural branches will be grafted back in when they believe, because the promise is good. So we see the promise of the new covenant in the Old Testament, from Genesis to Ezekiel to Jeremiah. We see it in Isaiah 53 with the tender shoot. And we see it even in the prophets like Joel that we're preparing to study. And this is what our text that we're introducing this morning is all about in Joel 2:28 and following. 

We saw last time in chapter 2 a call to repentance and a temporal restoration from the plague of locusts. God said, "I will restore what the locusts have eaten." That included all those physical blessings when they repented. But if you go to Joel 2:28 again, we see a shift towards a future fulfillment. God says, "It shall come to pass afterward." You see the timing word there. "It shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh." 

And then he has these promises of what's going to happen, these signs. "The sun shall be turned to darkness, the moon to blood. It shall come to pass whoever calls on the name of the Lord has been saved." All that's pointing to what we were just talking about. Now, if you go to 3:1, he says, "For behold, in those days and at that time." Again, pointing to a future event. "When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat." 

See, we have the captives of Judah and Jerusalem brought back for blessing. The Gentile nations are brought to the valley for judgment. See the contrast here? Jerusalem and Judah are not the Gentile nations in this future time. Look at what he says. "I will also gather all nations, bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there. Why? This is a future event. This is the second coming of Christ." 

Why is he going to enter into judgment with all the nations? "On account of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, they have also divided my land." This idea of scattering becomes a major theme here. We haven't been scattered among the nations. The church hasn't been scattered among the nations. Israel has been scattered among the nations through captivity and taken into slavery and brought into all these different nations. Joel 3:12, pick it up there. 

"Let the nations be wakened and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." 

And what do we see? "The sun and moon grow dark. The stars diminish their brightness. The Lord roars from Zion, utters His voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth shake, but the Lord will be a shelter for His people and the strength of the children of Israel." 

Why? What's the purpose of all this, always? "So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy." When was it that Jerusalem was holy? Since the captivity of Assyria and Babylon, and then Rome, and Medo-Persia, and Greece. I mean, all these times. Is the city of Jerusalem holy today? The nation is apostate. Do you understand that the vast majority of Jews, since Joel's time, since they came out of Egypt, have died and gone to hell? 

Do you realize that Israel is apostate today? It's not holy. It's not set apart. God does not dwell on His holy hill in Zion. This is a future promise and blessing. It will come to pass in that day that "the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water. A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord and water the valley of Acacias." 

Time of great blessing, milk and honey. Forgiveness, verse 21: "I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed whom I had not acquitted, for the Lord dwells in Zion." This is forgiveness for Israel. This is restoration. When they look on the one whom they pierced, when Jesus comes, and they mourn, and they believe. 

So we've seen the structure of the prophets very clearly in Joel. First a judgment or warning of judgment, then called a repentance, then a promise of blessing. Sometimes, as we saw in chapter 2, this warning of judgment and promise of blessing can be temporal in the nation at that time. But ultimately, the prophets shift their view to a time far in the future when we see the great and awesome day of the Lord, where God turns His attention back to the nation, a time of chastening and tribulation, and ultimately God's wrath poured out on the nations, culminating in Christ's second coming and the ushering in of the promised kingdom time for the nation of Israel where Jesus will sit on David's throne. 

This is the time when the new covenant promises will be fulfilled, the unconditional promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And this is the prophecy we see beginning in Joel 2:28 and running through the end of the book. In Genesis 12, you notice he promised a land, he promised a nation. And Samuel, he promises the Messiah sitting on David's throne ruling. Revelation 20 says he's going to rule for a thousand years. It says in Revelation that we are going to rule and reign with him, the church, for a thousand years. We'll come back, we'll be in glorified bodies. 

All this is culminating in the fulfillment of the new covenant promises made with Israel and Judah. Now I want to just take some time to discuss and illustrate some distinctions between the old covenant and the new, between Israel and the church because this is important for understanding and interpretation and application of the scriptures. 

