The Book of Joel
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Transcript
Background and Introduction
Background and Introduction
Authorship and Setting
Authorship and Setting
Joel’s name means “YHWH is God.”
The Bible does not mention Joel, nor does his book contain any date markers.
An early date places likely it during beginning King Joash’s reign (830s).
Theological Theme
Theological Theme
God’s Divine Power to Judge and Restore His People.
Structure
Structure
I. Wake Up Call – Recent Disaster (1:1-20)
II. Day of YHWH’s Destruction (2:1-11)
III. Call to True Repentance (2:12-17)
IV. Material Restoration (2:18-27)
V. Spiritual Restoration (2:28-32)
VI. National Restoration (3:1-21)
I. Wake Up Call – Recent Disaster (1:1-20)
I. Wake Up Call – Recent Disaster (1:1-20)
1. Locust Infestation (1:1-7)
1. Locust Infestation (1:1-7)
Joel begins his prophecy by drawing a lesson from the recent locust plague, verse 2,
The word of Yahweh that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
Hear this, O elders, And give ear, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days?
Recount about it to your sons, And let your sons recount about it to their sons, And their sons to the next generation.
What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has consumed; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has consumed; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has consumed.
Joel interprets history through a Deuteronomic lens, linking the locust plague to the curse in Deuteronomy 28:38 for Israel’s sins.
Just verses later, these curses culminate in exile.
The plague also recalls God’s judgment on Egypt during the Exodus, emphasizing its historical significance
The locusts came in four waves (v. 4), devastating every crop.
Why four? While three signifies completeness, four extends destruction beyond totality.
The first wave stripped trees bare,
the second devoured the bark,
the third consumed the trunks and dry grass,
and the final wave ate whatever was left by the previous swarms.
This was a catastrophic and terrifying judgment.
In verses 5-7, Joel reflects on the devastation caused by the locusts and explores the spiritual significance of this dreadful plague.
Awake, drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine That is cut off from your mouth.
For a nation has come up against my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, And it has the fangs of a lioness.
It has made my vine a desolation And my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.
Joel calls on the drunkards because they love wine, but the locusts have destroyed its source, cutting off their pleasure.
His aim is not to console them but to emphasize a greater reality:
a foreign army of locusts will ravage YHWH’s land, laying waste to His people’s home.
They will destroy His vine and fig tree— the symbols of Israel’s spiritual health and state of blessing.
White Tree of Gondor
The vine will first be stripped of its strength and then utterly ruined.
Joel urges the people to pause their cleanup and recognize the impending disaster: their national symbol, the vine, has been decimated by the locusts.
If the vine is destroyed, so too will they be.
2. Wailing Over the Disaster (1:8-13)
2. Wailing Over the Disaster (1:8-13)
In verses 8-13, Joel urges the nation to respond to the impact and message of this terrible disaster. In verse 8, he uses a powerful metaphor to begin,
Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.
Israel's mourning should reflect the destruction caused by the locusts and the impending damage.
They should grieve like a bride mourning her groom on their wedding day.
No grief is more dreadful or tragic than that; Israel, this is the sorrow you must bear.
In verse 9, he highlights another dire implication of the locust plague.
The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off From the house of Yahweh. The priests mourn, The ministers of Yahweh.
The field is destroyed; The land mourns, For the grain is destroyed, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails.
With everything gone, there is nothing for sacrifice.
We don’t rely on a sacrificial system in the New Covenant, as Christ’s perfect sacrifice grants full atonement for our sins and direct communion with God.
But in Joel’s time, no sacrifice meant no worship or communion with God.
The Israelites knew YHWH was sovereign over their provision, especially agriculture. If sacrifices ceased due to lack of resources, it signified a rupture in their relationship with Him.
Though He still speaks through His prophet, their communion is disrupted.
This plague is unparalleled, demanding a spiritual response beyond survival and cleanup.
