Joel

Notes on
Joel
2 0 2 4 E d i t i o n
Dr. Thomas L. Constable
TITLE AND WRITER
The title of this book is the name of its writer, as is probably true of all the
prophetical books of the Old Testament.
We know little about Joel, whose name means "Yahweh is God." He was the
son of Pethuel ("Persuaded of God"), who does not appear to have been
an especially famous person. Eleven other individuals in the Old Testament
bore the name Joel (1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Chron. 4:35; 5:4; 7:3; 11:38; 15:7;
26:22; 27:20; 2 Chron. 29:12; Ezra 10:43; Neh. 11:9).
UNITY
All the extant Hebrew manuscripts and the ancient versions of Joel attest
to the unity of the book. Critics who deny its unity and argue for two
different writers do so on the basis of supposed literary and conceptual
differences, usually between the first two chapters and the third.
Specifically, they assign the historical passages to Joel and the apocalyptic
ones to another writer. However, there is a consistent theme that ties the
whole book together, which is one reason most conservative interpreters
believe that Joel wrote all three chapters.
"… the book of Joel is not made up, as so many other Old
Testament books are, of the scattered 'notes' of a long
prophetic ministry extending over several years, but is rather
occupied with a description of a single incident with its moral
and spiritual application."1
1George L. Robinson, The Twelve Minor Prophets, pp. 31-32.

Copyright Ó 2024 by Thomas L. Constable
2 Dr. Constable's Notes on Joel 2024 Edition
"It seems to be one remarkable utterance rather than notes of

a ministry covering a long period."1
DATE
The date of Joel is its largest introductory problem, as is the case with
Obadiah.2 There are four most likely possibilities. First, some scholars
advocate an early pre-exilic date during the reign of King Jehoshaphat
(872-848 B.C.), or possibly his grandson, King Joash (835-796 B.C.).3
Arguments in favor of this period include the position of Joel in the Hebrew
canon; it appears among other prophetic writings of this period. However,
the order of the pre-exilic Minor Prophets is not strictly chronological, in
both the Hebrew and the English versions. Also, the enemies of Israel that
Joel named (Tyre, Sidon, Philistia [cf. 2 Chron. 21:16-17], Egypt [cf. 1
Kings 14:25-26], and Edom [cf. 2 Kings 8:20-22]; 3:2-7, 19) were enemies
of Israel during this time. The prominence Joel gave to Judah's priests and
elders rather than to her king—Joash was a boy king under the influence of
Jehoiada, the high priest, early in his reign—is a further argument for this
view. However, these conclusions are open to other interpretations.
According to Walter Kaiser Jr., "Most conservative scholars date Joel ca.
830 B.C. …"4 I prefer the early pre-exilic date view.
Second, some authorities believe a mid-pre-exilic date of composition,

probably during the reign of Joash's grandson, King Uzziah (792-740 B.C.),
fits the evidence best.5 Supporters of this view also claim the first two
1G. Campbell Morgan, An Exposition of the Whole Bible, p. 378.

2See Tremper Longman III and Raymond B. Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament,
pp. 411-14.
3Advocates of this view include Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament
Prophets, p. 148; Gleason A. Archer Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 305;
E. J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 271-72; C. F. Keil, The Twelve
Minor Prophets, 1:169-70; Robinson, pp. 39-43; Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible,
2:3:85-87; J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, 3:657; Walter C. Kaiser
Jr., Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 188; Charles H. Dyer, The Old Testament
Explorer, p. 737; Warren W. Wiersbe, "Joel," in The Bible Exposition
Commentary/Prophets, p. 333; Leon J. Wood, The Prophets of Israel, p. 268; J. Sidlow
Baxter, Explore the Book, 4:108; Kenneth G. Hanna, From Moses to Malachi, pp. 435-37.
4Kaiser, p. 188, footnote 11.
5Advocates include E. B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, 1:143, 147; Richard D. Patterson,
"Joel," in Daniel-Malachi, vol. 7 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary, pp. 231-33.

2024 Edition Dr. Constable's Notes on Joel 3
arguments cited in favor of the early pre-exilic view above. They argue, in
addition, that the absence of references to Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia
make a later date, when these nations were the major ancient Near Eastern
superpowers, unlikely. Joel's reference to Greece in 3:6 may fit this period
since the Ionian Greeks were at this time expanding their commercial
influence in Asia Minor. Joel's reference to the Sabeans in 3:8 is appropriate
for this period as well. Internal references and linguistic characteristics may
also reflect Uzziah's times, and are similar to the writings of the other
eighth-century prophets (i.e., Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah). However,
again, much of the same evidence can fit other periods of Judah's history.
Third, some interpreters opt for a late pre-exilic date.1 Statements in Joel
could fit this period, and some of his statements are similar to those of
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and may reflect conditions before the destruction of
Jerusalem, perhaps between 597 and 587 B.C. If true, Joel would have
been a contemporary of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. Yet Joel 2:18-
19 seems to imply that God had been merciful to Joel's generation,
suggesting that the people had repented, but there is no record of this
happening during this period. A variation of this view is that Joel wrote
either just before the Assyrian invasion of 701 B.C. or just before one of
the Babylonian invasions: the 598 B.C. invasion, or the 588 B.C. invasion.2
The fourth view is that Joel wrote at a postexilic date, perhaps 515-500
B.C., or even as late as sometime in the 400s B.C.3 Interpreters who see
Joel 3:1-2 and 17 as references to the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Babylonian Captivity take the references to the temple in 1:9, 13 and 2:17
as applying to the second, postexilic temple, which was completed in 515
B.C. Yet all these texts could apply to earlier periods. Generally, scholars
who view apocalyptic writing as a late development in Judaism tend to date
Joel quite late.
1Advocates include Wilhelm Rudolph, Joel-Amos-Obadja-Jona, pp. 14-15; and Arvid S.

