Study Notes Ed Underwood

Joel The Day of the Lord Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome and very terrifying – who can survive it? (Joel 2:11)

The seventeen Books of Prophecy record the messages of the writing prophets (those whose messages are preserved in writing) God raised up to speak for him following the ministries of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The failings of the Divided Kingdom Era prompted God to speak to Israel in the north and Judah in the south. They continued to speak to God’s people for over 400 years, including the exile to Babylonia and the return to the Promise Land. (1 Kings 12-Esther)

The prophets spoke for God to His people concerning the enforcement of terms of their covenant relationship with God. Each spoke to a specific generation of Israel or Judah to enforce the conditional covenant (Mosaic) in the context of the unconditional covenants flowing from the Abrahamic Covenant. Their message can be summed up in these sentences: You are mine! (Unconditional covenants, Romans 11:29). Walk with me and I will bless you. Walk away from me and I will call you back to myself through loving discipline (Conditional covenant, Romans 9-11).

A natural disaster hit the Southern Kingdom of Judah. A menacing black cloud descended upon the land— the dreaded locusts. The locust plague stripped the land of every green thing in its path. Joel, God’s spokesman during the reign of Joash (835-796), seized the occasion to proclaim God’s message. The locust plague has been a terrible judgment for sin. Yet God’s future judgments during the day of the Lord will make that plague pale in comparison, In that day, God will destroy His enemies, but bring unparalleled blessing to those who faithfully obey Him.

The times of Joel threatened God’s plan to rescue creation from the devastation of sin. The tribe of Judah— the coming Messiah’s prophesied line (Genesis 49:10, cf. Luke 3:33)—might not survive. Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel in the Northern Kingdom had married Jehoram, king of Judah. It was a marriage of political convenience with catastrophic consequences (2 Kings 8-11). She was widowed after eight years on the throne when she murderously usurped the Davidic throne, killing every descendant of Jehoram except Joash who was stolen and hidden by Jehoida the priest. She reigned six years in Judah and vigorously promoted the worship of Baal (2 Chronicles 22:11). She was murdered in a revolt led by Jehoida, and Joash was proclaimed king. Jehoida and Joash purged the outward worship of Baal in Judah, but the evil of idolatry was now entrenched in the south.

Joel was written as a warning to the people of Judah to humbly turn to the Lord with repentant hearts (2:12- 17). Using the metaphor of a locust invasion, Joel prophesies that there will be a future invasion of the land by many nations in order to charge the people to turn from their sins, which would result in blessings under the covenant (Deuteronomy 28:38-42, 49-57). He develops the theme of the Day of the Lord (1:5; 2:1-2, 11, 31; 3:14, 18) introduced by the earlier prophet Obadiah (Obadiah 15). This theme of the Day of the Lord will become a major teaching in the prophets and in the books of the New Testament. The Day of the Lord is a time of awesome judgment upon people and nations that have rebelled against God. But it is also a time of future blessings upon those who have trusted in Him:

Joel stresses the sovereign power of God over nature and nations. He is the God who will have His day; “the day of the Lord” when everything is just the way He intends it to be.

I. THE JUDGMENT OF ISRAEL IN THE DAY OF THE LORD Joel begins with an account of a recent locust plague that has devastated the land and makes effective use of this natural catastrophe as an illustration of a far greater judgment to come (1:1-2:11).

LITERAL FULFILLMENT The invading locusts bring the economy to a standstill and the people are in a desperate situation. (1:1-20) FUTURE FULFILLMENT A locust-like invasion of a northern army will devastate the land. The near fulfillment was the Babylonian invasion. The still future invasion of Israel will be led by the King of the North during the Tribulation. (2:1-11)

Joel: The day of the Lord is coming!

II. THE REPENTANCE OF ISRAEL IN THE DAY OF THE LORD: It’s not too late for the people to avert disaster. The prophetic warning is designed to bring them to the point of repentance (2:12-17). This national repentance would happen three times in Israel’s history, one is yet to come:

IMMEDIATE FULFILLMENT: Joash revival. NEAR FULFILLMENT: Return under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. ULTIMATE FULFILLMENT: God’s people turn to Him during the Tribulation.

III. THE DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL IN THE DAY OF THE LORD The day of the Lord is a day of deliverance for His obedient people and a day of judgment for His enemies (2:18-3:17).

A. THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL God promises that judgment will be followed by great blessing in a material and a spiritual way (2:18-32).

1. PhysicalRestorationThesepromiseswereliterallyfulfilledinthetimeofJoashandinthereturning remnant. But their full-orbed and majestic realization will be at the end of the Tribulation (2:18-27).

2. Spiritual Restoration Chapter three in the Hebrew Bible, these promises are still future (2:28-32). The time of spiritual restoration is after the repentance and restoration of Israel (2:12-27). Verse 28 very precisely says, “afterward.” The extent of spiritual restoration is expressed in absolute terms in 2:28b-29. The Holy Spirit will be poured out on all of the believing remnant of Israel. The signs of spiritual restoration in 30-31 are still future. These events never happened—not in Joash’s revival, or in the return from exile, or in Acts 2. The result of spiritual restoration is an extremely Jewish promise (2:32).

B. CONDEMNATION OF THE NATIONS: These rich promises are followed by a solemn description of the judgment of all nations in the valley of decision in the end times. The nations will give an account of themselves to the God of Israel who will judge those who have rebelled against Him. God alone controls the course of history. “So that you know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain (3:17; 3:1-17). The statement of condemnation: The time is at the Second Coming when all Jews are gathered back to Jerusalem (3:1). The place is the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which means, YHWH judges! This is probably the Valley of Kidron east of Jerusalem (3:2a). The nations will be judged according to their treatment of Israel during the Tribulation (3:2b-8). The sequence of the condemnation: The gathering of the armies (3:9-17). The judgment of the armies described is the earliest description of the campaign of Armageddon, the valley of decision, meaning God’s decision to condemn (3:14). The coming of the Lord (3:15-17).

C. THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL IN THE DAY OF THE LORD: Joel ends with the Kingdom blessings upon the remnant of the faithful Judah (3:18-31).

JOEL AND YOU: Joel stresses the sovereign power of God over nature and nations. He is the God who will have His day; “the day of the Lord” when everything is just the way He intends it to be.

1. Joel connected God’s control over history and nature to His love for His people. (See 1 Thessalonians 5: 2; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Peter 3:10-12) Do you live with the expectation and confidence that God is the Lord of your circumstances?

2. Joel comforted God’s people with prophecies of the day of the Lord. Do you know prophecy well enough to be comforted by it or do you know just enough to be scared?

Messiah: Joel portrays Christ as the One who will judge the nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (“God Judges,” 32, 12; Matthew 25:31-46).