← All books · Minor Prophets
Book 29 of 39 · Minor Prophets

Joel

The Complete Story7:59

Overview

Joel is a short, intense prophecy from "Joel the son of Pethuel" (1:1) to Judah and Jerusalem. The book gives no king's name and no date, and estimates range from the 9th century BC to the period after the exile, around 400 BC. A late date is common because the book mentions elders and priests but no king, refers to the Greeks and the Sabeans, and echoes other prophets. Whatever its date, the temple is standing and its daily offerings are central to the book.

The book is built around a real catastrophe: a locust plague so severe, together with drought, that the grain and drink offerings stopped. Joel reads the disaster as a foretaste of "the day of the LORD". In the Hebrew Bible it has four chapters, while English Bibles have three. The structure is: the plague and a call to lament (1:1–2:17); God's answer of restoration (2:18–27); the outpouring of the Spirit and signs in the heavens (2:28–32); and the judgement of the nations with blessing for Zion (ch 3).

Part 1 — The Locusts and the Day of the Lord (1:1–2:17)

An unheard-of plague (1:1–12). Elders are told to pass the story down to their grandchildren. "That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten" (1:4). Four words for locusts, perhaps stages of the insect's life, describe total stripping. The invader is "a nation… whose teeth are the teeth of a lion". Vines are laid waste, fig trees are peeled white, and "joy is withered away from the sons of men."

A call to lament (1:13–20). Priests are to put on sackcloth, for the grain and drink offerings have stopped. "Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly… and cry unto the LORD. Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand." Seed shrivels, barns lie empty, cattle groan, and "the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness."

The army of the LORD (2:1–11). "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion." A day of darkness comes as a vast army "like the morning spread upon the mountains". "The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness." They run like horses, climb walls, and enter windows like thieves. Earth quakes, sun and moon darken, and the LORD himself leads this army: "the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"

Rend your hearts (2:12–17). "Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping." "Rend your heart, and not your garments… for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness" (2:13, echoing Exodus 34:6). Everyone is summoned, from elders to nursing infants and even the bride and groom. The priests weep "between the porch and the altar" and pray: "Spare thy people, O LORD."

Part 2 — The Lord Answers (2:18–32)

Restoration of the land (2:18–27). "Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people." He will drive "the northern army" into the desert and send grain, wine and oil. "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice." The early and latter rains return, the threshing floors fill, and God promises: "I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten" (2:25). "Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel… and my people shall never be ashamed."

The Spirit poured out (2:28–32). "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions," even on servants and handmaids. There will be wonders of "blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke", and the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered." Peter quotes this passage at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–21), and Paul quotes 2:32 in Romans 10:13.

Part 3 — The Valley of Decision (chapter 3)

The nations judged (3:1–8). When God restores Judah he will gather all nations into "the valley of Jehoshaphat" (the name means "the LORD judges"). They scattered his people, cast lots for them, and traded a boy for a harlot and a girl for wine. Tyre, Sidon and Philistia, which plundered the temple's treasures and sold Judeans to the Greeks, will be repaid in kind.

Swords from ploughshares (3:9–17). In a deliberate reversal of Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, the nations are summoned to war: "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong." "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near." The LORD roars from Zion, and the heavens and earth shake, "but the LORD will be the hope of his people."

Blessing on Zion (3:18–21). "The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk." A fountain flows from the LORD's house to water the dry valley of Shittim. Egypt and Edom become desolate for shedding innocent blood, while "Judah shall dwell for ever".

Key themes, and the bridge to Amos

  • The day of the LORD. Disaster in the present is a warning of the great day to come. That day is terrible for those who resist God and is deliverance for those who call on him.
  • Repentance of the heart. Outward ritual is not enough. "Rend your heart" sums up the whole call.
  • God's character. Joel builds on Exodus 34: grace, mercy and patience are the reason repentance is possible.
  • Restoration beyond loss. God promises to give back "the years that the locust hath eaten".
  • The Spirit for all. Prophecy will no longer belong to a few. Age, gender and social rank make no difference.

Joel ends with God's name over his city: "for the LORD dwelleth in Zion" (3:21). Amos 1:2 picks up the same words: "The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem." In Amos, though, that roar is turned on Israel's neighbours and then on Israel itself, as a herdsman from Tekoa confronts the wealthy northern kingdom.