I like how the two readings compliment one another today... In Joel 3 we see the promise that the Lord will rescue His people. Joel 3:16 says, "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."
It's a scary time for the wicked... at this time, they are going to cry for the rocks to fall on them... but for the righteous and redeemed, the Lord will be their hope and safety. He will deliver! So beautiful!
Ellen White talks about this serious and dreadful day when all the earth will shake:
Never since man was created had there been witnessed such a manifestation of divine power as when the law was proclaimed from Sinai. “The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.” Psalm 68:8. Amid the most terrific convulsions of nature the voice of God, like a trumpet, was heard from the cloud. The mountain was shaken from base to summit, and the hosts of Israel, pale and trembling with terror, lay upon their faces upon the earth. He whose voice then shook the earth has declared, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” Hebrews 12:26. Says the Scripture, “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation;” “and the heavens and the earth shall shake.” Jeremiah 25:30; Joel 3:16. In that great coming day, the heaven itself shall depart “as a scroll when it is rolled together.” Revelation 6:14. And every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place. “The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.” Isaiah 24:20. (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 340)Switching to Revelation 5, I was smiling as I read about the Lord being a Lion and a Lamb. Again, reading the words from Inspiration, helps bring this chapter to greater clarity. Regarding the lion and the lamb, she writes:
The Saviour is presented before John under the symbols of “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and of “a Lamb as it had been slain.” Revelation 5:5, 6. These symbols represent the union of omnipotent power and self-sacrificing love. The Lion of Judah, so terrible to the rejectors of His grace, will be the Lamb of God to the obedient and faithful. The pillar of fire that speaks terror and wrath to the transgressor of God’s law is a token of light and mercy and deliverance to those who have kept His commandments. The arm strong to smite the rebellious will be strong to deliver the loyal. Everyone who is faithful will be saved. (Acts of the Apostles, p. 589)Praise the Lord for this encouragement. We should memorize these passages and these verses for the coming days of trouble...
Tomorrow's Reading: Amos 1-2 and Revelation 6
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