Joel 2

Review

Let’s begin with a bit of review.

Obadiah:

Who was Obadiah written to?

Edom

Why was God mad at Edom?

They mistreated Israel during their destruction.

Joel:

So far, what is Joel writing about?

The day of the Lord.

The day of the Lord is going to come upon Israel. What did God use to punish Israel in ch1?

Locust.

Introduction

In the previous chapter, we saw God used locust to punish his people.

Since, prophets are God’s interpreters of history, Joel tells the Israelites that the locust weren’t just locust. The locust were God’s way of punishing them for their sin.

So, Joel tells them that they need to repent because if they don’t, the day of the Lord is going to come upon them.

In this chapter, Joel 2, we are shown a picture of the day of the Lord.

It involves God’s army destroying all those who stand against God.

The only people who survive against God’s army are those who are on God’s side.

So, Joel again tells the people to repent, or return.

This is essentially what Goes on in this chapter.

The chapter can be broken up into 4 sections

The Army of Jehovah

Return to Jehovah

Jehovah’s Response

THE DAY OF JEHOVAH

Joel 2:1-11 - The army of Jehovah

Through this section, we are going to see that these locust are God’s army. They are not acting on their own initiative, but they are doing God’s bidding.

Joel 2:1-2

Joel 2:1–2 ESV

1 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, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.

This section starts off with a call to blow a trumpet in Zion, and if we read carefully, we see that it’s God who calls the people to blow the trumpet.

Why does God ask the people to blow the trumpet, and sound the alarm?

In an ancient city, there would be men who would stand on the walls and watch. Sometimes those men would blow a loud trumpet… What did this mean?

It meant that there was an emergency. It meant that an army was approaching, and it was a call to arms.

God isn’t sounding the alarm as a call to arms, but a call to something else… We will talk about that later.

So God’s people are told to sound the alarm because the day of Jehovah is coming, and in verse 2, we see what the day of the Lord looks like.

It’s a day of darkness and gloom.

The mountains are black.

This is not surprising. We’ve seen language like this used to describe God’s judgment in other passages.

We’ve seen passages that talk about the sun and mood being darkened.

This is talking about God’s judgment. God is breaking into his creation and judging the people.

The difference here is that the language is applied to locust. The day is dark because the locusts are covering the skies. The mountains are black because the locusts are spread upon the mountains.

Joel continues the description of the locust in verses 3-5.

Joel 2:3-5

Joel 2:3–5 ESV

3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle.

Verse 3 makes it clear that the locusts are doing God’s bidding. The are acting as God’s representatives.

In the context, it seems that Joel is quoting from the Psalms.

Psalm 97:2–3 ESV

2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.

In Psalm 97:2, the psalmist writes about God and says that Clouds and thick darkness are all around him… Does this sound similar to our context? What verses in Joel 2 talks about clouds and thick darkness?

Verse 2

And in Psalm 97:3, the psalmist writes about God and says that Fire goes before him. What verse in Joel 2 talks about fire going before?

Verse 3

So, this language that was used to describe God is now used to describe the locusts. What’s the point here? The point is that the locust are God’s representatives. They are God’s army.

There are some who get to this point in the book and wonder if the locusts are actual locusts or if they symbolize an army. Notice the language here:

verse 4 tells us that they are like horses.

Verse 5 tells us that they are like an army.

Verse 7 tells us that they are like soldiers and warriors.

What does this language teach us?

It teaches us that the destruction that God is sending out is like an army… It’s not an actual army.

So, it’s my opinion that the locust in this book are literal locust that God is using to destroy his people. But let’s not get caught up in the details and forget the big picture. What’s the point?

The point is that the day of the lord is coming, and God’s army won’t be stopped. This is what we see in verses 6-9.

Joel 2:6-9

Notice that the locust charge into the city, and nothing can stop them. They march, they don’t turn, and they burst through the defenses of the city.

This is an army that won’t be stopped… That’s the point in these verses.

Joel 2:10-11

Again we see language that is typical of God’s judgment. When God judges the nations, the earth quakes, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars to do not give light.

Again this is an image of God breaking into creation to judge his enemies. It’s an image of uncreation.

In this book, the language is used in a lightly different way.

The earth quakes because God’s army is marching (locust).

The sun and mood are darkened because there are God’s army has covered the skies.

Verse 11 emphasizes that the locust are operating as God’s army. The locust aren’t just attacking the Israelites.

Who’s commanding this army?

God is.

I think that there are some important lessons about God’s army from this section.

God’s army do not swerve

God’s army do not jostle one another

God’s army are not halted

God’s army listen to the voice of God.

Do you see that from verses 6-11?

At the end of verse 11, we see the climax of this section. There is a question that is asked. Joel asks, who can endure this day of the Lord?”

What’s the answer to this?

The answer is in the next section. Those who can endure God’s judgment are those who return to the Lord.

Joel 2:12-17 - Return to Jehovah

So this section is Joel’s (holy spirit) call for the people to return to God.

Joel 2:12-14

Joel 2:12–14 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. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?

In these verses, God is speaking and he tells us that those who return to him can endure the day of the Lord. God also tells us how we should return to him.

The beginning of verse 13 says, “rend your hearts and not your garments.”

What does this mean?

It’s like when someone says, don’t just say you love me. Shoe me.

“do not love in word or speech, but deed and truth.”

In the ancient world, mourning would be very visible. Sometimes they would tear their clothes. For some, repentance would just be a show.

The people weren’t truly repentant, they just tore their clothes to appease God. These people had hard hearts.