We've talked about the parameters of the economy by which God operates with his people in the old covenant, Deuteronomy 28. This is a conditional covenant. If they obey, they'd be blessed. If they don't obey, they'd be cursed. My friends, these are not the parameters of the new covenant. He said, "I'll make a new covenant not like the old covenant." 

The new covenant says, "I have blessed you. Now live for me. Obey me." Now the love of Christ compels me. Not some external law, not an obedience to gain God's favor. I have God's favor in Christ. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no wrath, there's no judgment. We stand in grace, and our relationship with God is not based on our obedience. 

Also, we do not have a promise of prosperity for our obedience as Israel did. In fact, in this time, in the church age, we are told that all who desire to live godly in this ungodly age will what? Suffer persecution. Paul gave testimony in 2 Corinthians 11 that he had been hungry, he had been naked, he'd been in the deep, he'd been persecuted by Jew and Gentile, and eventually he had his head cut off. He was not healthy and wealthy; he did not prosper in the things of this world, and it was indeed because of his faithfulness to Jesus Christ that he suffered. 

So something has drastically changed from the old covenant to the new. The physical kingdom did not come for Israel at Jesus' first coming because they did not believe. And we experience now not a physical kingdom, not physical prosperity, a land that flows with milk and honey, but we experience every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in this church age. It's vital that we understand these distinctions, that the old covenant was in effect from Exodus all the way through the Gospels. 

Let me give you an example, and many of you know this, turn to Matthew 10 with me. Matthew 10 at verse 1. Verse 1 says, "when he had called his 12 disciples to him, he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease." 

Now the charismatic movement today will say, "we're disciples, we're apostles, so we have this power." But notice what it says. "He sent out who? The 12." Then he names them by name. Do you see your name there? No, he names them by name. And then in verse 5 he says, "these 12 Jesus sent out and he commanded them saying," notice what he commanded them, "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 

And as you go, preach saying, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs, for a worker is worthy of his food. 

Now here we see Jesus send out the 12 disciples. These were all Jewish men born into Israel, circumcised the eighth day; they lived under the old covenant economy. The temple is still standing, the mediating priesthood and the sacrificial system is still in effect at this time. And at this time in his ministry, Jesus is offering the kingdom to Israel, he's offering himself as the king, and he's doing works befitting the kingdom time. And we see that he sends out the 12 to the lost sheep of the house of Israel only. And they are not preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gospel. They don't know anything about that at this point. But they are preaching "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

And they're doing signs and wonders, they're healing the sick, they're raising the dead, and they're being materially blessed, as in the wilderness; they need not plan, they need not take money or provisions, all these things are provided, they're food. Now turn to Luke 22 with me. 

Luke 22, this is the Last Supper we read earlier, as Jesus raises the cup and says, "this blood is my blood of the new covenant." Luke 22:35, he said to them, "when I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?" That's Matthew 10 that we just read. They said nothing. Then he said to them, "but now." 

Those words, "but now," are the contrast. Things are changing, that's what Jesus is saying here. We're coming to the cross, the whole economy is changing. We're entering the new covenant. "But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it. And likewise a knapsack, and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." You better buy a sword for this time. "For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in me, and he was numbered with the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end." 

So they said, "Lord, look, here are two swords," and he said to them, "it is enough." But now, before in the Old Testament economy, there's a blessing for obedience; there's provision of food and clothes and safety from enemies. But now, in the new covenant time, it's going to be different. You're going to have to plan. You're going to have to get a sword. They will persecute you. You may be martyred for your faith. There's no promise of physical blessing of food and clothing and shelter or prosperity and abundance, only of persecution for faithfulness in this time. 

Our blessings are spiritual in nature, in Christ. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. We have the mind of Christ. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Jesus Christ lives in me. But I don't have any promise of food and clothes and shelter. I might starve to death. Are those Christians in China who are persecuted and hiding and starve to death, do they not have as much faith as we do in America where we're so rich? No. No, we don't have that promise. 

