Joel

1. THE LOCUST INVASION AS THE LORD’S JUDGMENT OF JUDAH (1:1–20)

A. The devastating consequences of the locust invasion (1:1–12). 1:1–4. Joel first addresses the general population and the elders (1:2), invoking the audience to “hear” his message. The nuance of the Hebrew root for “hear” implies that the audience understands the message and responds. The prophet also implores the people to recount this event to their descendants (1:3), in hopes that their children will learn that covenantal disobedience requires divine punishment. The incomparable catastrophe that plagues the inhabitants of the land in the form of a locust swarm will certainly produce a story of legendary proportions that will become part of the nation’s history.

The prophet uses four different words for “locust” in 1:4 and 2:25, perhaps reflecting the various stages of the development of locusts. He reinforces the totality of the devastation and emphasizes the long-range effects of the voracious insects on the productivity of the land and the subsequent starvation of the people.

1:5–7. Joel commands the drunks to “wake up” and “weep” (1:5) because the locusts have destroyed the grapes, which produce wine. Most likely, he is addressing those who are oblivious to the consequences of widespread plague. The prophet compares the locusts to a “nation” (1:6), perhaps establishing the connection between a literal military invasion by Judah’s enemies and the destruction of its food source, preparing the reader for the analogy in chapter 2.

Not only have the locusts consumed food-producing crops and the grains to sustain cattle; they have stripped the bark from fruit trees, leaving them vulnerable to disease by removing their protection (1:7). Similarly, Judah’s walls are breached and her defenses destroyed by the enemy (whether a reference to the Assyrian crisis or a foreshadowing of the Babylonian invasion and exile, 2:7–9).

1:8–12. The prophet then uses the analogy of a grieving bride; she wears sackcloth as a sign of her mourning (1:8). The infestation also affects religious life, interfering with regular temple offerings by the priests (1:9) and threatening the ritual worship of the Lord.

After the source of food and prosperity for the Lord’s people has been consumed by insects, a drought follows (1:10–12), robbing the land of necessary nutrients to feed and nurture subsequent crops. The onset of drought typically characterizes the Lord’s judgment on his people (Is 42:15–16).

B. The Lord’s call for Judah’s repentance (1:13–14). The first of two formal calls for repentance is introduced with a command to the priests to don sackcloth in penitence and remorse for the absence of produce for sacrificial offerings (1:13). The lack of offerings signifies the breach in the relationship between the Lord and his people, who no longer have a means for repairing their sinfulness before God.

The prophet instructs the priests to “announce a sacred fast” and “gather the elders and all the residents of the land” (1:14; cf. 2:15) so that they can cry out and petition the Lord to restore productivity to the land and deliver his people from their suffering.

C. Judah’s appeal for the Lord’s rescue (1:15–20). The “day of the LORD,” an expression that recurs several times throughout the book (1:15; cf. 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14), typically denotes a time of divine wrath characterized by God’s war against evil. Immediate events in Judah represent just a foretaste of a greater, cosmological judgment of the Lord against his enemies.

A drought follows the locust attack (1:16–18), suggesting a relationship between the two. While the connections are not readily apparent, it is possible that the same winds that drive the locust plague also absorb the moisture from the ground. It is also plausible that the drought is simply another manifestation of the Lord’s judgment, or a separate catastrophic event. Nevertheless, drought enhances the dangers of uncontrolled fires (1:19), which rage throughout the dry countryside. The nation calls out to the Lord with one voice, as if to call the Lord’s attention to their plight and incite him to act on their behalf (1:20).

The language of Jl 1:14 is reminiscent of the great fast called by the king of Nineveh, in which the people and the animals wear sackcloth in repentance (Jnh 3:5–8).

2. MILITARY CONQUEST AS THE LORD’S JUDGMENT OF JUDAH (2:1–17)

A. The devastating consequences of Judah’s invasion by its enemies (2:1–11). The blowing of the horn, or shofar, an instrument made from a ram’s horn, normally signifies a call of strength or victory (2:1a). The command to sound the horn here serves as a warning to the people of an approaching danger for which they should prepare (cf. Jr 4:5, 19–21; 6:17; Is 18:3; Ezk 33:3–6; Hs 8:1). Joel announces the imminent arrival of “the day of the LORD” (2:1b–2) in ominous terms, as a large army converges on Judah from the north, obliterating the landscape and wreaking chaos and destruction in its wake (2:3–9). The blowing of the shofar in Zephaniah (1:16) also heralds the infamous day of the Lord.

