"Joel" means "Jehovah is God" (Jo=Jehovah; El=God). We know nothing about him except that his father's name was Pethuel (Joe 1:1 ). We also have no idea who Pethuel was.
It is probable that Joel was a prophet to Judah. He prophesied from the capital city of Jerusalem itself. Some of the evidences are gleaned from the prophecy. Note the reference to the sanctuary in Jerusalem in Joe 1:9 , 13 , 14 ; Joe 2:15 .
JOE 1:9 , "The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn."
JOE 1:13 , "Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. {14} Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,"
JOE 2:15 , "Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:"
Without any information on the man, Joel and which kings he served under, it is nearly impossible to give a definite date of Joel's ministry. As Hailey has observed,
The date of the book is as conjectural as the life of the man himself. It is variously placed from one of the earliest, ca. 900 B.C. to the period after the exile, ca. 400 B.C. Keil, Sampey, Young, and others . . . defend an early date, ca. 830 B.C. Men of similar scholarship -- Driver, Farrar, Pfeiffer, and others - contend for a post exilic date. . . . Though the date of its composition may be uncertain and beyond our ability to determine, the message of the book is immortal and timeless. It can teach us today as it did when it spoken (Hailey, 40).
The prophecy came about because a calamity had struck the land. Locusts had left the land barren and devastated. The locusts were not a figure of speech depicting an invading foreign army. There is no hint in the text that the prophet was using an allegory.
The stronger possibility is that these were literal locusts from which the prophet Joel draws his lesson and urges the people to repentance. Unless there is repentance toward the LORD and a life of righteousness the locusts will be followed by a stronger and more severe judgment, an invasion by heathen nations.
The devastation of the locusts was followed by drought (Joe 1:9-18 ) and fire (Joe 1:19-20 ). This became a picture of God's impending judgment which will be worse than what they had experienced if they do not repent of their sins.
The message of the book is the doom of the nations and the ultimate glory of the LORD's cause. The invading army of devastating locusts was to be looked upon as God's warning to the people. The book was an appeal from the LORD to the people to seek Him through repentance. Out of their repentance there would come material blessings followed by an outpouring of spiritual blessings. Joel is the only one of the OT prophets who makes a clear prediction of the coming ministry of the third person of the Godhead, the Blessed Holy Spirit (Joe 2:28 ). He came fifty days after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this prophecy Joel is sometimes referred to as "the prophet of Pentecost". It may be said that book begins in gloom but it closes with the anticipation of a bright and glorious day to come (Hailey, 41).
The book may be divided into two main sections:
1. JOE 1:2-20, JOE 2:1-17 -- The prophet speaks; and
2. JOE 2:18-32, JOE 3:1-2 -- The LORD speaks.
The Message of Joel
The outline is adapted from Hailey's book p. 42-43 and V. Kerry Inman's book Prophets of Doom in an Age of Optimism, p. 104.
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1. Graphic description of the locust scourge (Joe 1:2-4 )
a. Any locust invasion is dreaded by people of all classes. Invasion of locusts strikes terror in all hearts. This particular invasion recorded by Joel was of unusual destructive force. It was so severe that Joel called the old men and all the inhabitants of the land to recollect any time in the past that was similar to this present scourge (Joe 1:2 ).
b. The severity of this present scourge was so bad that Joel told the people to remember it and relate it to future generations, that the lesson be not forgotten. The lessons recorded in this entire book (Joe 1:3 ).
c. The four terms described by Joel are the four stages of the development of the locust. First there are the locusts that destroy much of the vegetation. The females lay their eggs in the hard soil, an estimated sixty thousand per square meter, hatching an estimated sixty thousand of these. Soon appear the larvae which continue the devastation. From the larvae stage the locust passes through the pupa stage, in which small wings appear. These develop into full-fledged flying insects, which change into full-fledged locusts. In all, they pass through five molts (Conley, National Geographic Magazine, August, 1969, 211, taken from Hailey, 44).
Joel's reference to the four stages indicates that the destruction of the locusts was thorough and very complete (Joe 1:4 ).
