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.

Acts 2:24-28 - But God

2:24

Man did this, but God did that. The decisions that we make and things that we do absolutely matter, and we are responsible for them. What the Jewish leaders did, what the Roman authorities did, what the ordinary people did all matter and they are responsible for their actions. But God raised Him from the dead. This was all part of God’s plan, and His plan with a good purpose. God fred Jesus from the “agony of death”. Death could not hold Him down, death was defeated. This whole issue of man’s responsibility (and/or free will) and God’s sovereignty causes immense problems for our understanding. The truth is that the way the two things interact and work out is beyond our understanding. We know for sure from the Bible that God is absolutely sovereign, so the open theism nonsense is just that, and is a deeply unbiblical heresy. We also know from virtually every page on the Bible that what we do with our lives matters and has an effect. We need to interpret the Bible and to live our lives in the light of both these truths. And we need to accept the limitations of our ability to understand just how they work together. When we are dead set on understanding how they work we run the real danger of making an idol out of our understanding. A current trendy idea is Molinism (though it has its roots from many centuries ago). Molinism is good in that it affirms God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, but it goes astray in its attempt to understand how the two can work together, and makes an idol out of understanding.

2:25-28

Peter then quotes from Psalm 16:8-11. As was common in those days, the quote comes from the LXX version. Peter attributes the psalm to David, and we see here an example of the common feature of Old Testament prophecies and psalms having both an immediate relevance and fulfilment, along with a much greater future fulfilment, almost always, as here, in the person of Jesus Christ. The events of the Old Testament happened partly in order to point ahead to what would see its fulfilment in Christ.

Christ was facing the most terrible event imaginable. As well as the normal horror of crucifixion there was the fact that He was going to receive the punishment that should have been ours, for all our sins. But even in this darkest hour Jesus knew that the “Lord was always before him”. So he was resolute in facing the cross. More than that, his heart was glad and his tongue rejoiced, and He knew that the final outcome would be that His body would rest in hope. He would be raised from the dead. We too, when the time to face death arrives, can rest in the sure hope of the resurrection. Jesus knew that His Father would not abandon Him to the grave.

Jesus had always been with the Father, so He knew the paths of life, and He had experienced the joy of being in the Father’s presence. Here on earth He knew the paths of life and the presence of His Father. And He knew He would be filled with joy forever in the Father’s presence.

We can apply this to our own lives as well. Jesus has shown us the paths of life, He has shown us how to live. This isn’t just the things we do and don’t do, though that of course is of great importance, but includes living in fellowship with the Lord. And we can be sure that He will not abandon us to decay, but we will live with joy in His presence forevermore.

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.

Acts 2:22,23 - God's deliberate plan

2:22

“Fellow Israelites”, Peter is not setting himself apart from the other Israelites, but is speaking as one of them. When we preach the gospel we preach as people who were equally in need of salvation, and of people who are in the process of being saved by grace, most definitely not as people saved because we are better. We see here the humanity of Jesus being emphasised. Jesus came in the flesh, fully human (and also fully God). He was accredited by God, and this was demonstrated by the miracles, signs and wonders. Sceptics sometimes say something like “who are you to say Jesus is the only way to salvation”, but it is not me who is saying that, it is God who has accredited Jesus. God did the miracles through Jesus. Now God is the same today and He can still do miracles, if He chooses to do them through us it will be God doing the miracles, not us. The power lies in God, not in us. “As you yourselves know”, the people had witnessed the miracles. It is significant that the gospel started in Israel, where it could be most severely tested, for it was where the events had taken place.

2:23

People sometimes get all het up about predestination and the sovereignty of God. They really shouldn’t, and these two verses illustrate why. The cross was all part of “God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge”. It was all predestined. “And you, with the help of wicked men ...” At the same time men, acting wickedly, chose to put Him to death. God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility go together, they are compatible. We get in trouble and go down wrong routes when, because we cannot work out how they can be compatible, we decide that only one them can be really true, so we jettison the other. This is a foolish mistake to make. In the Bible there is no conflict between the two, so we should not imagine that there conflict. Peter holds the normal Jewish people and the Romans both as being responsible for nailing Jesus to the cross.

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.

Acts 2:16-21 - In the last days

2:16

Peter then goes on to explain what was actually happening, and he goes back to the prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). The New Testament is firmly rooted in the Old Testament, it is the fulfilment of the promises found in the Old Testament. Any notion that the New and Old Testaments are somehow in conflict is deeply flawed. Indeed, anytime you hear someone speaking  and they place the Old and New in opposition, then this is a pretty clear indication that they do not know what they are talking about.

2:17-21

What they were seeing was the realisation of the promise in Joel. The Holy Spirit, often referred to as the promised Holy Spirit, is being poured on all people. This includes young and old, male and female. Notice that both men and women will prophesy. Indeed, there is a very close linking in these words between the pouring out of the Spirit and prophecy. This does not mean predicting the future (though it may occasionally include that) but declaring the truths of God, and it applies to all people, men and women. We need to be wary of getting too carried away in interpreting verses 19 and 20. He may be pointing forward to the end times, or it may just be symbolic. The key thing is that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

Amos 9:12-15 - I will plant them on their land

9:12

Israel herself will be restored, rebuilt, but then this will spread globally. She will start to have an impact on other nations. We need to be careful when we read phrases like “possess the remnant of Edom”. We can read this as possess in a worldly, dominant sense. Rather it means the spread of Israel’s true purpose, which is that all nations on earth will be blessed through her (Gen 12:3).

“All the nations who are called by my name”. God’s plan has always been universal.

“Declares the Lord who does this”. It is God who works salvation. We are utterly dependent upon Him. That most definitely does not make us automatons or passive partners, but active participants on God’s plan.

9:13-15

The picture here is one of abundance. The harvest would be so great that the workers would bump into each other, there was so much to harvest. There would also be an abundance of wine.

God will restore the fortunes of His people Israel. So we see His covenant faithfulness. We need to see the two sides of the prophecy of Amos together, and must not set them as being in opposition. Likewise, in our attitude towards Israel we must hold both sides. Israel always has been a sinful nation, just as the whole of the human race is a sinful race. Yet God has declared His promises to Israel, and the books of the Bible make it clear that He intends to keep those promises. Israel will be blessed. Indeed, if God is not capable of somehow overcoming the problem of a sinful nation receiving the promises of God, then neither can you or I receive the promises of God. But in Christ we do receive the promises, and in Christ Israel will receive the promises. In fact, there is a wonderful symmetry here. We Gentiles have learnt much from Israel and God’s workings with her, as described in the Old Testament, one day Israel as a whole will learn how we have received God’s blessing through Christ, and so they will eventually receive God’s blessings through Christ.

Notice after declaring the blessing, God then says “and they shall ...”. God’s salvation never leaves us helpless, but makes us fruitful and active participants in His plans.

And this blessing will be permanent. There is no hint in Amos of how God will manage to square the circle, only a very clear declaration that He will. There is no denying the sin of Israel, but equally there is no denying the blessings that will come Israel’s way.