Kapelrud, Joel Studies, pp. 154-58.
2Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, pp. 224-26.
3Advocates include Robert B. Chisholm Jr., "Joel," in The Bible Knowledge Commentary:
Old Testament, p. 1410; idem, "A Theology of the Minor Prophets," in A Biblical Theology
of the Old Testament, p. 387; idem, Handbook on the Prophets, p. 368; idem, Interpreting
the Minor Prophets, p. 51; George Adam Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets
Commonly Called the Minor, 2:375-88; Raymond B. Dillard, "Joel," in The Minor Prophets,
pp. 240-42 (though see pp. 301-2); David A. Hubbard, Joel and Amos, p. 27; Thomas J.
Finley, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, p. 8; and John Bright, A History of Israel, p. 417.
As should be obvious from this brief survey, the dating of the book rests
on interpretations of various verses that are not clear. No other Old
Testament book mentions Joel. Consequently, dating the book amounts to
guesswork, though some writers were quite dogmatic about their
convictions. I prefer an early or mid-pre-exilic date, mainly because of Joel's
position in the Hebrew canon among other writers of this period, which
reflects Hebrew tradition. I think he was probably one of the earliest writing
prophets. John Calvin's word of caution bears repeating:
"… as there is no certainty, it is better to leave the time in

which [Joel] taught undecided; and, as we shall see, this is of
no great importance."1
PLACE OF COMPOSITION AND AUDIENCE
Joel's frequent references to Judah and Jerusalem suggest that he lived

and ministered in the south of Canaan, possibly in the Southern Kingdom,
if he wrote before 722 B.C. (cf. 1:9, 13-14, 16; 2:1, 9, 14-15, 17, 23, 32;
3:1-8, 12, 14, 17-21). Pusey saw evidence in these verses that Joel lived
in Jerusalem.2
"Joel was a man of vitality and spiritual maturity. A keen

discerner of the times, he delivered God's message to the
people of Judah in a vivid and impassioned style, with a
precision and originality of thought that served as a veritable
quarry out of which many subsequent prophetic building
stones were to be hewn."3
PURPOSE
Joel wrote to warn his audience about a coming day in which God would
judge His people. He compared this devastating judgment to a terrible
locust invasion that had fairly recently swept through the land. What he
said about this coming judgment has only seen partial fulfillment; some of
it still lies in the eschatological future (i.e., the eschaton or end times for
1John Calvin, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, 2:xv.

2Pusey, 1:143.
3Patterson, p. 230.
planet earth). God would send blessing as well as judgment, however, and
this too has only come partially on the Israelites so far. The prophet warned
his hearers that unless they repented of their empty formalism in worship,
and turned back to Yahweh wholeheartedly, devastating judgment would
overtake them. If they repented, God would pardon them and restore His
blessings to them abundantly.
THEOLOGY
The sovereignty of God and the inevitability of divine punishment for

covenant unfaithfulness are dominant themes in Joel.
"Joel's depiction of the absolute authority of Yahweh over all

the peoples of the earth is among the strongest in the Old
Testament."1
So is Yahweh's compassionate forgiveness in response to repentance. "The

day of the LORD," both judgment and blessing aspects, is also a prominent
theme (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14).2 Thus the administration of God is a
strong motif: how God exercises His sovereignty when His people sin.
Another important theological contribution of Joel is his prediction of God
pouring out the Holy Spirit in the last days (2:28-32).
"Like all the canonical prophets, Joel depended on the Mosaic

covenant of the Pentateuch for the basic points of his
message: the covenant's curses must come as a result of
national disobedience; but after a period of chastisement, God
will restore his people and bless them in ways they had not yet
experienced."3
STYLE AND TEXT
Joel's literary style, in the Hebrew text, is rich, vivid, classical, clear, and
beautiful.
1Stuart, p. 229.
2See the four-part series of articles on "The Day of the LORD" by Craig A. Blaising in
Bibliotheca Sacra beginning with 169:673 (January-March 2012).
3Stuart, p. 228.
"The chief characteristic of the Prophet's style is perhaps its

simple vividness."1
The Hebrew text of Joel presents no serious interpretive problems and has
been well preserved.
OUTLINE
I. Introduction 1:1
II. A past day of the LORD: a locust invasion 1:2-20
A. An initial appeal 1:2-4

