August 19, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” (Joel 2.32)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Who will survive that great and dreadful “day of the Lord”? Without getting into “rapture and tribulation” conversation, I believe we must tackle this passage at face value. The declaration is clear: everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The event described in Joel of God’s fierce judgment on the world is a matter of fact. As the world gathers under the influence of “the enemy,” we can gain a sense of God being called out much as Goliath called out Israel. In Matthew 4, Jesus reminds “the enemy” that “You should not tempt the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 6.16) The entire temptation story found in Matthew 4 is a reflection of that similar event which “the enemy” waged against God by tempting Adam and Eve. One difference we must consider between the two is the concept of “self-awareness.” We are left to consider “What did Adam and Eve know about themselves?” Even in the Garden of Eden they were still in the state of becoming, to borrow from the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13, “known as they are fully known.” The difference, as Dr. Jeremiah writes, between “temptation” and “testing” is that a temptation comes from within while the testing is situational. Were Adam and Eve actually tempted then? Or were they being tested? What did they know about themselves apart from the commands to “help one another” and to “refrain from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge Between Good and Evil”? What did they know about evil in the Garden where God was their “soul” companion? Their “soul” awareness was the Law of the Lord. Since it is all they knew it should have been enough. But knowledge without validation is not anything much more than assumption. Did God then allow “the enemy” to test Adam and Eve? Or did “the enemy” truly want to call out God by moving against them? It is something to think about even as we go through our daily lives. Are we internalizing the word of God so that the knowledge of the Lord becomes wisdom? It is wisdom that allows us to truly discern what is right and what is wrong. It is wisdom that brings us contentment and comfort in all situations because wisdom comes from God. God does not tempt us. Nor will He test us beyond our ability. Of course, only God knows our true ability. He revealed that ability we have by showing us His Son who in turn shows us the Father.

Now let me springboard to those moments of “being called out” as I mentioned from the story of David and Goliath and applied the concept to that of Adam and Eve in the Garden. We know that after Adam and Eve “failed the test,” they hid themselves. God called them out. Because of their relationship with God, they knew they could not remain hidden. They answered the call and confessed (poorly) their “sin” (though they did not know the word itself within their vocabulary.) Goliath called out Israel believing that a one on one combat with Israel’s representative, assumed to be King Saul, would prove the power of one god over another. Goliath did not believe himself to be a god but certainly believed the power of his god was in his calling as a “giant among men.” Now in Joel, the enemies of Israel have gathered with the singular intent of reducing Israel, and thus their God, to ashes and dust. In essence, their attack on Israel was a “calling out” of God. God answers the challenge and the enemy is prophesied to be defeated. The result is that all those who “call upon the name of the Lord” will be saved. The emphasis is “all.” It is not only Jews who will be saved but anyone who puts their trust in the Lord. The situation of Israel’s devastation, or the threat of it, calls out in all of us to wrestle with “What do we really believe about God?” This is the dividing line of faith and reason versus knowledge and assumption. The inevitable is that the test will come and the challenge will be extended. As in the days of Joshua, the question is put forward “Who will you trust and believe in? In whom will you place your faith?” We know Joshua’s response, “As for me and my house, we will trust and serve the Lord.” In the wilderness beyond the Jordan, Jesus’ response was clear “Do not tempt the Lord your God.” Not only was Jesus declaring His true identity in God but He was reminding “the enemy” that the true test was not of Jesus but of himself. It was rising up from within his own dark heart, mind and soul. Satan was tempting Satan by testing Jesus. It was a test Jesus could not fail and a temptation that Satan could not resist. Jesus could call upon the Lord and the word of the Lord for His strength. What did “the enemy” have but idle promises and veiled threats?

Mighty ones, we are shown here in Joel the evidence of true survivorship even in those terrible and dread-filled days. We must call upon the name of the Lord believing fully in Him. We must also call out the strength of faith within us to put our trust in God alone. This makes us followers of Christ because this is what He did. His survival is called “resurrection.” It is ours as well!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.