This week, we shall use the 8 remaining days of the year to study the Book
of Joel and the Book of Malachi in the Old Testament.
Book of Joel
Joel mentions the “Lord your God” seven times in this short book of prophecy which coincides with the meaning of his own name Joel which means “the Lord is God”. As there is nothing within the Canon of Scriptures nor from the Book of Joel itself that could give us a more accurate dating of the book, I tend to agree with David Hubbard that because of the contents of 3:1-8, it was most likely written in the post-exilic period after the completion of the second temple, making Joel a contemporary with Haggai and Zechariah in the vicinity of 500 B.C.
The prophecy appears to be prompted by a recent devastating invasion of locusts which the prophet uses to warn of the future destruction by God in the Day of the Lord. The entire book intertwines darkness with light, destruction with restoration, foretelling the eventual judgment of the nations and the full restoration of Israel.
For New Testament believers, the most famous part of the Book of Joel is 2:28-32. This was quoted by Peter in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, signifying the dawn of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Joel is using a recent catastrophe to warn the people (of Judah):
(1) What kind of a catastrophe has happened to the land? (v. 4; see Note below)
(2) Whom does the prophet appeal to and what does he ask them to do? (vv. 2-3)
(3) Why does the prophet liken the people to drunkards and call them to wake up—to wake up from what? (v. 5)
(4) Why does the prophet liken these locusts to a nation and a mighty army? (v. 6; see Prov. 30:27)
(5) In light of natural disasters of this proportion, what do people in the modern days do? How do they react to such disasters (like a hurricane or earthquake, for example)?
(6) Why would the prophet call on the people (and that includes priests, farmers, and growers) to mourn like a virgin grieving for her betrothed? (vv. 8-12)
(7) If they are not in despair and are not mourning ...
a. ... why aren't they?
b. .. what then are they doing in view of such disasters?
(8) Now, the prophet directs his call to the priests in particular (vv. 13-14)
a. What in essence does the Prophet ask the priests to do?
b. Why?
(9) The Day of the Lord (vv. 15-20) — The statement, “the Day of the Lord is near” is found verbatim in Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:7 and Isaiah 13:6, meaning that this is something which Joel’s hearers would know the meaning of.
a. How devastating is the current catastrophe? (vv. 16-20)
b. Why does the prophet use this incident to point to the Day of the Lord and that it is near? (v. 15)
(10) If a catastrophe of such a magnitude were to happen today, could we use it to remind people of the Day of the Lord and that it is near? Why or why not?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
Note:
“the four names given to the locust….are not the names applied to in natural history to four distinct species, or four different generations of locust…The thought is rather this: one swarm of locusts after another has invaded the land, and completely devoured its fruit.”
(K&D, 120-1)
“Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.” (Joel 1:15)
While we have no idea when the catastrophe of locusts mentioned by Joel happened historically, based on 3:1-8 (which mentions the sins of Tyre and Sidon in participating in the carrying off the temple’s treasures and the selling of the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks), this points to Joel serving as prophet in the post-exilic period. By that time, the “Day of the Lord” would have been a familiar concept to God’s people as many prophets would have already foretold its nearness:
“The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.” (Obad. 15)
“Be silent before the Sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has consecrated those He has invited.” (Zeph. 1:7)
“Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.” (Isa. 13:6).
In the book of Joel, the prophet, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, follows the traditions of these prophets in foretelling the Day of the Lord as a horrible time of destruction beginning with God’s people, but consummated with the total destruction of the nations. However, Joel, unlike the other prophets, seizes the opportunity of a great destruction caused by a natural disaster to ask the people to awaken and to repent, using the magnitude of the current disaster to impress upon the people the even greater horror of the destruction they will face during that future judgement of God.
As we know, our Lord Jesus also talks about the Day of the Lord which marks His second coming, foretelling that it will be preceded by signs including: “great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Lk. 21:11).
Likewise, we should follow Joel’s example in using the natural disasters that are occurring right before our eyes in growing magnitude and frequency to remind the world that indeed, the Day of the Lord is near and to call them to repentance before the sudden arrival of the Day of the Lord itself (Matt. 24:39, 43-44).
(1) To whom does the prophet sound the alarm? (v. 1)
(2) How near is the Day of the Lord? (v. 1b)
(3) This “day” of darkness (likely denoting the judgment of God) is likened to the coming of a large and might army: What language does the prophet use that signifies the finality of this destruction? (v. 2b)
(4) More details are given concerning this mighty army of destruction (vv. 3-11)
a. Its destructive power (vv. 3-5)
- How does the prophet depict the utter destruction it will leave behind? (vv. 3, 5b)
- What appearance do they have? (vv. 4-5)
- Compared to the army of locusts (Rev. 9:3ff) and horses (Rev. 9:17ff) that the Apostle John sees in his vision concerning the last days, what are their similarities and differences?
b. Its discipline (vv. 6-9): The description appears to depict more than locusts, but a well-trained army.
- How disciplined is this army? (vv. 7b-8a)
- How powerful are they? (vv. 8b-9)
c. How do other objects in nature cooperate with this judgment? (v. 10)
d. With the combination of this army, nature and God’s command, what conclusion does the prophet draw with his rhetorical question in v. 11b?
(5) Call for repentance (vv. 12-17): How this occasion in foretelling the future Day of the Lord is used:
a. In urging them to repent genuinely (vv. 12-14)
- What does the Lord emphasize concerning their attitude?
- What reason does He give for hope?
- What blessing does He promise should He relent? Why is it a blessing?
b. Commanding the priests (vv. 15-17)
- What are they to do? (v. 15)
- Who should be gathered? (v. 16) Why?
- How should they take the lead in this repentance? (v. 17)
- What should their prayers be? (v. 17b) Why?
- How may we emulate this prayer today?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how you may apply them to your life?
“They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like crackling fire consuming stubble” (Joel 2:4-5)
In chapter one, we read that Joel is using a recent incident — that of the great devastation of the land by swarms of locust — to point to the great judgment on the Day of the Lord. In this chapter, Joel continues to depict the horrible judgment of that day using what they have seen and heard during that recent incident, likening the tool that the Lord uses for His judgment as a mighty army of horses and chariots.
The question we have is: Does this “army” of the Lord refer to another devastation by locusts (except in an even greater magnitude) or to an actual army itself?
Of course, we do not have any definitive answer, except that two very similar visions are seen by the Apostle John concerning the last days which are obviously part of the events of or leading up to the Day of the Lord in Revelation 9.
From the description of the vision John witnesses as the “fifth angel sounded his trumpet” (Rev. 9:1), those locusts were told “not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree” but to “sting” (Rev. 9:4-5). Therefore, it is not describing the same event as in Joel 2.
Concerning the vision of the “sixth angel”, John witnesses “horses and riders” (numbered 200 million) that would kill a third of mankind, but John is at a loss as to what he sees, because “their breasts were fiery…as sulfur”, and “out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur” (Rev. 9:17). This vision in some ways resembles the “army” described by Joel.
It is my own opinion that the visions of locusts and the vision of the horses and riders likely are visions which depict modern-day warfare of jets and other modern weapons. As someone who witnessed a locust swarm in Sudan remarked that the noise of locust wings is like that of a jet engine (TOTC, Joel, 55), it is likely that both Joel and John simply lacked modern-day vocabulary to describe what might be fighter jets.
Whether my assumption is correct or not, or whether John’s vision and Joel’s are the same is not important; what is important is that these visions from God, foretold in the Old Testament and retold in perhaps a different fashion in the New Testament affirm the certainty of the horrific judgment that will descend upon the earth one day on those who would not repent and believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.