B. A call to mourn 1:5-13
C. A call to repent 1:14
D. The significance of the plague 1:15-20
III. A near future day of the LORD: a human invasion 2:1-27
A. The invading army 2:1-11
1. The nearness of the army 2:1-2

2. The destructive power of the army 2:3-5
3. The relentlessness of the army 2:6-9
4. The invincibility of the army 2:10-11
B. A call to repentance 2:12-17
1. An appeal for private repentance 2:12-14

2. An appeal for public repentance 2:15-17
C. The possibility of forgiveness and restoration 2:18-27
1. The LORD's gracious response 2:18

2. The LORD's promise of blessing 2:19-27
IV. A far future day of the LORD: another human invasion and deliverance
2:28—3:21
A. Israel's spiritual renewal and deliverance 2:28-32
1Pusey, 1:155.
B. God's judgment on Israel's enemy nations 3:1-17
1. The announcement of judgment 3:1-8

2. The description of judgment 3:9-17
C. Israel's ultimate restoration 3:18-21
MESSAGE
The Book of Joel contains a threefold vision. The first part of Joel's vision
concerned a locust plague that had recently swept over the Promised Land.
Joel prophesied about this plague because of the desolation that it had
produced. The second part of his vision concerned a coming invasion from
a foreign army in the fairly near future. He used the recent locust plague
to illustrate the devastating effect of the coming military invasion. The
third part of his vision concerned another coming invasion, in the far distant
future, that would also be like the recent locust invasion, only worse.
Joel described each of these devastations as "the day of the LORD." The
term itself refers to a time when God had been or would be controlling
events for Israel in an unusually direct way. It was "His day" in the sense
that, at those times, Yahweh was and would be especially prominent in
what happened. Thus this term, in Joel, referred to a past "day," a near
future "day," and a far distant "day," from the prophet's perspective.
"The day of the LORD" was the burden of Joel's prophecy, not to be
confused with "the Lord's Day" (Rev. 1:10), which is Sunday. (J. Vernon
McGee wrote: "The difference is as great as between a chestnut horse and
a horse chestnut!"1) God revealed His plans for the future simply at first
through the writing prophets. God does not overload us with too much
information all at once. In later prophetical books, we will get more detail.
In all the prophetical books, "the day of the LORD" refers to a time of
judgment and/or blessing.
The Book of Joel has two preeminent timeless values. It illustrates the basic
principles by which Yahweh governs, and it reveals the basic plan of Yahweh
through the ages. It is important for us to grasp these basic principles and
this basic plan, because the other prophets reveal more about them.
1McGee, 3:666.
First, Joel illustrates the principles by which Yahweh governs. This book
does not reveal them in the sense of explaining them fully. Isaiah explains
them more fully. Joel illustrates these principles briefly.
Joel viewed Yahweh as enthroned in heaven, controlling affairs on earth.

Joel saw Him presiding patiently over all the situations through which His
people pass. He saw Him pressing into His service all the processes of
nature and human activity. He also saw Him achieving ultimate victory in
"His day": "the day of the LORD." He had accomplished victory by judging
His people recently with a locust invasion. He would accomplish victory by
disciplining His people with an invasion from a foreign foe in the near future.
And He would accomplish victory by restoring His people through a fresh
outpouring of His Spirit in the distant future. So one major lesson of this
book is that God is enthroned in heaven, ruling over the affairs of humanity.
A second illustration of the principles by which Yahweh governs is Joel's

emphasis on grace. Grace is at the heart of God's government. Grace is the
inspiration of His government. We see this in God's appeal to the Israelites
through Joel to repent, to "tear your hearts and not merely your garments"
(2:13a).1 The locust plague was a wake-up call to repent. The Israelites'
repentance would affect the imminent invasion they faced. God promised
judgment, but He offered mercy, if the people would repent (2:13b-14).
Grace is also evident in the promise of a far-distant future outpouring of
God's Spirit—in spite of the unfaithfulness of His people. God rules with
grace. He is gracious to humanity in the way He governs people.2
When the locust invasion swept through the land, the people bemoaned
the tragedy. The locusts had so stripped the grapevines that even the
drunkards could not find grapes to make wine. The people had so little grain
that they could not bring offerings to the temple. They could hardly make
bread to eat. They viewed the devastation as a natural disaster. Joel
reminded them that the locust invasion had come by the will and hand of
their God. The people had forgotten God, but God wanted to get their
attention, so He sent the plague. He had allowed this to happen so the
people would think of Him, and return to Him. When the invasion happened,
it was His "day." It was God who had done this (1:1-14).
1Quotations from the English Bible in these notes are from the New American Standard
Bible (NASB), 2020 edition, unless otherwise indicated.
2On the problem of why God allows bad things to happen to good people, see the Book of
Job.
Joel went on to remind the people that, because they had forgotten about
Him, He was going to bring a worse devastation on them that would make
the recent locust plague seem tame by comparison. If they turned back to
Him, they could avoid this worse fate, because God would be gracious to
them (2:12-13). The coming invasion, by humans rather than by locusts,
would also be a day in which the LORD acted prominently. Joel even said
that the LORD would lead this army of invaders (2:11). This was probably
fulfilled in the Assyrian invasion of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.
Yet in spite of future devastating judgment, God would act again,

