The Cepher of the Prophet Yoel/ the Book of Joel.
Joel: a Pre-Babylonian Exile Prophet concerned with Judah, the southern kingdom.
There is a lack of certainty about when the Book of Joel was written. But many commentators come to the sensible conclusion that the when does not really matter. The message he delivers is universal.
However, it seems likely that Joel was writing around 835 BC to 796 BC. That is, some 100 years after the separation of the land into the two kingdoms, around the time of King Joash of Judah.
“Yoel” means “Yahweh is God”. He was the son of “Pethuel” whose name means “open-hearted towards God”. It seems reasonable therefore to assume that he came from a devout family. He possibly came from the town of Bethurem, northeast of the Dead Sea. He lived and prophesied in Judah and Jerusalem. Otherwise, little is known about him.
At the time Joel was writing, Judah was economically weakened. There had been a prolonged drought, and they were facing military incursions by the Phoenicians and the Philistines. Then came the invasion the locusts with which the Book of Joel opens. The destructiveness of this plague of locusts represented for Joel a vivid warning of God’s coming judgment on Judah and a clear call to turn to the Lord for mercy. No specific sin is outlined against Judah; there is no mention of idolatry. The issue may have been a state of indifference, leading the prophet to call for repentance, to “rend your heart and not your garments.”
The theme of judgment for sin permeates all parts of the message of Joel. It reflects those times in human history when God intervenes in man’s affairs revealing His character – mighty, powerful and holy. This of course terrifies His enemies. These acts of judgment are frequently associated with seismic disturbance (Joel 2:1 – 11; 2:31; 3:16), violent weather events, clouds, thick darkness, cosmic upheavals and as a great and very terrible day which “comes as destruction from the Almighty.” (1: 15).
We can therefore see two purposes in Joel’s prophecy.
He wished to call the nation to repentance (2: 12) based on its immediate experience of the plague of locusts. This recent disaster and the nation’s vulnerability represented for Joel a mere token of the more devastating judgment to come. Yet, that judgment could be averted by sincere and humble repentance. In the light of impending judgment, there is always a message of hope for deliverance and restoration for those who will return in faith to the Lord.
Secondly, the Book of Joel is noted for the information given about Israel in the messianic kingdom. With repentance and renewed commitment to God, secure Israel, having been regathered into the land, enjoys God’s blessings through material restoration as a result of divine healing of the land (2: 21 – 27), spiritual restoration through the divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit (2: 28 – 33) and national restoration through divine judgment on the unrighteous.
The Book of Joel shows the Creator and Redeemer God of all the universe, in control of nature. Joel makes clear that the God of judgment is also the God of Mercy who stands ready to redeem and restore when people come before Him in repentance.
God’s Judgment Foretold Through the Plague of Locusts. Chapter 1: 1 – 20.
Joel 1: 4.
“What the chewing locusts left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.”
Verse 1. The opening words make clear that what Joel is presenting to Judah is from Jehovah. This plague of locusts is literal and contemporary. It is something quite beyond the normal. The sort of thing you “tell your children about”. Four kinds of locust are described indicating complete destruction.
The people and their leaders are commanded to contemplate this devastation. The gravity of the situation demanded the attention of all the people. The historical severity of the devastation shows that this is divine chastisement and not just an unfortunate natural phenomenon.
Literal locust plagues were one of the judgments promised under the Mosaic covenant if the people disobeyed God and broke the covenant with Him.
Deuteronomy 28: 38, 42.
“You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locusts shall consume it … Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.”
We get a hint of Judah’s shortcomings in verse 5, when Joel addresses the people thus: “Awake you drunkards and weep.”
This suggests indolence in Judah with possibly the same attitude towards keeping the commandments of the Lord. Such an attitude would inevitably bring judgment.
Joel Chapter 2: 1 – 11.
From the contemporary devastation of the locusts, Joel transitions to the end times and the Great Tribulation.
Joel Chapter 2: 1 and 2.
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand.
A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, the like of whom has never been; nor will there ever be any such after them, even for many successive generations.”
The sound of the trumpet here is not a happy one; it is a signal of danger and military attack. God demonstrates His grace by issuing a warning for His people and providing an opportunity for repentance before He brings judgment upon them. Even so, judgment is not something which happens gradually; it is ever ready to burst upon people.
All the elements of God’s judgment are seen by Joel: “darkness; gloominess; fire; pain; earthquakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark; and “stars diminish in brightness.”
All these signs indicate divine presence in judgment. The unendurable invasion described in verses 3 and 4 is by an army at the beck and call of God whose “camp is very great.” They do great destruction:
“The land is like the Garen of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness.”