Even the forces of devastation fall under the authority of a sovereign God. The Lord employs the military power of first Assyria and later Babylonia as instruments through which he punishes Judah, allowing the contingency to carry away captives, destroy Jerusalem, and profane the temple. The divine-warrior language in 2:10–11 describes the upheaval of nature at the arrival of the Lord. Typically, natural catastrophes such as earthquakes attend the arrival of the Lord, whether in judgment or triumphal victory. Even the celestial bodies fail to provide light, reinforcing the unparalleled severity of the Lord’s wrath toward his people.

The prophet Habakkuk similarly predicts the Babylonian invasion of Judah (Hab 1:5–11), highlighting the Lord’s use of foreign nations as agents of judgment or discipline.

Comparing locusts to soldiers, Joel states, “They attack as warriors attack; they scale walls as men of war do. Each goes on his own path, and they do not change their course” (Jl 2:7).

© Baker Publishing Group and Dr. James C. Martin. Courtesy of the British Museum, London, England.

B. The Lord’s call for Judah’s repentance (2:12–17). A second call for a sacred assembly (2:15–16) mirrors the first (1:14); the purpose of both is community prayer and repentance.

2:12–13. In a second appeal (cf. 1:13–14), the Lord calls for Judah’s repentance (2:12). The prophet instructs the people to rend their hearts rather than their garments (2:13a). The ripping of garments publicly signified deep internal grief; however, the prophet asks not for outward expressions of mourning but for an internal response of true sorrow and penitence.

Joel adapts an abbreviated version of the formula in Ex 34:6–7 describing divine attributes (2:13b). The formula reveals the inherent character of God, who forgives covenant misconduct and remains faithful to Israel. The Lord not only demonstrates forbearance and patience in light of his people’s continual transgression but also demonstrates his faithful love (Hb hesed) in his willingness to abide by the covenant despite Israel’s unfaithfulness. In addition, the Lord’s hesed manifests itself in the restraint of his wrath. While the Lord chastises his people, he does not exact the full measure of his judgment on them.

2:14–16. Joel argues on the basis of the Lord’s character that the Lord may recognize true repentance and mitigate his wrath against Judah. When Joel suggests that the Lord will “relent,” he is using human language to describe God’s unfathomable will in refraining from immediate divine judgment (2:14a). Joel reinforces the inscrutability of God’s actions by the rhetorical expression, “Who knows?” The text recalls the practice of gleaning, or allowing the poor to gather the remnants of harvest intentionally left behind. Joel suggests that the Lord may “bless” Judah by providing the means for offering temple sacrifices and reinstating its position of favor with God (2:14b).

Once more, the prophet commands the priests to sound the shofar (“horn”), this time for the purpose of a sacred assembly (2:15; cf. Lv 25:9; Ps 81:3). The command extends to everyone, including nursing mothers, their children, and newlyweds, who are normally excluded from religious gatherings on the basis of purity laws (2:16). The Lord requires comprehensive repentance from a unified community, which is then instructed to plead for salvation and preservation from enemy invasion and oppression.

2:17. Joel draws from language typically associated with a standard appeal for the Lord’s favor, calling attention to the Lord’s reputation among the nations, which is directly affected by whether he will preserve the nation associated with his name. By allowing the nations to obliterate his people, the Lord brings reproach on himself. The rhetorical question, “Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” appears in similar contexts that frame the people’s lament from the perspective of the Lord’s reputation (Pss 42:3, 10; 79:10; 115:2). The assembly enjoins the Lord not to allow his people to be ridiculed by the Gentiles (cf. Ps 79:4).

3. THE LORD’S RESPONSE TO JUDAH’S APPEAL (2:18–32)

God responds to the cries of his people by delivering them from the clutches of the enemy and exercising his divine anger on the nations that persecuted them.

