Joel - Complete Notes

Complete notes on Joel are now available on Dundee Believer.

Joel 3:17-21 - The Lord dwells in Zion

3:17

“Then you will know...”  “you” here is Israel. God’s people will know their God, they will know that He dwells amongst them. Moreover, Jerusalem will be holy, His people will be holy, devoted to the Lord. This is what will bring true security to the land and its peoples.

3:18-21

“In that day ..” This is the day of the Lord, and on that day Judah will flow with prosperity, and the source of the blessing is the Lord’s house. We tend to read over phrases like “will run with water”, attaching no particular significance to them, but water was in short supply in Israel, so abundance of water is significant.

As well as blessing, the day of the Lord is characterised by judgement, nations which sinned against God will be punished. They will pay for the violence done to Judah. “Innocent blood” here does not imply innocence on the part of Judah, but the uncalled for shedding of blood, ie indiscriminate killing of women and children.

Judah will be inhabited forever. God looks after Judah, we do well to remember this. Judah was not a paragon of virtue, the OT records many sins, but she is still God’s nation. So today, one day God will restore the fortunes of Israel.

The Lord dwells in Zion! He dwells amongst His people.

Joel 3:12-16 - In the valley of decision

3:12

The nations will advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgement, and there they will be judged. So let’s see what is going on here. The nations are in rebellion against God and against His people. It is in their hearts to rebel, to be full of their own plans and ideas. God lets them, indeed calls them, to seek to fulfil these plans, and there they will be judged by God. To put this in a modern context, the nations of the West are in rebellion against God, seeking to go their own way. God will call them to a place of judgement.

3:13,14

This judgement will be terrible, for the full guilt of the nations will be exposed for what it is. There is a recurrent idea in Scripture that God allows sin to reach a certain level, then judgement is executed. Hence the harvest analogy, both here and elsewhere.

Many nations are called into the valley of decision, many nations in rebellion. They have made their decision, but now the day of the Lord is near, and the nations will learn of His decision.

3:15,16

Verse 15 is using the language of eclipses which were thought be portents of doom. The nations will be covered by doom. The Lord will roar from Zion. We should remember that Israel is still central to God’s plans. We may look at Israel and ask how can this be, not just because the size of Israel, but because of its unrighteousness. But we forget that the source of the plans is God. He will lead Israel to repent and believe. Then righteousness will shine from Israel, and the earth will tremble. Moreover, the Lord will be a refuge for His people.

Joel 3:4-8 - Are you repaying me?

3:4-6

Tyre, Sidon and Philistia are now addressed. This is part of what causes confusion over the dating of the prophecy. If it has a later date then why are not Assyria or Babylon mentioned, but some of the prophecy seems to pertain better to a post Babylonian conquest time. However, the later date is still possible. While Assyria and then Babylon were the primary conquerors, other lesser nations were involved from time to time, and sought to take advantage of Israel’s troubles. If we read the whole Bible and the prophets we see that there is a long record of discord between Israel and these three nations.These nations took riches from the temple, and they would have to pay a heavy price for doing this.They also sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem. If we look back to the Nazi era, there were of course primary instigators and culprits in the genocide of the Jews, but they were not the only nation to be involved. Other nations will also have to give an account.

3:7,8

So how will God deal with Tyre, Sidon and Philistia? He will bring the Jews back from the places they were exiled to. They would suffer the same fate as they inflicted on others. The significance of the mention of the Sabeans is that it means they would be sold off to South Arabia, and it is even possible that they would then be sent even further afield, possibly to India. Now, these verses also make us wonder, for it could seem that God is condoning slavery. However, the first thing we should do is to look at the message that God is giving, and that is that Tyre, Sidon and Philistia would suffer punishment for their sins. Again, to bring this more up to date. The Nazi’s did many terrible things, they then suffered equally terrible things at the hands of the Soviet armies. The lesson above all lessons that we should learn is that there is a price to pay for evil, it will not go unpunished.

