Joel

Joel

Book Outhne

Key theme: “The day of the LORD” (; , , ; )

Key verses: ,

I. The Immediate Day of the Lord ()

A. Hear! (elders, citizens) ()

B. Wake up! (drunkards) ()

C. Weep! (farmers) ()

D. Call a fast! (priests) ()

II. The Imminent Day of the Lord ()

A. The invading army, like locusts ()

B. The call to repent ()

C. The promise of restoration ()

III. The Ultimate Day of the Lord ()

A. Before that day—Spirit poured out ()

B. During that day—judgment poured out ()

C. After that day—blessing poured out ()

Book Overview

Each prophet had his own unique approach to his own special message. Hosea’s message was an application of his sad domestic trials, emphasizing God’s jealous love; but Joel’s message was an interpretation of a national calamity—a plague of locusts and a drought—and emphasized God’s glorious kingdom.

Joel may well have been the first of the writing prophets; he probably ministered in Judah during the reign of King Joash (835–796 B.C.). We find the record in and . Joash came to the throne at the age of seven, and Jehoiada the priest was his mentor. This may explain why Joel says nothing about the king, since Joash was learning the job.

Joel’s major theme is the “day of the LORD” and the need for God’s people to be prepared. “The day of the LORD” is used in Scripture to refer to different periods when God sent judgment to His people, but the main emphasis is on the future “day of the LORD” when the nations will be judged and Christ shall return to set up His glorious kingdom.

Joel refers to three important events, each of which he calls a “day of the LORD.” He sees the plague of locusts as an immediate day of the Lord (), the invasion of Judah by Assyria as an imminent day of the Lord (), and the final judgment of the world as the ultimate day of the Lord (). In the first, the locusts are a metaphorical army; in the second, the locusts symbolize a real army; in the third, the locusts aren’t seen at all, and the armies are very real and very dangerous.

“Be Transformed”

The prophet Joel may have written what might best be described as a prophetic memo, but the effect of his three short chapters has cast a long shadow on biblical history. The first public sermon preached after the resurrection of Jesus Christ used as its text . When Peter stood to preach to the curious crowd on Pentecost, it doesn’t appear that he had to pause and unroll a scroll to consult Joel. He already had the words memorized.

Pentecost clearly demonstrated that the promised Advocate (the Holy Spirit) would also be an agitator! Not only would He make His presence felt and known to believers of both genders and all ages, but He would usher in a time of powerful spiritual effectiveness. As is often the case with God’s resources, what He has provided we don’t necessarily put to good use or even its best use. How often do we, as individual believers or gathered as local churches, truly rely on the outpoured Spirit as we go about living? How often do we actually depend on what God has promised rather than simply referring to it in passing while we make decisions based on our “best” thinking? Joel faithfully speaks to us a word of warning that points to reliance on God’s Spirit rather than those things that can be easily devoured by the locusts of time and worldly values. Joel’s words continually intrude on our thinking, whether in good times or bad, “So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm” (). Joel calls us back to right living before God.

The Land Laid Waste

And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!

Has anything like this happened in your days,

Or even in the days of your fathers?

3Tell your children about it,

Let your children tell their children,

And their children another generation.

4What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;

What the swarming locust left, the crawhng locust has eaten;

And what the crawhng locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.

And wail, all you drinkers of wine,

Because of the new wine,

For it has been cut off from your mouth.

Strong, and without number;

His teeth are the teeth of a lion,

And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.

7He has laid waste My vine,

And ruined My fig tree;

He has stripped it bare and thrown it away;

Its branches are made white.

For the husband of her youth.

9The grain offering and the drink offering

Have been cut off from the house of the LORD;

The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD.

10The field is wasted,

The land mourns;

For the grain is ruined,

The new wine is dried up,

The oil fails.

11Be ashamed, you farmers,

Wail, you vinedressers,

For the wheat and the barley;

Because the harvest of the field has perished.

12The vine has dried up,

And the fig tree has withered;

The pomegranate tree,

The palm tree also,

And the apple tree—

All the trees of the field are withered;

Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.

Mourning for the Land

Wail, you who minister before the altar;

Come, lie all night in sackcloth,

You who minister to my God;

For the grain offering and the drink offering

Are withheld from the house of your God.

