The Prophet Joel lived in difficult times – times of declension and idolatry. So it must have been difficult for him to bring to the people of Israel the messages he was receiving from the Lord, for among them were warnings of judgement. The people were warned about a devastating plague of locusts (1:4) that would consume everything that grew. Yet this “northern army” (2:20) of locusts, it would seem, was intended to represent invading forces of Assyrians who would devastate the land, not least by carrying large numbers of Israelites away into captivity in Assyria; this was among the “great things” the heathen would do when they would rule over Israel (2:17). Yet God was in complete control of everything that was happening; He was acting in judgement, “for they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and moved Him to jealousy with their graven images” (Ps 78:58).
Yet the Lord, in spite of all the departures of Israel from Him, was encouraging the people, for He was their covenant God. Still speaking through Joel, He told them: “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things” (2:21). The Assyrians would do great things as instruments in God’s hands to inflict judgement on Israel because of their rebellion against Him, but the Lord would do greater things: in particular, He would deliver His people and bring them back from captivity. He promised, “I will remove far off from you the northern army” (2:20).
But the greatest of all God’s works was to send His Son into the world that He might do all that was necessary to save sinners. Isaiah had prophesied, “The Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Is 7:14). Here indeed was a great thing: that a virgin should bear a child, and further that this child should be called Immanuel, which means “God with us”. In this name, we have a revelation of Jesus Christ, because He came to reconcile sinners to God, by bearing their guilt. What a great work it was for Christ to bear their sin away through the sacrifice of Himself! How much God’s children who heard Joel’s encouraging words should have rejoiced in the prospect of the coming of the Messiah and looked forward to the saving benefits that so
many sinners were to receive, for His sake, even before He would come into the world – and on to the end of time!
In many generations, the Church of God has experienced great devastation, sometimes as a result of open persecution, as was true at many times in the early centuries of the Christian Church. Another example is Roman Catholic cruelty in Reformation times. In some cases, the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church; God did great things in raising up another set of witnesses to the truth, in spite of the cruel persecution that had resulted in so many being slain. In other cases, the Lord allowed Protestantism to be eliminated – in, for instance, Spain and Italy; and permitted true Protestantism to be fatally weakened by false doctrine, in Poland, where Socinianism caused enormous harm.1 Great though these attacks – ultimately by the devil – on the true Church were, the Lord is able to do greater things than this persistent enemy of souls. And in many cases He has done so – for the sake of Immanuel, who died for “a great multitude, which no man can number”.
We may think of the time when the Saviour ascended to heaven leaving His disciples on earth. How unlikely it was that the Church would be established and then begin to spread to all parts of the earth. But in explaining the events of the Day of Pentecost, Peter quoted another promise from the Book of Joel: “I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh” (2:28). The disciples had experienced the beginnings of the fulfilment of this prophecy. This was why they were able to speak as effectively as they did, pointing to Christ and His finished work, and re proving the Jews for their sin in crucifying Jesus. This also was why so many of those who heard the disciples preach that day were convinced of their sin and came to them asking, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). And this was why 3000 souls were converted on that one day. God did indeed do great things, according to His promise, through pouring out the Holy Spirit.
We cannot refer to all the great things that God has done in the history of the Church, but we will touch on a few of the wonderful things He did at the Reformation. It was a great thing to change the heart of Martin Luther amid so much surrounding darkness and bring him to realise that so many of the doctrines of the Roman Church were false. The devil had been allowed to increase the spiritual darkness throughout Europe over the preceding centuries; these were great things, in a negative sense. But it was a greater work to enlighten the hearts of a multitude of Reformers: not only Luther but also many others, among them John Calvin and John Knox – so that they went about preaching the gospel and writing books – expositions of the Bible, theological works and volumes opposing the errors of Rome – that brought
1Socinianism has many very serious flaws, among them a denial of Christ’s divinity.
biblical truth to many minds and hearts. It was a great work, inspired by the devil, that brought superstition and idolatry to have increasing influence in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, but it was a greater work when God delivered many from superstition and made them willing to worship their Maker in the light of what He had revealed on these matters in Scripture.