In verse 13, Joel summons the priests. This disaster has spiritual ramifications, and the response requires the people's spiritual leaders.
Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.
This is the language of repentance.
The priests are the first to wear sackcloth—a rough, uncomfortable garment of goat hair—symbolizing shame and lament.
Lamenting often involved beating one’s breast, and the sackcloth intensified the pain.
They are also called to wail, like a bride mourning her groom.
Their mourning is not limited to the day; it must continue even through the night, an unceasing expression of grief.
3. Repenting Over the Disaster (1:14-20)
3. Repenting Over the Disaster (1:14-20)
In verse 14, the priests are to assemble the nation's leaders and all the people.
Set apart a fast as holy, Call for a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of Yahweh your God, And cry out to Yahweh.
Imagine the starving people’s reaction to this call to fast—they have little to eat, yet Joel asks them to abstain.
Fasting would be the last thing on their minds.
Yet, he calls for a solemn assembly, a day of restraint when all work ceases.
No clean up, no replanting, no going to the storehouse.
Together, they must cry out to YHWH—
not just a prayer but a desperate, pleading call to their covenant God, trusting in His faithful lovingkindness.
Their cry is driven by fear and the weight of their crisis.
In verse 15, Joel reveals the reason for his dread and his serious command to the priests and elders,
Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Joel reaches the climax of his message, conveying urgency.
Likely written soon after Obadiah, his audience would have been shocked—
Obadiah spoke of the Day of YHWH as Israel’s salvation and His kingdom’s establishment on Mount Zion.
Yet Joel exclaims, “Alas!”— a warning that judgment comes first.
This disaster is a signpost of the coming Day of YHWH, when He will judge all nations, including Israel.
Though not yet here, it is near, creating urgency.
Joel does not specify when, only that the locust plague foreshadows that final day of destruction.
YHWH’s wrath is imminent—therefore, put on sackcloth, lament, and wail.
In verses 16-18, we read of the unavoidable nature of God’s wrath,
Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God?
The seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate; The barns are pulled down, For the grain is dried up.
How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer.
To You, O Yahweh, I cry; For fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
Even the beasts of the field pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
Food is gone, offerings have ceased, and joy has vanished from God’s house—there is nothing to celebrate.
In verse 17, replanting is futile; storing grain or maintaining barns is pointless.
In verse 18, even the animals lament: “How the beasts groan! The cattle are perplexed, for there is no pasture; even the sheep suffer.”
Imagine the sound of cattle groaning after just one day without food
even sheep, known to survive on scarce vegetation, cry out in hunger.
In verses 19-20, Joel concludes by lamenting alongside the people,
To You, O Yahweh, I cry; For fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field.
Even the beasts of the field pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has consumed the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel was the first to connect the current locust plague with the future Day of YHWH.
It is fitting that he is the first to respond because, in doing so, he not only verifies his claims but also serves as a guide for the people on how to repent.
Out of concern for His people, a zeal for the continued worship of YHWH in the Temple, and compassion for the innocent animals, Joel responds with lament and requests that God relent.
He is the only one with the power to relent and provide relief, for He alone brought the destruction.
He calls God by His covenant-keeping name, appealing to God’s faithfulness.
The Prophet personally beseeches the eternally existing One and the Persistently Present One.
II. Day of YHWH’s Destruction (2:1-11)
II. Day of YHWH’s Destruction (2:1-11)
Indeed, the question Israel asks after hearing Joel’s proclamation that they will be involved in the judgment of the Day of YHWH is: How severe will this be? Joel responds with a declaration. Verse 1,
Blow a trumpet in Zion, And make a loud shout on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of Yahweh is coming; Surely it is near,
The trumpet signaled alarm when danger approached.
Zion, the city of promise, had faced attacks but never a fierce invasion like the one Joel describes.
The nation must tremble, for before the Day of YHWH brings triumph, it first brings dread—it is undoubtedly approaching.
