The Book of Joel, Chapter by Chapter

We want to take you through the book of Joel chapter by chapter. In our Hosea study we saw God promise to be like the dew to Israel. Now we come to a prophet who saw the land stripped bare. Joel is only 3 chapters. But it has one of the most important promises in the whole Old Testament. The promise of the Holy Ghost. We will tell you what each chapter is about and how it fits into the message of the book. And how it points us to the one God that is revealed in Jesus Christ.

Joel starts with a disaster. Locusts. Wave after wave of them. They ate everything. The fields. The vines. The trees. Even the bark. There was nothing left to offer in the temple. Joel saw it as a warning of the day of the LORD. So he called the people to fast and pray and turn back to God. And God answered with a promise. “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten” (2:25). Then he went further. “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh” (2:28).

There are three things we want you to take away from this study. Joel is about the day of the LORD. “Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand” (1:15). Joel is about returning to the one God with the whole heart. “Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God” (2:13). “I am the LORD your God, and none else” (2:27). And Joel points to Jesus Christ. The one who poured out his Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And whose name we call on to be saved. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered” (2:32). We will explain these points as we go through the book. But we want you to keep them in mind as we begin.

“The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel” (1:1). That is all we know about him. Notice his name. Joel means the LORD is God. Or Jehovah is God. The name itself is a confession of faith. There is one God and his name is the LORD. Elijah said the same thing on mount Carmel. “The LORD, he is the God” (1 Kings 18:39).

Joel does not tell us which king was on the throne. So no one knows for sure when he preached. Some believe it was early. Around the days of king Joash of Judah. Others believe it was after the exile.¹ We will not go into that here. The message is the same either way. He preached to Judah and Jerusalem. He talks about the temple and the priests and Zion. He does not mention the northern kingdom at all.

Joel has two halves. In 1:1–2:17 Joel speaks to the people about the disaster and calls them to repent. In 2:18–3:21 God answers with promises. The hinge is one verse. “Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people” (2:18). Also notice one phrase. The day of the LORD. Joel uses it 5 times (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14). It is the theme of the book. In the Hebrew Bible the verses we call 2:28–32 are chapter 3. And our chapter 3 is chapter 4.² We will use the numbers in our English Bibles.

We will break the book down like this. The locusts (1). The day of the LORD and rend your heart (2:1–17). I will restore the years (2:18–27). I will pour out my spirit (2:28–32). And the valley of decision (3). Then we will put together what Joel teaches about the one God. Just like in our other studies we will be using the KJV for our scripture quotations. And we will let you know where you can find the work of the scholars we reference.

“Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?” (v.2). Nothing like this had ever happened. “Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation” (v.3). This was something to remember.

4 names. Some believe they are 4 kinds of locusts. Others believe they are the locust at different stages of its life.³ Either way the point is clear. Wave after wave. Whatever one missed the next one got. Nothing was left.

Then Joel calls on everyone to wake up and mourn. “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep” (v.5). The wine was gone. A nation had come up on the land “whose teeth are the teeth of a lion” (v.6). The locusts are pictured like an army. “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth” (v.8). Like a young bride whose husband died before the wedding.

Then the worst part. “The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’s ministers, mourn” (v.9). There was no grain and no wine to offer to God. The worship stopped. The fields were wasted. The trees were dead. “Because joy is withered away from the sons of men” (v.12). When the harvest dies the joy dies with it.

So Joel tells the priests what to do. “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD” (v.14). When disaster comes go to God. All of you. Together.

The day of the LORD. This is the first time Joel says it. It means the day when God steps in to judge. Joel saw the locusts as a small picture of something bigger. The day of the LORD would be far worse. Even the animals groaned. “How do the beasts groan!” (v.18). And Joel prayed. “O LORD, to thee will I cry” (v.19).

The Day of the LORD Cometh

“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” (v.1). Now Joel describes an army coming. “A day of darkness and of gloominess” (v.2). “The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness” (v.3). They look like horses (v.4). They run like mighty men. They climb the walls. They march in straight lines and never break rank (vv.7–8). “They shall enter in at the windows like a thief” (v.9). The earth shakes. The sun and moon go dark (v.10).

Some ask if this is the locusts again or a real army. Many believe it is both.⁴ The locusts came like an army. And they pointed to a real army that would come. Revelation uses the same pictures. Locusts like horses prepared for battle with faces like men and teeth like lions (Revelation 9:7–8). Then this. “And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great … for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (v.11). Notice whose army it is. His army. The LORD was leading it. Against his own people.