God answers their prayers:
(1) What should they (or their priests) be praying for? (v. 17)
(2) God promises (a) to give them not just enough food to survive, but to be fully satisfied (v. 19a) and (b) to silence the mocking nations (v. 19b).
a. What is God’s motivation? (v. 18)
b. How will God silence the mocking nations? (v. 20)
- Who might they be (given the likely defeat of Babylon by the Persians in the time of Joel)?
- Will the northern horde be a symbol of anti-God nations as depicted in Revelation 18?
c. Enough to be fully satisfied (vv. 21-27)
- Who will benefit from the “great things” the Lord will do for them? (vv. 21-22)
- With these blessings, how should they rejoice? (v. 23a) What does it mean?
- As much as the devastation by the locusts was great, stripping everything bare with their successive swarms, what would genuine repentance produce? (v. 25)
- How will this promise be used by us today?
- Today there are people who mock us by asking, “Where is their God?" (v. 17). What should our attitude be? (v. 27)
(3) Joel’s prophecy already realized in
our days (vv. 28-32):
Peter quotes the entire passage here (from vv. 28-32) in
his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21).
a. What happened on that day that caused the people in Jerusalem to be amazed and perplexed (Acts 2:1-12)
b. As Peter quotes from Joel 2:28-32, which part of this prophecy has literally been fulfilled?
c. What part, do you think has yet to be fulfilled?
d. By referring to this prophecy (and others), what was the response of the hearers? (Acts 2:37)
(4) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions…And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved…” (Joel 2:28, 32)
One of the most famous passages from Joel’s prophecy is 2:28-32 which the Apostle Peter quoted fully on the day of Pentecost as he and the other disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in the tongues of the diaspora Jews who gathered in Jerusalem. Allow me to share with you Howard Marshall’s commentary on this particular fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy:
“Peter regards Joel’s prophecy as applying to the last days, and claims that his hearers are now living in the last days. God’s final act of salvation has begun to take place.
“The first and main theme of the prophecy is that God is going to pour out His Spirit upon all people, i.e. upon all kinds of people and not just upon the prophets, kings and priests, as had been the case in Old Testament times. The evidence will be seen in prophecy and visions. Since tongues could be broadly described as a kind of prophecy, this passage provided the nearest equivalent to tongues in Old Testament phraseology. A second element in the prophecy is the occurrence of cosmic signs of the type associated with apocalyptic pictures of the end of the world; the same language is in fact used in Revelation 6:12...The signs are probably the gift of tongues and the various healing miracles which are shortly to be recorded. But what about the wonders? If we do not accept that the reference is to the cosmic signs which accompanied the crucifixion (Lk. 23:44f.), then Peter is looking forward to the signs which will herald the end of the world; these are still future, and they belong to the ‘end’ of the last days, rather than to their ‘beginning’ which is just taking place. The third element in Joel’s prophecy is the event which these signs portend: the day of the Lord, i.e. the day of judgment. For Joel of course the Lord was Yahweh Himself. For Peter and Luke the question arises whether Lord here does not implicitly mean ‘Jesus’, since in verse 36 Jesus will be declared to be Lord. In any case, the prophecy concludes, fourthly, with a promise that whoever calls on the name of this Lord, i.e. appeals to Him for help, will be saved; for Christians this certainly meant seeking salvation from Jesus (Rom. 1:13f.; 1 Cor. 1:2). Admittedly, if Peter were citing the text in Hebrew, the reference would be clearly Yahweh, and therefore an application to Jesus would be clear only to readers or hearers of the text in Greek.
“It is hard to know in what way Joel envisaged the fulfilment of his oracle. It comes in the context of a plague of locusts upon Israel, which the prophet saw as a warning judgment. When the people responded with repentance, the Lord heard them and reversed their fortunes, promising them plenteous harvests. Then comes this prophecy of what will happen ‘afterward’, as the prophet looks forward to yet future events and envisages the final vindication of Israel and the defeat of her enemies. Thus the prospect appears to be a distant one, associated with the day of the Lord, and therefore no injustice is done to the passage when Peter sees that it is beginning to be fulfilled in the events of Pentecost.”
