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Joel 1

1 - The LORD' s word that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel.
2 - Hear this, you elders,And listen, all you inhabitants of the land.Has this ever happened in your days,or in the days of your fathers?
3 - Tell your children about it,and have your children tell their children,and their children, another generation.
4 - What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten.What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten.What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten.
5 - Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine;for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 - For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number.His teeth are the teeth of a lion,and he has the fangs of a lioness.
7 - He has laid my vine waste,and stripped my fig tree.He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away.Its branches are made white.
8 - Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth!
9 - The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from The LORD's house.The priests, The LORD's ministers, mourn.
10 - The field is laid waste.The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed,The new wine has dried up,and the oil languishes.
11 - Be confounded, you farmers!Wail, you vineyard keepers;for the wheat and for the barley;for the harvest of the field has perished.
12 - The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered;the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree,even all of the trees of the field are withered;for joy has withered away from the sons of men.
13 - Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests!Wail, you ministers of the altar.Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God,for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God's house.
14 - Sanctify a fast.Call a solemn assembly.Gather the elders,and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of The LORD, your God,and cry to The LORD.
15 - Alas for the day!For the day of the LORD is at hand,and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
16 - Isn't the food cut off before our eyes;joy and gladness from the house of our God?
17 - The seeds rot under their clods.The granaries are laid desolate.The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered.
18 - How the animals groan!The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture.Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 - The LORD, I cry to you,For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,and the flame has burned all the trees of the field.
20 - Yes, the animals of the field pant to you,for the water brooks have dried up,And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel Images and Notes

The Book of Joel

Joel 2:1-3 - Blow ye 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 cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

Joel 3:9-11 - Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I [am] strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

The Old Testament - A Brief Overview

Bible Survey - Joel
Hebrew Name - Yo-el "Yahweh is God"
Greek Name - Joel (Greek form of the Hebrew)
Author - Joel (According to Tradition)
Date - 800 BC Approximately
Theme - The Kingdom of Judah
Types and Shadows - In Joel the day of Jesus is at hand!

The First Day. Light.

Summary of The Book of Joel

The prophet Joel showed up in Israel during a time of the most terrible plague of locusts in the nation's history. Joel came and prophesied to the land of Judah before the plague came. He warned the people of Judah that the devastation was going to sweep across the land very soon. He called for a season of fasting, mourning, and repentance.  He warned them of God's judgment in the imagery of the impending invasion of locusts. He called the people of Judah and Jerusalem to weep over the sins, and to fast and repent because the day of the Lord is approaching. Soon the plague came and devastated the whole land and its effects were clearly seen and felt. The locusts came like a storm, they darkened the skies and every green thing was left barren. There was no hope of escape and they left utter decimation in their path. Joel seized upon the imagery of the locusts as a type of the greater judgement that would come on "the Day of the Lord" in the last days: Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as destruction from the Almighty . . . 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? Joel 1:15, 2:11. Joel also gave a message of hope and prophesied of great blessings that would follow and the glories of the Messiah's kingdom. - The above text is © Rusty Russell - Bible History Online and must be sourced for use on a website.

The name "Joel" means "Jehovah is God." Other than his name and the fact that he was the son of Pethuel, there is little known about this man Joel, other than the fact that he wrote a very powerful book. Although it is not certain it seems that he prophesied around 800 BC during a time when Judah was experiencing prosperity and security. God was kind enough to give ample warning before such a devastating judgment.

When the plague of locusts came the land of Judah suffer dramatically, and what followed after was a time of famine drought. The plague was described by Joel in four stages, and Joel pointed to the greater judgment that was to swarm upon the nation if they did not turn from their ways and seek the Lord with their whole heart. He called them to fast, and to repent, and to weep over their sins (Joel 2:12). Joel also gave a promise of hope and spoke of the great blessings that would follow in the kingdom of the Messiah.

Joel described the coming "day of the Lord." In the New Testament after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and on the day of Pentecost Peter rose to speak to the people of Israel regarding the last days. Peter described what they were seeing as "that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16). The church age has always been seen by Christians as a time to be alert and aware that the Lord is returning in judgment. Today is the day of salvation, the door is open and "the fields are white unto harvest." (John 4:35) but one day Jesus will be taking "vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

The prophet Joel's vivid description of the plague, and the style in which this short three chapter book was written has made it a powerful classic of Hebrew literature.

The contents of the book may be analyzed further as follows :

Outline of the Book of Joel

Joel 1 - The terrible plague of locusts

Joel 2:1-27 - The coming day of the Lord, repentance, and restoration

Joel 2:28-3:21 - The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, judgment upon the nations.

The First Day. Light.

Joel Resources

The Divided Kingdom
The Northern Kingdom of Israel
The Southern Kingdom of Judah
The Assyrian Captivity
The Babylonian Captivity
The Return From Babylon
The Prophets
The Messiah

The Book of Joel

More About the Book of Joel
Joel in the Picture Study Bible
Chart of the Prophets of Israel and Judah
Timeline of the Ancient World
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