I'm just trying to show you the distinctions. Now let me challenge you a little more. Turn to Matthew 6. Matthew 6 at verse 31. Jesus talking to his disciples again says, "Therefore, do not worry, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 

This passage is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. What's going on in the Sermon on the Mount? This is a law sermon preached to legalistic Jews under the Old Covenant, meant to show them that they and their religious work system had built their spiritual house on the sand. At the end of that sermon, he says, "Those who hear these sayings of mine and do them I would liken to a man who builds his house on the rock." 

You remember in Matthew 5 where he starts out. He says, "You have heard it said of old, do not murder, but I say if you've hated your brother in your heart, you've already committed murder." And in 5:48 he summarizes that teaching and he says, "You must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect in order to enter the kingdom." That's the standard. You must be as perfect as God the Father in order to enter the kingdom. 

So when he says, "those who hear these sayings of mine and do them," who is it that does them? Can you say that I do them? Can you say that I perfectly keep the law? The standard that the law requires? The whole point of the law is to show us our sin. To show us that our works-righteous religion isn't going to cut it. And they went away saying what? "This man speaks with authority. We've never hurt anybody. We got a problem." 

If they were honest, that's how they responded to that sermon. They were lacking. They needed a Savior. But 6:33 is very often quoted verse and applied to the church, isn't it? "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." I just ask you in the context, what are all the things? What did he say? Food, clothes, physical provision. 

Jesus says, "seek first the kingdom of God, all these things will be added to you." So if I take this for myself, if I apply it to the new covenant time, then this is where it leaves me, if I'm honest. If I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, I'll never want for physical material provision, food, clothes, etc. The promise is that if I'm faithful, God will provide all these things for me. 

I'm not saying there aren't some wonderful principles here, treasures to explore. What I'm saying is that if I try to take a promise for myself that is not for me, then I likely will become confused and disillusioned. And if I'm not careful to understand the context and the audience and interpret rightly, then I may find myself preaching only to Jews, preaching the kingdom of heaven, not the gospel, seeking to cast out demons and raise the dead, or if I'm in Mark 16, perhaps I'll handle snakes like they do in the Pentecostal churches down in West Virginia, and claim that no poison can harm me and drink poison, even though my dad and my grandpa both died of snake bites in worship services. 

There's a distinction. There's a difference between the old covenant and the new, and we do well to understand these things. Likewise, just briefly, we must understand the distinction between the church and Israel. It's popular today to fall into some sort of covenant or reformed teaching that the church and Israel are no different, that the church is Israel and Israel is the church. Covenant theology teaches that the church began with Adam, and that Israel is part of the church. 

As we begin to study the book of Joel, I hope we can see the distinct differences between Israel and the church. First of all, Israel's a nation, a nation chosen out by God for a specific purpose, to show His glory, His holiness, and to draw the other nations to Himself. Israel was and is made up mostly of unbelievers, apostates. You became part of Israel, how? By birth. And you entered into the old covenant, how? By a ritual, circumcision. 

God deals with Israel as a nation, and He has a covenant relationship with them, as we have seen. The church, on the other hand, has how many unbelievers in it? None. None. We're talking about the true church, not this building and—none. The church is made up of believers without exception. Each member of the church lives under the new covenant economy, experiencing the blessings of regeneration, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Jesus living in them. We are no longer under the law, but we now live by the Spirit. 

We come from every nation. We're not an ethnic or national people. There's no Jew or Gentile. All are one in Christ. We do not enter the church through a religious ritual. How do you enter the church? By faith alone, in Jesus alone. And as we've noted, our relationship with God is not based on our obedience or disobedience to the law of Moses. Rather, we are secure in Christ. We have been blessed in Christ, and now we live for the One who died for us. The love of Christ compels us. 

We go out into the world, and we preach the gospel of Christ. We don't preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We preach Jesus died for your sins. He was buried, and He rose again the third day, and if you will just place your faith and your trust in Him alone to have died in your place for your sins and satisfied the wrath of God for you, then you are saved forever. And we preach to every creature, right? Jesus said, "Go and preach to every creature," when He was setting them up for the church time. 

