No! It angers God even more. The people were still sacrificing in the temple. They tore their clothes from time to time (as a sign of dismay). But there was no devoted heart in their serving of God. When you take sacred matters—sacrificial animals or offerings—into your own hands with a lukewarm, dutiful, and imperfect devotion, you have closed and cauterized your heart. Those signs and actions point to God’s love, but you use them without perfect loyalty. That clashes with one another. That was the sin in Joel’s days, and it unleashes God’s indescribable anger. You have then alienated yourself from (the service of) God. You are serving another god. We are warned (see, among others, Psalm 50:1–23)!
12 Maintenant encore, dit l'Eternel, Revenez à moi de tout votre cœur, Avec des jeûnes, avec des pleurs et des lamentations!