2. Call to various classes to awake (Joe 1:5-13 )
All luxuries and every comfort are cut off. The picture of desolation is followed by the call to repentance, the usual pattern of the LORD's dealing toward His people.
a. The drunkards and drinkers were called to awake from their drunken stupor. The source of their drink is cut off. "The sweet wine" is the fresh grape juice and with the destruction of the vine the source is cut off completely (Joe 1:5 ).
b. Nation without number and whose teeth are strong like lion is a reference to the army of locusts. They stripped the vineyard bare. The leaves and the barks were eaten till the vine was laid bare. Joel's description is vivid; the destruction is complete (Joe 1:6-7 ).
The implication is that the time of mirth and laughter and celebration are over. Take a good look at yourself when you sober up.
c. The priests were next in line. The meat offering and drink offering are cut off. This means that no more offering will be brought by the people to the temple. The priests were told to mourn like virgins who had lost the husband of her youth (Joe 1:8-10 ).
Let your grief be deep and from the depth of your heart. The lament of a virgin who lost the husband of her youth imply that the marriage has not consummated yet and they had been betrothed since young and all their hopes and longings were dashed just when they thought everything was going so well. Their hopes will be dashed at the height of their impending fulfillment. This kind of pain hurts deeply.
d. After the removal of mirth, and worship, now the very jobs of the people are destroyed. All those who placed their hopes in their crops and harvest are dashed to pieces. The joy is withered away from the sons of men (Joe 1:11-12 ).
Everyone was badly devastated by the scourge of the locusts, from the priests to the commoner.
e. The priests were told to cry and weep and to lie in sack cloth the whole night. The drink offering and meat offering will not be brought to the house of the LORD.
What are meat and drink offerings? These are the offerings of the husbandmen and farmers who bring in their crops and offer their first fruits at the temple as a token that they have dedicated their all to the LORD (Lev. 2 ). These are also items used for the thank offering (Lev. 7:12-15 ).
The cutting off of these items will mean that there will not be thanksgiving offering brought by the people as well as drink and meat offering which were also a kind of thank offering. The priests will starve as they depend entirely on the offerings of the people to survive.
1. Urgent call for Sanctification (Joe 1:14 )
a. Repentance was followed by a fast. The elders (old men) and all the inhabitants of the land were told to fast. United in purpose in the repentance of their sins and sanctification was the basic fabric in the garment of Israel's salvation.
b. In the darkest of the hour, all the people were called to assemble in the house of the LORD, their God and cry to Him. Their cry was for mercy, nothing else.
c. Joel sees God as the One who has permitted this disaster to come upon the land. No one can help, but the LORD, your God. NOTE the personal pronouns used by Joel in this verse.
2. Urgent call to plead for God's mercy (Joe 1:15-20 )
a. "The day of the LORD" designates the judgment of God. It is destruction from the Almighty God i.e. the omnipotent God. No one can stop it when it comes! The power of God is emphasized here. This term is used sparingly in the Bible so that when it is used it is significant (cf. Gen. 17:1 ).
b. Joel reiterates to the people whom he urges to turn back to God the calamities that had befallen them. Food was cut-off hence no more joy (Joe 1:16 ); They want to plant (to work hard), but the seed is rotten inside the clods, hence the garners (granaries) are empty [no food in the present as well as in the future] (Joe 1:17 ); The cattle (all their livestock sheep and goats included) are in need of food, they wander up and down the pasture perplexed looking for but not finding food hence they are desolate (Joe 1:18 ).
c. Remember the judgment from God upon Adam after he sinned? It was a curse on the land which caused man to work hard for his food: from the sweat of his brow will he find food (Gen. 3:17-21 ). Likewise, the desecration and destruction of the land by any means was seen as an act of God's judgment upon God's own people by Joel. More so because of the nature of the covenant the people had with their God (cf. Deu. 28:15-45 ).
d. On top of the locust plague, fire and devoured whatever residue of vegetation left by the locusts. The beasts of the field cry to God as well as Joel.
