Dictionary Article

In the first verse the contents of the book of Joel are described as the “message” of the Lord that “came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.” We are told nothing more in Scripture about Joel or Pethuel. The name Joel was common; there are 13 different Joels in the OT. From what is said in the book, it would seem that Joel was not a priest but was closely associated with the priests of the temple, and in all probability a man of Jerusalem. More than that we cannot say.

Many different views of the date of Joel have been taken by those who have studied this book carefully; thus it is difficult to be dogmatic. The book may be dated to a time after the return to Jerusalem of the Jewish exiles who had been in Babylon—more precisely, to a time after Nehemiah’s work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (c. 400 BC). Reasons given in support of this are as follows:

1. Joel 3:2 says that the people of Judah and Jerusalem had been scattered among the nations and their land divided up, but they have been brought back, and their city once again has its walls (2:9).

2. When a call is issued to prayer and fasting, the priests and elders are to take the lead (1:13; 2:16-17). There is no mention of a king at any point in the book. There were kings until the time of the exile, but not for 400 years after it.

3. The preexilic prophets—Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and Jeremiah—were often critical of the people for offering sacrifices while they departed from the ways of the Lord in their daily lives. Postexilic prophets like Haggai and Malachi offer encouragement and deep concern for the offering of sacrifices. In the preexilic prophets there was constant rebuke of the people for their worship of idols; this was not a problem with the people after the exile. In both these concerns Joel seems to fit better the postexilic than the preexilic scene.

4. There is no reference to the northern kingdom of Israel in this book. Much is said of Judah and Jerusalem; when “Israel” is spoken of, the reference seems to be to the same people (2:27; 3:16). We would expect to find a different way of speaking before the fall of the northern kingdom to the Assyrians in 722 BC.

5. The other kingdoms referred to are Edom, Tyre and Sidon, the Philistines, and the Greeks. There is no mention of Syria, Assyria, and Babylonia, the inveterate enemies from whom the people suffered so much in preexilic days. Those mentioned were certainly significant to the people in postexilic times, and only then are the Greeks of importance on the Palestinian scene.

Some scholars think there is no great strength in these arguments and that everything in the book can be made to fit a much earlier date. It has sometimes been argued that the book is deliberately placed in the Hebrew Scriptures alongside the two eighth-century BC prophets Hosea and Amos. But the order of the books in the prophetic canon does not determine their date. The postexilic Obadiah stands between the eighth-century BC prophets Amos and Micah, and in fact in the Greek OT Joel was placed in a different position from its place in the Hebrew Bible. Most likely Joel and Amos stand together, as Amos 1:2 has the same words found at the close of the book of Joel (Jl 3:16). Some of those who favor a preexilic date for the book place it in the ninth century, in the early period of the reign of Joash when the king was too young to actually function as ruler of the land. Others place it sometime shortly before the death of Josiah in 609 BC because of the reference to the enemy coming from the north (as in Jeremiah) and because of the appeal to the people (like Jeremiah’s appeal) to return to the Lord with all their hearts (2:12).

A plague of locusts more devastating than any that past generations had experienced had come on the land (vv 2-4). Drinkers were summoned to see the grapevines devastated and the fig trees stripped (vv 5-7). People were called to mourn at the sight of fields laid waste—especially the priests, as they would no longer be able to bring cereal and drink offerings to the Lord (vv 8-10). Farmers must grieve over the ruin of their harvest, in anguish at the loss of the fruits of the land (vv 11-12).

Because of what had happened, the people were called to prayer and fasting; the priests were to come before the Lord in sackcloth, grieving that no offerings could be brought (v 13). Elders and people alike must come to the temple to pray (v 14). Such a time of crisis, with the crops lost and the sheep and cattle having no pasture, was to be seen as foreshadowing the great coming Day of the Lord, for which everyone should be prepared (vv 15-18). The prophet himself could only cry out to God when he saw the devastation of the land (vv 19-20).

Locust Plagues

Much in this chapter and the next seems descriptive of the kind of locust plagues that are still common in lands of the Middle East and North and Central Africa. Millions of locusts may cover hundreds of square miles of land. In flight they are like a cloud above the ground, and the sound they make has been described as “less like the whirring of wings than the rattle of hail or the crackling of bush on fire.” Nothing can resist their progress as they devastate field after field, stripping everything that is green, even branches of trees. It is thought that some passages in Joel 1 may speak of drought as well as the plague of locusts, but the devastation described may simply be due to the locusts.

In this section the prophet speaks of a time when God’s judgment threatens the whole land. It is a time for the alarm to be sounded, when a great and powerful “people” come up on the land, a more threatening foe than any known before. Further, it is a warning of the coming “Day of the Lord,” “a day of darkness and gloom” (vv 1-2). The land is devastated as by fire; what was like the Garden of Eden becomes a wilderness (v 3). This invasion is like that of cavalry and the sound of the insurgents like “the rumbling of chariots.” Everyone is in anguish at their advance. They march like warriors, burst through the weapons, scale the walls of the city, and come into the houses like thieves (vv 4-9).