In verse 2, we see that this day will be one of unparalleled power,
A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of clouds and dense gloom. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a numerous and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it For the years from generation to generation.
Thick darkness and gloom often accompany theophanies, such as at Mount Sinai.
This language also refers to the darkness of the ninth plague, when no celestial bodies were visible.
Like black hole darkness, the locusts once blocked the sun, but on the eschatological Day of YHWH, the sun and stars will fade entirely.
Only enough light remains to reveal the vast, unprecedented army bringing destruction.
In his excellent commentary on Joel, retired TMS professor Irv Busenitz writes,
The locust plague was a precursor of a greater day to come. It is unnecessary to insert an eighth century BC Assyrian invasion into the text, thereby complicating the picture. As the locusts have done, operating providentially at the behest of the divine Commander, so the nations’ armies, carrying out the will of the Sovereign One as well, will execute His will in that eschatological Day of Yahweh. ‘The extraordinary contemporary event therefore points to the proclamation of a revolutionary final event.[1]
Indeed, this makes sense when considered in light of the post-exilic prophet Zechariah, who states in Zechariah 12,
The oracle of the word of Yahweh concerning Israel. Thus declares Yahweh who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him,
“Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples all around. Now the one in siege against Jerusalem will also be against Judah.
This will be an awful day of judgment on the House of Israel.
In verse 3, we see that this day will be a day of unlimited destruction,
A fire consumes before them, And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them.
What army burns everything before and behind them?
This unstoppable force reverses Israel’s promise.
The land meant for milk and honey, with a Temple reflecting Eden’s lushness, now faces devastation—the garden is turned into a desolate wilderness.
In verses 4-9, we see that this is a day of unimaginable terror,
Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.
With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consumes the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
Before them the peoples are writhing; All faces turn pale.
They run like mighty men; They climb up the wall like men of war; And they each march in line, And they do not deviate from their paths.
They do not crowd each other; They march everyone in his path; When they fall against the defending weapons, They do not break ranks.
They rush on the city; They run on the wall; They climb up into the houses; They enter through the windows like a thief.
Joel likens this army to cavalry and chariots that leap over mountains like a raging fire.
Resistance is as futile as stubble before flames, and their sight will inspire unimaginable terror.
This invasion is unstoppable.
Like locusts swarming fields and cities, invading every corner for food, so will the soldiers of this army overrun Jerusalem in a far more severe assault.
In verse 10, we read that the universe cannot bear this awful day, which is described as a day of universal catastrophe.
Before them the earth trembles; The heavens quake; The sun and the moon grow dark, And the stars lose their brightness.
The destruction of Jerusalem at the end is so perilous that the entire universe shakes.
The celestial bodies will lose their light during this terrible and awe-inspiring Day of YHWH.
Finally, in verse 11, we see that this day is not only powered and controlled by YHWH but also the day when the ultimate One will come to earth to conquer.
Joel 2:11: “11 But Yahweh gives forth His voice before His military force; Surely His camp is very numerous, For mighty is he who does His word. The day of Yahweh is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?”
The most shocking revelation is that the King of Mount Zion leads the army against Jerusalem.
Once leading Israel to victory, YHWH now commands their enemies.
No one can withstand this Almighty Commander.
His judgment is inevitable, and His holiness unyielding—no sin will go unpunished.
III. Call to True Repentance (2:12-17)
III. Call to True Repentance (2:12-17)
In this last section, we read about the only reasonable and right response to the perilous story in the previous passage: real repentance.
Is there any hope for Israel?
Indeed, there is for the same all-powerful God who destroys and has the power to restore.
In verse 12, Joel’s hope is strengthened by the very voice of YHWH.
“Yet even now,” declares Yahweh, “Return to Me with all your heart And with fasting, weeping, and wailing;
And tear your heart and not your garments…
The call to “Return to the LORD your God” is not an invitation but a command.