Sound the alarm on the holy mountain! The day of the LORD is at hand. This is a most vivid description of the terrible day of visitation when the LORD comes to judge. After the destruction by the locusts and fire, Joel, instead of saying, "Things will improve" said that "things will GET WORSE. The description by the locusts and fire was total but it was nothing compared to the impending judgment which God will send. If sinful man thinks that physical devastation such as the locusts is bad wait till he tastes the devastation that comes form the sovereign hand of God! (read the Book of Revelation)
1. The Warning of the trumpet (Joe 2:1-3 )
a. In the Old Testament, the trumpet was used for assembly at the door of the tabernacle, for gathering the princes of Israel, as well as during the offering of the burnt offerings. At other times, the trumpets were blown as an alarm for alertness and readiness because of imminent dangers (Num. 20:1-20 ).
b. The day of the LORD is now described in very vivid terms. All the inhabitants of the land were to tremble. The judgment of the LORD was about to come. Joel 2:2-3 , "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them."
One moment, the land was like the Garden of Eden, green with vegetation, and plenty to eat, but soon it will be devoured by "fire" where nothing will escape.
2. A description of the devastating invasion (Joe 2:4-11 )
a. Since the time period in which Joel prophesied cannot be determined with any certainty, we can only guess, from hind-sight who the invaders were and when the invasion occurred. I do not think that this portion refers to the second coming of Christ. Joel 2:28-32 does but not here.
b. The invaders were from the north. According to the history of Judah, and since Joel was probably a prophet who lived in Jerusalem, the invaders were either, the Assyrians (2 Ki. 18:1-3 , 13-37 ; 19:1-37 ; 2 Chron. 32:1-23 ; ISA 36:1-22, ISA 37:1-38 ), or the Babylonians (2KI 24:1-20, 2KI 25:1-21 ; 2 Chron. 36:1-21 ) who attacked Judah.
The invasion by the Assyrians was turned back by God supernaturally, because the Jews, led by King Hezekiah, repented and returned back to the LORD. They came in hoards and destroyed Israel in 722 B.C. Some twenty years later (2 Ki. 17:6 ; 18:1-2 , 13 ) The Assyrians led by Sennacherib invaded Judah. Most of the cities were destroyed by them until they came to the capital city of Jerusalem where they surrounded the Jews. By prayer and repentance to the LORD their God, they were spared. The LORD killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that very night when they prayed and turn to God for help. Could this be the reference of a northern invasion by Joel?
The invasion by the Babylonians could not be stopped even though Josiah brought a great reformation to the land of Judah (2 Ki. 21:1-16 ; 2 Ki 22:1-20 , 2 Ki:25, 26-28). The reason given by God was that the sin of Judah led by Manasseh was too great and the judgment of God had already been pronounced and it will surely come to pass. It has become part of the unchanging prophecy of God likened to the judgment of God in the last days as recorded in the Book of Revelation.
1. Rend the heart not the garments (Joe 2:12-14 )
a. The call to the people was repentance. They were to mourn and weep from their hearts and not to enter into an outward form of repentance. The external should reflect the inner cry of their hearts. But external repentance without their heart is hypocrisy.
b. The basis of genuine repentance is not a demand and an acknowledgment of our right that God must stop His judgment upon His people. Genuine repentance appeals to the grace and mercy of God. The character of God is . . . Joel 2:13-14 "And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?"
c. The LORD's grace and mercy might be so great that He would not destroy Judah but that He would also bless Judah. God will restore their land and cattle so much so that the people will have the cereal for meat offering and vineyard that flourish for their drink offering. These are offerings of thanksgiving.
2. Sincerely repent and weep for your sins (Joe 2:15-17 )
a. The first blowing of the trumpet was that of an "alarm" i.e. a warning of imminent danger. Here it is the sound calling for a fast and repentance. All the inhabitants of the land were included.
b. The basis for their national cry of repentance was the glory of God. This was similar to the argument of Moses in the wilderness when God said to him that He was going to destroy all the rebellious Israelites and start afresh with Moses (Num. 14:6-24 ).
Because of the conditions stated in Joe 2:12-17 , I am incline to believe that the reference to the northern invaders (Joe 2:20 ) refers to the Assyrians.
1. The LORD will change and pity (Joe 2:18 )
a. The LORD will be jealous for His land. This was the Promised Land given by the LORD to the people of Israel since He gave His promise to Abraham in 2090 B.C. (Gen. 12:1-3 ). The LORD loved His land and wanted His people to occupy it more than they could even imagine.
b. The LORD will pity His people. The pity God has for His people cannot be fully understood by sinful man. They have sinned time and time again and the Bible says God loved us even when we were sinners. Will God cease to pity His own now that they have become His children?
2. The LORD will bless materially (Joe 2:19-27 )
a. The unity and oneness the people of Israel have in regard to spiritual and physical blessings must be stressed. To their mind, it is one and the same. They go hand in hand. To their understanding, you cannot have one without the other. The land of milk and honey was a promise from God to His people. For a Jew, to be blessed spiritually is to be blessed physically as well. But the reverse is not so, even though many of the people of Israel and Judah, including present day thinking, believe that to be rich means to be blessed by God. The ultimate and fundamental yardstick is the perfect Word of God and not materialism.
b. The Jews can expect this i.e. to be blessed spiritually is to be blessed physically, because they were a nation belonging to God. They lived in a land given by God where the suzerainty covenant they received from God says that if they obey God they will be blessed materially and they will be cursed materially if they disobey God's Word (Deut. 28:1-68 ).
c. We cannot expect this equation from God. This was not God's promise to us. We are a church and not a nation! What God promised the people of Israel belong to the people of Israel except when the Bible clearly indicates that the promise extends to ALL nations like Gen 12:1-3 . We need to draw principles from these passages and apply to present day life.
1. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joe 2:28-29 )
a. This is a direct prophecy to another time period where the Spirit of God will be poured out liberally to all the Jews irrespective of their age, profession and standing in society.
b. The apostle Peter clearly understood Joel 2:28-32 to have been fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:16-21 ). Peter translates "afterwards" as "in the last days". The days here refers to the time of Peter up to the second Coming of Christ. In other words we are now living in the last days.
c. "The terms `prophesying,' `visions,' and `dreams,' seem not to be completely distinct, but complementary. Prophecy stands for the whole of teaching by inspiration of the Spirit. Visions and dreams indicate two forms of revelation by which God would make Himself known to the prophet (Nu. 12:6 ) [Hailey, 54]".
Here we are talking about the Word of God itself. Such activities ceased after the death of the last apostle and the completion of the Holy Scriptures.
2. The judgment of God in the last days (Joe 2:30-32 )
a. In the understanding of prophecy, the key thing to note is that the emphasis is on future events. The time when these events will be fulfilled in not the emphasis but rather the certainty of their fulfillment is definite. There will be time gaps between the events which may sometime be mentioned together within a passage of Scripture like Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 ; Joel 2:28-32 , etc.
b. According to Acts 2:17-18 , Joel 2:28-29 was fulfilled in the day of Pentecost. Once it has been fulfilled it will not be fulfilled again. This is the nature of prophecy. There is no double or triple fulfillment. The rest of it, also quoted by Peter (Acts 2:19-20 ) corresponds with Joel 2:30-31 will be fulfilled in the future. Mt. 24:29-30 ; and Rev. 6:12 describe the days before the second coming of Christ. These passages correspond very well with Joel 2:30-31 .
c. Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32 describes a constant promise from God that whosoever throughout the ages from the day of Pentecost would call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. There will not be anymore a "nation" of God's people who are limited by geographical location but it will be world wide (cf. Jn. 4:21-24 ). The implication of this promise cum prophecy from the LORD was exactly what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well. There will be a new "place" for worship as well as a new "system" of acceptable worship.