Turn Ye Even to Me

Even now. With the army at the door. It was not too late. “Turn ye even to me with all your heart.” Not half. All. When the Jews were upset they tore their clothes. God said tear your heart. Not your clothes. He did not want a show. He wanted a broken heart. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

And notice why they should turn. Because of who God is. “Gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” That is what God told Moses when he passed by him on the mountain (Exodus 34:6). We covered that in our Exodus study. God has not changed. “Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him” (v.14).

Then Joel calls everyone. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly” (v.15). The old men. The children. Even the babies. Even the bride and groom on their wedding day (v.16). No one was excused. “Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach” (v.17). The preachers lead the way in weeping.

“Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people” (v.18). This is the turning point of the book. The people turned. And God turned. He would send corn and wine and oil (v.19). He would drive the northern army away (v.20). “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things” (v.21).

“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” (v.23). The former rain came in the fall to soften the ground for planting. The latter rain came in the spring to bring the harvest. Hosea said the same thing. “He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain” (Hosea 6:3). We saw that in our Hosea study. The words “former rain moderately” can also be read as “a teacher of righteousness.” The KJV puts that in the margin.⁵ Some believe both meanings are there on purpose.

I will restore the years. Not just the crops. The years. Time you cannot get back. God can give it back. That is grace. Many people have wasted years in sin. And God says I will restore. Notice also what God calls the locusts. “My great army which I sent among you.” God sent them. And God would make it up.

Then the point of it all. “Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else.” In the midst. God with them. And none else. There is no other God. Not two. Not three. The LORD your God and none else.

This is the heart of the book. God would restore the crops. But he would also do something much bigger. Afterward. He would pour out his Spirit. We need to look at this closely. Because Peter tells us exactly when it happened. There are three things we want to point out.

This Is That

First it happened on the day of Pentecost. The disciples were waiting in Jerusalem like Jesus told them. “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). The crowd was confused. Some said they were drunk. Peter stood up and said “For these are not drunken, as ye suppose … But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:15–16). Then he quoted Joel 2:28–32. This is that. What Joel saw is what they were seeing. And Peter changed one word. Joel said “afterward.” Peter said “in the last days” (Acts 2:17). The last days began on the day of Pentecost.⁶

Notice the words “pour out.” Not a few drops. A flood. And notice “upon all flesh.” In the Old Testament the Spirit came on a few people. Prophets. Kings. Judges. Moses wished it would be more. “Would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). Joel said that day was coming. Sons and daughters. Old men and young men. Servants and handmaids. Men and women. Young and old. Rich and poor. No one left out. And later it went to the Gentiles too. When Peter preached to Cornelius “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” and “they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God” (Acts 10:44, 46). All flesh. Peter said “the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39). Notice those last words. They come right out of Joel 2:32. “The remnant whom the LORD shall call.” The promise is still for us today.

My Spirit

Second notice whose Spirit it is. “I will pour out my spirit.” God says my Spirit. Not the Spirit of another person. His own Spirit. The Holy Ghost is not a third person beside God. The Holy Ghost is God himself poured out on his people. Now notice what Peter says about Jesus. “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:33).

Trinitarians will say this verse shows three persons. The Father gives the Spirit to the Son. And the Son pours out the Spirit.⁷ But notice. In Joel the LORD says “I will pour out my spirit.” In Acts Peter says Jesus “hath shed forth this.” The LORD said I will. And Jesus did it. That means Jesus is the LORD of Joel 2:28. And the Spirit he poured out is his own Spirit. Paul calls it “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9) and “the Spirit of his Son” (Galatians 4:6). Jesus received the promise as the exalted man. And he poured it out as the LORD whose Spirit it is. Jesus told his disciples “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18). When the Spirit came Jesus came. In another form. Living inside them.

Call on the Name of the LORD

Third notice the last promise. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered” (2:32). Peter quoted this verse too (Acts 2:21). Then he preached about Jesus. His miracles. His death. His resurrection. And he ended with this. “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The Lord of Joel 2:32 is Jesus.

So when the people were cut to the heart and asked what shall we do Peter told them how to call on that name. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). The name of the LORD in Joel is the name of Jesus Christ in Acts. That is why they baptized in his name. Peter later said “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Paul quotes Joel 2:32 too. Right after he says “if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus … thou shalt be saved” he says “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9, 13). The Lord whose name we call on is Jesus.