Resisting YHWH, who controls the Day of YHWH, is utter folly.
True repentance goes beyond confession—it requires a wholehearted return, turning from sin with a deep, internal conviction that leads to outward transformation.
Fasting shows repentance is more vital than food; weeping and mourning express grief over sin, like a bride losing her groom.
Ancient mourning involved tearing clothes, but YHWH desires a torn heart—deep, heartfelt sorrow that pleads for mercy.
Genuine repentance begins in the heart and is proven through transformed behavior.
In verses 13b, we see that there is hope for those who repent,
Now return to Yahweh your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting concerning evil.
Hope is not founded on what, but on whom—YHWH, the merciful and loving covenant God.
Joel references Exodus 34, which occurs in the context of YHWH relenting from judgment after Israel’s repentance and then revealing His glory to Moses.
How do we know He will do the same for us?
Because it is His nature—gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
He cannot be untrue to Himself.
Look at the next verse, verse 14,
Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For Yahweh your God?
Will He relent of His discipline? The prophet answers, “Who knows?”
This is more comforting than it seems. There is no safer place than in repentance, trusting in YHWH’s mercy.
True repentance depends not on what but on Whom—God alone.
Joel knows God is not obligated to pardon; mercy is His sovereign choice.
Our eternal well-being rests entirely on His free and sovereign grace—the only place we should ever want to be.
In verses 15-17, Joel calls for the repentance of the whole nation,
Blow a trumpet in Zion, Set apart a fast as holy, call for a solemn assembly,
Gather the people, set apart the congregation as holy, Assemble the elders, Gather the infants and the nursing babies. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber.
Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, “Pity Your people, O Yahweh, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”
The trumpet sounds again—not as a war alarm but with equal urgency.
Gathering an entire nation for fasting is difficult, yet in light of Joel’s message, all must come—elders, infants, and even newlyweds.
Nothing takes precedence over this call to radical repentance.
The people pleaded for forgiveness, invoking God’s covenant faithfulness to defend His glory.
How do you know repentance is genuine?
It arises from a devastating confrontation,
leads to thorough reformation,
and is marked by complete devotion.
It is a return—a turn away from sin and a complete reorientation toward following God and Him alone.
Christ Connection
Christ Connection
Here lies the beauty of living after the cross and in the New Covenant Age. Christ has satisfied YHWH’s eternal wrath. As Paul says in Romans 5,
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
If you repent and turn to Him, pledging full allegiance as King, you are saved from God’s wrath on the Day of YHWH.
After hearing of this awful day of wrath, does it not fill you with greater joy and adoration for Christ,
who died for us while we were His enemies, saving us from eternal damnation?
If you have not repented, today is the day of salvation! Believe in Him and repent!
Turn from sin and return to Him.
Listen to James's words and notice allusions to Joel's repentance.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be miserable and mourn and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
James writes to hearts prone to wander. Is that you today?
Do you still want to act as God’s enemy?
In His jealousy, may He afflict you to bring you back.
Be awakened by this confrontation, begin a true reformation, and humble yourself in complete devotion to Him.
Read Risen King Quote
IV. Material Restoration (2:18-27)
IV. Material Restoration (2:18-27)
In verse 18, we see a significant shift from the people’s repentance to YHWH’s salvation that continues to the end of the book.
Instead of cries for mercy in hopes that YHWH might relent, Joel gives Israel the hope and assurance of restored blessing and retributive justice upon their enemies.
the restoration prophesied in the rest of Joel follows a topical rather than chronological order.
As Israel’s destruction began with material ruin, so will restoration begin with material renewal. In verse 18, we see the response of the jealous and compassionate YHWH,
Then Yahweh will be zealous for His land And will spare His people.
God’s jealousy here mirrors a husband’s concern for his wife’s affection and well-being.
He is zealous for their devotion because of His exclusive covenant with Israel and immense love for them.