Joel 3:1-3 - I will gather all nations

3:1

We now get the universal nature of God’s dealings with the world. God will bring the captives of Judah and Jerusalem back. This would seem to imply that this is referring to the time of the Babylonian captivity and therefore favours a later date for the prophecy of Joel. If an earlier date is accepted, then this would be taken as looking far ahead, or maybe it is completely prophetic in the sense of looking forward to the very end times. Given the re-establishment of the nation of Israel some seventy years ago it could be referring to present times.

3:2,3

This verse seems best taken as referring to the very end times when God will gather all nations together. In fact this highlights an important point about interpreting Biblical prophecy. For many prophecies, particularly those relating to the end times, we have a tendency to think it was completely fulfilled in some particular historical context, or that it is only relevant to the very end times. In most cases, possibly all, it seems that there are partial fulfillments, sometimes on more than one occasion, but not a complete fulfillment. So when we see prophecies we may see a partial fulfillment in Israel’s history, we should not be overly concerned if there are “bits missing”. Take a look at the example of Jesus. People like Moses and David, amongst others, were “types” of the Messiah. Ie they had some of the characteristics of the Messiah, but were most definitely not the Messiah. This in no way devalues their lives, nor the significance of their lives, but someone much greater lay ahead.

Anyway, back to the text! The nations will be gathered for judgement, and the primary charge will be what they did to God’s people. Now does this take away Israel’s guilt? In no way, only the blood of Jesus takes away guilt, but the nations were still responsible for their actions against Israel. In the same way, today many nations will have to answer to God for their attitude and actions towards Israel. This does not mean Israel is perfect, she most certainly is not and has her own repenting to do, but it is a foolish nation that does not treat Israel justly.

Valley of Jehoshaphat is probably used because of the meaning, valley of judgement, rather than a direct reference to the king of that name, or a particular place.

Verse 3 shows the nations devaluing people, treating them as mere objects. Sadly that still goes on today, in many and various ways.

Joel 2:29-32 - Wonders on the earth

2:29

“Even on my servants, both men and women”. The outpouring of the Spirit is universal. It covers both male and female, and includes servants. Specifically, “my servants”, ie anyone who is devoted to serving the Lord. The Spirit is not a gift for the special ones, but for all who follow the Lord. So, taking these two verses together with the preceding section we see that there is both a restoration of the old things together with a walking into a new life. The Spirit had not been given in such abundance before. At Pentecost this happened. When we come to Christ we walk into a new life.

2:30,31

The language used here is using lunar and solar eclipses as portents of disaster. Mesopotamian kings would even abdicate their thrones for a time, intending to resume their rule once the eclipse had taken place. We should note the mixture of judgement and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit does not mean partytime! Rather it means work or battle time. In Acts the Spirit was poured out so that the church could bear witness to the risen Christ. The same is true today. We live in a godless society, a rebellious society, but in the midst of that rebellion we are equipped by the Spirit in order to do God’s work.

2:32

So we have had he outpouring of the Spirit, then we have judgement. Now we have the promise, indeed the purpose, that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And note that Peter quoted all five verses here in his sermon in Acts 2. Jesus died and rose again for our salvation.

Joel - A prophecy of two halves (a sermon)

A sermon on the first two chapters of the prophet Joel, with the emphasis on the centrality and importance of repentance in the gospel.

http://www.gatechurch.co.uk/media/2018/6/3/joel-hell-and-salvation

Joel 2:23-28 - Be glad!

2:23,24

The first part of the prophecy has been all doom and gloom with the terrible effect of the locust swarm, along with the promise of worse to come. But that is the outlook only if the people continue in their rebellion against God. And note that in this case the rebellion seems to have been largely one of ignoring God. However, if the people do follow the earlier injunction to repent and turn to the Lord, then the prospects are radically different. Now instead of the prospect of disaster, the people should be glad, for the Lord will rain abundance upon them. Note again, that just is it was the Lord who sent the army (or locusts) against Israel (Joel 2:11), it is He who sends the blessing.

2:25

This verse makes it clear that it was God who sent the locusts against the people, but it is equally clear that He will “repay them for the years that the locusts have eaten”. There is complete restoration. We have great problems in our modern minds with God being in anyway responsible for disasters, and there are indeed questions that we struggle to find an answer too (as, indeed, did Job). The Bible has far less qualms about attributing these things to the Lord, and we can learn much from that. However, there is one further thing we should note. We tend to think that “the Lord did it and that is the end of the matter”, or “someone else did it, therefore the Lord was not involved”. Ie we think in terms of only one agent. The Bible does not do this. God’s involvement, including direct involvement, does not exclude human responsibility. Usually both are involved.

