From ancient times to the present day, God calls us to repentance so that we may convert to Him.
The Lord calls his people "come now and change your life and come back to me with all your heart, do it with fasting, cry and lament
Joel 2: 12-13
12 Therefore therefore now, saith Jehovah, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and weeping.
13 And lacerate your heart, and not your clothes; and turn to Jehovah your God; for he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and great in mercy, and repentant of punishment.
God is the eternal hope of the Christian, it is for this reason that if we are in communion with God, hope never abandons us. Even in the most extreme circumstances such as those caused by divine judgment we can turn our hearts to the Lord and find help and salvation
God never manifests himself in a cruel or vindictive way, on the contrary the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and great in mercy.
This prophetic warning is mainly addressed to spiritual leaders where repentance obviously makes itself felt as the highest priority since it first calls them to repent with all their hearts and then to face the sin of the people
The call to tear your heart and not your clothes alludes to a true repentance since tearing the clothes was a common practice in times of mourning and contrition, this symbolized a broken heart and a wounded spirit, however, today God does not want us to tear our clothes but let us tear our hearts to sincerize with it and turn away from evil
Here Joel calls Judah to experience what the symbolism evokes aching hearts and the confession of their sins and likewise God sends this new generation to tear your heart sincerely before him to obtain a true repentance of sin in order to be light in the midst of so much darkness