"...God, who has dealt wondrously with you"

I'll be off in a little while to my next one to one on Joel, so finally...I'm nearly caught up!!.. this is what we studied LAST week.

Joel 2:18-27 (ESV)

"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.
"I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land,his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.
"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
"Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God,for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
"The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
"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 again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else.And my people shall never again be put to shame."

So the passage is about what God will do when the people repent. It's kind of presumed that between verses 17 and 18, that the people have repented, and then this is what happened. FACT. The ESV writes it differently to the NIV because the ESV writes as historical events that happened, the NIV writes from Joels perspective more like... vs 18 "The the LORD will be jealous for his people..." But it's good to know that God's people did repent and God kept his promise from vs 14 "Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing." This is the amazing thing here I think, that when God relents, he doesn't just forgive them for what they've done and give them back what they had before, but he blesses them and gives them even more than before vs 19 "enough to satisfy you fully" and vs 26 "you will have plenty to eat, until you are full"

It's a parallel with how God treats us today, when we repent of our sin and turn to God for forgiveness, he doesn't just wipe out our sin and leave us kind of, at a neutral again, no he wipes out all of our sin past, present and future, and the credits JESUS' righteousness to us, so that we aren't just forgiven, but we are made perfect and blameless in his sight, and made heirs with Him!

"You shall ... praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you."