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Joel Introduction

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Basics

BOOK: Joel

Description: Prophecies about the ‘last days’ (see Acts 2:16-21)

Author: an unknown Joel

Date written: unknown and scholars vary between 6th and 9th centuries BC!

Chapters: 3

Brief Synopsis
  • A plague of locusts (1:4) has ravaged the land and Joel calls for a holy fast (1:14) to cry out to the Lord and appears a warning of yet a worse day (the ‘day of the Lord’) that is coming (2:1,2) that may yet be a worse plague stripping the land (2:3) and again the Lord calls for repentance (2:12-17).
  • When this happens the Lord will bless His people (2:18-27) and afterwards will pour out His Spirit and bring salvation (2:28-32).
  • When he restores Judah and Jerusalem (3:1) He will hold all nations to account (3:2-16a) but will bless His people Israel (3:16b-21).
Outline

1:1-2:17 Judah Experiences a Foretaste of the Day of the Lord

  • 1:1-14 A Call to Mourning and Prayer
  • 1:15-2:11 The Announcement of the Day of the Lord
  • 2:12-17 A Call to Repentance and Prayer

2:18-3:21 Judah Is Assured of Salvation in the Day of the Lord

  • 2:18-27 The Lord’s Restoration of Judah
  • 2:28-32 The Lord’s Renewal of His People
  • 3:1-21 The Coming of the Day of the Lord
Concluding Comments
  • The picture is clear – a calamity presages the coming of a great day of judgment, which necessitates a call to repent and seek the Lord. When His people will do that the Lord will bless them and pour out His Spirit on them, and then into a time of accounting with all other nations while continuing to bless His people.
  • The difficulty is the interpretation of all this. It starts with the ‘locusts’. Were they a literal plague of locusts or is it a symbolic picture? Commentators take both sides. For interest sake, some suggest that the four locusts mentioned in 1:4 could represent the rule of first Assyria, then Babylon, then Greece and finally before the next fulfilment, Rome.
  • The fact is that the apostle Peter under the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost declared that what happened on that day was in fact a fulfilment of the Joel chapter 2 references to the Holy Spirit which would imply that what was recorded before that had already happened. Today we might see ourselves as in the era of the Spirit which will be concluded when Jesus returns and the day of worldwide accounting takes place, that ‘day of the Lord’.
  • The remaining question mark might be in respect of the meaning of the word ‘Israel ‘ near the end of Joel’s prophecies. Does it mean the literal nation of Israel alive in the Middle East, or does it simply mean all believers, the people of God worldwide? Only time will tell.
  • The end picture is of the people of God blessed by God while all unbelieving ‘nations’ will be held accountable for the way they have responded to the witness of the people of God. It is a strong message.
Joel Ch 1