(TNCT, 73-4)
Joel’s oracle concludes with greater detail of the time when the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem are restored:
3:1-16—The Judgment of the Nations
(1) Where will they be put on trial? (v. 2)
(2) How will they all go to that place? (v. 2)
(3) What are the charges against them? (vv. 2b-3)
a. How heinous are these crimes?
b. In laying out the charges, what personal pronouns are repeated quite a few times? What does that mean?
(4) Which nations are being singled out as representatives of “all nations”? (v. 4)
a. What are the two charges laid against them? (vv. 5-6)
b. What will be their judgment? (vv. 7-8)
(5) The gathering of the nations is elaborated (vv. 9-16)
a. Judging from the words used for the call to war (vv. 9-11)
- How widespread will this call be?
- While the call in fact comes from God, do you think these nations are passive or active participants to this battle? Why?
b. The prophet now calls upon the Lord to bring “down” His warriors to judge the nations (vv. 11-13):
- Who are these warriors?
- What will they do to judge the nations? (v. 13; see Rev. 14:14-20)
- What does this imagery portray and why?
(6) The valley of decision (vv. 14-16)
a. Why is this place also called the “valley of decision”?
b. As the Lord roars from Zion, why would even nature is also affected? (vv.15-16; see also 2:10 and Matt. 24:29; Isa. 13:10; 34:4; Ezek. 32:7; Rev. 6:12 [6th seal]; 8:12 [4th trumpet])
c. While all the people of the nations should be afraid, should God’s people be afraid too? Why or why not? (v. 16)
3:17-21—The Lord Dwells in Zion
(7) “In that day” when the Lord dwells in Zion
a. What will happen to Zion and Jerusalem? (v. 17)
b. What is the implication that no foreigners will invade her anymore?
(8) A picture of abundance is depicted in v. 18:
a. From where will that fountain flow out? (v. 18)
b. What kind of fountain is it? (Jn. 4:14; 7:37-38)
(9) What will happen to the land of Egypt and Edom? Why? (v. 19)
(10) What will happen to the land of Judah and Jerusalem? Why? (vv. 20-21; see Rev. 21:10ff)
(11) As we come to the end of the book of Joel, take a bit of time to reflect on your notes or scan through the book once again, and see what might the key messages be to you and how may you apply it to your life?
“Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.” (Joel 3:17)
The name of Joel means “the Lord (Yahweh) is God” or “whose God is the Lord (Yahweh)” and this happens to be a repeated emphasis throughout his oracles — a total of 7 times (1:14; 2:13, 14, 23, 26, 27; 3:17). Each time that this term is used, it is either used to call the people to repentance (1:14; 2:13, 14) or to assure the people of God’s blessings in the future (2:23, 26, 27; 3:17). In other words, the basis of their hope rests purely on the covenantal relationship between the Lord and His people, in that, in spite of their continuous rebellion against God, upon their genuine repentance (2:12ff) their faithful God will relent and restore their fortunes (3:1ff).
As we know historically, after this call to repentance and promise of restoration by Joel (followed by one other prophet, who is Malachi), the people of Israel had not shown any genuine repentance, and plunged themselves into what is known as “the four hundred years of silence”, where God had stopped sending them any prophets. One wonders how then God’s promise, especially at the end of Joel, “The Lord dwells in Zion,” could be realized?
Just as Israel entered into one of her darkest hours, and perhaps, the darkest of all hours, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14); God honors His promise by sending His Son Jesus Christ into the world — Emmanuel — God is with us! It is through Him that the fountain of living water will flow (Joel 3:18) to all those who would put their trust in Him (Jn. 7:37-38). In that culminating day of the arrival of the New Heaven and the New Earth, just as the Apostle John testifies, “Now, the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:3).