JOEL

A plague of Locusts.

The coming day of the Lord.

Prediction of the Gospel age.

And outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

It is like Zephaniah, it is a book of coming Judgment. It is also like the book of Revelation regarding the Harvest of souls that are forecasted.

I. Joel was thought to not live far from Jerusalem because of his statement in 1:13, 14 & 2:17. It is believed by some people that Joel could be a priest and prophet. It is not known for sure when it took place but some believe after the exile of the Northern kingdom, while still others believe it to be written either 850 or about 835 B.C. It is usually consider being one of the oldest Old Testament prophets to Judah. It could be in the times of king Joash, about 830 B.C. or possibly in the reign of Uzziah, about 750 B.C. He was a prophet to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. We do not need to spend much time on the date of this book, it is important, but you can read about the possibilities at another times or study.

II. Looking at the history we see that there was a famine cause by an unprecedented plague of locusts. This was followed by a long drought. These locusts are little insects that resembles the grasshopper. This plague opened the way for the Prophet to speak of more terrible day to come. The locust looked pretty bad to the people as they were shown at several different levels of growth. What some left was deviated by the others, chapter 1:4

III. The coming Day of the Lord, is the key phase and the theme of this book, 1:15;2:11,31;3:14,18, “That great and terrible day of the Lord”. There is also a strong second theme in Joel, that of disaster. We find Joel predicting the coming day of the gospel era, (Joel 2:28-32) and mention by Peter in (Acts 2:17-21). This is believed to be a continuing out pouring until the Great Day of the Lord. We also see Jesus mentioning the coming of the Holy Spirit, (John 16:7-15).

IV. As a whole this book leads itself to the thought of a coming judgment and redemption. This is believed to be a beautiful picture of the Christian era. This is a time in which God’s Word, with the idea of the Holy Spirit, will cause repentant in the hearts of man and bring about a great harvest of souls in the last days. Those who reject this message will bring about a judgment on themselves more terrible than that of the locust. This is something the people could relate to.

V. The people must repent wholehearted to cause God to repent of the evil He will bring upon the peoples of the earth, (Joel 2:12-17. Chapter 2:18-20) brings God’s promises.

VI. Historical invasion took place because of their lack of repentance. They were restored again to their country which only means God did repent. Our times are again crying for man’s repentant. If people hope to escape this finale judgment they must repent. Man is now living in the times Joel spoke about and they must repent and receive the Holy Spirit to ward off judgment.