Written ~800 BC –
Theme: Day of the Lord
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:
Joel was there in a vision and he is recounting it to the people of Judah (Southern Kingdom)
How would you be if you saw the same thing? What would you do?
Wouldn’t you want to tell everyone:
what was going to happen
AND
how to avoid it
This is exactly what Joel’s message is
For the day of the LORD is at hand Joel 1:15
It can be applied to the fact that ancient Israel and Judah would be taken into captivity by Assyria and Babylon respectively. The same principles would have applied.
The job of a prophet is not to merely tell of future events but to tell why they are coming upon the people. Joel gives a message to the people of Judah but it is primarily for us today.
Chapter 1
Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
That was the background information on Joel
Hardly anything known about him – what is important is the message not the messenger
All we know about prophets is that it is was not a job to be envied.
Jeremiah in the muck and mire of the cistern
Isaiah sawn asunder
Malachi message (Zechariah killed in the temple)
etc
Joel 1:2 Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?
Joel 1:3 Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation.
By implication this has never happened
No one is talking about it or passing it down
Joel 1:4 What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.
four stages or types
Nothing is going to be left
Methodical (like it was planned)
In two verses we will see that this represents a symbol of destruction
Joel 1:5 Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth.
No more grain or grapes to make strong drink or wine…this is what they are most worried about?
Takes the symbolism of :4 and applies it:
Joel 1:6 For a nation [represented by locusts] has come up [military term for invasion] against My land, Strong, and without number [too difficult to number]; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion.
Revelation 9:1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit.
Revelation 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
Revelation 9:3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Revelation 9:4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Revelation 9:5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
Revelation 9:6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
Revelation 9:7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.
Revelation 9:8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.
Revelation 9:9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.
Revelation 9:10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.
Revelation 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit [Satan], whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Revelation 9:12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
Joel 2:4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run.
Joel 2:20 “But I will remove far from you the northern army, ….
Joel 2:25 “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 1:7 He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white.
John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
John 15:4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John 15:9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Joel 1:8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the husband of her youth.
In mourning
Joel 1:9 The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD; The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD.
Joel 1:10 The field is wasted, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The oil fails.
Joel 1:11 Be ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished.
No crops (and they are worried about the wine)
Joel 1:12 The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree— All the trees of the field are withered; Surely joy has withered away from the sons of men.
Repentance
cornerstone of a prophets message
how to tell a true prophet
they turn people back to God
Joel tells them to:
:13 lament (expression of sorrow)
:13 wail (cry of grief)
:13 wear sackcloth (a sign of repentance and mourning)
:14 fast (to draw close to God)
:14 cry out to God (our Savior).
Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves and lament, you priests; Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth, You who minister to my God; For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God.
It will affect the priests as well
Joel 1:14 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.
No food any way
Beseech God
Day of the Lord
Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Isaiah 13:5 They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— The LORD and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land.
Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:7 Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt,
Isaiah 13:8 And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.
Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.
Isaiah 13:10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
Isaiah 13:11 “I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Isaiah 13:12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Isaiah 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.
In the verses leading up to this one is a list of their evil ways that God is calling into account, then :14
Amos 5:14 Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken.
Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Amos 5:16 Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing.
Amos 5:17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,” Says the LORD.
Amos 5:18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!
Amos 5:20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
Other Day of the Lord scriptures: Obadiah 1:15; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:2;
Famine
Joel 1:16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
No one is getting food, the priest nor the people
Joel 1:17 The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered.
From disuse … and over time
Joel 1:18 How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, Because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.
Their food is gone too
Joel 1:19 O LORD, to You I cry out; For fire has devoured the open pastures, And a flame has burned all the trees of the field.
Dryness due to lack of rain possibly
Joel 1:20 The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures.
Luke 12:15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Luke 12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
Luke 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
Luke 12:18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘
Luke 12:20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
Luke 12:21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 24:38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
Matthew 24:39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 24:40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
Matthew 24:41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
Matthew 24:43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
Matthew 24:44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Matthew 24:45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
Matthew 24:46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
Matthew 24:47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
Matthew 24:48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’
Matthew 24:49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
Matthew 24:50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,
Matthew 24:51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
2 Peter 3:11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2 Peter 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Chapter 2
6th Trumpet
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:
Ezekiel 33:1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezekiel 33:2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman,
Ezekiel 33:3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people,
Ezekiel 33:4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.