1. All the evils of the nations against Judah will be avenged (Joe 3:1-3 )
a. The phrase in those days and in that time continues on where the previous chapter left off. Joel 3 continues with the events of the last days. Therefore this cannot be a reference to the return of the people after the Babylonian captivity.
b. The judgment against the heathen nations would be a world judgment of the nations who had scattered the LORD's heritage. "Valley of Jehoshaphat" means "valley where Jehovah judges". The exact location is uncertain. Some have said that it refers to the northern part of the Kidron valley and others said that it is a valley located southeast from Jerusalem near the wilderness of Tekoa. But the point of emphasis is that it will be a judgment of the LORD on behalf of His people. All the nations that have a part in scattering the Jews will be judged by God.
c. The cruelty of the people is described in Joe 3:3 . "And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink." They have a very low estimate of the value of human life. This characterizes the heathen people who refused to have God in their knowledge. Such conduct and disposition will be judged by God.
2. Neighbouring nations will suffer the severe judgment of slavery in a far land (Joe 3:4-8 )
a. The first foreign nation to be mentioned was Phoenecia. This was located on the coast of Palestine, northwest from Judea, and to the people of Philistia, located in the southwest coastal plain.
b. God's judgment upon them will be certain. They will receive a just recompense for what they did to Judah and to the children of Jerusalem. See Joe 3:4-8 .
c. NOTE: It is difficult to find a fulfillment for these two reasons: (1) it could not be a time of Uzziah, of Alexander, or of the Maccabees, for these events are to be "in those days" (Joe 3:1 ), the days of the Spirit i.e. a reference to the Pentecost in Acts 2 ; (2) it cannot be looked for in a literal sense after Pentecost, for there is no historical account of such an event. Neither could Jews after the flesh or spiritual Israel have done this, for it would be physically impossible for the one and morally impossible for the other (Hailey, 57-58).
d. According to Hailey, the best conclusion seems to be that the prophet is here declaring a summary statement upon all the neighbouring peoples who had oppressed God's own people and sold them into slavery (Hailey, 58).
Hailey has observed correctly in that history has thus far not shown a fulfillment of this judgment from God. His "general" interpretation (mention on p. 58) helps but does not provide a succinct interpretation of Joe 3:4-8 . I think for these verses to be interpreted literally, it will have to be in the future, performed by God i.e divine judgment and the time period is not known.
3. Destruction of all heathen powers by a divine decree (Joe 3:9-16a )
a. The focus is now on all the heathen nations and God's universal judgment against them will come. The implements and instruments of peaceful agricultural pursuits are to be converted into implements of war. This is in direct contrast to the character of the kingdom of God. For in that kingdom the citizens will convert the implements of war into instruments of peace (Isa. 2:4 ).
b. The heathens will gather in the valley of Jehoshaphat for war. The exact location of this valley is not known. But the irony is clear. These mighty men of war gathered to fight God, instead God says to them, this place of gathering is a "valley of Jehoshaphat" i.e. a valley where Jehovah is Judge (Jeho = the LORD and shaphat = "to judge"). In other word they gather to be JUDGED.
c. The time of judgment is ripe. They will not be able to escape God's judgment. This is the assurance of God to every righteous man in Christ Jesus the Judge of all judges will judge sinful man. NO MAN will escape His creator for all the things done on this earth!! Once again there is the mention of the darkening of the sun and the moon (Joe 3:15 ) which tells us that this judgement will be during the Second Coming of Christ (Mat. 24 ). By the Word of His mouth the mighty men of this world will be consumed. The world will shake and tremble at the awesome power of God against sinful mankind.
1. The LORD will be God to all (Joe 3:16b-17 )
a. As always, in the midst of God's judgment God will always give and be the hope of His people. He will be the strength of the people (Joe 3:16b ).
b. When the people of God see the reality of the LORD in their lives as His great divine judgment comes upon sinful man, then will the people will know that the LORD lives in Zion. Jerusalem will become impregnable in that day. No heathen stranger will ever pass through her i.e. enter into her gates ever again.
2. Blessings to God's people and a corresponding judgment to heathen nations (Joe 3:18-21 )
a. The conclusion of the matter presents a restoration of all blessings to the land of Judah.
b. Indeed the book of Joel begins with a calamity of immense proportion so much so that Joel told his old men to remember it and relate it to future generations to come, yet at the close of this brief and powerful book, Judah is as being restored by God to what God had meant it be from the beginning, a city of God!!