Joel
Author: Joel
Joel calls Judah to fasting after a locust plague and speaks of the day of the Lord.
Outline
The locusts (1)
A plague strips the land, and priests and drinkers are told to wake and howl.
The day of the Lord (2:1–17)
An army like the plague is described, and the people are called to rend their hearts.
Restoration and the Spirit (2:18–32)
The Lord becomes jealous for the land and promises to pour out his Spirit on all flesh.
Judgment of the nations (3)
The nations are gathered in the valley of decision, and Judah is told the Lord dwells in Zion.
Key verses
Joel 2:13
The fast the prophet wants is a rending of the heart, because the Lord is gracious and merciful.
Joel 2:28
God says he will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, and sons and daughters will prophesy.
Joel 3:14
Multitudes are pictured in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near.
Joel is a short book with a wide horizon. It begins with something a farmer can see. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. The vine is wasted, the fig tree is barked, and the priests mourn because the grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. Joel tells the elders to pass the story to their children. He tells the drinkers to wake. A plague is not treated as bad weather only. It is a sermon, and the sermon’s subject is the day of the Lord.
The second chapter blows a trumpet in Zion. A day of darkness comes, a great and strong people like the dawn on the mountains, a fire that devours, an army that does not break rank. The locusts and the army share the same images, and the book does not pause to tell the reader to pick only one. The plague is real, and it is also the pattern of a greater day. In the middle of that threat the prophet gives the appeal the book is known for. Turn to the Lord with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning, and rend your heart and not your garments. The reason is the character of God: gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and repenting of the evil. Who knows whether he will leave a blessing behind him? A fast is called. The bridegroom leaves his chamber. Priests weep between the porch and the altar and ask the Lord to spare his people so the nations will not rule over them and ask where their God is.
The answer is that the Lord is jealous for his land and pities his people. He will send grain, wine, and oil. He will remove the northern threat. He will restore the years the locust has eaten. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel. Then comes the promise that stretches past the harvest. Afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Sons and daughters will prophesy. Old men will dream. Servants and handmaids are included. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance. The locust chapter has become a promise about the Spirit, without leaving Zion.
The last chapter gathers the nations. They have scattered the people, divided the land, and sold a boy for a harlot and a girl for wine. The Lord will enter into judgment with them in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Beat plowshares into swords, he says to the nations, a reversal of the peace oracle in other prophets, because this is a summons to the valley of decision. The sun and moon darken. The Lord roars from Zion. Judah will dwell forever, and the mountains will drop sweet wine. The last line is the claim the fast was protecting: the Lord dwells in Zion. Joel’s book is the argument that a local disaster, a call to repentance, a promise of the Spirit, and a judgment of nations belong in one day of the Lord.