Ezekiel 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.
Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
Trumpet will sound in Zion. We see the timing here.
Literal Babylon historical
Future
Zion = Jerusalem area
Mt Zion
Jerusalem capital of Judah and before that Israel
Israel is United States/United Kingdom
The Day of the Lord is beyond the time that US/UK in captivity
Israelitish countries that still remain and are a part of the beast power
Define the Day of the Lord:
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations.
Thick cloud of locusts can do this so the analogy carries on???
Is this the beast then…
If it is the Asiatic hordes then…
The like of whom has never been… [6th trumpet]
Revelation 9:13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Revelation 9:14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
Revelation 9:15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
Revelation 9:16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
Revelation 9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
Revelation 9:18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.
Revelation 9:19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.
Revelation 9:20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
Revelation 9:21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
We talked about the 5th trumpet last time
Hearkens back to: Joel 1:2 Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?
Even for many successive generations…
Revelation 20:7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
Revelation 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Revelation 20:9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Joel 2:3 A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.
Evokes imagery of the beauty of the land before they came and the destruction and desolation they left in their wake
Joel 2:4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run.
Within the description of the 6th Trumpet
Revelation 9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
Joel 2:5 With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
Joel 2:6 Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.
(KJV) Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
(JPS) At their presence the peoples are in anguish; all faces have gathered blackness.
Seems to be depicting a great fear…as we can imagine
Amos 3:6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
Joel 2:7 They run like mighty men, They climb the wall like men of war; Every one marches in formation, And they do not break ranks.
Joel 2:8 They do not push one another; Every one marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, They are not cut down.
They are methodical and seem to be pretty sure of themselves and victory
They stay in line and in order and do not scatter because of fear of failure
lunge between the weapons…
(ASV) and they burst through the weapons, and break not off their course.
(ISV)When they fall by the sword they are not injured.
(JPS) and they break through the weapons, and suffer no harm.
(KJV) and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
(YLT) If by the missile they fall, they are not cut off.
They are acting almost like automatons
Joel 2:9 They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
They are everywhere and nothing will stop them
Joel 2:10 The earth quakes before them [in their presence], The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness.
It cannot be:
4th Trumpet ⅓ of the light of the sun, moon and stars blocked (Revelation 8:12-13)
5th Plague causes total darkness (Revelation 16:10-11) because this one gnawed their tongues because of the pain and it was poured out on the beast power.
6th seal Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light
because it is in the presence of the 200M man army in the midst of the 7th seal
So this seems to be the product of the war that they bring.
Tanks and jets could cause this quaking and trembling
Fallout from the bombs, missiles and rockets could easily account for smoke and particulates in the air that partially block the sun moon and stars
Joel 2:11 The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?
Several armies, locusts, beast, 200M, Gog and Magog, and now His spiritual army
For example: Isaiah 10:5 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Who can endure – no one by implication
So what should you do?:
More about Repentance
Joel 2:12 “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
This is all that God wants.
He gave them the chance before hand and us the chance before hand
During the time of trouble He is trying to bring us to repentance
After, as we will see, many are brought to repentance
True repentance not worldly sorrow
2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Joel 2:13 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.
He wants to show compassion [connotation of the word relent]
Jeremiah 18:7 The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,
Jeremiah 18:8 if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent [same word as in Joel 2:13-14] of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.
Jeremiah 18:9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,
Jeremiah 18:10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
He wants mankind to repent so He can relent
Relent: abandon or mitigate a harsh intention or cruel treatment.
This is what God wants – He does not want to execute punishment upon mankind
Jonah 3:6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
Jonah 3:7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.
Jonah 3:8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Jonah 3:9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?
Jonah 3:10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.
Joel 2:14 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?
A grain offering and a drink offering Joel 1:9, Joel 1:13, could not be given because of the dearth of food. So they would have to be blessed in order to have enough to give to God as well
Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
Still all a part of turning and drawing near to God
Joel 2:16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.
Everyone
Allusion to Christ and His bride
Joel 2:17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ “
Sounds very similar to what Moses did
Repentance precedes blessings and receipt of the holy spirit
Blessings Will Follow
Joel 2:18 Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.
Joel 2:19 The LORD will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
God begins to deliver a repentant people
Joel 2:20 “But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things.”
