Book of Joel Introduction - Bible Verse Handbook

Session #1: Book of Joel - Introduction

II. AN OVERVIEW OF JOEL'S MESSAGE

A. Joel 1:   A natural disaster  (agricultural and economic crisis)

1  The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

2  Hear this, you elders,
And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!
Has anything like this happened in your days,
Or even in the days of your fathers?
3  Tell your children about it,
Let your children tell their children,
And their children another generation.

4  What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten;
What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten;
And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. (Joel 1: 1-4)

B. Joel 2:1-11:   A military crisis  (Babylonian invasion of Israel as a type of the Antichrist's invasion)

1 Blow 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 is coming,
For it is at hand:
2  A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.

3  A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
4  Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like swift steeds, so they run.
5  With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,
Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.

6  Before them the people writhe in pain;
All faces are drained of color.
7  They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break ranks.
8  They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own [ d ] column.
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not cut down.
9  They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter at the windows like a thief.

10  The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
11  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 2: 1-11)

C. Joel 2:12-17:  The response that God requires to release His protection and blessing

12  “Now, therefore,” says the Lord ,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13  So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14  Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?

15  Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
16  Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
17  Let the priests, who minister to the Lord ,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord ,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?' ” (Joel 2:12-17)

D. Joel 2:18-31: The breakthrough of God's blessing  (agriculturally, politically, spiritually, etc.)

18  Then the Lord will be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.
19  The Lord will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them;
I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

20  “But I will remove far from you the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done monstrous things.”

21  Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord has done marvelous things!
22  Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
23  Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
24  The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25  “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming [ k ] locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
26  You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame.
27  Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame.

28  “And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions.
29  And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30  “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31  The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord .
32  And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the Lord has said,
Among the remnant whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:18-32)

E. Joel 3: 1-17: God's punishment of His enemies  (the Antichrist's armies will be destroyed)

“For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2  I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
3  They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

4  “Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you [ a ] retaliate against Me?
But if you [ b ] retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;
5  Because you have taken My silver and My gold,
And have carried into your temples My [ d ] prized possessions.
6  Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem
You have sold to the Greeks,
That you may remove them far from their borders.

7  “Behold, I will raise them
Out of the place to which you have sold them,
And will return your retaliation upon your own head.
8  I will sell your sons and your daughters
Into the hand of the people of Judah,
And they will sell them to the Sabeans,
To a people far off;
For the Lord has spoken.”

9  Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up.
10  Beat your plowshares into swords
And your ] pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.' ”
11  Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord .

12  “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13  Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the winepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickedness is great.”

14  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
15  The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
16  The Lord also will roar from Zion,
And utter His voice from Jerusalem;
The heavens and earth will shake;
But the Lord will be a shelter for His people,
And the strength of the children of Israel.

17  “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again.” (Joel 3: 1-17)

III. PREMISE 1: ACTS 2 INTERPRETS JOEL 2

A.   On the day of Pentecost

49“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”  
(Lk. 24:49)

14These all continued with one accord in prayer…15 the number…was about a hundred and twenty.   (Acts 1:14-15)

1. 2Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues…   (Acts 2:2-4)

2. 6The multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another…12So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” 13Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”  (Acts 2:6-13)

B. Peter, under the anointing of the Spirit, interpreted that what was happening was not due to wine, but to the fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet Joel

16This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17“It shall come to pass in the last days…that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh  [on all nations];  your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.”  (Acts 2:16-17)

E. The apostles followed the pattern set forth in Joel

17“I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh  [all nations]… 21 It shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”   (Acts 2:17, 21)

12“Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping…15Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast…28And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh   [all nations] … 31before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 32It shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”   (Joel 2:12, 15, 28-32)

F. Alongside this revival, Joel describes a great crisis for all Gentile nations

“At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book. (Dan. 12:1)

7  Alas! For that day is great,
So that none is like it;
And it is the time of Jacob's trouble,
But he shall be saved out of it. (Jer. 30:7)

21  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
(Mt. 24:21)

H. The book of Joel provides us with a clear prophetic picture of the most dramatic hour in history.

26But now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27…that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. (Heb. 12:26-27)

This twofold release of positive and negative events is at the heart of Joel's prophetic message.

11  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 2:11)

IV. PREMISE 2: ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT OF JOEL'S PROPHECIES ARE FUTURE

C. (Joel 2:1-9 See above)

V. JOEL PROPHESIED JUST PRIOR TO THE BABYLONIAN INVASION (606–586 BC)

B. The Babylonian army, decimated Israel by taking many Jewish people into Babylonian “work camps” for seventy years

8  “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, 9  behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the Lord , ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. 10  Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11  And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12  ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,' says the Lord ; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. 13  So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. 14  (For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)' ” (Jer. 25:8-14)

10  For thus says the Lord : After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place. (Jer. 29:10)

C. Moses prophesied the destruction that was inflicted on Jerusalem and Israel by the Babylonian armies in 586 BC and the Roman armies in 70 AD.

32“Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people…41for they shall go into captivity…49The LORD will bring a nation against you…50a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young…52They shall besiege you at all your gates…, 64Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other…65And among those nations you shall find no rest…” (Deut.28:32,41,49-52,64-65)

E. Joel's prophecy of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem (Joel 2:1-9 See above )

F. Babylon's military invasion in 586 BC foreshadows the most severe invasion of Israel by the Antichrist's worldwide empire in the future (Zech. 12-14)

G.  God's purpose for including Joel 3 in the Scripture was to describe the greatest deliverance of Israel and the greatest destruction of her enemies.

11  Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He [ e ] had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14  And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15  Now out of His mouth goes a [ g ] sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16  And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

17  Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18  that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”

19  And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20  Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21  And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh. (Rev. 19:11-21)

I. Joel carries both messages: first, God's judgment on rebellious Israel, who refuses God's mercy (Joel 1:1-2:9 See above)

2. The complete fulfillment of Joel's prophecy will include the Joel 1 locust plague  (agricultural and economic crisis, Rev. 8) , the Joel 2 military invasion (Zech. 12-14), and the Joel 2 worldwide outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh.

VII. PREMISE 3: GOD USES EVIL LEADERS AND MILITARY INVASION

A. In the Old Testament, God judged rebellious nations through military invasions. He used wicked kings and armies as His instrument of judgment against rebellious nations

5  “Look among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
6  For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7  They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. (Hab. 1:5-7)

VIII. PREMISE 4: THE COMING THEOLOGICAL CRISIS—THREE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS

18“The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come…”  
(Rev. 11:18)

6“Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”  (Mt. 11:6)

20The anger of the LORD will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.  (Jer. 23:20)

B.  Question 1:  If God is a God of love, why will He allow this?

It was this tension that Habakkuk wrestled through when he cried to God about the Babylon invasion of Israel.

13“Why do You look on those who deal treacherously  [Babylonians], and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person  [Israel]  more righteous than he?” (Hab.1:13)

3.  Answer 1:  

9When Your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants…learn righteousness. (Isa. 26:9)

C.  Question 2:  What can the righteous do to stop or minimize God's judgment in a nation?

30“I sought for a man among them who would…stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”   (Ezek. 22:30)

14“If My people…will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”   (2 Chr. 7:14)

1. What role do the saints play in stopping God's judgments?

2.  Answer 2 : God calls intercessors to stand in the gap, between Him

12  “Now, therefore,” says the Lord ,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
13  So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.
14  Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?

15  Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;
16  Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
17  Let the priests, who minister to the Lord ,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord ,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?' ” (Joel 2:12-17)

D.  Question 3:  What do the righteous say and do before and after God's judgments?

2.  Answer 3:  A careful study of the book of Joel gives us some of these answers.

6  Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times,
And the strength of salvation;
The fear of the Lord is His treasure. (Isa. 33:6)

6Wisdom [revelation of God's heart and ways] and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure.  (Isa.33:6)

IX. PREMISE 5: THE END-OF-THE-AGE FORERUNNER MINISTRY

A. When trouble comes, God is accused—even by His people.

3…Saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord GOD Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints. 4…for Your judgments have been manifested.”   (Rev. 15:3-4)

X. PREMISE 6: THE NEED TO BE IMMERSED IN THE BOOK OF JOEL

1He said to me, “Son of man…eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”2So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. 3He said, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll…” I ate it, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.   (Ezek. 3:1-3)

9I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book   [similar to Ezekiel's scroll]. ” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” 10Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it  [meditated on it to understand it] ,  and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. When I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11And he said to me, “You must prophesy…about many…nations…and kings.”  
(Rev. 10:9-11)

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Book of Joel

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