Call a sacred assembly;

Gather the elders

And all the inhabitants of the land

Into the house of the LORD your God,

And cry out to the LORD.

15Alas for the day!

For the day of the LORD is at hand;

It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.

16Is not the food cut off before our eyes,

Joy and gladness from the house of our God?

17The seed shrivels under the clods,

Storehouses are in shambles;

Barns are broken down,

For the grain has withered.

The herds of cattle are restless,

Because they have no pasture;

Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.

19O LORD, to You I cry out;

For fire has devoured the open pastures,

And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.

For the water brooks are dried up,

And fire has devoured the open pastures.

The Day of the LORD

And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;

For the day of the LORD is coming,

For it is at hand:

2A day of darkness and gloominess,

A day of clouds and thick darkness,

Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.

A people come, great and strong,

The like of whom has never been;

Nor will there ever be any such after them,

Even for many successive generations.

3A fire devours before them,

And behind them a flame burns;

The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,

And behind them a desolate wilderness;

Surely nothing shall escape them.

4Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;

And like swift steeds, so they run.

5With a noise like chariots

Over mountaintops they leap,

Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,

Like a strong people set in battle array.

6Before them the people writhe in pain;

All faces are drained of color.

7They run like mighty men,

They climb the wall like men of war;

Every one marches in formation,

And they do not break ranks.

8They do not push one another;

Every one marches in his own column.

Though they lunge between the weapons,

They are not cut down.

9They run to and fro in the city,

They run on the wall;

They climb into the houses,

They enter at the windows like a thief.

10The earth quakes before them,

The heavens tremble;

The sun and moon grow dark,

And the stars diminish their brightness.

For His camp is very great;

For strong is the One who executes His word.

For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible;

Who can endure it?

A Call to Repentance

“Turn to Me with all your heart,

With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

13So rend your heart, and not your garments;

Return to the LORD your God,

For He is gracious and merciful,

Slow to anger, and of great kindness;

And He relents from doing harm.

14Who knows if He will turn and relent,

And leave a blessing behind Him—

A grain offering and a drink offering

For the LORD your God?

Consecrate a fast,

Call a sacred assembly;

16Gather the people,

Sanctify the congregation,

Assemble the elders,

Gather the children and nursing babes;

Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,

And the bride from her dressing room.

Weep between the porch and the altar;

Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD,

And do not give Your heritage to reproach,

That the nations should rule over them.

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’ ”

The Land Refreshed

And pity His people.

19The LORD will answer and say to His people,

“Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,

And you will be satisfied by them;

I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

20“But I will remove far from you the northern army,

And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,

With his face toward the eastern sea

And his back toward the western sea;

His stench will come up,

And his foul odor will rise,

Because he has done monstrous things.”

21Fear not, O land;

Be glad and rejoice,

For the LORD has done marvelous things!

22Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;

For the open pastures are springing up,

And the tree bears its fruit;

The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.

And rejoice in the LORD your God;

For He has given you the former rain faithfully,

And He will cause the rain to come down for you—

The former rain,

And the latter rain in the first month.

24The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,

And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,

The crawhng locust,

The consuming locust,

And the chewing locust,

My great army which I sent among you.

26You 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 be put to shame.

27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:

I am the LORD your God

And there is no other.

My people shall never be put to shame.

God’s Spirit Poured Out

28“And it shall come to pass afterward

That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your old men shall dream dreams,

Your young men shall see visions.

I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:

Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

31The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

That whoever calls on the name of the LORD

Shall be saved.

For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,

As the LORD has said,

Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.

God Judges the Nations

When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,

2I will also gather all nations,

And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;

And I will enter into judgment with them there

On account of My people, My heritage Israel,

Whom they have scattered among the nations;

They have also divided up My land.

3They have cast lots for My people,

Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,

And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

4“Indeed, what have you to do with Me,

O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?

Will you retaliate against Me?

But if you retaliate against Me,

Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;

5Because you have taken My silver and My gold,

And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.

6Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem

You have sold to the Greeks,

That you may remove them far from their borders.

7“Behold, I will raise them

Out of the place to which you have sold them,

And will return your retaliation upon your own head.

8I will sell your sons and your daughters

Into the hand of the people of Judah,

And they will sell them to the Sabeans,

To a people far off;

For the LORD has spoken.”

“Prepare for war!

Wake up the mighty men,

Let all the men of war draw near,

Let them come up.

And your pruning hooks into spears;

Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ”

11Assemble and come, all you nations,

And gather together all around.

Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.

12“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;

For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

13Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

Come, go down;

For the winepress is full,

The vats overflow—

For their wickedness is great.”

14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!

For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15The sun and moon will grow dark,

And the stars will diminish their brightness.

And utter His voice from Jerusalem;

The heavens and earth will shake;

But the LORD will be a shelter for His people,

And the strength of the children of Israel.

Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.

Then Jerusalem shall be holy,

And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”

God Blesses His People

That the mountains shall drip with new wine,

The hills shall flow with milk,

And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water;

A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD

And water the Valley of Acacias.

19“Egypt shall be a desolation,

And Edom a desolate wilderness,

Because of violence against the people of Judah,

For they have shed innocent blood in their land.

And Jerusalem from generation to generation.

For the LORD dwells in Zion.”

Annotations for Joel

In a crisis we can hear all kinds of voices interpreting what’s going on and telling us what to do. The optimists will say, “This crisis isn’t going to last. Be brave!” The pessimists will sob, “It’s going to get worse and there’s no escape! We’re done for!” The alarmists will see the enemy behind every tree, and the scoffers will question the news reports and shrug their shoulders saying, “What difference does it make anyway?” But Joel was a realist who looked at life from the standpoint of the message he received from God.

Joel addressed the leaders of the people first for probably two reasons: They had long experience and could authenticate what he was saying, and they were respected citizens in the land. With their support, Joel wasn’t just a voice crying in the wilderness. They agreed with the prophet that the nation faced a catastrophe of monumental proportion such as they had never seen before. It was something people would tell to their children and grandchildren for years to come.

Except for pointing out the insincerity of some of the worshipers (, ), drunkenness is the only sin that Joel actually named. This was a serious sin, however, that the prophets often condemned (; ). Perhaps the drunkards represented all the careless people in the land whose only interest was sinful pleasure.

Joel compared the locusts to an invading nation and to hungry lions with sharp teeth (see , ). They attacked the vines and the fig trees, two plants essential to Jewish life. Having one’s own vineyard and fig trees was a symbol of success and contentment in the East.

The prophet named some of the crops that had been ruined: the grain (wheat and barley), the new wine, the olive oil, and the fruit from the pomegranate, palm, and apple trees. From season to season, the locusts ate whatever was produced, and the drought kept the soil from producing anything more. The flocks and herds and their pastures were also included (vv. ). All that the farmers could do was express their grief and lament like an engaged girl whose fiancé had died. It seemed a hopeless situation.

Not only were the people in need, but so was the temple. No one could bring the proper sacrifices because no meal, wine, or animals were available. Joel called the priests to lament and pray, including those who ministered at night ().

In addition to humbling themselves and lamenting, the people also had to pray. This is what God required in His covenant with His people (, ; , ; ). Joel didn’t ask God for anything; he simply told the Lord of the suffering of the land, the beasts, and the people, knowing that God would do what was right. “Fire” (, ) refers to the drought, which had left the land looking as though it had been burned.

“How the animals groan!” This reminds us that all creation is “groaning” because of the bondage of sin in the world (; ). Creation longs for that day when the Creator will return to earth and set it free from sin’s shackles, and then “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” ().

Too often we drift along from day to day, taking our blessings for granted, until God permits a natural calamity to occur and remind us of our total dependence on Him. When water is rationed and food is scarce and prices for necessities escalate, we discover the poverty of our artificial civilization and our throwaway society. Suddenly, necessities become luxuries, and luxuries become burdens. God didn’t have to send great battalions to Judah to bring the people to their knees. All he needed was a swarm of little insects, and they did the job. Sometimes He uses bacteria or viruses so tiny that we need a microscope to see them. He is the “LORD of hosts” () and “the Almighty” (), and none can stay His powerful hand.

Now that he had their attention, Joel told the people to stop looking around at the locusts and to start looking ahead to the fulfillment of what the locust plague symbolized: the invasion of a fierce army from the north (vv. , ). Unless Joel had some other attack in mind, about which we know nothing, he was probably referring to the Assyrian invasion, during the reign of King Hezekiah, which took place in 701 B.C. ().

This was real war, so Joel commanded the watchmen to sound the alarm and warn the people. The Israelites used trumpets to call assemblies, announce special events, mark religious festivals, and warn the people that war had been declared (; ; ; ). In this case, they blew the trumpet to announce war and to call a fast (). Their weapons against the invading enemy would be repentance and prayer; the Lord would fight for them.

Joel tells us that invasion is “the day of the LORD” (vv. , ), meaning a very special period that God had planned and would direct. “The LORD gives voice before His army” (v. ) pictures God leading the stream of locusts. God had brought the locusts to the land, and God would allow the Assyrians to invade the land (; ). He would permit them to ravage Judah just as the locusts had done, only the Assyrians would also abuse and kill people.

Joel made clear that the Lord would be in charge of this invasion; it would be His army fulfilling His Word. God can use even heathen nations to accomplish His purposes on this earth (; ). The awesome cosmic disturbances described in was the prophet’s way of announcing that the Lord was in charge, for these signs would accompany “the day of the LORD” (; see ).

The internal command to “rend your hearts” (v. ) is contrasted with the external and possibly superficial action of tearing clothing (v. ). Once again, Joel was calling for a solemn assembly where God’s people would repent of their sins and seek the Lord’s help. The nation didn’t know when this invasion would occur, so they needed to turn to the Lord immediately. But they had to be sincere. We can easily participate in a religious ceremony and weep and wail, but humbly confessing our sins and bringing to God a repentant heart is something else.

All the people were to assemble and then turn to the Lord. This included elders and children, nursing babies and priests, and even the newlyweds who were not supposed to be disturbed during their first year of marriage, not even because of war ().

The prophet even gave a prayer to use that presents two reasons why God should deliver them: (1) Israel’s covenant privileges as God’s heritage and (2) the glory of God’s name before the other nations. Joel was appealing to a precedent from their history. Moses had used these same arguments when he had pleaded for the people (; ) in the wilderness.

Next, Joel looked beyond the invasion to the time when God would heal His land and restore His blessings to His people. Just as God had blown the locusts into the depths of the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, so He would drive the invading army out of the land. In one night, God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, and Sennacherib went home a defeated king ().

Without the former rain (March–April) and the latter rain (October–November), the land could not bear its crops; and one way God would discipline His people was to shut off the rain (). But the Lord promised to give such bumper crops that the harvest would more than compensate for all the people lost during the locust plague and the drought. “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawhng locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust” (). The Lord gave His word of promise to all who return to the Him with sincere and broken hearts.

Catalyst

Joel promised that before the “day of the LORD” begins, a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit would occur, accompanied by signs in the heavens and on the earth. During the Old Testament era, the Holy Spirit was given only to special people who had been given special tasks, like Moses and the prophets (), the judges (; ; ), and great leaders like David (). But the promise God gave through Joel declared that the Spirit would come upon “all flesh,” which includes men and women, young and old, Jew and Gentile. “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (; see , ).

Certainly the church today needs a new filling of the Spirit of God. Apart from the ministry of the Spirit, believers can’t witness with power (), understand the Scriptures (), glorify Christ (), pray in the will of God (, ), or develop Christian character (, ). We need to be praying for revival, a deeper working of the Spirit in God’s people, leading to confession of sin, repentance, forgiveness, and unity.

Go to the

“In those days” began with the ministry of Christ on earth () and will conclude with “the day of the LORD,” that period of worldwide judgment that is also called “the anguish” (or “tribulation,” , ) and “the time of Jacob’s trouble” ().

When it comes to Israel, “the last days” will involve both tribulation and exaltation (; ), a time of trouble followed by a time of triumph and glory. As far as the church is concerned, “the last days” involve perilous times of satanic opposition in the world and apostasy in the church (; ; ; ; , ). Many Christians believe that during those trying last days, the Lord will send a great moving of His Spirit, and many sinners will turn to the Savior before the awful “day of the LORD” is ushered in.

Israel’s situation in the world will be dramatically changed, and God will deal justly with the nations of the world for the way they have treated His people Israel. Joel listed some of the sins that Gentiles had committed against the Jews: scattering them among the nations; selling them into slavery; treating them like cheap merchandise for which people cast lots; plundering the land of its wealth; and taking what belonged to the Lord and using it for their own gods. Of course, many of the tragic experiences that had come to the Jewish people were disciplines from God because Israel had violated His covenant, but the Gentile nations had gone beyond discipline to exploitation.

Joel compared the battle to the harvesting of grain and grapes, when God would defeat the enemy as easily as a farmer wields a sickle or plucks grapes and crushes them to make wine (v. ). has a similar image, when God reaps the harvest of the earth and “the vines of the earth” and crushes armies like clusters of grapes.

Joel commanded the nations to arm for battle, even to the point of turning farm tools into weapons, but and describe a different scene: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (). But Isaiah and Micah were describing the future kingdom, when people would no longer learn about war and no longer need weapons; while Joel was describing the battle that would usher in that peaceful kingdom.

Like a fierce lion, God will “roar from Zion” and conquer the enemy (see , ; ). When the Lamb becomes a Lion, the nations had better tremble (). The lost nations of the earth will perish when He utters His voice in judgment, but to His own people the Lord will be a refuge and a stronghold. “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain” (, ).

Mount Zion, on which Jerusalem was built and the temple stood, was a very special place to the Jews because that was the place God had chosen for His own dwelling (; ; ). When the Babylonians destroyed the temple, the Jews prayed for the time when their temple would be restored and God’s glory would return. “For God will save Zion and build the towns of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it” ().

Jerusalem is the only city of antiquity that wasn’t built near a great river. Rome had the Tiber; Nineveh was built near the Tigris and Babylon on the Euphrates; and the great Egyptian cities were built near the Nile. But in the new kingdom, Jerusalem will have a river that proceeds from the temple of God. “And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur” ().

, What good would a restored land be if it were populated with a sinful people? God’s people must be cleansed before they can enter into the promised kingdom. God promised to cleanse His people of their sins, forgive them, and restore them to Himself. “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” ().

What a wonderful way to close a book: “For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the LORD dwells in Zion” The prophet Ezekiel had watched as the glory of God departed from the temple that was about to be destroyed (; ; , ; ), and then he saw that glory return to the new temple in the restored nation (). He saw a new Jerusalem that had been given a new name: “The LORD Is There”—in Hebrew, Yahweh Shammah ().

The prophecy of Joel began with tragedy, the invasion of the locusts, but it closed with triumph, the reign of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (). May we never lose the wonder of His glorious kingdom!

Joel 1

1:1

1:2

1:3

1:4

1:4

1:4 Exact identity of these locusts is unknown.

1:5 ;

1:5

1:6 , ,

1:6

1:7

1:8

1:8

1:9 ;

1:9

1:10

1:10

1:11 ,

1:12

1:12

1:13

1:14 ,

1:14

1:14

1:15 []

1:15

1:16

1:16

1:18

1:18 Septuagint and Vulgate read are made desolate.

1:19 []

1:19

1:20 ;

1:20 ;

Joel 2

2:1

2:1

2:1 []

2:2

2:2 ; ,

2:2 ;

2:3

2:3

2:4

2:5

2:6

2:6 Septuagint, Targum, and Vulgate read gather blackness.

2:7

2:8 Literally his own highway

2:8 That is, they are not halted by losses

2:9

2:9

2:10

2:10 ;

2:11

2:11

2:11

2:11 []

2:12

2:13 [; ]

2:13

2:13 []

2:14

2:14

2:14 ,

2:15

2:15

2:16

2:16

2:17

2:17 ,

2:17

2:18 [; , ]

2:19 []

2:20

2:20 ,

2:20

2:22

2:23

2:23

2:23 Or the teacher of righteousness

2:25 ;

2:25 Compare

2:26

2:26

2:27 ,

2:27 [, ]

2:28

2:28

2:28

2:28

2:29 []

2:30

2:31 , ;

2:31 [, , ]

2:32

2:32

2:32 []

Joel 3

3:1

3:2

3:2

3:3

3:4

3:7

3:8

3:8

3:8 Literally Shebaites (compare and )

3:9

3:10 []

3:10

3:11

3:12

3:13

3:13

3:13 []

3:14

3:16 [, ]

3:17

3:18

3:21

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