When they rebel through idolatry, His zeal provokes righteous anger,
but after they’ve suffered and repented, He longs to bless them, as their hearts are fully turned to Him.
This declaration of ownership (His Land…His people) and passionate love brings peace and safety, as He eagerly fulfills His covenant promises to His people and the land.
In verse 19, this jealousy and compassion result in a material restoration of what they had lost before.
Then Yahweh will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations.
YHWH’s passion is evident in His declaration: "Behold! I am sending. It is Me, your God, restoring you, My people!"
In Joel 1, the locusts destroyed grain, wine, and oil, but now we see a complete reversal.
Only sovereign God can restore every detail He took away.
The people shift from hunger to satisfaction and mockery to a promise that they will never be mocked again.
In the ancient Near East, a people’s defeat was seen as proof their god was weak or dead, as the nations mocked, "Where is their God?"
Joel prayed for YHWH to restore His people and defend His glory.
God promises He will do so—never again will the nations doubt YHWH’s power, and Israel will no longer be mocked.
This is the response of the Jealous and Compassionate YHWH.
In verses 20-25, we see that YHWH provides a reason for rejoicing. Let's start in vs 20,
“But I will remove the northern military force far from you, And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land, And its vanguard into the eastern sea, And its rear guard into the western sea. And its stench will rise up, and its foul smell will rise up, For it has done great things.”
This refers to the invading army on the Day of YHWH, prophesied earlier.
Armies typically attack Israel from the north, the easiest route to Jerusalem.
Before restoration can begin, the foreign invasion must end.
This army will be destroyed, their corpses emitting a foul odor, and scattered once their commander, YHWH, abandons them to defend His people.
Joel continues in vs 21-22,
Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For Yahweh has done great things.
Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit; The fig tree and the vine have yielded their full force.
Up to this point, Joel has called Israel to lament, weep, and fast; now, he commands them to fear not—remove all fear.
God uses His power to overcome the disaster He created, restoring the people, the land, and all of creation.
He is unlike any other being.
The fig tree and vine, symbols of Israel’s spiritual health, now bear abundant fruit,
signifying that Israel will be spiritually healthy and receive the blessings promised for their obedience.
In place of fear and lament, the children of Zion are to be glad and rejoice in the power of their Covenant-Keeping God, verse 23.
So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in Yahweh your God, For He has given you the early rain in righteousness. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and late rains as before.
Rain in Israel carries deep theological significance, symbolizing God’s blessing or displeasure.
Throughout Israel's history, rain has demonstrated YHWH’s sovereign power.
He provides early rain for planting and later rain for a fruitful harvest.
The necessity and significance of rain are key reasons God chose this land for Israel.
This abundant rain will bring a time of great agricultural prosperity, similar to what they experienced during their initial entry into the Promised Land and in the time of Solomon.
This rain will bring about the abundant crops that were promised in verse 19, which we see again in verses 24-25,
The threshing floors will be full of grain, And the vats will overflow with the new wine and oil.
“Then I will pay back to you in full for the years That the swarming locust has consumed, The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust, My great military force which I sent among you.
The locusts had destroyed all the produce, rendering barns, threshing floors, and vats unnecessary.
They will be too small to hold all the produce YHWH will provide.
The reason for rejoicing is that God has relented and turned to restoration in His compassion and sovereign mercy.
In verses 26-27, we see that this rejoicing is accompanied by the appropriate response that Israel should have to YHWH’s power to restore.
“And you will have plenty to consume and be satisfied And praise the name of Yahweh your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; Then My people will never be put to shame.
“Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I am Yahweh your God, And there is no other; And My people will never be put to shame.
See how God never relinquishes His claim on His people or allows them to look to another god for worship.
He has no rival for their loyalty. Other nations mocked Judah, believing their gods were superior, but Israel would learn there is no God but YHWH.
Not only does He save them. Not only does He restore them.
He dwells in their midst. He is their God.