Daniel 11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
Daniel 11:41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
Daniel 11:42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Daniel 11:43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
Daniel 11:44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many.
Daniel 11:45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
Joel 2:21 Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things!
Joel 2:22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
Joel 1:7 My vine…My fig tree
Joel 2:23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month.
Beginning and during the planting and growth
Joel 2:24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
Joel 2:25 “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.
Reiterate different stages vs different animals – nonetheless represents total destruction
Restore both locust and army damage
Joel 2:26 You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
The way it is with God
Joel 2:27 Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
Joel 2:29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
This jumps ahead to the 1,000 years
Acts 2 is the beginning of this being made possible to happen (a type)
This is not happening now. God’s holy spirit is not being given in wholesale fashion yet.
Ties in with it being the very end time / millennium
daughters shall prophesy – inspired in their speech
Brown Driver Briggs commentary: under influence of divine spirit
Strongs speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse):
Acts 2:8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?
Acts 2:9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Acts 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Acts 2:11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Acts 2:12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”
Acts 2:13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.
Acts 2:15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
Acts 2:16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
Acts 2:17 ‘AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THE LAST DAYS, SAYS GOD, THAT I WILL POUR OUT OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH; YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS.
Acts 2:18 AND ON MY MENSERVANTS AND ON MY MAIDSERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS; AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY.
Acts 2:19 I WILL SHOW WONDERS IN HEAVEN ABOVE AND SIGNS IN THE EARTH BENEATH: BLOOD AND FIRE AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
Acts 2:20 THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE COMING OF THE GREAT AND AWESOME DAY OF THE LORD.
Acts 2:21 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.’
Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
Joel 2:30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
The order of the book of Joel is not strictly chronological – we just went from 1,000 years back to 6th seal stuff
Revelation 6:12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
Revelation 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
God delivering them: Isaiah 27:12 And it shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will thresh, From the channel of the River to the Brook of Egypt; And you will be gathered one by one, O you children of Israel.
Isaiah 27:13 So it shall be in that day: The great trumpet will be blown; They will come, who are about to perish in the land of Assyria, And they who are outcasts in the land of Egypt, And shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
The second exodus
Chapter 3
Joel 3:1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
Modern day Israel and Judah will go into captivity during the great tribulation
It will be an unparalleled time of trials and tribulation
Only a fraction will come out the other side of it due to their repentance and God’s intervention.
But still this number will be so great that it will make the first exodus pale in comparison.
Jeremiah 23:7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
Jeremiah 23:8 but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”
Jeremiah 30:4 Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.
Jeremiah 30:5 “For thus says the LORD: ‘We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace.
Jeremiah 30:6 Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale?
Jeremiah 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.
Jeremiah 30:8 ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘That I will break his yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.
Jeremiah 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them.
Jeremiah 30:10 ‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the LORD, ‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, And no one shall make him afraid.
Jeremiah 30:11 For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.’
They go into captivity for many good reasons – in particular their sins
Which ones – the news is full of them – and the United States, British Commonwealth, and Israel shamelessly flaunt them
Jeremiah 30:12 “For thus says the LORD: ‘Your affliction is incurable, Your wound is severe.
Jeremiah 30:13 There is no one to plead your cause, That you may be bound up; You have no healing medicines.
Jeremiah 30:14 All your lovers have forgotten you; They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
With the chastisement of a cruel one, For the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased.
Jeremiah 30:15 Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. Because of the multitude of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.
Jeremiah 30:16 ‘Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; Those who plunder you shall become plunder, And all who prey upon you I will make a prey.
Restoration
God in His mercy will bring about peace and prosperity as He makes things the way they should be
Jeremiah 30:17 For I will restore health to you And heal you of your wounds,’ says the LORD, ‘Because they called you an outcast saying: “This is Zion; No one seeks her.” ‘
Jeremiah 3:18 “In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given as an inheritance to your fathers.
This is the land of Canaan or the area of modern day Israel
Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.
Valley of Jehoshaphat
Jehovah has judged [pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication to vindicate or punish;]
Joel 3:12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Jerusalem, but not armageddon as we will discuss later
Isaiah 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, The year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
Whom they have scattered among the nations…
Isaiah 11:11 It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
predominantly come out of Assyria [Germany] which is why they are mentioned first
Egypt appears to be another focal spot from which Israel and Judah will come from and/or funnel through.
