Waking Up
Verse 12 heralds the dawn of a new day. Time to wake up. There is breakfast to get. There are things to do. Other people to consider. Life must go on. Until the day before yesterday all was darkness and gloom. Today there is a new feel in the air. Nothing has changed and the new feeling is sure to ebb and flow, but at least it is a beginning. We are getting a grip on things.
‘Returning’ (vv 12-14) provides an opportunity for taking stock. What does it mean? What does it not mean? It doesn’t mean accepting that what happened was our fault (or anybody else’s) nor does it mean a return to everything as it was before. It’s more a change of heart or attitude.
It may mean coming to terms with the realisation that we are not in control of everything and never were — perhaps even a gentle rebuke that that is what we wanted it to be. Most likely it means coming to terms with the fact that right now there is something we can do and we have to get on with it even if it is painful and tugs at our heart strings (vv 12-13).
This may then give us a new perception of God and what he wants. He is not quite as we thought. In Joel’s world, like loving parents responding to the pleas of their children, God might even be persuaded to change his mind (v 14). In our world, once you have been through a crisis with someone you see them differently. It isn’t that God changes but that we perceive him differently and have a new appreciation of where we fit into his plan.
After what has happened rituals and ceremonies take on new meaning. The ‘solemn assembly’ in v 15 is different from that in 1: 14. That was a desperation measure, a one-off. This is a return to routine. That was a bid for escape or ‘a quick fix’. This is assuming new responsibilities. Time to pick up the threads and move on, and the priests and ministers, the people responsible for holding things together, must give a lead.