dramatically and definitely, for His people (3:28-32). He would bring
restoration and blessing to them, even after they had suffered His
chastening discipline. He would just as surely and personally do this for
them as He would punish them. This, too, would be one of His "days." And
it would be the ultimate illustration of His grace.
A second great timeless value of this book is its revelation of God's plan
for His people Israel's future.
First, there would be coming judgment that the people could affect by their
repentance (2:14). Had the Israelites repented, the Assyrian and
Babylonian Captivities would not have overtaken them. When the Assyrians
attacked Judah, the people of Judah did repent, and the LORD delivered
them. But when the Babylonians attacked Judah 115 years later, the
Judeans failed to repent, and suffered defeat and deportation. Joel could
honestly say for God, "Return to Me with all your heart" (2:12). When the
people failed to repent, judgment befell them.
Second, there would be even worse judgment in the distant future, because
the prophet foresaw that the people would continue to apostatize (i.e.,
renounce their former beliefs and turn from God; 3:1-17). This refers to
the judgments on Israel during the Tribulation. Yet after that, the LORD
promised to restore and bless His people (2:18-32). These are millennial
blessings: blessings reserved for the future 1,000-year rule of Christ on
earth. It is in this context of millennial blessings that the promise of the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit appears (3:28-29). That outpouring on Israel
is still future from our position in history.
But what about what Peter said on the day of Pentecost? He said that the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit then was what Joel prophesied (Acts 2:17-
18). This has led many Bible students to conclude that God has fulfilled His
promises to Israel in the church (i.e., by fulfilling them in a spiritual rather

than literal sense in the present church age). This is the viewpoint of
amillennial and postmillennial interpreters who believe that God has no
special future plans for Israel. Other interpreters see a double or partial
fulfillment on the day of Pentecost with the church, and a future fulfillment
with Israel in the Millennium. This is the viewpoint of many premillennialists
(i.e., those who believe that Christ will return to the earth and then set up
an earthly kingdom for 1,000 years). A third view is that fulfillment will only
be in the Millennium, and that what Peter meant was that what happened
on the day of Pentecost was similar to or like what Joel prophesied.
I favor the second interpretation, as do many other premillennialists. Why?
First, Peter did not say that what was happening fulfilled Joel's prophecy
completely. What he said could just as easily mean that what happened
then was in harmony with, or analogous to, what Joel had predicted would
happen in the Millennium. The two events were similar but not identical.
The New Testament writers frequently spoke of fulfillment in an analogical
sense (e.g., Matt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1). I think what Peter meant was that what
happened on the day of Pentecost was similar to what God had said,
through Joel, that He would do in the Millennium.
Second, it should also be clear that these Pentecost and Millennium events
were not the identical because in the middle of the section of Joel's
prophecy, which Peter quoted (2:28-32a), Joel mentioned the sun turning
into darkness and the moon to blood (Acts 2:20). That did not happen on
the day of Pentecost. It will happen in the Tribulation, just before God pours
out His Spirit on all flesh (i.e., believing Israelites) in the Millennium (cf.
Matt. 24:29; Rev. 6:12; 8:12).
Third, the context of Joel's prediction is Israel in the future, not the church,
which began on the day of Pentecost and was not revealed in the Old
Testament (cf. Eph. 2—3). Joel predicted the future of Israel, not the
future of the church. The context of this prophecy is the Millennium and
the judgments immediately preceding it, in the Tribulation. A cardinal rule
of biblical interpretation is to pay careful attention to the people in view in
the passage. Here it is specifically the Jews, not just "God's people."
Fourth, other prophecies refer to an outpouring of God's Spirit on the Jews

