Rend Your Heart - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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Rend Your Heart

Joel 2

· 12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

· 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Intro: The rending of the clothes was an ancient practice during a time of great grief or emotional distress.

But in Joel 2, God was not interested in outward displays of grief or sorrow.

God was looking for a group of people that would go much further than outward demonstrations of repentance.

The people of God have learned out to act like they are getting close to God without actually doing it.

I began to look at the circumstances in which people in the Bible rent their garments, and found a fascinating correlation in our need today to rend our hearts.

There was a rending when…

I. An Incoming Report was Excruciating

Reuben rent his clothes upon finding Joseph gone from the pit.

· Genesis 37:29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

Joseph’s brothers rent their clothes when the cup was found in the feedsack of Benjamin.

Genesis 44

· 12 And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

· 13 Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

The leper upon discovering that he had leprosy.

· Leviticus 13:45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

In Job, he rent his mantle, and when his friends came, they rent theirs also.

· Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

· Job 2:12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.

Numbers 14

· 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

· 3 And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

· 4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

· 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.

· 6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

· 7 And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.

In every one of these cases, the rending of the clothing was done at the hearing of bad news.

In each of these instances, when the horrible news was heard, their response was the same.

They rent their garments.

We have heard the bad news.

We have seen what is happening in our churches, in our schools, in our homes and in our country.

But we are not rending our hearts!!

We are not disturbed enough to “…turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:”

What is it going to take to get God’s people to rend their hearts?

How bad does it have to get?

· When was the last time we actually fasted?

· When was the last time we actually wept?

· When was the last time we actually mourned?

There was a rending when…

II. An Intimate Relationship was Extinguished

Jacob rent his clothes when he heard that Joseph was eaten by wild beasts.

Genesis 37

· 32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

· 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

· 34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

David rent his clothes when he heard that Saul was dead.

2 Samuel 1

· 2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

· 3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.

· 4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

· 11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:

David commanded the people to rend their clothes when he heard that Abner was dead.

2 Samuel 3

· 30 So Joab and Abishai his brother slew Abner, because he had slain their brother Asahel at Gibeon in the battle.

· 31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.

In many other cases, the news that a loved one had died resulted in the rending of the garments.

That loved one would no longer grace the house with their presence.

That loved one would no longer be around to hear them talking.

The fellowship and the communion would no longer exist because their loved one was gone.

There was now going to be a void – an emptiness where that loved one once was.

APPLICATION:

I don’t know any other way to say it, but the glory of God has departed many a house of worship in America.

God is no longer hearing our prayers.

The fellowship and communion with God has been broken by our apathy and our coldness toward spiritual things.

We ought to be rending our hearts over the loss of God’s presence and His glory in our churches.

Many a Christian home has no presence of God.

Most churches have absolutely no moving of God in their midst.

There are few Christians today that even have a prayer life.

God has been kicked out of our schools.

He’s been removed from our universities and colleges.

He has been kicked out of the halls of Congress.

There is more cocaine in the West Wing today than there is any traces of Almighty God.

We should be rending our hearts over the intimate relationship with God that has been extinguished in this country!

That intimate relationship with God has been extinguished by our sin; by our disobedience.

There was a rending when…

III. An Imminent Retribution was Expected

When the Book of the Law was found in the temple.

2 Chronicles 34

· 19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

· 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king’s, saying,

· 21 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do

When the Ark of God was taken.

1 Samuel 4

· 10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

· 11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

· 12 And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head.

There is no question today – God is going to judge this nation!

We are in big trouble!

With the coldness, the apathy, the deafness and numbness of God’s people, we are in serious trouble.

With the abominations that are in this nation increasing every day, God cannot and will not turn a blind eye.

Conclusion: Why should we rend our hearts? Because when God sees it, He may change his mind!

· Joel 2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

1 Kings 21

· 20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

· 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

· 21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity…

· 23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

· 24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air

· 27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

· 28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

· 29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

· 2 Chronicles 34:27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

Closing Truths: The rending of the heart will have these same aspects as the rending of the garment:

• The Rending of the Garment was PERSONAL. It was done by the one wearing the garment; not others.

• The Rending of the Garment was PURPOSEFUL. It was not done accidentally; but on purpose.

• The Rending of the Garment was PASSIONATE. Every time we find this in the Bible, it was the result of great pain.

• The Rending of the Garment was PUBLIC. It was done as a public display of an inward pain.

· The Rending of the Garment was PERMENANT. It would never be the same again.