2:26

The people will be physically blessed, but the greater change will be a change of heart. There will be an attitude of praise within their hearts and minds. And this change of heart is based on God’s actions. We tend to think that we should praise the Lord even if He seems to do nothing. There is some virtue in this, but if we look at the Bible we find that a repeated pattern is that people praise the Lord because of what He has done. And this pattern was repeated in the New Testament.

2:27

The people would then know that the Lord is God and that He is in Israel. This mirrors the oft repeated phrase in the Old Testament of “I will be your God and you will be my people”. This is the goal. We are meant to know who the Lord is, we are to belong to Him, and we are to know that He is with us. “And there is no other”. It is not a matter of supporting the stronger God. There is only one God, Satan is not a God. “I am in Israel”. God is with us. Remember that one of the titles of Jesus is “Emmanuel, God with us”.  We need to meditate upon this. So often we feel alone, when we face trouble we act and think about the situation as if we are alone in the situation. We are not alone, and we are not meant to feel alone. We should seek the presence of the Lord.

2:28

These verses were quoted by Peter in his sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:17-21). We should also remember that the section division that you probably have in your Bible was not there in the original. So the promise here follows on from what has just been said. “And afterwards ..” ie it is after the salvation spoken of in the preceding verses. In Acts it is after the events of the cross, resurrection, resurrection appearances and the ascension. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people”. This signifies that the people belong to God, are anointed by Him. There will be obvious effects in terms of prophesying, having dreams and visions.

Joel 2:19-22 - Fear not

2:19

While turning to the Lord is the right thing to do, it will also bring practical benefits as well. The Lord will bring fruitfulness to the land, and never again will they be an object of scorn among the nations. Note that it is the Lord who made Israel an object of scorn. This was not an arbitrary action, but one that was righteous judgement upon their sin. But because it was the Lord who did this, it is also the Lord who can change things.

2:20

The “northern horde” could refer to Assyria, but this is far from certain. For Assyria did get close to defeating Jerusalem, but was then miraculously defeated, as noted in Isaiah 36-39. Alternatively, it could just be a general reference to Israel’s enemies. It could also be a reference to locust hordes, though they tended to come from other directions. However, references to attacks from the north are common in the prophets. Whatever the case, the key thing is that the enemy is completely defeated, and the defeat is God’s doing. When faced with trouble we tend to turn anywhere, except the Lord, in looking for help, only turning to Him when we have exhausted every other option. We need to turn to Him more quickly, for salvation comes from the Lord.

2:21,22

Joel then addresses the land, the animals and the people in v21,22 and 23, respectively. The salvation of the Lord affects all aspects of creation. An implication of this is that the best thing we can do for the well being of the environment is to turn to the Lord. The locusts had devastated the land itself, and the animals would be suffering as much as the people. They would both benefit from God’s salvation. The crops would yield their harvest.

Joel 2:16-18 - Then the Lord became jealous for the land

2:16,17

Everyone was called to partake in this fast, in this turning to the Lord. The young and old. Even a bridegroom was to take part, the fact of the wedding was no excuse for failing to attend this fast. Later we will read of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh, but of equal importance is that all flesh repent and humble themselves before the Lord. The priests, instead of being servants of the state, are to be servants of God, then they will truly serve the people. They are to lead the people in humbling themselves before God. Note also that this is not just a matter of the people suffering less if they turn back to the Lord, it is also a matter of the Lord’s Name being honoured instead of mocked. In the West the name of the Lord is generally mocked. I don’t just mean when Christ is used as a swear word, but the general attitude towards the church and to God. Part of the reason for this is that the church as a whole has turned away from God.

2:18

“The the Lord was jealous for the land”. The Lord had tied His name to Israel (and still has!). Yet they had scorned Him and were worshipping other things. But the land belonged to the Lord, and the people’s rightful place was with the Lord, trusting in Him, following His ways. Similarly, our rightful place is that we trust the Lord. Whatever your circumstances, or my circumstances right now, the thing we should be doing is trusting the Lord. So often when we say things like that our emphasis or motivation is on us getting an “answer” if we do that. But there is a deeper, and greater reason, for doing that. It is the right thing to do, it is what we are meant to do.