in the future (e.g., Isa. 32:15; 44:3-4; Ezek. 36:27-28; 37:14; 39:29; Zech.
12:10). This prophecy in Joel is one of them.
Joel gave revelation about important aspects of God's plan for the future.
He referred to the upcoming invasion by a foreign power, which took place
about 135 years after he prophesied, when Sennacherib invaded Judah in
701 B.C., during King Hezekiah's reign (2 Kings 18—19). Judah avoided
being judged then by repenting, but the people apostatized again and fell
prey to the Babylonians a century later. Joel also talked about a far-distant
future time of judgment on Israel: the Tribulation. After that time, he
revealed great blessing for all types of Israelites, from the most lowly to
the most exalted, including the restoration of Israel during the Millennium.
Sin, judgment, and restoration to privilege and power, respectively, are
what would mark Israel's future.
I would summarize the message of Joel this way: Though God will judge
Israel for her apostasy with locust invasion-like devastation in the future,
He will also later restore her to blessings greater than she has ever
experienced, illustrating that He governs the world graciously.
Remember that "Israel" is not synonymous with the modern State of Israel.
"Israel," when used of God's chosen people in the Bible, refers to the
physical descendants of Jacob: ethnic Jews.
When Joel wrote, it was man's day, not the day of the LORD. The LORD had
acted in the locust invasion, and He would act in judgment and in blessing
in the future. These would be His days. But when Joel prophesied, the
people failed to see God at work because He was not active, as He was and
will be on these great days, when His presence was and will be manifest.
We, too, live in man's day. Most people, including many Christians, conclude
that God either does not exist or takes no active role in human affairs,
because He is not obviously working. At least His working is not apparent
to them, because what is happening can be explained as natural or chance
phenomena. Thus we live in a day very similar to Joel's day.
Whether people recognize it or not, God is executing His plan for the world.
He will break into human experience again in the future. Thus it is imperative
that Christians sound the same warning that Joel did. Judgment is coming,
but people can avoid God's judgment by repenting. "Everyone who calls on
the name of the Lord will be saved" (2:32; Acts 2:21). Humanity as a whole
will fail to repent, just as most of the apostate Israelites failed to repent
(cf. 1 Tim. 4; 2 Tim. 3).
In that day (the Tribulation), a far worse fate will befall the unrepentant.
Yet, God's plans for His people include incredible blessing, even though they
may fail Him. This evidence of God's grace should motivate God's people
to repent and remain faithful to Him now. Thus, God's government of Israel
and His plan for Israel serve as a paradigm for His dealings with all
humanity.1
"God would ever have His children recognize His hand in all such
visitations. For the believer, there are no second causes. The
Lord has said, 'I Jehovah create peace, and create evil.' And
He asks the question, 'Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord
hath not done it?' (Isa. 45:7; Amos 3:6)."2
1Adapted from G. Campbell Morgan, Living Messages of the Books of the Bible, 1:2:181-
95.
2Harry A. Ironside, Notes on the Minor Prophets, p. 114.
I. INTRODUCTION 1:1
Yahweh's word (message) came to Joel (lit. "Yahweh is God"), the son of
Pethuel (lit. "Persuaded of God," "Openheartedness of God," or "Sincerity
of God"). ("Elijah" also means "Yahweh is God.") Therefore, what follows
demands careful attention and appropriate response. We do not know
anything about Joel or Pethuel's personal backgrounds, not even when they
lived. This title does not tell where they lived either, though references that
follow suggest that Joel lived in Judah (v. 14; 2:1). Hosea, Micah, and
Zephaniah introduced their prophecies similarly.
II. A PAST DAY OF THE LORD: A LOCUST INVASION 1:2-20
The rest of chapter 1 describes the effects of a severe locust plague that
had recently destroyed the agriculture of the land. Some interpreters take
this locust invasion as an allegory, but it seems better to take it as a literal
invasion.1
A. AN INITIAL APPEAL 1:2-4
1:2-3 Joel called on everyone, from the most respected ruling elders
of the land (cf. 1 Sam. 30:26-31; 2 Sam. 19:11-15; 2 Kings
23:1; Ezra 10:8; Prov. 31:23; Jer. 26:17; Lam. 5:12, 14) to
the ordinary inhabitants, to pay attention to what he had to
say. Nothing like what he was about to describe had happened
in their lifetime or in that of their recent ancestors. He urged
them to retell the devastating news to their descendants for
generations to come (cf. Deut. 6:1-2).
"Thus, the book of Joel has a didactic [morally

instructive] function."2
1:4 Several waves of locusts had consumed all the agricultural

produce of the land. What one wave of these voracious insects
1See Keil, 1:172-78; Robinson, pp. 35-37.

2Finley, p. 19.
had left uneaten, other subsequent waves had destroyed. The

devastation of the land had been complete (cf. Amos 4:9). In
the Mosaic Covenant, God had threatened locust plagues as
punishment if His people proved unfaithful to Him (Deut.
28:38, 42).
"Joel's depiction of the locusts causes the reader

to realize that the repeated nature of the plague
was to make sure God's people did not ignore his
judgments."1
Four different words for "locusts" appear in this verse (and in

2:25), but a total of nine occur in the Old Testament. These
words have led some interpreters to conclude that four
subspecies of locusts are in view,2 or that locusts in four
stages of maturity are meant.3 It seems better, however, to
view "these piranhas of the sky"4 as coming in four waves:
gnawing, swarming, creeping, and stripping—as they devoured
the vegetation.5
Four waves of invasion picture a thorough devastation (cf. Jer.

15:3; Ezek. 14:21). Though the prophets sometimes used
locusts as a figure for horses (e.g., Jer. 51:27), most
interpreters have concluded that Joel described a real locust
1Stephen J. Bramer, "Suffering in the Writing Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi)," in Why, O God?
Suffering and Disability in the Bible and the Church, p. 157.
2E.g., Pusey, 1:159.
3E.g., Ironside, p. 116; Gaebelein, 2:3:97; J. A. Thompson, "Joel's Locusts in the Light of
Near Eastern Parallels," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 14 (1955):52-55; idem,

