A Word about Payback

Today I want to share a word about payback, as I comment on Joel 2:23-32.  This passage reads:

O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame. Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Like in many families, when my sister and I were younger, we had something of a love-hate relationship. She was older than me, and even though she would never admit it, she took advantage of that. She also took advantage of the fact that I was forbidden by my parents to ever hit her, so she could bedevil me all that she liked, but my means of payback were limited.

Then, one day, I had a brainstorm. My sister often asked me to fetch her something to drink from the kitchen, which gave me an opening that I waited until the opportune moment to seize. On a hot and humid summer’s afternoon, she asked me to bring her a glass of cola from the fridge. And like a panther, I pounced!

I did bring her the glass of cola, but not before I poured a large amount of table salt in it. She took the glass and immediately swallowed a big gulp of cola. It is more accurate to say that she tried to swallow a big gulp of cola, but the salt-laced cola would not go down. Instead, it burst forth from her mouth and nostrils with such force that I am surprised it didn’t shoot out of her ears as well! I truly got my payback . . . until she clobbered me, that is. You see, I couldn’t hit her, but she could, and did on that occasion, hit me! Still, at the time I thought it was worth it to get some payback.

In our passage for today, Joel tells us about how God is going to payback his people. His way of doing so will be a great deal more palatable than what I did to my sister!

THE DAY OF THE LORD:

Joel was one of the earliest of the Minor Prophets. His theme was “The Day of the Lord,” which would be a day of judgment and of settling accounts with God. In that regard, one writer called him the “First and last of the Minor Prophets,” because he wrote early about events in the end times.

Like all the Old Testament prophets, Joel’s message applied to Biblical Israel as well as to God’s people of the future. The Kingdom of Judah did experience “The Day of the Lord” when they were overtaken by Babylon, but another day of judgment is coming, the final day when God will create the New Heaven and the New Earth. Some people, probably many people, will regret that day, but God’s People will rejoice, because their payback will be quite different!

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL:

God is well aware that His People are “strangers in a strange land.” One of the key elements of salvation is regeneration; that is, people who were dead in their sin are born again and become new creatures. Regenerate people are citizens of Heaven and not citizens of this world, and that causes us much trouble.

We know that the way that leads to destruction is broad, and the way that leads to salvation is narrow, but I am convinced that they are superimposed on each other. What I mean by that is believers are walking toward Heaven in the midst of the flood of people who are walking towards destruction. Therefore, we get jostled and bumped, and even pushed back from time to time, although our movement in life is ever forwards toward “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” 

Jesus, of course, lived among us, and He understands the struggle. As God and man, He was able to negotiate His life on earth immeasurably better than we can, even with the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, He walked many miles in our shoes. Because of this, He can and does identify with us and our often-difficult journey of life.

THE DAY OF BLESSING:

As difficult as life on earth can be, God will repay His people for their faithfulness. If we look carefully at our passage for today, we can see that God will do so in a holistic manner.

• First, the ultimate Day of the Lord has a physical element: We will have new, glorified bodies.
• Next, the ultimate Day of the Lord has an emotional element: We will not be put to shame by God.
• Finally, the ultimate Day of the Lord has a spiritual element: We will be saved from our sin, and we will be in the right relationship with God forevermore.

God is perfect, and His repayment to us will also be perfect. We have a great blessing to look forward to when The Day of the Lord appears!

CONCLUSION:

When R.G. Lee preached his famous sermon “Payday Someday,” it was based on a different passage of Scripture, but the point is still the same. When the time comes for payback, which side will we be on? I pray for all of us that we will be on the Lord’s side!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt