Introduction
“Little is known about the prophet Joel, although his concern for Judah and Jerusalem suggests that he ministered in Judah. Joel told of a locust plague that struck Israel and which, he said, foreshadowed the “day of the Lord.”
The Day of the Lord was a time greatly anticipated by the Israelites because they believed that God would then judge the nations and restore Israel to her former glory. Yet, said Joel, God would punish not only the nations but unfaithful Israel as well.
Joel urged everyone to repent, and told of a day when God would “pour out [his] Spirit on all flesh” (2:28). That day arrived on the first Christian Pentecost (Acts 2:17). While the date of the book is uncertain (ninth to sixth century B.C.), its message is valid for all time.”
The word of the Lord that came to Joel, son of Pethuel:
An Invasion of Locusts
This book starts out with an invasion of locusts that were destroying everything in their path. It says how the drunkards were to weep and wail. “Although Joel calls for repentance, drunkenness is the only specific sin mentioned in the book. It suggests a self-indulgent life-style pursued by those who value material things more than spiritual.”
Various segments of the community were called to mourn, but the destruction of the crops and fields and by the locusts left the vines bare and therefore no wine for the drunkards.
The locusts left nothing that could be offered as sacrifice. The grain offering and the wine offering were both daily rituals that could no longer be done. Not only was the locusts destroying everything, but drought was also prevalent leaving things in even more destruction.
A Call to Repentance
Consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
Alas for the day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
and as destruction from the
Almighty it comes.
-Joel 1:14-15
Fasting was required on the Day of Atonement and also practiced in times of calamity. It was a sign of penitence and humility.
The day of the Lord occurs five times in Joel and is the dominant theme. Sometimes abbreviated as “that day,” the term often refers to the decisive intervention of God. It can also refer to the Christ’s coming to consummate history.
When the term is not used for divine judgments in the midst of history, it refers to the final day of the Lord, which generally has two aspects: (1) God’s triumph over and punishment of his enemies and (2) his granting of rest (security) and blessing to his people.
The Day of the Lord
Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming;
it is near,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
-Joel: 2:1-2
The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdrawn their shining.
The Lord utters his voice
before his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
he who executes his word is powerful.
For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome;
who can endure it?
-Joel 2:10-11
Return to the Lord
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
-Joel 2:12-13
All members of the community were called to repent, no one was exempt.
The Lord Had Pity
Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. He sent them grain, wine, and oil so they would be satisfied, and he no longer made them a reproach among the nations.
“Fear not, O land;
be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things!”
-Joel 2:21
The Lord sent rain and restored the land to what it was before the locusts.
“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.”
-Joel 2:26-27
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
“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 ole men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”
-Joel 2:28-29
“And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.” -Joel 2:30-32
The Lord Judges the Nations
The Lord was to restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem and would gather all the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There the Lord would enter into judgment with them on behalf of the people of His heritage Israel because they had scattered and divided up the land.
Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
-Joel 3:14-16
The Glorious Future of Judah
“And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
and a fountain shall come forth
from the house of the Lord
and water the Valley of Shittim…
But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,
for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
-Joel 3:17-21