Outline
Introduction
- I. The Land Desolate and Mourning (1:1-19)
- A. Old Men
- B. Revelers
- C. Priests
- D. Husbandmen
- E. The Whole People
Discussion
- II. The Judgment Advancing (2:1-10)
- III. Repentance at the Last Moment (2:12-17)
- A. The Lord
- B. The People
- C. Priests
- VI. Relief and Restoration (2:18-27)
- A. The Lord
- V. Afterward (2:28-31; 3:1-8)
- A. The Lord
- VI. Advance to the Valley of Decision (3:9-13)
- VII. The Holy Mountain and the Eternal Peace (3:14-19)
Introduction
The book of Joel begins with the brief introduction, “The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel” (Joel 1:1). Beyond stating the name of his unknown father, the prophet relates nothing concerning himself. He is silent about his ancestry, his tribe, his family. He leaves even the time when he lived, to be guessed at. He would be known only as the instrument of God. The word of the Lord came to him, and he willed simply to be the voice which uttered it.
His whole book bears evidence that he was a prophet in Jerusalem. He was living in the center of the public worship of God. He was where the solemn assembly, which he bids them proclaim, would be held. The house of the Lord was before his eyes.
Although a prophet of Jerusalem, he was no priest. He mentions the priest as a class to which he did not belong. He says, “Gird yourselves and lament, you priests. Wail, you who minister before the altar” (1:13-14). He calls upon them to proclaim the fast, which he enjoined in the name of God. “Consecrate a fast; call a sacred assembly,” he says to the “ministers before the altar”. As a prophet, entrusted with a revelation from God, his authority was superior to that of the priests, but he did not exercise it in such a way as to interfere with the work of God assigned to them.
In the history of prophecy the book of Joel must be either very early or very late, and with few exceptions the leading critics place it either before 800 B.C. or after 500. This spread in years is due to substantial reasons. Unlike most of the other prophets, Joel mentions neither Assyria, which emerged upon the prophetic horizon about 760, nor the Babylonian Empire, which had fallen by 537. The presumption is that he wrote before 760 or after 537. There being no internal indication of the date of Joel, we cannot do better than acquiesce in the tradition, by which his book is placed next to that of Hosea, and regard Joel as the prophet of Judah, during the early part of Hosea’s office toward Israel, and rather earlier than Isaiah.
The prophecy of Joel is altogether one. It extends from his own day to the end of time. He gives the key to it in a saying, which he casts into the form of a proverb, that judgment shall follow after judgment. He describes each successive desolation as if it were present, and then calls upon the people to repent of their sins.
It seems probable that what Joel describes was presented to him in the form of a vision. He saw before him the land wasted and desolate; pastures and trees burned up by fire, the channels of the rivers dried up, and the barns broken down. He saw the locust advancing, overspreading the land, desolating all as they advanced, marching in the order in which these creatures press on, indomitable, unbroken, unhindered. He saw them assaulting the city of Jerusalem, mounting the walls, possessing themselves of it, and entering its houses. And yet he knew, by the inspiration which spread this scene before his eyes, that mere locusts were not intended–that it was a warning to God’s people of enemies far more formidable.
The chief characteristic of Joel’s style is its simple vividness. Everything is set before our eyes as though we ourselves saw it. He adds detail to detail; each, clear, brief, distinct, a picture in itself, yet adding to the effect of the whole. Thus we can, without any effort, bring the whole of each picture before our eyes. Sometimes Joel uses the very briefest of words. Then, again, the discourse flows on in a soft and gentle cadence. This blending of energy and softness is perhaps one secret why his diction has been at all times so winning and so touching. Deep and full, he pours out the tide of his words, a pure strong stream amid the endless heavings and tossings of the world.
Joel’s whole picture is one image. It portrays God’s chastisements through inanimate nature, picturing the worst chastenings through man. Full of sorrow himself, he summons all with him to repentance, priest and people, old and young, bride and bridegroom.
