Joel

We are told he is the son of Pethuel; We don’t know much about his background or even his time period

His name means “Yahweh is God”

Written as a sort of prophetic poem; short book; only 3 chapters

General theme of warning, repentance, and restoration

A Call to Lament

Joel 1:2–4 ESV

2 Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. 4 What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten

some debate on this being literal or figurative; from verse 2, I take it as something literal

It mirrors the destruction of Egypt when God was delivering the Israelites; Now it is the Israelites that are enduring this swarm of Locusts; it has caused utter destruction

Joel calls them to respond

Joel 1:14–15 ESV

14 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. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.

Fast, come together, bring the elders and everyone to the house of the Lord, and pray

Why? Because they are facing destruction

The reason for this plague is to give them a preview of what is to come; the Day of the Lord

Why would God send a plague to his people?

This was a warning; a preview and a reminder that one day God will bring an end to this world; This plague of locusts is mighty and destructive. But what is more powerful than an army of locusts? God’s army is.

Joel 2:10–11 ESV

10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 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?

The Call to Repent

This is an ongoing theme in the prophetic books; people have fallen away, they need to return to the Lord

Why? Because there is hope in the Lord

Joel 2:12–13 ESV

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 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.

This is the same message that we have in Hosea; destruction is coming, the way out is to turn to the Lord

Think of it like this, if the locusts are there because of God’s wrath, who can protect from God’s wrath other than God

This is the message of the gospel; you are headed for destruction, turn to the Lord for he alone can save.

the gospel is all over the OT

If the people repent, they are promised salvation; I am so glad that our God does not make empty promises; If he says it, he will do it.

There is a concern of what the other nations may think if God destroys his own people. Joel 2:18 “18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.” ; So God delivered them

Joel 2:19 ESV

19 The Lord answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

Out of concern for His name, fame, and global reputation, Yahweh saves His people. Then the whole universe will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is their God, as it says in verse 27. “You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is no none else, and my people shall never again be put to shame.”

The Day of the Lord will be different for the 2 camps; rebellion=justice, repentance=mercy

I remember the movie Armageddon. Bruce Willis saves the whole earth from being destroyed by a meteor. We might think of the Day of the Lord to be something like that, but it is may more complex that the end of time.

It is describe nearly as happening in stages. Two things are described together, and no mention is made of the time interval between them. As one author writes, “It’s like looking at a mountain range from a great distance, where all the mountains appear to stand next to one another. But drive into the mountains and you find that great distances separate them.”

First Mountain = outpouring of the Holy Spirit(Day of Pentecost). Peter actually quotes Joel 2:28–29 “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, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.

Second Mountain = Return of Jesus(Day of the Lord); See, the day of the lord has already but not yet happened; partially with the first advent, fully with second

What about the ones who will not repent? Joel addresses that as well. He talks about what will happen when the Day of the Lord is finally fulfilled.

Joel 3:1–2 ESV

1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land,

But then in the last verses of this book, we see the promise of the restoration of Judah.

Joel 3:17–21 ESV

17 “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. 18 “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. 19 “Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. 21 I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion.”

This language shows us that the whole universe will be renewed. This should remind us that the Bible doesn’t merely describe salvation negatively, as deliverance from God’s punishment. It primarily describes it positively, as God restoring his people to himself and his own presence.

Discussion questions

1. How should we respond when we experience hardship or loss, like the locust plague described in Joel 1?

2. What is the significance of the “Day of the Lord” in Joel, and how should it affect how we live today?

3. Why does God call for heart-rending repentance (“rend your hearts and not your garments”) instead of outward religious actions?

4. How does Joel connect the themes of warning, repentance, and restoration?

5. Joel 2:28–29 is quoted by Peter in Acts 2. What does the fulfillment of prophecy through the Holy Spirit teach us about God’s plan across time?