That wasn't what He did back in Matthew 10. Don't you dare preach to a Samaritan or a Gentile, because the kingdom is not for them, the physical kingdom. We come from every nation. We do not enter the church through religious ritual. And as we've noted, our relationship with God is not based on obedience and disobedience. Rather, we are secure. We stand in grace, and we go out into this world as witnesses, as ambassadors for Christ. 

We experience now a pre-fillment of the new covenant promises. But ultimately, God still has a plan for Israel, and He will keep His new covenant promises to that nation in the future, when they believe they'll be grafted back in. And we're going to explore this more when we get to chapter 3 of Joel, but I just wanted to introduce these things to you this morning. 

Never had a two-part introduction to a book, but here we are. And next time we're going to begin our exposition of the text back in chapter 1. So hopefully you have a little bit of a foundational understanding, a contextual understanding, what God's doing in His redemptive plan, so that we can now go into the book of Joel and exegete those words to understand what God is saying there. 

Okay. Long sermons, these questions. And try to remind me to repeat the questions so the people on Zoom can know what we're talking about. Go ahead. 

I think that's true, and could you say that modern day events are showing that, like holocaust or what have you, or is that showing that that's... 

Christian was asking about what's going on in Israel now, and if they're being judged still or still living under this economy with God. And what I would say is we are now in what's called the time of the Gentiles, right? So we still have that Gentiles ruling over Israel, in essence. 

But the way I would maybe explain that, the way I would understand it, is you had, and of course this is all in God's sovereign plan and His salvation plan, but He chose Israel out, remember, as a nation, set them a city on a hill, right? Sometimes you hear people talk about the church being a city, we're not a city on a hill. Israel's a city on a hill. 

Because they were meant to be separate, that's why we have all these restrictions and everything, to show that God is different, that God is holy. So He wanted them to be that people, to obey Him and follow Him so that the world would know that He is God and they would come to Him. But Israel failed that, you know, Jonah is a great illustration of that. They didn't want that. 

And by Jesus' time, so the way I would explain that is what we have now in the church age is sort of a parenthesis where God has cut a new channel of blessing, a new way of reaching the world. 

And ultimately, like we saw in Romans 11, He's going to, when the fullness of the Gentiles come in, whatever that entails, there'll be the rapture of the church and He will turn back to Israel, and I would say for sure in that time, we're going to see a temple, we're going to see the mediating priesthood and the sacrificial system, and we're going to see judgment; they're not going to be following God at that time, right? 

And we're going to see that judgment resulting in repentance and the promise of restoration. So I'm not comfortable with saying that I think the Jews are still under that ruling and domination of the Gentiles. We see that in John 8, right? When the Pharisees say to Jesus, "we're not under bondage to anyone," and at that time they're under bondage to Rome, right? 

But I don't want to nail specific events in this time because God's not dealing with Israel right now so much. He will come back under that same system and that same way of relating in the tribulation time. And then ultimately in the kingdom, this is a very interesting thing to think about, we see that in the kingdom, the physical reign of Christ on earth, when Israel has her promises fulfilled in the kingdom, there'll be a temple then. There'll be sacrifices then. That's a little bit hard to understand. 

But the way I understand that, based on Hebrews 2 and some other passages, is that God is going to fulfill his creative intent. In other words, Israel's going to do it the way God intended all along. And what's it tell us, Zechariah 8:3? That in that time, ten men from the nations will hold the sleeve of the Jew and he will bring them to Jesus to worship the Lord. 

So what's going to happen? Well, you're going to see them worshiping him in that sacrificial system with a true heart, like God always intended, not just going through the motions like we saw so often. And you're going to see them being a witness to the nations and bringing the nations to God just like he always intended. 

So I think God's going to have them do it the way he intended when he called them for that purpose. Not a great answer to your question, but... 

Other questions? 