To this unknown prophet, whom in his writings we cannot but love, God reserved the privilege of first declaring the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh, the final struggle of good and evil, and the day of judgment. It had been predicted throughout the Old Testament era that all nations would serve God, but to Joel it was first foreshown that the Gentiles, along with the Jews, should be filled with the Spirit of God (Joel 2:28-29). Eight centuries rolled on, and he died of whom it was said “we trusted that it had been He who should have redeemed Israel” (Luke 24:21), and it was fulfilled. Had his prophecy failed, justly would the Hebrew prophets have been called fanatics, but it could not fail, for God had said it.
With this introductory view of the book of Joel, let us now take a look at some of its practical lessons.
Discussion
Admonition to Drunkards
“Awake, you drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you drinkers of wine” (Joel 1:5). Beyond this one case, the prophet names neither sins nor sinners among his people. His prophecy is one declaration of the displeasure of God against all sin, one promise of pardon to follow genuine repentance, and so, specific sins, for the most part have been omitted, except the sin of drunkenness. This sin does not escape His notice, nor slip from under His heavy hand of condemnation. All sin stupefies, but drunkenness intoxicates the mind, lulls the conscience, hardens the heart, and turns man into a sorted selfish animal. Therefore, awake, the prophet cries, from the sottish slumber of your drunkenness. God endeavors to arouse every man from sin because He knows the destruction that follows in its wake.
When we sin, he asks us to: “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth” (Joel 1:8). He says, “Let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourselves no rest” (Lamentations 2:18). And He promises, “Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). Manly penitence restores the soul to a state of innocence before God. Repentance, produced by godly sorrow, will never be regretted because of the burden it lifts from our hearts (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The Land Under a Curse
Because of sin, Joel says, “The field is wasted,the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails” (Joel 1:10). As, when God pours out his blessings of nature, all the world seems to smile and be glad, so when He withholds them, it seems to mourn, and by its mourning, to reproach the sinfulness of man.
In Israel nothing was exempt. Wheat and barley, widespread as they were, perished utterly. The rich juice of the vine, the luscious sweetness of the fig, the succulents of the evergreen pomegranate, the majesty of the palm tree, the fragrance of the apple, all dried up and withered away. Even joy itself, and every source of joy was dried up from the sons of men. What a plight, and what a pity that men should plunge themselves into such a state of wretchedness!
How true that “righteousness exalts a nation, and that sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). How careful we should be in our conduct if we expect to preserve our souls and our land. Our freedom will not long remain with us if we flagrantly violate the word and will of God. We shall lose it for ourselves and our precious little ones if we become a nation of profligates. Oh, how often we should be on our knees in prayer that we may be worthy of the priceless heritage we now enjoy.
But instead of prayer, America is more concerned with pleasure. Juvenile delinquency is rampant, drunkenness is vaulting into greater prominence, divorces are destroying our homes, lawlessness is eating away our foundations of justice and morality, and goodness is breaching our walls of safety. What the end will be, every man should know. But we can avert the disaster that faces us by repenting and reforming our lives.
The Call to Repentance
“Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord” (Joel 1:14). Joel does not call for an assembly only, but for a solemn and sanctified assembly, one devoted to confession and repentance. Many of the called assemblies in Israel were for joyful festivities, but not this one. It was devoted to sorrow and supplication. And all were called and gathered into the temple that the prayers of many might ascend to God. If God will hear one of His children, surely He will hearken to thousands of His people who lie prostrate in His presence. Perhaps this was why Paul asked all the brethren to pray for him (Colossians 4:2-4).
All Israel–priests, elders, and the people of the land–were to form one band, and were, with one heart and one voice, to cry unto God; and that in the house of God. For so Solomon had prayed that God would in heaven, His dwelling place, hear whatever prayer and supplication might there be made by any man or by all His people Israel; and God had promised in turn, “I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually” (1 Kings 9:3).
What a fine thing for our nation it would be if we would call a solemn assembly, and cry to God night and day for wisdom. Such an assembly might save our country, and our freedom. But our repentance would have to be genuine and heartfelt, for God said to Israel, “‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments.’ Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?” (Joel 2:12-14).
