Joel Introduction
The key idea for the book of Joel is that the day of the Lord is near. This phrase means that the day of the Lord is coming both in the near future and in the far future. This is a day full of wrath and judgment. A day where the repentant will receive salvation and the resistant will come to ruin. This judgment is not just for Judah, but for all nations. The day of the Lord previously came in the form of a locust plague (Joel 1), it will come soon in the form of divine judgment by means of foreign armies (Joel 2), and it will come in the future when all the nations of the earth will be judged (Joel 3.)
This book was written by Joel, son of Pethuel, to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. There is some mystery surrounding the context of this book. It is not clear when it was written, or the specific sin that Israel has committed, but Joel references many other Old Testament books that give us some background. Joel is poetic and prophetic in nature and known for the past invasion of locusts and the future outpouring of the Spirit. There is a call of the people to wake up and weep over their sin against a holy God. To be broken hearted over their grievances and repent. Would we be a people who do the same.
Follow along with us through this Old Testament prophet to see the consequences of sin, the promise of the Spirit, and ultimately a hope for a future where a good God will dwell with His people once again.
Read Joel 1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
4 What the locust swarm has left
the great locusts have eaten;
what the great locusts have left
the young locusts have eaten;
what the young locusts have left
other locusts have eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine;
wail because of the new wine,
for it has been snatched from your lips.
6 A nation has invaded my land,
a mighty army without number;
it has the teeth of a lion,
the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vines
and ruined my fig trees.
It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away,
leaving their branches white.
8 Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings
are cut off from the house of the Lord.
The priests are in mourning,
those who minister before the Lord.
10 The fields are ruined,
the ground is dried up;
the grain is destroyed,
the new wine is dried up,
the olive oil fails.
11 Despair, you farmers,
wail, you vine growers;
grieve for the wheat and the barley,
because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
12 The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered;
the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree—
all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Surely the people’s joy
is withered away.
A Call to Lamentation
13 Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth,
you who minister before my God;
for the grain offerings and drink offerings
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Declare a holy fast;
call a sacred assembly.
Summon the elders
and all who live in the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Alas for that day!
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes—
joy and gladness
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds are shriveled
beneath the clods.
The storehouses are in ruins,
the granaries have been broken down,
for the grain has dried up.
18 How the cattle moan!
The herds mill about
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To you, Lord, I call,
for fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness
and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
20 Even the wild animals pant for you;
the streams of water have dried up
and fire has devoured the pastures in the wilderness.
Go Deeper
In this passage, we see Joel deliver a message to a wayward nation of Judah who is being punished by a plague of locusts. Joel pleads with the people to remember. Why remember? God desires us to turn to Him, not just because of righteous jealousy, but also for our ultimate good. Turning these people back to Him is a major kindness, but God doesn’t stop there! Not only does He want to help the current wayward people in Judah, but in His kindness, He wants to help all future wayward people too by hearing this message that has been passed down from generation to generation!
This kindness of remembrance also speaks into our human tendency to forget and drift away from God. It’s what caused the people of Judah their current predicament and still is a pattern that plagues us today. They had other stories of their ancestors turning to idols and away from God. Yet despite this, they still fell into the same pattern partially due to a lack of vigilance in their walk with God and failing to remember and retell these important stories and lessons.
In the passage, God had to make their devastation so widespread to disrupt their patterns of life and yank their attention back to Him! Specifically, He had to remove idolized objects and disrupt the empty routines! These issues still plague our daily lives, wrestling focus away from Him! Sometimes, like the worship practices of Judah’s priests, our routines can externally appear as Godly practices but missing a Godly focus. Sometimes the removal of idols can be difficult and painful as it was with the people of Judah, but with an eternal perspective, it is one of the greatest acts of love God can provide! After these idolized objects and empty routines have been removed, we are forced to choose a different focus point and have the opportunity to reset our focus, joy, and need appropriately on God!
These stories should serve as a reminder to be alert, be on guard, remember and don’t repeat the sins of the past!
Questions
- What objects/routines are common in your life? Take time to consider their value and whether they’ve accidentally taken precedence over your walk with the Lord.
- What stories have you taught your children and repeated for your own learning?
- How can you include stories like Joel 1 into your family routine to where they are not forgotten but remembered and learned from.
Watch This
Check out this overview of Joel from The Bible Project!
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1 thought on “Joel 1 + Introduction”
Cicadas and locusts have been plentiful in this summer of heat and drought. Their noise alone can seem deafening and disrupt any peace outdoors. However, their aggressive and destructive nature is exposed in Joel 1 and is seen as God’s judgement on his wayward, complacent, and rebellious children. God used a plague of locusts to discipline the nation, and what remains is complete devastation-no grain, wine or oil is left, all offerings used in the temple. Joel calls them to weep, mourn in sackcloth, pray, and fast as a sign of humility and true repentance for their sin. The next time you see or hear a locust, let it serve as a reminder that there will be a day of reckoning when God will defeat all forces of evil. We will all stand before him and give an account for how we have lived. Hebrews 3:12-13 warns believers, “Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” This verse shows the value of community and staying connected to the living, breathing Word of God as our lifeline.