He restores them materially into the blessings of the Promised Land, but the greatest reality of being regathered into the land is that their relationship is also restored.
He is their God, and He calls them My people.
V. Spiritual Restoration (2:28-32)
V. Spiritual Restoration (2:28-32)
In the first prophecy of Israel’s restoration in Deuteronomy 30, we can see that Israel’s blessings still requires their repentance and also demands their obedience to God’s law,
“And you shall return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you shall do all His commandments which I am commanding you today.
“Then Yahweh your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for Yahweh will return to rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers,
when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, when you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul.
To be God’s covenant people—experiencing His power, protection, and presence—they must return with all their heart and soul, obeying His voice and commandments.
However, as Hosea shows, Israel failed before and after Joel, committing spiritual adultery with hardened, rebellious hearts.
At the start of Joel, God cut off the priests’ ability to offer sacrifices, severing communion with His people.
Israel needs a transformative restoration—a new heart desiring YHWH alone.
God will sovereignly restore the land and revive His people’s souls by His Spirit, as seen in verses 28-29.
“And it will be afterwards That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams; Your young men will see visions.
“Even on the male slaves and female slaves I will in those days pour out My Spirit.
This is not a selective giving of the Spirit, as in Moses’s day when only the elders received it (Numbers 11:24-29).
Instead, it is a vast outpouring—soaking, saturating, and sweeping all of God’s people into His presence.
Joel anticipates an unmistakable flood of the Spirit upon everyone, regenerating hearts regardless of gender, age, or status.
This outpouring will bring prophetic visions, dreams, and signs of God’s power, demonstrating that His blessings are not just material but deeply transformative within the hearts of His people.
Remember that Joel wrote from the perspective of Deuteronomy. Recognize the connection between these verses in Joel and Deuteronomy 4.
“When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the last days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice.
“For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
The key phrase here is "latter days,” which connects with what Joel calls “ those days.”
In those days, Israel will face the darkness of the Day of the Lord,
but then they will repent and return to the Lord, who will show them mercy—directly connecting to Joel’s prophecy.
Deuteronomy 30 expands on this theme, revealing that in the latter days of chapter 4, Israel’s ultimate blessing will come, with restoration and divine favor poured out upon them.
“Moreover Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
So, in the last days, after the darkness of YHWH’s wrath,
God will pour out His Spirit to regenerate His people’s hearts,
leading to repentance, faith, and the experience of His forgiveness, mercy, and restoration.
This divine heart change, empowered by the Spirit, will produce total dedication and loving obedience to YHWH. Joel’s prophecy of the Spirit’s outpouring also directly connects to Ezekiel 36.
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments.
In verse Joel 2:30-31, we witness the wonder of celestial signs that will accompany this moment,
“And I will put wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
“The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of Yahweh comes.
Here, the imminent YHWH breathtakingly displays His supreme power over the enemy.
The entire cosmos trembles and transforms, signaling the swiftly approaching Great and Awesome Day of YHWH.
These celestial signs, echoed throughout Scripture, point to the end of the Age and Christ’s second coming.
For a parallel, see Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24.
This Day marks the final judgment of all mankind, further explored in Chapter 3.
Then, in vs 32, we witness the wonder of salvific calling,
“And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls.
Just as before, there is a way of escape from the judgment of the Great and Awesome Day of YHWH—repent and call on His name.
This is not a magical formula but an intimate act of true worship and surrender to Him alone.
This promise is powerful: though God will judge the wicked, He offers salvation to those who call on Him.
This is quoted directly by Paul within the context of his discussion of the before of the Gentiles before the salvific restoration of Israel in Romans 9-11.
Biblical Theology Connection
Biblical Theology Connection
In his first sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-21), Peter cites Joel 2:28-32 to explain the outpouring of the Spirit, which enabled the disciples to speak in various languages.