"Translation of the Words for Locust," Bible Translator 25 (October 1974):405-11.
4Charles R. Swindoll, The Swindoll Study Bible, p. 1041.
5See H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos, pp. 27-28; Keil, 1:181-82; Smith, 2:411; McGee, 3:660;
Robinson, p. 33; Chisholm, Interpreting the …, p. 55. For eyewitness accounts of

devastating locust plagues, see S. R. Driver, The Books of Joel and Amos, pp. 40, 89-93;
Smith, 2:398-403; Robinson, pp. 34-35; and John D. Whiting, "Jerusalem's Locust
Plague," National Geographic, December 1915, pp. 511-50. For more detailed discussions
of locusts and locust plagues, see Stanley Baron, The Desert Locust; L. V. Bennett,
"Development of a Locust Plague," Nature 256 (1975):486-87; Lev Fishelson, Fauna
Palestina: Insecta. Vol. 3: Orthoptera, Acridoidea; Ovid R. Sellers, "Stages of Locust in
Joel," American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 52 (1935-36):81-85; and
Z. Waloft and S. M. Green, "Regularities and Duration of Regional Locust Plagues," Nature
256 (1975):484-85.
invasion rather than a military invasion by soldiers on horses.1

McGee saw a parallel between these four bands of locusts and
the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6:1-8).2
"Nothing is more natural for us than this. In place

of godly exercise, we may give way to self-pity, or
hard, stony indifference; thus either fainting under
the discipline of the Lord on the one hand, or
despising it on the other. Blessing results from
being 'exercised thereby.' This was what Judah
was in danger of missing, as with many others
before and since."3
"The weaker the instrument is that God employs

the more is his power magnified."4
B. A CALL TO MOURN 1:5-13
Joel called on four different entities to mourn the results of the locust
invasion: drunkards (vv. 5-7), Jerusalemites (vv. 8-10), farmers (vv. 11-
12), and priests (v. 13). In each section, there is a call to mourn followed
by reasons to mourn. Interestingly, drunkenness and immorality are the
only social sins that Joel charged the people with committing in this book
(cf. 3:3).
1:5-7 Joel urged the drunkards of the land to weep because the
locusts had destroyed all the grapevines. There would be no
grapes to produce "sweet" (the most favored) wine for them
to drink (cf. Isa. 5:11-12, 22; 22:13; 28:1, 7; 56:12; Hos.
4:11-19; 7:5, 13-14; Amos 2:6-8; 6:6; 9:13; Mic. 2:11; Acts
2:13, 15).
"Sweet wine ('asis) was made by drying the

grapes in the sun for a short time and then
1Stuart, pp. 241-42, 243, 245, believed they were figurative and represented invading
Mesopotamian armies.
2McGee, 3:660.
3Ironside, p. 117.
4Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, p. 1123.
allowing the juice to ferment for five to seven

days instead of the more usual nine."1
"We are frequently reminded that most of the

accidents which take place on our highways are
caused by some individual who is exercising his
freedom and right to drink. Entire families have
been killed on the highway while out on a holiday
because some drunk driver has hit them head-on.
I may be criticized for moving into the realm of
politics but, my friend, I am studying the Word of
God, and when it talks about drunkenness, I am
going to talk about drunkenness. And when God's
Word speaks about the king being a drunkard,
then I will talk about drunkenness in my nation's
capital. When we are told that there are dozens of
cocktail parties every day in Washington, D.C., it
is no wonder that some of the decisions which are
being handed down look as if they were coming
from men who are not in their right minds."2
Often drunkards laugh, with no concern for what goes on

around them, but now, Joel said, they should wail. The locusts
had invaded the land like a hostile army. The teeth of these
invaders were like lions' teeth in that they destroyed their
prey. They had stripped the vines and fig trees so thoroughly
that their branches stood bare. The vine and the fig tree were
symbols of God's blessings on Israel and symbols of Israel
itself, so Joel probably also meant that the locusts had left the
whole nation bare.
"All that remained of shady, fruit-laden bowers

were skeletonized wrecks of trees with their
barkless branches gleaming white."3
"Beyond this one case, the Prophet names neither

sins nor sinners among his own people [but see
1Hubbard, p. 44. Cf. Driver, p. 225.

2McGee, 3:660-61.
3Leslie C. Allen, The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah, p. 52.
3:3]. He foretells chastisement, and exhorts to

repentance as the means of averting it, but does
not specify any sins. His prophecy is one
declaration of the displeasure of God against all
sin, and of His judgments consequent thereon,
one promise of pardon upon earnest repentance;
and so, perhaps, what is individual has, for the
most part been purposely suppressed."1
Joel proceeded to tell his audience several things that they

should do, in verses 8 through 14.
1:8-10 The next entity called to mourn appears to be Jerusalem. The

gender of "Wail" is feminine (singular), and Jerusalem is often
compared to a virgin daughter in the Old Testament (e.g., 2
Kings 19:21; Lam. 1:15; cf. Joel 2:1, 15, 23, 32). This "virgin"
(Heb. bethulah) was to weep in "sackcloth," clothing
appropriate for such an occasion, as though she had lost her
"groom" in death. The Hebrew word suggests that this virgin
was a presently unmarried woman who anticipated union with
her betrothed. The reason for Jerusalem's mourning was the
locusts' destruction of grain, wine, and oil: blessings from God
and the products needed to worship Him in the daily temple
burnt offerings (cf. Exod. 29:38-42; Lev. 2; 6:14-18; 9:16-17;
23:18, 37; Num. 15:5; 28:3-8).
Grain, wine, and oil represent the three major types of

