171 - Walk in the council of the Godly.

The Prophet Zehariah

Chareen's Thoughts

• Joel announces God's judgements.
• Joel 2 is so much the same as the predictions in Revelations. (Rev. 9:7, 9. Rev. 9:2-4; 16:14.)
• Therefore also now, says the Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored]. 13 Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to the Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness; and He revokes His sentence of evil [when His conditions are met]. Joel 2:12-13 
• Joel prays for the Lords mercy and exhorts the people to repentance.
• The result of repentance is seeing the LORD's hand of blessing upon what is HIS.
• 25 And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten—the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26 And 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 be put to shame. Joel 2:25-26
• And afterward 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. Joel 2:28
• And whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered and saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the remnant [of survivors] shall be those whom the Lord calls.  Joel 2:32 
• Joel's prophecy continues to include the Lord's blessing upon Israel and judgement upon those who were against her. He promises to restore Judah.
• Jehoiada died at the age of 130. He was buried with the kings in the city of David because he had done what was good.
• After this the kings from around about came and paid homage to the king of Judah and he turned his ear to them and abandoned the temple.  Yet [God] sent prophets to them to bring them again to the Lord; these testified against them, but they would not listen. 2 Chronicles 24:17-19
• King Joash took the things from the Lords temple and handed them over to Hazael and the people start to worship the idols.  The Lord took control of Zechariah son of Jehoiada and warned them.  But they conspired at the kings command and stoned him to death.
• Zechariah asked the LORD for an account on this act.  The result is that Judah is defeated by Aramean and Joash is slain by his servants.  He was burried in the city of David but not with the Kings because of what he had done to the son of Jehoiada.

The story of Joash certainly highlights the need for surrounding oneself with wise council. He was an amazing and godly king when under the guidance of the Lord's anointed but once he left their council he soon walked astray and Judah suffered for it.

Blessings
Chareen