September 12 — Rend Your Heart
SCRIPTURE READING:
Joel
SCRIPTURE:
Joel 1
¹The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
²Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
³Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
⁴That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
⁵Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
⁷He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
⁸Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
⁹The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.
¹⁰The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
¹¹Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
¹²The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
¹³Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
¹⁴Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
¹⁵Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
¹⁶Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
¹⁷The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
¹⁸How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
¹⁹O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
²⁰The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 2
¹Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
²A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
³A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
⁴The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
⁵Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
⁶Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
⁷They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
⁸Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
⁹They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
¹⁰The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
¹¹And 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?
¹²Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
¹³And 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.
¹⁴Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
¹⁷Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
¹⁸Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
¹⁹Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:
²⁰But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
²¹Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.
²²Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
²³Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
²⁴And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
²⁶And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
²⁷And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
²⁹And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
³⁰And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
³²And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Joel 3
¹For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
²I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
³And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.
⁴Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
⁵Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
⁶The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
⁷Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
⁸And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
⁹Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
¹⁰Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
¹¹Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
¹²Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
¹³Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
¹⁴Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
¹⁵The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
¹⁶The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
¹⁷So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
¹⁸And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
¹⁹Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
²⁰But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
²¹For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
DEVOTIONAL:
Joel opens with devastation. A locust plague has stripped fields, vineyards, orchards, and pasture so thoroughly that ordinary economic loss becomes a theological summons. Farmers mourn, priests lament, animals groan, and temple offerings are interrupted because the land itself can no longer supply them. Joel refuses to treat the disaster as a merely private inconvenience. He calls elders and inhabitants to remember, tell the next generation, sanctify a fast, gather the assembly, and cry to the LORD. The prophet interprets the crisis through the 'day of the LORD,' a biblical theme in which God's decisive judgment breaks into human complacency. The immediate calamity becomes a window toward a greater reckoning. The right response is neither panic nor denial but communal return to God.
The center of Joel's appeal is remarkably personal: 'turn ye even to me with all your heart' and 'rend your heart, and not your garments.' Ancient mourning practices such as torn clothing could express genuine grief, but outward signs could also exist without inward surrender. God wants truth in the inner person. Joel grounds repentance not in the hope that a ritual will manipulate God, but in God's revealed character: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. The prophet even preserves humility about the temporal outcome by asking who knows whether God will leave a blessing. Biblical repentance is not a technique for controlling circumstances. It is returning to God because He is God, casting ourselves on His mercy while leaving the form of His providence in His hands.
Joel then turns from judgment to restoration and promise. The LORD pledges to act for His land and people, and the horizon widens to the outpouring of His Spirit on sons and daughters, old and young, servants and handmaids. Peter quotes this passage at Pentecost to explain the Spirit's coming upon the followers of Jesus. The age of messianic fulfillment has begun: the crucified and risen Christ pours out the promised Spirit, and the gospel is proclaimed to all who will call on the Lord. Joel's promise does not make every believer a prophet in the same office or erase distinctions within the church. It does announce that God's empowering presence is no longer portrayed as a rare privilege restricted to a few leaders. The Spirit marks the whole new-covenant community as witnesses belonging to Messiah.
The final chapter places the nations before God's judgment and Zion under His protection. Joel's language is cosmic because the day of the LORD concerns more than one agricultural season. God will judge violence, defend His heritage, cleanse, and dwell in Zion. Christians therefore read Joel with both urgency and hope. The day of the Lord means evil will not be allowed to perpetuate itself forever; Pentecost means mercy is being proclaimed before that final accounting. The church's task is not to exploit disasters by confidently declaring a specific hidden reason for every tragedy. We do not possess Joel's prophetic commission for each modern event. We can, however, let every reminder of human fragility summon us to repentance, compassion, prayer, and gospel witness. The proper question is less 'Why did this happen to them?' and more 'Am I ready to meet the Lord, and am I living as His Spirit-filled witness now?'
In daily life, practice repentance before crisis forces the issue. Confession should name sins specifically enough that change can be recognized. If anger has wounded your family, seek forgiveness and build a different response pattern. If money has become an idol, generosity and transparent budgeting can become acts of return. If prayer has become formal, bring God the actual condition of your heart rather than a polished version. Parents can teach children that repentance is not humiliation but truthful return to a merciful Father. Churches can recover corporate confession without manufacturing emotion. The Spirit poured out through the exalted Christ equips ordinary believers to witness, serve, pray, forgive, and speak of Jesus with courage that does not depend on personality type.
In U.S. civic life, the virtue is humility in the face of shared vulnerability. Pray for communities affected by drought, flood, wildfire, crop loss, disease, economic disruption, and other disasters, asking God to strengthen first responders, farmers, relief organizations, local officials, churches, and neighbors who serve in the aftermath. Pray that leaders will resist exploiting suffering for political theater and that citizens will respond with generosity rather than blame. Christians should show up in public life as repentant, practical servants who relieve suffering, refuse unsupported claims about God's secret purposes in a specific disaster, and bear hopeful witness to the Lord who calls all people to Himself.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
How does Joel use an agricultural catastrophe to call the entire covenant community to spiritual attention?
What is the difference between rending garments and rending the heart, and how can outward religion conceal inward resistance?
How does Peter's use of Joel at Pentecost clarify the significance of the Spirit's outpouring through Jesus the Messiah?
When disaster strikes a community, how can Christians respond biblically without claiming knowledge God has not given?
PRAYER:
ADORATION: Gracious and merciful LORD, You are slow to anger and abundant in kindness, yet perfectly holy in judgment. You pour out Your Spirit and invite those who call upon Your name to find deliverance.
CONFESSION: We rend our hearts before You. Forgive outward religion without inward surrender, blame without self-examination, and the sins we would rather generalize than name and forsake.
THANKSGIVING: Thank You for Jesus, crucified and risen, and for the promised Holy Spirit poured out upon Your people. Thank You that the gospel summons sinners to mercy before the final day of judgment.
SUPPLICATION – GENERAL: Produce sincere repentance in our homes and churches. Empower ordinary believers to witness, strengthen communities experiencing loss, and make us generous servants when neighbors face circumstances they cannot control.
SUPPLICATION – U.S. / CIVIC: Have mercy on communities facing disaster and economic loss. Give wisdom to relief leaders and public officials, protect suffering people from exploitation, and stir citizens to courageous service, truthful speech, and generous care.
SCRIPTURE: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: