Joel Overview

FBC Baxley

June 22, 2025

Title: The Day the Locusts Came: A Wake-Up Call from God Text: The Book of Joel

Joel 1:1-20

1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:

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.

5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep,

and wail, all you drinkers of wine,

because of the sweet wine,

for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation has come up against my land,

powerful and beyond number;

its teeth are lions' teeth,

and it has the fangs of a lioness.

7 It has laid waste my vine

and splintered my fig tree;

it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down;

their branches are made white.

8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth

for the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off

from the house of the Lord.

The priests mourn,

the ministers of the Lord.

10 The fields are destroyed,

the ground mourns,

because the grain is destroyed,

the wine dries up,

the oil languishes.

11 Be ashamed, O tillers of the soil;

wail, O vinedressers,

for the wheat and the barley,

because the harvest of the field has perished.

12 The vine dries up;

the fig tree languishes.

Pomegranate, palm, and apple,

all the trees of the field are dried up,

and gladness dries up

from the children of man.

13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests;

wail, O ministers of the altar.

Go in, pass the night in sackcloth,

O ministers of my God!

Because grain offering and drink offering

are withheld from the house of your God.

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.

16 Is not the food cut off

before our eyes,

joy and gladness

from the house of our God?

17 The seed shrivels under the clods;

the storehouses are desolate;

the granaries are torn down

because the grain has dried up.

18 How the beasts groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed

because there is no pasture for them;

even the flocks of sheep suffer.

19 To you, O Lord, I call.

For fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness,

and flame has burned

all the trees of the field.

20 Even the beasts of the field pant for you

because the water brooks are dried up,

and fire has devoured

the pastures of the wilderness.

-PRAY

Story: “The Day My Garden Died”

There was an old farmer who shared a story.

He said one summer, he had the best garden he’d ever grown—rich soil, healthy plants, and vegetables coming in strong.

But one night, a swarm of armyworms came through and devoured it.

By sunrise, everything was gone.

He told me, “It was like the land had been torched.

My tomatoes, my corn, my beans—eaten to the stem. It was devastating.”

That story reminds me of how quickly life can change.

One day, everything seems in place—and the next, everything is stripped bare.

That’s the feeling at the heart of the book of Joel.

Joel opens with a disaster—a plague of locusts that leaves the land desolate.

But Joel shows us something deeper: this is not just a natural disaster.

It is God’s alarm clock, a wake-up call to His people.

When God allows things to be stripped away, it's not always punishment—it may be preparation for renewal.

And today, if your life has felt stripped by hardship, by struggle, or even by the consequences of sin, Joel has a message for you.

I. Understanding Joel in Context

A. Where Does Joel Fit in the Bible?

Joel sits between Hosea and Amos in your Bible—right in the section known as the Minor Prophets, not because they’re less important, but because their books are shorter.

Hosea shows us the heartbreak of God over His unfaithful people.

Joel is the trumpet blast—“Wake up! The Day of the Lord is coming!”

Amos follows with a message about justice and righteousness.

Joel doesn’t give us many personal details.

He’s simply called “Joel, son of Pethuel.”

He doesn't name a king or date his message, which has led to debate over when this book was written.

Most scholars believe Joel was written either early (around 835 B.C., during the reign of Joash) or later (after the exile).

But in many ways, it doesn't matter when he wrote—because the message of Joel speaks into every generation.

II. The Message of Joel: Judgment, Repentance, and Restoration

The book divides into three powerful movements:

1. Devastation: The Day the Locusts Came (Joel 1:1–20)

Joel opens with the worst agricultural disaster the people have ever seen.

Four different waves of locusts have ravaged the land.

Joel 1:4 – “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.”

These aren’t just poetic terms—they reflect different stages or waves of destruction.

Hebrew Insight:

In the original Hebrew, the words are:

Gazam – the gnawer

Arbeh – the multiplier, swarmer

Yeleq – the licker, or creeper

Chasil – the destroyer

This isn’t a one-time event—it’s a total economic and agricultural collapse.

The wine is gone.

The grain is gone.

The joy is gone.

Even the temple offerings have ceased.

Joel tells the priests to lament, the drunkards to wake up, and the farmers to mourn.

But he’s not just talking about crops. He’s saying, “This is the result of spiritual decay.”

2. Alarm: The Day of the Lord is Near (Joel 2:1–27)

Chapter 2 opens with a blast of the trumpet:

Joel 2:1 – “Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”

Joel begins to speak of “the Day of the Lord”—a theme that will echo throughout Scripture.

In Hebrew: Yom Yahweh (יוֹם־יְהוָה) – the Day when God dramatically acts in human history, usually in judgment.

He describes an invading force—possibly another locust army or a real human army—but the point is the same: God is shaking His people awake.

But then comes one of the most beautiful calls to repentance in the entire Bible:

Joel 2:13 – “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…”

God isn’t interested in outward religious displays. He wants your heart torn open in genuine humility.

**And what happens when the people return?

Joel 2:25 – “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…”

God promises rain, grain, joy, and His presence.

3. Renewal: The Spirit and the Final Day (Joel 2:28–3:21)

The final section of Joel lifts our eyes from the present crisis to the future promise:

Joel 2:28–29 – “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…”

Peter quotes these very words in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost.

This is Joel’s long-term hope: not just restored crops, but a Spirit-filled people.

And finally, Joel speaks of a day when God will gather the nations for judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat—which means, “The Lord Judges.”

But even that scene ends in hope:

Joel 3:16 – “The Lord roars from Zion… But the Lord is a refuge to his people.”

Joel 3:20 – “Judah shall be inhabited forever.”

III. What Do We Do When the Locusts Come?

Let’s be honest—life has its locust seasons.

Times when everything seems stripped away. When your strength fails.

Your plans fall apart. Your joy dries up.

Joel offers us three life-changing truths for times like that:

🔶 1. When God Strips, He’s Often Preparing to Fill

The locusts were not the end—they were the beginning of a renewal process.

God allowed the stripping so He could bring something new.

Don’t despise your season of loss.

It may be the ground-clearing God does before a new harvest.

🔶 2. God Wants Repentance, Not Performance

“Rend your heart, not your garments.”

God isn't impressed with outward displays of religion.

He wants the kind of brokenness that leads to a new direction.

He wants a surrendered heart, not a staged performance.

🔶 3. The Spirit Has Come—So Live in His Power

Joel’s prophecy has been fulfilled.

The Spirit has been poured out!

If you belong to Jesus, the Spirit of God lives in you.

You are not powerless.

You are not forgotten.

You are not alone.

So walk in the boldness, truth, and joy that comes from the presence of God.

Conclusion: “God of the Locusts, God of the Rain”

The same God who allowed the locusts is the God who promises rain.

He is the God who:

Allows judgment, but never without a path to grace.

Strips us down, only to fill us up.

Shakes us awake, only to pour out His Spirit on us.

So let me ask you today:

What are the locusts in your life trying to tell you?

God might be calling you to repentance.

He might be clearing the ground to do something new.

And He is absolutely calling you to walk in the power of His Spirit.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Joel 2:32)

Let’s call on Him today—and trust Him to restore what’s been lost.

-Pray

-Invitation