Introducing his quote, “This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16),
Peter affirms that the disciples' experience marked the beginning of Joel’s prophecy being fulfilled—the inauguration of the Spirit’s outpouring.
This is a marvel—we live in the age of restoration, the New Covenant era.
No longer must we sacrifice lambs and goats for our sins; instead, the Son of God was sacrificed once and for all on the cross.
In this age, God regenerates hearts, even among the Gentiles,
giving us the gift of faith to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved,
sending His Spirit to dwell within us,
transforming our hearts to love and obey Him.
It is by the gift of the Spirit that we are sealed for the day of our redemption (Eph 4:30).
It is by the Spirit’s empowerment that we are now able to put to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13).
It is by Him that we know we are the children of God and can cry out to the Creator of the Universe, calling Him “Father” (Rom 8:16).
It is important to note that Peter views Joel 2 as a paradigm in which Pentecost fits;
it is not a complete fulfillment of Joel's prophecy. Busenitz provides great insight here.
“It appears best to view Joel’s prophecy as fulfilled in a preliminary fashion at the time of Pentecost, with a complete fulfillment reserved for the time surrounding the second advent. A couple of factors suggest this conclusion. First, the outpouring of the Spirit and the salvation of all who call upon the name of the Lord, both of which are central to the Pentecost event, are a preview of the outpouring promised at Christ’s second advent. Peter took the event Joel foresaw and linked it with the beginning of the new age of the Spirit. In other words, Joel saw the end point of the whole process, while Peter fixed his eyes on the onset.”[2]
The Last Days have spanned nearly two thousand years, during which God has called Gentiles to salvation and chastened Israel for unbelief.
Joel’s prophecy awaits its complete fulfillment in the millennial kingdom.
At Pentecost and throughout the church age, God has provided a preview and a foretaste of the Spirit’s power that will be fully realized in the kingdom.
Piper puts it this way:
“We have only tasted the power of the age to come, we have only received the down payment of the Spirit. The prophecy is far from complete. We know it has not yet been fulfilled, not only because the church is so far from ideal but also because the people of Israel persist in unbelief. [3]
Marvel at and witness the wonder of the spiritual outpouring that the sovereign God has performed and will continue to perform in these Last Days!
VI. National Restoration (3:1-21)
VI. National Restoration (3:1-21)
Let’s return to Joel. In chapter 3:1, he begins with a courtroom scene where we hear the Judge’s Subpoena,
“For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel
YHWH summons the world to witness His decree: He will judge her enemies as He restores Israel.
He calls all nations to His courtroom: the Valley of Jehoshaphat to account for their abuse of His bride.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat, meaning "YHWH judges," is both a wordplay and a historical allusion.
In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat witnessed God’s miraculous deliverance when an invading army destroyed itself as a choir sang praises.
God commanded this choir to sing a praise song: “Give thanks to the Lord for His steadfast love endures forever.”
While they sang, the entire army was slaughtered before their eyes as soldiers within their ranks turned on each other and began to destroy one another.
Joel’s message is this: YHWH’s judgment on Israel’s enemies and deliverance for His people will be even greater on the Great and Awesome Day of YHWH.
In verses 2b-3, we see YHWH’s accusations against His enemies
I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.
“They have also cast lots for My people, Traded a boy for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.
The enemy nations committed grave offenses against YHWH’s people: scattering them throughout history, dividing His promised land, and devaluing them through slavery.
They treated God’s people with contempt, trading boys for a night with a prostitute and girls for a drink of wine—mocking both them and their God.
In verses 4-8, YHWH begins to address the neighboring nations of Israel,
“Moreover, what are you to Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense on your head.
“Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My desirable treasures to your temples,
and sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks in order to remove them far from their borders,
behold, I am going to rouse them from the place where you have sold them and return your recompense on your head.
“Also I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for Yahweh has spoken.
YHWH challenges the nations, asking if He has wronged them to justify their hostility—clearly, He has not.
Their raids, theft, and enslavement of His people were unjustified.
They stole His treasures for their idols and scattered His people to gain power.
Now, justice will be served: those they oppressed will rise and judge them.
As they scattered Israel westward, YHWH will scatter them eastward.
This decree is final—"For the Lord has spoken."
In vs 9-14, we see YHWH prepare the nations for His judgement,
Call out this message among the nations: Set yourselves apart for a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the men of war approach, let them come up!
Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”
Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves. There, bring down, O Yahweh, Your mighty ones.
Let the nations be roused up And come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations.
Send in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision.
The pace quickens as YHWH summons the nations to an unwinnable war against Him.
This divine battle, fully orchestrated by YHWH, demands total participation—every tool a weapon, every weakling boasting of strength.
Yet their efforts are futile.
Caught in the intensity, Joel cries, “Bring down, O Yahweh, Your mighty ones.” The armies of the nations are no match for the Lord of Hosts, the God of Armies.
Joel then shifts to harvest imagery—the wicked are cut down and trampled like grapes in a winepress, their judgment overflowing like their evil.
In contrast, Israel reaps abundant blessings.
The Day of YHWH is imminent, its nearness marked by the Valley of Decision, where judgment begins.
Cosmic upheaval signals the arrival of this great and awesome day, shaking the entire universe, verse 15,
The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars lose their brightness.
And Yahweh roars from Zion And gives forth His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth quake. But Yahweh is a refuge for His people And a strong defense to the sons of Israel.
YHWH roars in fierce defense of His people, displaying His unwavering love and covenant faithfulness.
He likens His wrath to a lion’s ferocity—striking terror into the wicked while assuring His people of His protection.
His presence on Mt. Zion signals both judgment and refuge;
for the enemy nations, it brings fear and destruction,
but for Israel, it is a fortress of blessing and security.
After witnessing YHWH Judge and Roar in the Judgement Valley, let us witness YHWH dwell on the Holy Mountain, Vs 17,
Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God, Dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will pass through it no more.
YHWH’s judgment on the wicked and protection of the righteous will prove that He is Israel’s covenant God.
His vengeance on the nations and His safeguarding of His people will demonstrate His presence among them.
As a result, the city will be sanctified through His just judgment and His abiding presence, reminiscent of His dwelling with Adam in the Garden.
The national restoration continues in vs 18-21,
And it will be in that day, That the mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of Yahweh To water the valley of Shittim.
Egypt will become a desolation, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
But Judah will be inhabited forever And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, Indeed, Yahweh dwells in Zion.
Joel recalls the restoration of the land, likening it to the paradise of Eden.
Streams will flow year-round, fed by a spring from YHWH’s dwelling in Zion.
Even the Valley of Shittim will be blessed.
This was the location of Israel’s apostasy with the harlots of Moab before entering the Promised Land (Numbers 25).
The healing waters of the river flowing from the Temple will transform that accursed place.
Meanwhile, Israel’s enemies, Egypt and Edom (see Book of Obadiah), face retribution.
YHWH’s final promise is the sweetest: His presence will dwell in Zion, guaranteeing material, spiritual, and national blessings for His people.
This assurance is anchored in the presence of YHWH in His holy city.
Conclusion
Conclusion
YHWH shows His sovereign power to restore, proving that He alone is God to Israel and to the ends of the earth.
How then should we respond?
First, worship and marvel at His unmatched ability to restore His people. There is no God like Him—He is our God, and we must serve and love Him alone.
Second, rejoice that we live in the Last Days, when God’s power to restore is fully revealed, and praise Him for including us Gentiles in the New Covenant through His mercy.
Third, God’s mercy in Israel’s repentance should lead us to repent, for He is patient and quick to forgive.
Finally, long for His return when He will fulfill all of His promises and complete His glorious plan of Redemption!
Come quickly, Lord Jesus
Let’s Pray
Let’s Pray
Spurgeon Prayer