Through repentance all, which has been lost by sin, is restored. God, through Christ, restores the sinner, blots out the sin, and does away with His eternal consequences. He replaces the sinner where he was before he fell. God forgives his wickedness as though it had never been. After he has been forgiven, none of his former grace, nor future glory, will be taken away from him. The time which the sinner lost, in which he might have gained increase of grace and glory, is lost forever. But all which he had gained before he went into sin will be returned to him.
The penitent begins anew God’s service, but he is not at the beginning of that service, nor of his preparation for heaven. He resumes where he left off when he went into sin. This is what our Lord had in mind when He admonished the church in Ephesus to “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Revelation 2:5).
The Lord promised Israel: “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust–My great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25). But this restoration depended upon repentance, and it had to be more than a mere rending of the garments. It was necessary that they rend their hearts for God to forgive them. Does He require any less of His people today?
Impending Judgment
And Joel warned, “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15). All times and all days are God’s, and yet they are said to be our days because God leaves us to our own freedom, to do as we will. We may fill them with evil, or we may fill them with righteousness. But what a blessing we miss if we make the wrong choice. It was with this thought in mind, that Christ said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!” (Luke 19:42)
On the other hand, the time is said to be God’s day when He does some new, rare, or special thing, such as The Day of Judgment. All judgment in time but bespeaks the great judgment of eternity. The Day of the Lord, then, is the day in which “He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). That day will come suddenly, without warning, and it behooves every man to be ready for it. The only readiness is repentance towards sin, and faithfulness toward God.
It should bring us to our knees when we remember that brute beasts must sometimes suffer when God lays His hand of judgment upon us for our sins. Joel exclaims, “How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. The beasts of the field also cry out to You for the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the open pastures” (Joel 1:18, 20).
There is something very pitiable in the cry of the brute creatures because, though they are innocent, they must bear the punishment of man’s guilt. Their groaning seems to Joel to be beyond expression. How pitifully do they groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed by the drying up of the pastures, and the flocks of sheep suffer for want of food and water. These animals suffered because of the guilt of man, and yet man was so insensible of his guilt that he refused to repent. The beasts cried to God, but even their cries did not awaken His own people to their sins. And so the prophet of God cries for them.
The Valley of Decision
The Lord warns all men to repent because they are fast approaching the decisive hour of judgment. He speaks of “Multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14). We are all traveling toward that day “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32).
Let us decide now to follow our Lord, so that when we meet Him in the valley of decision, He may say, “You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21). It might be helpful to us in making the right decision, to read the poem, entitled “WHAT THEN?”
When all the great plants of our cities have turned out their last finish work;
When our merchants have sold their last yard of silk, and dismiss the tired, weary clerk;
When are banks have taken in their last dollar, and declared their last dividend;
When the Judge of the world says, “Close for the night,” and asks for a balance – WHAT THEN?When the people have sung their last anthem, and the preacher has said his last prayer;
When the people have heard their last sermon, and the sound has died out on the air;
When the Bible lies closed on the pulpit, and the pews are all empty of men;
When we all stand facing the record, and the great book is opened – WHAT THEN?When the actor has played his last drama, and the mimic has made his last fun;
When the film has flashed its last picture, and a billboard displays its last run;
When the crowds seeking pleasure have vanished, and gone out into the darkness again;
When the trumpet of all ages is sounded, and we all stand before God – WHAT THEN?When the bugle’s last call sinks in silence, and a long, marching columns stand still;
When the captain has given his last orders, and they’ve captured the last fort and hill;
When the flag has been hauled from the masthead, and the wounded soldiers have all checked in;
When a world that rejected its Savior is asked for a reason – WHAT THEN? – Author Unknown
Questions for Class Discussion
- What is the probable reason for Joel’s silence about himself and his family?
- Where did Joel live?
- Was Joel a priest?
- When was the book of Joel written?
- What was the chief characteristic of Joel’s writing?
- What one sin is particularly specified in this book?
- What one thing does all sin do?
- How extensive was the curse upon Israel?
- What is America’s great danger?
- What did Joel call upon Israel to do?
- Who should attend the solemn assembly? Why?
- What are some of the blessings of repentance?
- What did Joel say about the day of the Lord? What is this day?
- Where did the multitude assemble?
- Must we, too, come to the valley of decision?