God tells them not just to rend their garments, but to rend their hearts to teach them that their hearts should be soft.

They need to truly be sorry for their sin, and truly turn back to God with all of their hearts. If they do this, they they can overcome the day of the Lord.

This reminds me of what is said at the end of Revelation 6. At the end of Revelation 6, there is this great judgment from God, and the question is asked, “who can stand?” Who can stand in the face of God’s judgment?

Do you know how Revelation answers? What do we see in the very next section, after the question is asked?

We see the 144,000 that represent God’s people. Who can stand against God’s judgment? Those who are on God’s side.

We see the exact same thing here in Joel.

In verses 13-14, we are told why the people should repent? Why should the people repent?

The people should repent because of who God is.

God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and he relents over disaster.

Does this sound familiar? It should. Throughout the Bible, the authors use these exact words to describe God, and it makes sense because this is the way that God described himself.

In the book of Exodus, Moses makes a request of God:

He says “show me your ways, so that I may know you… Show me your glory.” Moses wants to see who God is.

God didn’t show him very much. Instead of showing Moses who he is, God tells Moses who he is.

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

This is who God is.

This is why the people should repent. They should repent because God is merciful and gracious.

They should repent because God has shown them love and faithfulness.

This is why we should repent of our sins as well.

“Who knows...”

If we turn to God, maybe he will turn and relent.

Joel 2:15-17

Here the people are told to blow the trumpet in Zion. Doesn’t this sound familiar? Where have we seen this before?

Joel 2:1 ESV

1 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,

When we talked about how in the ancient world, the trumpet could mean that an invading army was approaching. It was a call to arms.

In this context, there is an invading army, but is the trumpet a call to arms? Why is the trumpet being blown?

The trumpet is blown to call an assembly. It’s not a call to arms, it’s a call to repentance.

Everyone is to join in this assembly of repentance… even the children.

In the ancient world the children sat in the assembly and listened to the difficult books with the adults.

We underestimate children and young people at times. They can understand more than we think.

We need to get children into the book, and not be afraid that they can’t understand it.

Joel 2:18-27 - Jehovah’s Response

In this section, we see God’s response to the people’s repentance. Again, we see the prophetic theme that Judgment is not the last word.

God will save those who are loyal to him, and that’s what we see in this section. One of the big themes in this section is reversal.

Joel 2:18-20

Joel 2:18–20 ESV

18 Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. 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. 20 “I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.

Look at verse 19… Do you remember chapter 1? What did the locust destroy in chapter 1?

The locust destroyed the wine, oil, and grain, didn’t they?

Remember, Joel tells the drunkards that they should cry out because God destroyed the wine.

The Priest were crying out because oil and grain offerings had ceased.

Here we see the reversal. The Israelites had broken creation because of their sin, and God fixed it. God reversed the affects of their sin.

In verse 20, we see the reversal of the locusts.

The locusts are described as northerners who are driven out of the land.

Joel 2:21-27

Joel 2:21–27 ESV

21 “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! 22 Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield. 23 “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. 24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. 26 “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. 27 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.

In these verses, the reversal continues.

Do you remember what was mourning in chapter 1:18?

Joel 1:18 ESV

18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep suffer.

The beasts were mourning, and calling out to God.

(verse 22) Now the beast are told that they have no reason to fear because God has restored the land.

Do you remember what chapter 1 said about gladness?

Joel 1:12 ESV

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.

Joel 1 tells us that gladness dries up. What are we told in Joel 2?

Now the people are told to be glad.

So, again we see reversal of destruction.

The clearest example of this is in verse 25… What part of chapter one is this verse reversing?

Joel 1:4 ESV

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.

So, you guys get the point.

The people have returned to God’s side, so he is reversing judgment. God is restoring their land.

Joel 2:28-32 - THE DAY

In the Hebrew Bible, these verses are a part of chapter 3, and for good reason. Verse 28 really does start a new section.

Before this point, Joel had been talking about a day of the Lord (lowercase). Starting in this section, Joel moves into the future and refers to the Kingdom of Christ.

Also, from this point on, when Joel talks about the day of the Lord, he’s talking about THE DAY OF THE LORD…

Joel 2:28-32

Joel 2:28–32 ESV

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. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 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.

These words sound familiar, don’t they? Where do we see these words in the NT?

Acts 2

So, we know that these words are fulfilled in the NT… in the Kingdom of Christ. God tells us that during the time of this kingdom, there will be another day. That’s the point of verses 30-31.

During this kingdom, there will be another day of the Lord when God will judge those who are against him.

Who will escape this judgment… Who will escape this day?

Those who call upon his name. Those who reside in the holy city of God.

What did the Jews need to do the avoid the day?

They needed to repent. They needed to return to God’s side.

What do we need to do?

We must repent. We must be on God’s side.

Do you see how this is relevant to us? Some people think that the prophets hold no lessons for us, but the lesson is right here for us. We must be on God’s side. If we aren’t then we need to return, we need to repent.

If we don’t God’s army will come against us, and we will suffer more than the Israelites who suffered through the locust.

Joel shows us that Israel’s sin is like (tied to) humanity’s sin.

Israel sinned, so God took their fruitful land and gave them a wilderness, and told them to repent before the day of the lord.

If they repent, then they can return to the fruitful land.

That’s what happened to humanity, isn’t it? Man sinned, so God took away our fruitful land and gave us a wilderness. Now we must repent before the day of the Lord.

If we repent, then we can return to Eden.

Joel himself makes this connection.

Joel 2:3 ESV

3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them.