vegetation in Israel: grasses, shrubs, and trees. Used together,
as they often are in the Old Testament, they stand for all
agricultural products.2 This appears to be a merism: a figure of
speech in which selected prominent parts represent all parts—
the whole. The grain offerings required flour and oil (Num.
28:5), and the drink offerings required wine (Exod. 29:40;
Num. 28:7).
"These offerings spoke of the very heart of the

believer's daily walk before God: the burnt
offering, of a complete dedication of life; the meal
1Pusey, 1:145.
2Dillard, p. 262.
offering, of the believer's service that should

naturally follow; and the drink offering, of the
conscious joy in the heart of the believer whose
life is poured out in consecrated service to his
God."1
The result of this deficiency was that the priests and the whole
nation mourned. It was bad enough that the people did not
have food and drink for their own enjoyment, but it was worse
that they could not worship Yahweh.
1:11-12 Joel next turned from city-dwellers to country folk. He called

for the farmers and vine growers, those most directly affected
by the locust invasion, to despair—because the fruits of their
labors had perished. These fruits included: wheat, barley,
grapes, figs, pomegranates, dates, and apples (all the fruits of
trees). These Israelites would not be able to rejoice in an
abundant harvest, which every farmer and viticulturist (grape
cultivator) anticipated (cf. Ps. 4:7). Not only the symbols of
divine blessing, but also the joy of divine blessing, had
departed.
1:13 The prophet turned again to the priests (cf. v. 9) and urged
them to lament in "sackcloth," because the grain and wine
used in their offerings were no longer available. Joel's second
call to the priests underlines the tragedy of curtailed worship
in Judah's life. Since there were no offerings to bring to the
LORD, the nation could not approach Him—as He had directed—
at the very time she needed Him most. The people could, of
course, pray, but the priests could not offer sacrifices to Him.
The closing reference to priests in this section contrasts with

the opening reference to drunkards (vv. 5-7), moving from the
most ungodly to the most godly (ideally). This merism has the
effect of including all the citizens of Judah in Joel's call. Joel's
reference to "my God" and "your God" in this verse ties him
closely to the priests; their concerns and their relationship to
Yahweh were ideally the same.
1Patterson, p. 240.
C. A CALL TO REPENT 1:14
Joel called on the priests not only to mourn (v. 13), but also to assemble
all the people at the temple for a "fast" and a "solemn assembly." Such
fasts indicated national repentance in Israel's history (cf. 1 Sam. 7:6; Neh.
9:1-2; Jer. 36:9; Jon. 3:5). Here, as usual, fasting is assumed to accompany
praying to the LORD. The people would pray to Him for mercy and for
renewed blessing, and would demonstrate their sincerity and earnestness
by going without food while they prayed.
D. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PLAGUE 1:15-20
"This section moves much closer to the form of the descriptive

lament found in the lamenting psalms than did the descriptions
earlier in the chapter."1
We move, then, from a summonses to lament, to a lament itself.
1:15 The locust plague had destroyed (Heb. shadad) the fields and
fruits of Judah, but Joel announced that things would get
worse. Another day of destruction (Heb. shod) would come
from the LORD, "the Almighty" (Heb. shadday). A locust plague
was not only an evidence of God's judgment (cf. Deut. 28),
but in the past it had been a harbinger of future worse
destruction. A locust plague had preceded the plagues of
darkness and death in Egypt (cf. Exod. 10—11). Thus, rather
than seeing the locust plague as the end of the people's
troubles, Joel saw it as a prelude to something worse.
"The day of the LORD" is a term that appears frequently in the

Old Testament, especially in the Prophets.2 It refers to a day
(period of time) in which the LORD is working obviously, in
contrast to other days, the day of man, in which man works
without any apparent divine intervention. Specifically, it is a
day in which the LORD intervenes to judge His enemies and/or
bless His people. Gerhard von Rad argued that this term was
1Allen, p. 59.
2See J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come, pp. 229-32.
originally associated with the Israelite concept of holy war,1

but other scholars have disputed this etymology. Most agree,
however, that it had early associations with battles and
conquest.
Here the day of the LORD is obviously one of destruction,

though elsewhere it also refers to a day of blessing. The
eschatological day of the LORD that the prophets anticipated
includes both judgment (in the Tribulation) and blessing (in the
Millennium and beyond). Here Joel spoke of an imminent day
of the LORD; it was coming on Judah relatively soon (cf. Isa.
13:6; Ezek. 30:2-3; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph. 1:7-13).
The term "the day of the LORD " occurs prominently here in the
prophetic writings, and it is a major theme of prophetic
revelation (cf. Amos, Zephaniah). When used generally, this
term refers to any period of time in which God is dealing with
people in dramatic, direct ways. It usually describes God's
dealings with Israel, but it is also used of His dealings with other
nations: Edom (in Obadiah), Assyria, and Babylonia (in Isaiah,
for example). It is always associated with judgment and/or
blessing. It may refer to the past, the immediate future, or the
distant (eschatological) future.
The technical sense of the term is more common in the