In seeking to bring the people back the Lord is having pity, showing mercy. People sometimes object to God seeking to bring them back to His ways, but the worst thing that can happen to a man or woman is that God just lets us go our own way. That way lies disaster.

Joel 2:14,15 - Blow the trumpet

2:14

“Who knows whether he will not turn and relent..” This should not be read as implying doubt, but rather an attitude of humility. We do not deserve mercy and grace. This is true by definition, but so often today people seem to assume that God has a duty to show mercy. We come in humility, then we will find forgiveness and will find a blessing.

The reference to grain and drink offerings is pointing back to the effect of the locust swarm. These things had been taken away by the locust, but mercy would include restoration. One again there would be fruitfulness. God’s grace is not a grudging avoidance of punishment, but a lavish outpouring of His love. This is something we find again and again in the Bible, with the parable of the prodigal son perhaps being the best example.

and mercy.

2:15

Earlier God had called on them to rend their hearts not their garments. Now the nation is called to a holy fast. There is nothing inherently wrong with religious festivals, the problem arises when the festival or religious ritual becomes the focus, rather than God Himself. And it is equally possible for non-liturgical forms of service to become idols, to have their attention shift from the Lord to something else.

Joel 2:10-13 - Even now, return to Me

2:10,11

Cosmic language is now used. Remember that this was being used to describe a locust swarm, and a military invasion. The vast numbers of locusts did indeed block out the sun and moon. So when we read similar imagery in apocalyptic passages (eg Matthew 24, Revelation) we need to be careful in over literal interpretations. At the same time we need to beware of under literal interpretations. The locust swarm was very real, and utterly devastating. The military invasion would be even more terrible. And it was all talking about God’s judgement. So when we encounter this sort of imagery we need to take it very realistically.

Then this section closes with a clear statement that it is the Lord that is leading this judgement, it s the day of the Lord, not some random or unfortunate event.

2:12,13

We now get one of the most dramatic changes of tone in the Bible, yet one that sums up the gospel. We have had a chapter and a half of vivid descriptions of judgment. One slightly unusual feature, when compared with other prophets such as Amos, is that there is no catalogue of sins given. It is just assumed that they are sinners, and the it is the consequences that are focused on, the fact that God will judge. This is a message that our world needs to hear. God will judge. But the purpose is not to relish the judgement, but to bring the people to their senses. “Yet even now ...” The people are called upon to repent and return to the Lord. And they are to do so with intent of purpose, with fasting, weeping and mourning. “Rend your hearts ...” The repentance is to be genuine. Both the cultural norms and religious practice had lots of outward actions, outward religious rituals, but God wanted a change of heart. And heart in the Bible encompasses the mind, emotions and the will, not just the emotions. If they did this then they would find a merciful God, a gracious God, and disaster would not occur.

The gospel, as in the gospel found in the Bible, not the make believe nonsense that often passes for the gospel, is the same. There is a clear delineation of our sin and sinfulness, followed by the unlimited offer of forgiveness and eternal life.

Joel 2:4-9 - Like warriors they charge

2:4,5

There are a number of ancient texts where a similarity is drawn between locusts and war horses. The sound of a locust swarm can apparently be quite a terrifying sound. So Joel here is giving a clear warning that following the locust swarm, and the harsh reality of what came with it is a warning of an even worse calamity that is to follow.

2:6-9

The people would be filled with fear, and the invading army would be resolute about its task, not swerving at all from its chosen path. Today we are sometimes told that we should not use the fear of hell in seeking to persuade others. Why not? No doubt there can be too much emphasis on hell, and a wrong emphasis at times. Even worse, it can lead to us considering everyone else worthy of hell but we are not. Yet consider this. Virtually every book in the Bible talks about the judgement of God. Jesus talks about the judgement of God. So if God speaks about the judgement of God, should we not speak about it from time to time? Indeed, if we warn of judgement in the right way then it is the word of God that we are proclaiming, so the words will be powerful.