Then there are the signs in the sky. The sun turned to darkness and the moon to blood. Some believe that began at the cross when the sun was darkened from the 6th hour to the 9th hour (Luke 23:44–45). Others believe it is still to come before the second coming of Jesus (Matthew 24:29).⁸ We will not be dogmatic. But we know this. The Spirit has been poured out. The last days are here. And whosoever calls on his name will be saved.

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people” (vv.1–2). Jehoshaphat means the LORD judges. We saw in our 2 Chronicles study that king Jehoshaphat’s enemies were destroyed in a valley without him having to fight. The valley of Berachah. Here the valley is a picture of God’s court. God would judge the nations for what they did to his people. They scattered Israel and divided up his land. They sold boys for a harlot and girls for a drink of wine (v.3). Tyre and Sidon and the Philistines sold the children of Judah to the Greeks (vv.4–6). God said I will pay you back on your own head (v.7).

Then God calls the nations to war. “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men … Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong” (vv.9–10). That is the opposite of Isaiah 2:4. We saw in our Isaiah study that one day they will beat their swords into plowshares. But first the nations will gather for one last battle. And they will lose. “For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about” (v.12). “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe” (v.13). Revelation uses the same picture of the harvest of the earth (Revelation 14:15–19).

Many preachers use this verse to call people to decide for God. And that is a good thing to do. But notice whose decision it is. It is God’s decision. The valley of decision is where God decides the case. The verdict. The time to decide for God is now. Before you are standing in that valley.

The same voice that shakes the heavens is the hope of his people. To his enemies he is a lion. To his people he is a refuge. Hebrews says “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” (Hebrews 12:26). And notice. “I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion.” God living with his people. Ezekiel ended with “The LORD is there” (Ezekiel 48:35). Joel ends the same way.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD” (v.18). The land the locusts ate would overflow. And a fountain would come out of the house of the LORD. Just like the river in Ezekiel 47. We saw in our Ezekiel study that it is a picture of the Spirit. The book that started with no wine and no water ends with mountains dripping with new wine. Egypt and Edom would be desolate. But Judah would dwell forever (vv.19–20). The last words are “For the LORD dwelleth in Zion” (v.21).

Joel is short. But it gives us one of the clearest connections between the Old Testament and the church. Before we finish we want to put it all together. There are three things we want to point out.

First there is one God and none else. Joel’s own name means the LORD is God. And God says “ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else” (2:27). He sent the locusts. He restores the years. He judges the nations. He dwells in Zion. One God doing all of it.

Second the Spirit is God’s own Spirit. “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh” (2:28). The Holy Ghost is not another person sent by God. The Holy Ghost is God himself coming to live in his people. And Peter says Jesus “hath shed forth this” (Acts 2:33). The LORD said I will pour out my Spirit. Jesus poured it out. Jesus is that LORD. And the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9).

Third the name of the LORD is Jesus. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered” (2:32). Peter said God made that same Jesus both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36). Then he told them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). Paul said confess the Lord Jesus and call on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:9, 13). The name of the LORD in Joel is the name of Jesus in the New Testament. One God. One name. One Spirit. Revealed in Jesus Christ. “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

We have gone through Joel chapter by chapter. Here is what we can conclude. First Joel is about the day of the LORD. The locusts were a warning. Wave after wave until nothing was left. The worship stopped. The joy withered. And Joel said a greater day was coming. A day of darkness. When the LORD would lead his army. And the nations would be gathered to the valley of decision.

Second Joel is about returning to the one God with the whole heart. Even now. Rend your heart and not your garments. Fast. Weep. Gather everyone. Because God is gracious and merciful and slow to anger. And when they turned God turned. He sent the rain. He restored the years the locust had eaten. And he said ye shall know that I am the LORD your God and none else.

Third Joel points to Jesus Christ. Joel saw the day when God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh. On the day of Pentecost Peter said this is that. Jesus poured out his own Spirit. And they spoke with other tongues. Then Peter told them how to call on the name of the LORD. Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That promise is still for you and your children and all that are afar off. Even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Joel heard the LORD roar out of Zion. The next prophet started with the same words. He was a shepherd from a small town in Judah. And God sent him to preach to the rich and comfortable in the north. That is where Amos begins.