Joel

Notes from Bible Study with Pastor Terry Gray


We always need to keep history in mind when studying prophecy:


When Israel first became a nation, it was united, under King David and King Soloman.


931 BC
Israel split into the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms.


722 BC
The Assyrian army destroyed the Northern Kingdom. The 10 tribes that composed of the Norther Kingdom have been called "the lost tribes of Israel" because there is no record of any of them ever coming back into the Promised Land; the people of the Northern Kingdom were dispersed.


586 BC
The Southern Kingdom was destroyed by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Unlike their Northern Kingdom counterparts, they do return to the Promised Land. However they would never rule over it and be instead subjected to other foreign power, such as Babylon, Persia, Greece and the Romans.


70 AD
The Temple was totally destroyed by the Romans. Israelites were dispersed throughout the world. Since then, they've suffered nothing but turmoil.


1948
Israel, the state, was reborn in the promised land.




Joel
- Lived in Jerusalem
- A prophet to the Southern Kingdom, before the destruction of the Northern Kingdom (Joel 1:4)





Joel 1 focuses on the current judgment (800 BC): the locust plagues



Joel 1:2-12
The Southern Kingdom has just suffered through a series of 4 disastrous locust plagues. The locusts have eaten and destroyed all the land. This disaster is so horrific, it is one that would be told to their children, their children's children, etc. This was nothing like they've seen before.


Joel, however, did not see this as just another natural catastrophe. He saw this as judgment from God. He saw this as God being displeased with the Southern Kingdom. God had already warned the Israelites through Moses that if they turned their back on God, locusts would devour the land (Deuteronomy 28:38-42). Additionally, Joel knew from history that other nations who have sinned against God, such as Egypt, have also fallen to locust plagues (Exodus 10:1-20).


Therefore, 250 years before the Southern Kingdom would be given over to Babylon, Joel saw this series of locust plagues (Joel 1:4) as a warning from God.


Joel 1:5-12
Joel tells his people to wake up (Joel 1:5-7) and mourn (Joel 1:8-12).


Joel 1:13-15
Joel also calls for a sacred assembly to repent.


Two thoughts:


1. Do we always have to have a national crisis before we, as a nation, return to God? Do we always have to have a personal crisis before we return to God?
Intense catastrophes jolt us awake, and if they do lead us back to God, that is great. But, why can't we just remember God as our Father, be it as a nation or as a person? Why must we always need to be awakened with such disasters!


2. It is so easy for the things we thought were so secure to be destroyed.
In Joel's time, his people's entire economy was destroyed by insects in a matter of days/weeks! The people of Southern Kingdom thought they were doing so well, indulging themselves in great wealth. Yet, in no time at all, all that was gone. No food, no shelter.


Why place all our hopes and dreams in something so frail, in something so insecure?


In Joel 2:19, we see how easy it is for God to give us materialistic support. He speaks, and it happens.


Without God, we can have all the wealth in the world but fear to lose it all because we cannot secure our wealth against fatal catastrophes. When the economy fails, and money is worth less than toilet paper, what good is wealth?


With God, however, we have no worries. We may not be wealthy by man's standards, but with our souls sealed in God, we will never be without because God will provide. Furthermore, when we place ourselves in God's hands, we know our fate is secure. We know we will reign for an eternity as kings and priests upon Christ's return. We know we will live in New Jerusalem where roads are paved in gold, and no earthly creation can ever come close to comparison (Revelation).


It really is a no brainer for me. I'd secure my eternal well-being rather than obsess over worldly things.






Joel 2 discusses future judgment if Israel does not repent.


Joel warns that the locust plagues are bad, but there is a future army coming that would cause even more devastation (Joel 2:1-11).


Today, Bible scholars offer theories on what this army could be or could have been:


1. It was never fulfilled because the Southern Kingdom repented as Joel urged them to.


2. It was the Assyrian army. This theory is shaky because it would group God's judgment for the Southern Kingdom with the Northern Kingdom, which we learn from other books in the Bible that this is not true.


3. It was the Babylonian army. This is the most likely scenario, because history tells us that the Southern Kingdom ultimately fell at the hands of the Babylonians.


4. It is an army of a future war that has not yet happened: Ezekiel 38 & 39 and Joel share similar descriptions of events that would take place should God bring judgment upon the Southern Kingdom. However, since the Southern Kingdom has already fallen, and not all events prophesied in Ezekiel 38 & 39 have occurred, this theory is unlikely to be true.


Joel 2:12-17
To confirm the above, the best way is to ask God when we see Him. (This is just my facetious way of saying the Bible doesn't provide stone-hard evidence that confirms which army Joel is talking about.)


Regardless, the focus here isn't which army. Rather, Joel's prophecy was meant as a warning to his people: "God's judgment is coming if we don't repent." So, fast, mourn, and repent. Joel again calls for the sacred assembly for full repentance of the nation.



Joel 2:18-27
God will deliver them from their enemies as long as they repent (Joel 2:20). God will even RESTORE all that's been lost (Joel 2:25). Again, we see how easy it is for us to lose materialistic things, but how easy it is for God to provide such things (Joel 2:19-26)!


It is astonishing to realize what's being promised here.


Not only will God welcome His children back with open arms, He will make up for our wasted years! Another example of this that popped into my head was Job. He lost everything because Satan took it away from him, but because he never lost sight of God, God restored him and gave him twice as much as he originally had. One might argue that he could never gain back the family he lost, but let us not forget they are all in Heaven! And so, in Job's eternal life, not only would he be reunited with that family, he would also be united with the flourishing family God blessed him with after his trials -- 2 times the family!


In the final restoration of Israel, we will see 3 things:


1. Major spiritual revival
Israelites will return to the Lord, and God's spirit will pour out into the nation (Joel 2:28-29).


2. There will be incredible signs in the heavens
(Joel 2:30-31)


3. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved 
(Joel 2:32)




Joel 3 discusses the far future, where all nations against Israel will be judged and Israel will be restored.
One day, all sins would be washed. All of God's people will be restored.