Right. 

Yeah. 

Yeah. 

And if you read the Old Testament, it was a lot. There was a lot going on there. 

Yeah. 

Yeah. 

Well, I think in the tribulation, they're going to be doing it in false worship. And we see them prepared for that in Israel. In the Temple Institute, they have it all laid out, prepared, all the utensils, everything made, the clothes for the priests, everything's ready. 

So they're going to do it in false worship in the tribulation. But after they believe and are saved as a nation, then the kingdom will come, and then they will do it in true worship to God the way he intended. That's the way I understand it. 

Yeah. It's interesting you use the word haughty because Paul applies that to us, the Gentiles in Romans 11 that we just read. I don't want you to be haughty, is the King James. I don't want you to be wise in your own opinion, right, and not understand what's going on. But Israel, yeah, they're on a whole wrong track right now, right? I mean, they're seeking... They want to go back to the law. 

And the book of Hebrews explains clearly what happens if you go back to the law, if you forsake Christ. They're definitely apostate and on the wrong path. 

Yeah, I mean, I think we see that even in Romans 2 where Paul disassembles their sureties, you know, and the rabbis taught that Abraham will stand at the gates of hell and not let any Jew in. 

And they definitely were trusting in their birthright, their lineage. That's why they end those genealogies and so forth that Paul talks about, Peter talks about. But he removes all of their circumcision, the fact that they had the law. They didn't say they had to keep the law; they just had the law, that they were people of God, and also the lineage of Judaism. He removes all those things. 

Much like today, we can take a religious person who's trusting in his works. Like I told you years ago, a Jehovah's Witness came to my house. I said, "What do I have to do to get to a good place?" And the kid said, "well, you have to keep the Ten Commandments." And I just said, "How's that going for you?" You know, how's that going? "Well, I'm trying." No, you didn't say you had to try. You said you had to keep them. How's that going for you? 

That's the same with the Jews or any self-righteous religion. 

Yeah, Ezekiel lays that out. 

Well, that's what I said. It's going to be for Israel, alright? And my understanding of that is the reason that God is doing that is so that Israel can fulfill the reason that God called them, and they can worship the way God intended. 

That His will can be done on the earth in all those ways He prescribed that Israel never fulfilled. But it's pretty clear when you read, I believe it's Ezekiel 40 to 48, if I remember right, those last chapters of Ezekiel lay that out. There's scripture where God says that one sacrifice can never take away sin. 

Well, He says in Hebrews 10 that it can never take away sin. And that won't be the purpose of those sacrifices, to take away sin, nor was it in the Old Testament. Those were a picture, right? The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. They can never make those who approach perfect. But this one, after one sacrifice, sat down forever. Those were pictures. 

So it won't be about a sacrifice for sins. I don't have all the answers to that. It's a bit of a mystery. But it does say there will be a temple. Well, I can understand a temple, but the animal sacrifice kind of goes against the purpose. 

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. But Jesus will be there, reigning on the throne. I think because Israel is going to fulfill what God intended for them to do. I think that's a large part of that kingdom time. 

I mean, why have the kingdom? Why not go to the eternal state, though? You know what I mean? I mean, there's something going on with Israel there. It's a fulfillment of the promise, but it's also a working out of the worship of Christ in that time. 

Well, that may be, too. I mean, wanting to in righteousness, in a true heart, in true worship. 

Yeah. 

Yeah, I think they will want to. And they're going to lead the nations there. It tells us that if the nations will not come, then Jesus is going to rule with a rod of iron, right? They'll be struck dead. 

So, there's a lot of scriptures that talk about that and give us details about that, that don't fit into the eternal state. And Revelation 20 is so clear, in literal language, about a thousand year reign on the earth. 

So, you've got to do some gymnastics to get rid of that. 

Anything else? 

Is he thinking back there? 

Okay. Well, next week we'll start a proper study of the book and go through chapter one. If you have questions along the way, you think about these things, write them down. We can talk about them next week. Have a great week. Thank you.