Not too far away from Egypt, these two are regionally close. If you follow the western edge of the Red sea out of Egypt you will go through Pathros and then Cush
Pathros – Original land of Egypt, southern Egypt
Cush – Sudan and Ethiopia
Elam – Iran
Shinar – Iraq, Mesopotamia, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey
Hamath – Northwestern Syria
We address this in a couple of verses: “The islands of the sea” – can also be translated “coastlands of the sea” [tyre, sidon, coastlands of philistia gaza greece]
Greece (Joel 3:6).
How did they get to all of these places?
There are a couple of possibilities:
Beast power will participate in slavery and sell to those regions
Or as the beast power conquers areas in the Middle East it may need labor forces and they may transplant the captives in Europe there.
Daniel 11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North [beast power] shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through.
Daniel 11:41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.
Daniel 11:42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Daniel 11:43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.
Isaiah 11:12 He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
Isaiah 11:13 Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.
Joel 3:3 They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
Revelation 18:11 “And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:
Revelation 18:12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;
Revelation 18:13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
Joel 3:4 “Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;
Hamath – Northwestern Syria
“The islands of the sea” – can also be translated “coastlands of the sea” [tyre, sidon, coastlands of philistia gaza greece Joel 3:6]
Amos 1:6 Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they took captive the whole captivity To deliver them up to Edom.
Amos 1:7 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, Which shall devour its palaces.
Amos 1:8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn My hand against Ekron, And the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” Says the Lord GOD.
Amos 1:9 Thus says the LORD: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
Amos 1:10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, Which shall devour its palaces.”
Joel 3:5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold, And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.
Haggai 2:8 ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts. [in the context of the 2nd temple]
Joel 3:6 Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their borders.
One of the main reasons that Greece may not be a part of the EU
Could be one of the coast land cities referred to before
Joel 3:7 “Behold, I will raise them Out of the place to which you have sold them, And will return your retaliation upon your own head.
Post Second exodus
Has to be afterwards when God props them up and puts them back in their land.
Joel 3:8 I will sell your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the people of Judah, And they will sell them to the Sabeans, To a people far off; For the LORD has spoken.”
Part of the recompense or compensation for being held captive as slave labor
Isaiah 11:14 But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East;….
Joel 3:9 Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up.
From Armageddon to Jerusalem [see :14]
Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ “
Isaiah 2:2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.
Isaiah 2:3 Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the LORD.
Armageddon – 6th Plague
Joel 3:11 Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.
Joel 3:12 “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
Revelation 16:12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.
Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
Revelation 16:16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Armageddon is an area about 55 miles to the north of Jerusalem. They will assemble together there at this convenient location where Europe, Asia and Africa come together. From there they will march on Jerusalem where the actual battle will take place.
Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
Zechariah 14:2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zechariah 14:3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.
Zechariah 14:4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.
Joel 3:13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.”
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Valley of Jehoshaphat, where God judges, where God finalizes the decision to come and do battle against Him may be the Kidron Valley which is between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount.
Joel 3:15 The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness.
The tense in the Hebrew seems to indicate that this will have already happened. Young’s literal translation reflects this:
(YLT) Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining.
5th plague
Revelation 16:10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.
Revelation 16:11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
Joel 3:16 The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.
This corresponds with the 7th and final plague and is somewhat understated:
Revelation 16:17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”
Revelation 16:18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.
Now we transition to the millennium and the good news of the coming Kingdom of God and the restoration of God’s people:
Joel 3:17 “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
God sets Himself up in Jerusalem and makes a promise.
In looking at which of the end-time events took main stage in this book, I would have to say that it was the ones involving people or nations.
And now God is making a promise that no one that does not belong in the promised land will ever be there again.
Joel 3:18 And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD And water the Valley of Acacias.
The way that it was supposed to be for Israel and Judah – and it will be in the future. We see that this is still upcoming and has not yet been fulfilled.
Joel 3:19 “Egypt shall be a desolation, And Edom a desolate wilderness, Because of violence against the people of Judah, For they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Part of their punishment at that time
Joel 3:20 But Judah shall abide forever, And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
Jeremiah 30:3 For behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ “
Joel 3:21 For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; For the LORD dwells in Zion.
Forgiveness can only come by the blood and acceptance of Christ – The Jews will eventually come around.
Guiltless, blameless, cleansed