Yet there had never been a time, in pre-Reformation centuries, when there were no gracious souls seeking to worship God in spirit and in truth. And can we not believe that some of them believed that God would yet do great things and spread the gospel farther than it had ever gone before? Can we not also believe that there was, at least sometimes, a degree of rejoicing in their hearts as they considered this prospect in the light of what they had learned of the purposes of God?
In recent generations, the Church has experienced many devastating attacks by the enemies of God, both from within and without. Much, if not all, of it has been the result of sheer unbelief in the Word of God. This is very largely the cause of the moral anarchy that is so widespread in the Western world today. It is assumed that moral rules can have authority within society only if there is a degree of consensus across that society. At least among the opinion-formers in the United Kingdom, for example, there is a consensus that abortion is right and that homosexuality is acceptable. In this situation, the danger is that such views will be imposed on the whole of society and on school pupils in particular, as proponents of these views resent any testimony to the contrary. In a secular society, which is what the UK is in practice, the testimony of Scripture has very much lost its authority.
And Scripture has lost its authority in society because it has very largely lost its authority within the Church. However serious the state of the Church during the eighteenth century, there was then a general acceptance – though it was very often entirely nominal – that the Bible was a divine revelation. But when, in the next century, it became increasingly common for ministers to accept that the Bible contained errors, that its claims as to the human authorship of particular books of Scripture were at least questionable and, not least damaging, that the Genesis account of creation was nothing more than a myth, it was no wonder that the Bible lost its authority outside the churches. And it is no wonder that society is becoming more and more secular – more and more godless – and more and more opposed to Christianity. How damaging the activities of God’s enemies have been! They have indeed been doing “great things”, with the devil himself leading them on, by his temptations, in opposition against the Most High.
Yet the Lord speaks to His people in every land: “Fear not… be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things”. First, we must always remember
that God is in control of everything that happens and so there is no reason to fear. Indeed, although God has allowed sin to be so prevalent, and false morality and godless ideas to spread as they have, He is restraining these forces from being stronger and more pervasive than they actually are.
Further, we should expect that God will turn the tide of false morality and godless ideas and do great things in His grace. He has promised that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9). We can be sure therefore that sinners throughout the world will hear the truths revealed in the Bible. No doubt that has very largely happened already, to the extent that the Scriptures have been circulated to where a large part of the world’s population live – yet not to the extent indicated by “the waters cover[ing] the sea”. But that is what we are to look for if, as we ought, we take Isaiah’s prophecy seriously.
We are not to think that it is impossible for the message of Scripture to be spread everywhere in such a way that multitudes of sinners in all parts of the world will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to the saving of their souls. To think this outcome impossible would be to take a very low view of the power of God, especially when Christ sent out His disciples, as the first preachers of the New Testament Church, with the words: “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Mt 28:18). And at the same time He assured them: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”.
However strong Satan may be; however resourceful and ingenious he may be also; and however effectively his children may operate against the cause of Christ, we must ever remember that the Saviour is able to exercise “all power” from His throne in heaven. Even God’s children may not be able to fathom His ways of working in our time or in any other age. But what we are directed to do is to believe that all things are under His control, and trust Him to fulfil all His promises.
God’s children may feel they have every reason to feel sad when they consider the great things that Satan, and all the human beings who oppose God and His revelation, have accomplished in their efforts to keep sinners away from their Creator. Yet God’s children must trust Him to fulfil all the promises He has made to His Church. And as they trust, they are to “be glad and rejoice”. They are to remember Him as the One “who alone doeth great wonders” (Ps 136:4) and they are to give thanks to Him even in advance of the great things He is yet to do. They are also to rejoice in these great things as sure to happen and they are to be glad in view of the glory that God is to receive in connection with the future success of the gospel. Meanwhile let God’s children go on prayerfully and dependently as they seek to live out their own lives to the glory of God.