A. The Lord’s conquest of the enemy restores productivity to the land (2:18–27). 2:18–19. The jealousy of God (2:18) provokes his desire for vengeance against the nations who have tormented his people. Deuteronomy describes the Lord’s jealousy as his demand for exclusivity among the Israelites (Dt 32:16, 21; cf. Is 42:13; 59:17; Zch 1:14). The Hebrew term for “to be jealous” (qana) is related to the verb meaning “to acquire (as property)” (qanah). God envisions Israel as his “property,” and those who encroach on them and seek to snatch them away from him arouse his fierce anger.

In many ways, Jl 2 resembles the structure of Ps 79, a lament that traces the destruction of Jerusalem by the enemy, recalls the pleas of the captives, recounts the Lord’s deliverance, and describes his subsequent victorious battle over the evil nations.

The Lord announces that he will restore their supplies (2:19), reversing the circumstances from 1:10, which depicts the ruin of grain, new wine, and oil as the result of the locust invasion. In addition, he promises to prevent his people from becoming the recipient of further ridicule by the nations, answering the community’s plea in 2:17.

2:20–24. Joel prophesies concerning the hasty retreat of the invading army from the Lord and into the wilderness (2:20). Subsequently, half are driven toward the Dead Sea in the east and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, where both groups seem to die. The imagery is reminiscent of the demise of Pharaoh’s army in Egypt following the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. The prophet calls on the land (2:21), the animals and vegetation (2:22), and the people of Zion (2:23) to rejoice in the Lord’s rescue and restoration.

The production of figs and olives as well as the ripening of grain and renewal of the grassy fields (2:22) signify the end of the Lord’s chastisement and the favorable standing of his people before him. The normal cycle of autumn and spring rains once again nourishes the land (2:23). The nation will once again prosper and, more importantly, have the means to offer sacrifices to the Lord at the temple (2:24). The people eagerly celebrate the reinstitution of worship in the community.

2:25–27. Suffering and adversity provide the occasion for glorifying God and affirming his sovereignty. The Lord declares that he will repay (from the same Hebrew root as shalom) his people for the losses they have endured as a result of the drought, the insect invasion, and the Babylonian conquest (2:25). God punishes his people not out of malice but rather to chastise them and purify them so they may once again enjoy a relationship with him.

Consequently, the deliverance and restoration of Israel to its land and the renewed productivity and prosperity it enjoys testify to the benevolence and faithfulness of the Lord (2:26). The Lord’s presence will once again inhabit Jerusalem (2:27), where he will reign in authority as God alone. Twice the oracle promises that Israel will not be ashamed again; instead, it will inhabit the land with pride and confidence.

B. The rescue of the Lord’s people and his reign on Mount Zion (2:28–32). The apocalyptic themes represented in this section unquestionably point to future events not fully realized by the restoration of Judah and the return of God’s people from Babylonian exile. While 3:1–5 centers on the day of the Lord as an age of salvation and vindication for Judah, 3:1–17 depicts the day of the Lord as a terrifying display of divine wrath toward God’s adversaries.

2:28–29. Joel characterizes the day of the Lord as the “pour[ing] out [of] my Spirit” on everyone, without distinction. The pouring out of the Spirit is normally associated with the advent of prophetic gifts (1 Sm 10:6–10; 18:10; 1 Kg 22:22–23; Neh 9:30; Zch 7:12; 13:2); therefore, prophetic abilities will be poured out on all of Israel during this great age.

Joel 2:28–29 sustains a number of parallels to Nm 11–12, suggesting the prophet deliberately invokes the earlier narrative. All of God’s people will prophesy (Nm 11:25–29) through “dreams” and “visions” (Nm 12:6). The endowment of the Spirit follows famine in both passages (cf. Nm 11:4–6, 18–23, 31–34; Jl 1:1–2:32). Joel’s announcement fulfills Moses’s request that God would bestow his Spirit on all Israel (Nm 11:29). Joel, however, announces a radical innovation in his message: the expansion of prophetic gifts beyond gender and class distinction signifies a new age.

2:30–32. Darkness prevails during the impending day of the Lord, and natural aberrations, such as earthquakes, fire, smoke, and a bloodred moon signal the salvation of Judah and the doom of judgment (2:30–31; cf. Am 8:9; Is 60:2). These cosmological disruptions evoke imagery associated with theophany (God’s physical revelation to convey information) or epiphany (God’s physical intervention to deliver his people). Physical manifestations of the Lord, such as the pillar of cloud and fire during the exodus, are replaced with immediate and personal access to the Lord. Only those who repent and rely solely on God will endure the day of the Lord (2:32).