The invading army would conquer the nation, nothing would stop them. Likewise, the judgement of God is irresistable.

Joel 2:1-3 - A day of darkness and gloom

2:1,2

We now get another set of verses describing an onslaught against the land and the people. The description this time is even more militaristic. This part can be looked at in two ways. One is take is as describing an actual military invasion, of which the previous locust invasion was a precursor. The other is to take it as referring to an actual locust invasion again, but being more explicit in its use of the locust swarm as prefiguring a military invasion that was yet to come. Given that there is no direct reference to an actual invading nation, and that the book is prophetic I have a slight preference for the latter. However, one cannot be dogmatic about this, and the prophetic can interpret events that have already happened. Whatever the case, the description is vivid, and would be even more vivid to Joel’s hearers than ours, and is a warning of what is to come. Locust swarms were massive, hence the description of the darkness. Something terrible is going to happen. The reaction of the people may have been to say “such a thing can never happen”, but they knew that the locust swarm had happened. In the same way the even worse invasion would happen.

To put this is in a modern context, people readily dismiss the idea of hell, saying “a God of love would never do that”. Yet, we see disasters in the world almost daily, and from time to time major disasters. We would be very foolish to dismiss the idea of God’s judgement, and would be far wiser to repent.

2:3

When a locust swarm came the land before them would be green with fruitfulness, but they would devour the land like a fire. After the swarm there would be no vegetation left. So it would be with the invading army. They would sweep all before them.

Joel 1:15-20 - Alas for that day

1:15-18

Amos is another prophet with an emphasis on the day of the Lord, and, at least in the first instance, the day of the Lord is not good news for Israel. For a people in rebellion against God the day of the Lord is nothing but bad news, unless there is repentance. In Israel’s case the day of the Lord was coming, and it would come as destruction from the Lord. The locust plague had led to food, and therefore joy and gladness, being cut off from the land. Worse was to come. The livestock were all suffering as well. Nature is dependent upon us. When we live in obedience to the Lord nature prospers, when we live in rebellion nature suffers (rom 8:22).

1:19,20

Joel cries out to the Lord. Even if the Lord gives us a message of judgement we are not to accept it passively. Instead we are to cry out to the Lord. This is what Abraham and Moses did, as did some of the other prophets. Nature also cried out to the Lord. Everything was affected by the judgement of God.

Joel 1:13,14 - Consecrate a fast

1:13

The priests had been ministering quite happily before the altar, secure in the relative prosperity that the nation was enjoying, but the Lord had other plans. The Lord was not happy because of the unrighteousness in the land. So the instead of being complacent, the priests should lament and wail. They should be repenting before the Lord for their own sin, and for the sin of the nation. The Lord had intervened to force the people to pay attention to what really mattered. We have an important lesson here. The Lord does use “natural disasters” to speak to a people. The problem is usually look at these things in terms of what God is doing to other people, about why they deserve what is coming to them. The right response is to ask what can I or we learn. And when we see others suffering the right response is what can we do to help them.

1:14

The priests are ordered to call a fast, to consecrate themselves to the Lord. All are to be called to humble themselves before the Lord. Contrast this with the reaction that the church so often has, which is to seek to explain why God’s word does not mean what it says it means. We are all priests now, but especially those of us who are in any position of leadership we need to remind ourselves that we are there to serve God’s purposes, and to lead the people in the ways of God. It is a tragedy when leaders or even churches lead people in the way of the world.

Joel 1:8-12 - Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth

1:8,9

To modern ears verse 8 may seem somewhat contradictory. How can a virgin lament for her husband? However, the answer is quite simple. A virgin could have a “husband” if the marriage had already been arranged, but not yet consummated. So the woman, a very young woman, had been betrothed (which was a far more binding state that our engagement is) but her betrothed has been killed before they were actually married. This was a tragic situation, and Israel is called upon to mourn as if she was in that situation. The locust plague had led to the temple having no grain or drink offerings. So instead of ministering to the Lord, the priests could only mourn.

