The Holy Spirit's presence in the end times.

 The Day of the Lord is twofold: 

1. It has great blessings for the redeemed.

2. It is great in judgment for the rebellious who refuse to repent.

We also speak of the narrow day of the Lord, which is the 24-hour day in which Jesus comes on the clouds and the broad day of the Lord which is from the beginning of the great tribulation until the end of the millennium.

Joel chapter two is an end time passage because it clearly says that it speaks about "the day of the Lord". 

Joel 2;1-2

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, but the Lord calls His people to be a light in the midst of the darkness!

Joel 2:12-14

Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

The Lord says, even now, though it is a day of darkness, "return to Me with all your heart!" The people of God is called to fast and pray and weep at that time, we may even start now. Because the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love! The Lord does not change in the end times, He doesn't stop being merciful and forgiving. The reason why He judges is because people refuse to repent, but when we repent, He may decide to relent and bless instead.

I am not saying that we can pray the end time judgments away completely, no! That will happen because there will be people who will never repent, and the antichrist system will be set up therefore God will come and destroy it, for good. What I'm saying is that for those who do repent and weep and turn to God, for us there will be a blessing! We have a calling to be intercessors in the end times; to repent and pray that God would fulfill His promises to Israel, we must pray for them that they will be saved and so His promises will be fulfilled.

Joel 2:15-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

Zephaniah 2:1-3

Gather together, yes, gather,   o shameless nation, before the decree takes effect —before the day passes away like chaff— before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord.

Those Who minister to the Lord (every believer in Jesus) are called to weep and ask the Lord to spare His people Israel, and everyone else in the nations who He have chosen. We are called to ask the Lord to save a remnant, so that His power will be seen! Zephaniah calls us to seek the Lord BEFORE the decree takes effect, that is the judgment in the end times. We should seek righteousness and humility BEFORE the Day of the Lord. 

When we do this, we might be hidden when judgments are released on the antichrist. When the judgments (not the wrath) of the book of Revelation happen, even believers will feel the effect, for example, if there is an earthquake it effects the righteous and the wicked, but I believe we can trust the Lord, based on this verse, to protect us. If you know this verse, you can at least ask the Lord to protect you against harm. Jesus' words still stand, that if we ask anything in His name, God will do it for us.  Habakkuk prayed: "in wrath remember mercy." (3:2) 

Joel 2:18-19

Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

After we have prayed, asking God not to make His people a reproach among the nations, the Bible actually says God will answer our prayer! After we prayed, then He will be jealous.

Joel 2:28-32

And it shall come to pass afterward, that 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 servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders 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 awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that 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.

Before the Day of the Lord, He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, but also during the tribulation, we know this because it will happen in the time when there is blood and fire and smoke, this speaks of war. In this time, everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved! So, the Day of the Lord is not a doomsday in which everyone on earth will be destroyed in the wrath of God. There will be salvation, and the Holy Spirit will still be working on earth! Even in Jerusalem, at the center of the war, people will survive! Because God never changes, He is merciful and desires that everyone come to repentance. This is the real reason for the judgments, to bring people to repentance, before His wrath comes and everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.

I love Habakkuk's response after He saw what would happen in the end times: He was afraid, He describes it as rottenness that entered his bones. His body trembled. He felt the fear before the judgments came, he says, so that he can rest in the day of trouble. He worked through the fear and meditated on what God said so that he could be at peace and rest in the middle of the storm. we can do the same.

Habakkuk 3:16

 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble...

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

Next post: https://gettingready7.blogspot.com/2026/01/israels-warrior-king.html

When will the wrath of God be poured out? https://gettingready7.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-43rd-month.html

God's promises to Israel:  https://gettingready7.blogspot.com/2025/06/gods-promises-to-israel.html