4. THE DAY OF THE LORD AS VICTORIOUS RULE AND REIGN (3:1–21)

Although the day of the Lord means salvation and restoration for Israel, the impending judgment of God awaits those who have tormented and abused the Lord’s elect nation.

A. The Lord’s defeat of Judah’s enemies (3:1–16). 3:1–2a. Joel describes the concept of a release from imprisonment or debt combined with the return of the Lord’s people to their homeland (cf. Dt 30:3; Pss 14:7; 53:6; Jr 29:14; Hs 6:11; Am 9:14). The statement of 3:1 reiterates the context of 2:25, where the Lord promises to compensate Israel for losses during the locust invasion and famine.

When the pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost causes ecstatic behavior resembling that of OT prophets (1 Sm 1:13–14; Jr 23:9), Peter quotes Jl 2:28–32 (in Ac 2:16–21) to explain this and to exhort the Jews in Jerusalem to believe in Christ in order to be saved from the coming judgment. Paul similarly quotes Jl 2:32 (“everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved”) in Rm 10:13.

In a typical lawsuit format, the Lord gathers the adversaries in the “Valley of Jehoshaphat,” which means “The LORD Will Judge” (3:2a). The actual location defies identification, though some equate this valley with Kidron, a valley east of Jerusalem between the Mount of Olives and the temple, on the basis of other texts that refer to an area east of Jerusalem typically associated with visions and theophanies (Ezk 10:19; 47:1–12). The fountain that flows from the Lord’s temple (3:18) also travels through this valley.

3:2b–8. The Lord accuses the nations of relocating and dispersing his people from their land and selling them on open market as prostitutes (3:2b–3). The prophet mentions Tyre and Sidon (3:4), which made most of their income through barter and trade. The precious metals, temple vessels, and slave cargo transported by ship (3:5–6) will be returned to the Lord one day (cf. Is 60:4–14), while the merchants bow in obeisance before the very captives they traded.

God’s judgment, ironically, enacts a reversal of roles as the captors are exported as captives, and those who were enslaved become slave owners (3:8), receiving honor from their oppressors. The punishment hints at the laws of lex talionis, or equal recompense for injuries received from another (Ex 21:24; Lv 24:18; Dt 19:21).

3:9–16. Joel 3:10 reuses familiar imagery from Is 2:4 characteristic of an eschatological return of Messiah (cf. Mc 4:3) in which implements of war are transformed into tools of peace, but Joel reverses the meaning of the expression by warning Israel’s enemies to construct weapons of war from agricultural tools. The connections between the return of the Lord in Jl 2:28–32 and Is 2:1–5 (Mc 4:1–5) reflect a unified theological understanding of the establishment of an ideal eschatological, messianic kingdom.

The Lord’s trampling of the nations like grapes in a winepress (3:13) finds correspondence in Is 63:3–6, which describes the total annihilation of the nations and the bloodshed as staining the garments of the Lord. Once again, the prophet adapts divine-warrior language as a means to convey the frightening proportions of the Lord’s wrath against the Gentiles (3:14–16). While the day of the Lord becomes a day of divine protection for Israel, the nations can anticipate only their demise in the face of an angry, vengeful God.

The sickle is a symbol of God’s judgment on the nations (Jl 3:12).

© Baker Publishing Group and Dr. James C. Martin. Courtesy of the British Museum, London, England.

B. The Lord’s establishment of a permanent kingdom in Jerusalem (3:17–21). The Lord resides on his holy mountain, Zion, as a witness to his sovereignty (3:17, 21). The inviolability of Jerusalem becomes a reality in that future age, and the Lord’s presence in his city as well as the productivity of the land provide abundance and peace for God’s people (3:18). The reference to a fountain flowing from the temple of the Lord recalls Zch 14:8 and Ezk 47:1–12, both contexts describing the establishment of an eternal kingdom following the conquest of evil (cf. Rv 22:1–2).

Threats from Egypt and Edom, two of Israel’s most ferocious adversaries, have been eliminated (3:19; cf. Zch 14:18–19), and the eternal safety and security of Jerusalem’s inhabitants prevails under the authority of the Lord (3:20). The Lord’s people finally experience the covenant rest God has promised.