Some have taken this description to be a picture of armies of nations who are the foes of Israel, used by the Lord in judgment on his own people. But in that they are described as horses in battle, their noise like “the rumbling of chariots,” their advance “like a mighty army moving into battle,” it seems that the locust plague is still in mind. Yet the dark cloud of the locusts in the sky and their terrible effect on the land foreshadows the great day when the Lord will speak and act in judgment on all peoples. Then heaven and earth will tremble; sun, moon, and stars will be darkened (vv 10-11).

The prophet repeatedly calls the people to the Lord in humility and penitence so that his mercy and grace may be found. Then it will be possible “to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before” (v 14, NLT). A fast is to be appointed, a solemn assembly of young and old called. Even the newlyweds are to come. The priests must lead the people in prayer to God to spare his people (vv 14-17).

According to this passage, it seems that the people did turn to God as the prophet required; in response, the Lord had compassion on them and assured them of renewing their grain, wine, and oil, and removing their reproach (vv 18-19). The “armies from the north” would retreat, and God would restore the pastures of the land, its fruit trees, and its vines (vv 20-22). The people would rejoice, and with the blessing of the early and late rains the land would again be abundantly productive. The losses from the locust plague would be made good (vv 23-25). People would eat food in plenty and praise God. They would know that the one great living God was among them, and they would not be put to shame anymore (vv 26-27).

The prophet also saw that the blessing experienced in this renewal after the plague of locusts foreshadowed greater blessings to come, just as the judgment experienced brought the warning of the great and terrible Day of the Lord to come. God would do greater things for his people in the future; in particular, he would pour out his Spirit on men and women, young and old, slave and free (vv 28-29). There would be awe-inspiring signs in heaven and on earth (vv 30-31). All who called on the name of the Lord would know his salvation (v 32).

The meaning of the Day of the Lord for Israel as a nation and its significance for all nations must be realized. God’s people would find restoration by turning to him; those who had scattered them, taken their land, and sold them as slaves would come under his judgment (vv 1-3). Tyre and Sidon and the Philistines especially would have to give account for what they had done, taking the Lord’s silver and gold, removing his people from their land, and selling them as slaves to the Greeks. The sons and daughters of these slave traders would in turn be sold as slaves (vv 4-8). So the nations must be prepared for war—to melt their plowshares into swords and to beat pruning hooks into spears—but not for a battle between human armies. Those who have fought against the living God must reckon with him as a mighty warrior (vv 9-11). This mighty warrior is coming to execute judgment. The scene changes from a battleground to a court of justice; great crowds will stand before the Lord “in the valley of decision” on the Day of the Lord, which is a day of dread darkness for those who have made themselves enemies of the Almighty (vv 12-15).

After men have spoken and done their worst, God will speak and act. He will show himself to be his people’s “refuge and strength” (v 16). Their city will then be kept from invasion by strangers (v 17). Their land will be wonderfully productive (v 18). Because of what Egypt and Edom have done in violence to Judah, they will be desolate (v 19). Israel will be avenged and restored, and to all it will be clear that the Lord’s home is in Jerusalem with his people (vv 20-21).

This account of the contents of the book is based on the view that Joel experienced a plague of locusts in his day and that he saw this as a warning of a greater judgment of God to come. At the same time, he also spoke of a greater restoration and blessing when the people turned back to God with prayer and fasting. Others see the enemies throughout the book as human foes, at least in chapter 2. Some think of the whole book as prophetic of battles to come, and in particular of a final battle of the Lord against those who have made themselves his enemies. Some think of two prophets, or two parts of the book written at different times. But the view of the book taken above seems exposed to the fewest difficulties and makes good sense and meaning of the whole.

What can be said finally of the abiding significance of the message of Joel? His, like that of most of the OT prophets, was a message of mercy and judgment. Such a catastrophe as a plague of locusts was a warning of God’s judgment of all men and nations, within history and ultimately at the great Day of the Lord at the consummation of history, when all will be gathered before him. The message of Joel, with its challenge to repentance arising from the events of his time, can be set alongside the words of Jesus himself when he was asked about those who had suffered in the catastrophic events of his time. When asked whether they were worse sinners than others, he answered in the negative, but with the warning, “Unless you repent, you will all of you come to the same end” (Lk 13:5, neb). The word of God through Joel called people to turn back to him to find his mercy; then to the assurance of mercy was added the hope of the greater things that God in his goodness would do. He would pour out his Spirit freely on all. These words of promise (Jl 2:28) were made more significant than any others in the book of Joel by their quotation in the NT in Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21). They stand true for the Christian church ever since that beginning of their fulfilment, and with them stands Joel’s great assurance that God makes his home in the midst of his people and that those who turn to him will never be ashamed.

Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary