Joel
Background:
“We don’t know very much about Joel. His name means ‘The Lord is God’ and he prophesies in Jerusalem around the year 400 bc.
The Jews have returned from exile in Babylon (538 bc). They have no king, but the national life is focused on Jerusalem. They have built a new temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel (515 bc) and rebuilt the walls under the leadership of Nehemiah (444 bc).
Joel seems particularly interested in the temple and concerned for the worship. He may have been a priest or a ‘temple prophet’ who worked there.
Joel declares that a terrible plague of locusts is in fact the judgment of God. He calls on God’s people Israel to repent of their sins. When they do so, he promises that a long drought and dearth of the harvests will end. There will be grain and wine for the offerings in the temple once again.
Joel also has a greater message. The locusts are an image of an enemy army invading from the north. Joel sees in them a picture of the great and terrible ‘Day of the Lord’. This is the time when God will judge all the nations and establish his eternal kingdom of peace with Jerusalem at its centre.
Joel’s prophecy may originally have been in verse, and sung to the pilgrims in the temple. Many of his ideas and phrases are the same as older prophets, especially Ezekiel, Isaiah and Zephaniah. His phrase ‘the Lord roars from Zion’ is an echo of the prophecies of Amos before the destruction of Jerusalem.”[1]
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Joel 1: An Invasion of Locusts
Ø Joel prophesied after a devastating invasion of locusts the likes of which had never before been seen. What, according to Joel, was the reason this took place?
Ø What was Joel’s remedy for this terrible “natural” disaster?
Ø Do you believe that God still used natural disasters today to get His people’s attention? Explain.
Ø Does the calamity that took place in Joel’s day have any further fulfillment that is yet to happen? What does he mean by the term the “day of the Lord” in verse 15?
Joel 2: An Army of Locusts
Ø Does Joel liken the plague of locusts to another total destruction yet to come? If so, what might that be?
Ø What is the remedy for nation of Israel? What does it mean to “rend your heart”? (vs. 13)
Ø What happens when the Lord’s people repent and return to Him? (Also see Isaiah 34:2-3)
Ø What, if any application is there for us today?
Ø To what does “the Day of the Lord” refer in verses 28-32? Is that a prophecy that has been fulfilled or is it still future?
Joel 3: The Judgment of the Nations
Ø To what does the phrase “in those days and at that time” refer in verse 3:1?
Ø Is this a judgment that the nations have already faced or do you think this is a future judgment?
Ø What is the final outcome of this judgment? List the things the Lord will do for His people at that time.
Ø What can we learn from this prophecy that applies for us today?
NOTE:
“Theological and Ethical Significance. Ruin and destruction lie ahead for all who do not know and trust the Lord. But all who belong to Him through repentance and faith are promised His indwelling presence, as well as eternal abundance, total satisfaction, and security. Believers feeling outnumbered and bullied by the world should be encouraged to know that all the worldly powers someday will be assembled before the Lord to receive His justice. Believers should consider times of crisis as opportunities for reflection on the character of our lives, especially our relationship with the Lord. For unbelievers these are opportunities to recognize our vulnerability and our need for a relationship with the living God.”[2]
[2] Dockery, D. S., Butler, T. C., Church, C. L., Scott, L. L., Ellis Smith, M. A., White, J. E., & Holman Bible Publishers (Nashville, T. (1992). Holman Bible Handbook (471). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
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