Joel 2: 18 – 20. The land restored.
As well as judgment and devastation, the day of the Lord brings the messianic kingdom and the restoration of the faithful with the second coming of Messiah.
“Then the Lord will be jealous for His land, and pity His people. The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, and his foul odour will rise, because he has done monstrous things.”
That Israel will receive “no reproach” among the nations can only be fulfilled in the messianic kingdom at the end of “the time of the Gentiles”.
“The Lord will be jealous for His land”. The Lord’s deep love for the land of Israel is coupled with His divine love (“pity”) for the people. On every occasion on which God has brought judgment on the land, there was the hope that one day His zeal for the land would lead to a renewal of blessing in response to repentance.
At the end of the Tribulation, the invading armies will be dismissed and in the messianic kingdom, He will send “grain, new wine and oil.”
Joel 2: 21 – 27. Material restoration for Israel in the messianic kingdom.
Joel 2: 21 and 22.
“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvellous things! Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their strength.”
In the millennial kingdom, Israel will experience a complete restoration of its agricultural production. The renewal of agriculture will be a sign that God has returned prosperity and peace to the land. Even the animals are to fear no longer.
Verse 25. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten … “
Verse 23. The “former rain” softens the soil for the planting of winter wheat. The “latter rain” falls in the Spring, causing the grain to swell and ensures a good harvest. If these rains fail, the crops will fail. In the kingdom, God “will cause the rain to come down for you … “
The same God who brought judgment will restore blessing on those who repent. But not only that, He have His presence “in the midst of Israel” in the reign of the Lord Yeshua.
Joel 2: 28 – 32. Spiritual restoration of Israel in the messianic kingdom.
Joel 2: 28
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters will prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
We can see a partial fulfilment of this at Pentecost (Acts 2: 16 – 21) but complete fulfilment will take place in the Lord’s millennial kingdom, when the remnant of Israel believes and repents.
The restoration of spiritual blessings will be preceded by “wonders” in the heavens which we also see in Revelation chapter 8.
Anyone who “calls on the name of the Lord” (i.e., who repents and believes) will be saved from the judgment which will fall on the wicked and the unbelieving.
A future remnant of the Jews will inherit God’s promised blessings of the covenants.
Joel 3: 1 – 21. National Restoration for Israel in the messianic kingdom.
Joel 3: 1 and 2.
“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and bring them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.”
By the use of the term “in those days”, Joel indicates a future time when God will gather the people back into the land. He will then exercise judgment on the nations depending on their treatment of Israel (and indeed the slave trade was a common practice among the Phoenicians and the Philistines – verses 5 and 6). But there will be a startling reversal of fortunes (verses 7 and 8). The victims themselves will be called to be instruments and avengers of the Lord’s wrath.
Verses 9 and 10. The military weapons of the Gentile nations would not be sufficiently powerful to protect them against God’s judgment.
Verse 11. Joel sees two armies assembling for battle. One army is made up of the “nations”; the other is made up of the “mighty ones” of the Lord.
Verses 15. We again see cosmic signs indicating “the day of the Lord”. But in the midst of these calamities God offers shelter to His people.
Verse 16. Joel sees the Lord enthroned in Zion, “Jerusalem shall be holy”.
Verse 17. Joel anticipates the day when strangers will no longer pass through Jerusalem to plunder and destroy. Instead, they will come to worship the Lord, “Zion My holy mountain”. This will be the location of the millennial temple (Ezekiel chapters 40 to 48). Verse 18: “a fountain will flow from the house of the Lord and water the valley of Acacias.”
Verse 19 and 20. The Gentile nations will be judged whilst Judah and Jerusalem will endure, and the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem is the key to the blessing on the whole land.
God promised, through Joel, a future time when the glory of Judah would not be eclipsed. This time of ultimate peace and prosperity will be experienced after the Lord Yeshua conquers the world and sets up the millennial kingdom on earth.
Conclusion.
You’ve got to love the Book of Joel! It demonstrates so much of God’s character – His power, His compassion, His holiness and His faithfulness.
And, of course, we are given so much information about Israel in the messianic kingdom.
The Book of Joel shows us the Creator and Redeemer God in complete control of nature and human history. But the God of judgment is also the God of mercy who stands ready to redeem and restore when His people come before Him in repentance.
For Israel in the millennial kingdom, the Spirit of God will be present upon all the people.
For the individual now, the Lord can restore lives blighted by sin (like the plague of locusts in Joel’s time blighted the land) through His divine grace, giving greater things to the repentant sinner than the wasted years took away.
AMEN.