1:10-12

These verses again puts things in terms of what had happened to the harvest. All the crops had failed because of the onslaught. The devastation was complete. The people would appreciate this, so God has used the disaster to bring them to their senses, to wake them up. When we are comfortable it is very easy for us to take a light attitude towards sin. By nature, we are very governed by the comfortableness of our lives. If everything is going well materially then we tend not to worry overmuch about other matters. So God had sent disaster to give the people a wake-up call.

Joel 1:4-7 - A wake up call

1:4

Now we get a graphic picture of the locust swarm and its effects. Four different words for locusts are used here. There is disagreement over whether these terms refer to different phases in the development of the locust, or to four different kinds of locust.

1:5

The locust invasion, which was real and of which the people all knew what the effect was, was a warning. Joel calls on the people to wake up. Drink may have been a big problem in the country, or Joel may also be using this metaphorically. The people were at ease, when they needed to weep and wail because of their sin (James 4:9). The locust swarm had devastated the grape harvest, so there would be no new wine. God would cut off the life of comfort the nation was living.

1:6,7

In other nations armies were sometimes described as being like locusts. The metaphor is then extended, and the army is now likened to a lion. A strong foe would rise against Israel. Verse 7 goes back to the locust analogy. Locusts only went for the vine when they had devoured everything else, so this is an indication of the extent of the invasion. They were also known to strip the bark off trees, leading to the possible death of the tree. Israel was facing a very dire situation.

Joel 1:1-3 Locusts and yet more locusts

1:1

The first verse gives us the name of his father, Pethuel, but as there is no other mention of Pethuel in the Bible that doesn’t really help us much. Many of the prophets mention which kings reigned during their time of ministry, but not Joel. However, He does tell us that this is the word of Lord. In common with most prophets, there is no information on how the word of the Lord came to him

1:2

Joel calls on the elders and the people of the land to pay attention. In our day the nation and its leaders are in at least equal need of listening to the word of the Lord. The rhetorical devices of calling on people to pay attention, and “has anything like this happened in your days” were used by other nations in the area, they were not peculiar to Israel. As we will soon see, the event referred to is a recent plague of locusts on the land. Joel is going to interpret the meaning of the event. So it is not impossible for God to send an interpretation of natural events to one of His prophets. Now, we must be careful and not go to the other extreme of interpreting absolutely everything in terms of God’s direct judgement, but neither must we discount the possibility.

1:3

If something significant happens that affects our lives profoundly we tell others about it. If it is something that affects the nation profoundly then it becomes part of the national heritage, something that is passed down from generation to the next. This is done for two main reasons. One is to enable future generations to appreciate why we are the way we are, to explain the nation. The other can be as a lesson, even a warning, to future generations. Each nations has their own stories that greatly influence them, not always for good, but stories that need to be appreciated in order to understand the nation. In Britain there is the role we had in World War II, and the effect that appeasement is believed to have had. Germany has national memories of hyper-inflation, and, of course, of Nazisim. Ireland has its own history. Joel is telling the people that they needed to understand the significance of the events of the locust invasion, and future generations also needed to understand.

Joel - Introduction

The book of the prophet Joel is probably best known for two things. First, for his invasion of locusts in the first half of the book, and then for his prophecy of God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh, a verse quoted by Peter at Pentecost (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21).

Little is known about Joel, and there is uncertainty about the dates of the letter. Estimates range from 870 BC to 200 BC. Given that neither Assyria nor Babylon are mentioned, but the Philistines, Phoenicians, Egyptians and Edomites are, an earlier date seems most likely. He presumably lived in or near Jerusalem, given his concern with these places. However, an alternative view is that the latter part contains allusions to the fall of Jerusalem and the Jewish diaspora, along with possible references to other prophets (Isaiah and Amos), though of course they may have been quoting from Joel! The short answer to the question of a date is “nobody knows!”.

Joel teaches on the Day of the Lord, this is not necessarily a specific date, but refers to a time when God’s plans are fulfilled, with evil being judged and overthrown, and those who trust in the Lord being vindicated. There is also the message that repentance can avert God’s wrath. Indeed this could be said to be the gospel message, though sadly much of the church seems to ignore repentance these days.

Unlike some of the other prophets, the judgement he issues is against Israel, rather than the other nations. Blessing follows only after blessing and judgement. It is a pity that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not grasp this aspect of God’s working.