Joel 2:27

Joel 2:27 says, And 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.  The nation would be restored to one nation, Israel, and they had the premise of God that He would be in their midst.  After they had repented and returned to God, He told them to know that He was in their midst.  We today should know that God is with us if we are His people.  As long as we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, God will be at work in our lives.  Even if we fail to follow God at times, the Holy Spirit still indwells us.  Again, the people of Israel were told they needed to not be ashamed, and neither should we.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And 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:  God promised to pour out His spirit on the people of Israel, His people.  As just discussed above, this promise was fulfilled when Christ died for our sins and the Holy Spirit came to indwell all believers in Christ.  The people of Israel were told of the results of this pouring out of God's Spirit on them.  It didn't matter what age or what gender they were.  All would be witnesses to the power of God.  We today need to remember that God does not just work through some of His people, but through all of them.  No one is more important to God than anyone else, especially based on physical things.  The more that we fill our role in God's kingdom and let others fill theirs, the better the gospel will be spread. Verse twenty-nine continues, And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.  Again, God does not discriminate based on social status or gender.  Just because a person is poor in the eyes of the world does not mean that God is not working through them.  Also, it does not mean that if a person is rich then God cannot work through them.  Whatever our social status, though, we must not do as Israel did too often and forget about God. Verse thirty states, And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.  Verse thirty-one adds, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.  This can be seen as what happened while Christ was on the cross, and it will be what happens when Christ returns.  Since these verses state that these things will happen before the great and terrible day of the Lord to come, we need to realize that for those who are truly God's people, it will be a great day and for those who are not it will be a terrible day. The choice of which it will be is up to each individual.  Verse thirty-two continues, And 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.  Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.  This once more states the only way to salvation.  We can be certain that for anyone who believes in Christ though faith in His salvation will be delivered.  None are excluded from calling on Christ for salvation.