Prophets. As a technical term, it refers to Israel's
eschatological future that will include both judgment and
blessing. Many "day of the LORD " passages refer to the future
Tribulation.2 The Jews thought the period of judgment would
precede Messiah's coming. It did precede His first coming, but
it will precede His second coming as well. We know this by
comparing what the prophets said with what was fulfilled at
Jesus' first coming and what has yet to be fulfilled at His
second coming (e.g., in Rev.).
1Gerhard von Rad, "The Origin of the Concept of the Day of the Lord," Journal of Semitic
Studies 4 (1959):97-108.
2See J. Randall Price, "Old Testament Tribulation Terms," in When the Trumpet Sounds,
pp. 60-63.
"In like manner are Christians exhorted to walk

now in view of the day of Christ, when all our
works shall be examined at His judgment-seat."1
1:16-18 Joel described the effects of the recent locust plague to

encourage his hearers to gather for prayer and fasting. He
suggested that similar conditions would accompany the day of
the LORD that he had just predicted. The people's food supply,
and therefore their occasion for rejoicing, had disappeared (cf.
Deut. 12:7). Drought had followed the denuding of the land by
the locusts. Seeds were not germinating due to the lack of
moisture. Barns and silos had become empty and had fallen
into disrepair, and domesticated animals were starving. Grazing
cattle wandered aimlessly looking for vegetation, and even the
sheep, which require less grass than the cattle, were going
hungry.
1:19-20 Joel cried out to Yahweh in prayer in the distress that he

shared with his countrymen. Fire had burned the dried pastures
and trees, or perhaps severe drought (like a fire) had done so.
The brooks were dry, and even the wild animals panted for
water. Joel could say they panted for Yahweh because the LORD
was the provider of the water that these animals sought (cf.
Ps. 42:1). By panting for Yahweh, these animals were setting
a good example for the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
III. A NEAR FUTURE DAY OF THE LORD: A HUMAN INVASION 2:1-27
Joel had spoken briefly of a coming day of the LORD in 1:15, but now he
said more about it.
The term "the day of the LORD " seems to have arisen from the popular
concept, in the ancient Near East, that a really great warrior king could
consummate an entire military campaign in one single day.2 Thus, as the
Israelites used the term in relation to Yahweh, it reflected His greatness
and pointed to His swift and effective dispatch of His enemies on a given
1Ironside,p. 119.
2See Douglas Stuart, "The Sovereign's Day of Conquest," Bulletin of the American Schools
of Oriental Research 220/21 (December 1975, February 1976):159-64.
occasion. Sometimes the term refers to such a judgment in the near past
or future, and sometimes it refers to one in the distant future (eschaton).1
A. THE INVADING ARMY 2:1-11
The LORD revealed that an army of human beings, rather than locusts, would
soon assail Jerusalem. He described this army at length in order to stress
the danger that His people faced, and to motivate them to repent.
Thomas Finley believed that this section is an extended metaphor

describing the literal past locust invasion referred to in chapter 1.2 I side
with those interpreters who interpret the Hebrew imperfect verbs as
describing something in the future. Some in this second group view both
chapters 2 and 3 as eschatological.3 Others, including myself, believe that
chapter 2 describes a near threat, and chapter 3 an eschatological (far
distant) threat.
1. The nearness of the army 2:1-2
The prophet ordered a trumpet (Heb. shophar, ram's horn) to be blown in

Zion (Jerusalem), specifically on the temple mount, to sound an alarm (cf.
Jer. 4:5-6; Ezek. 33:2-6).
"It is the work of ministers to give warning from the word of

God of the fatal consequences of sin."4
Sometimes "Zion" refers to Jerusalem in the eschaton, but other times it

is simply a poetic synonym for Jerusalem. Joel probably used it in the latter
sense here. This shophar was the ancient equivalent of an air raid siren. The
day of the LORD was coming, and all the inhabitants of the city should
tremble. That day would be a time of foreboding evil, symbolized by a very
overcast sky. It is interesting that a plague of darkness followed a locust
plague in Egypt (Exod. 10). "Darkness" and "clouds" are common figures
for judgment and destruction in the Old Testament (e.g., Jer. 13:16; Ezek.
30:3, 18; 32:7-8; 34:12; Amos 5:18-20; Zeph. 1:15). They are often
1See Chisholm, "Joel," pp. 1412-13; or Patterson, p. 256, for good, brief discussions of
the term and its uses.
2Finley, pp. 33-34. See also Keil, 1:189.
3E.g., Ironside, p. 121.
4Henry, p. 1124.
associated with Yahweh in His role of mighty, victorious warrior (cf. Deut.
4:11; 5:22-23; Ps. 18:9, 11; 97:2).
Joel could envision a gigantic army spread over the horizon like the "dawn."
(Was the attack coming from the east, the direction of the dawn?) He said
there never had been "anything like" this "day," nor would there be after
it—not even the plagues in Egypt. This may be hyperbole, or this day may
refer to the Great Tribulation, when the Jews will experience their worst
ever attack. Joel said this attack was near, either in the near future in his
day, or relatively near from his perspective as a prophet (cf. 2 Pet. 3:8).
Many scholars take this passage as predicting an invasion of Jerusalem by

some ancient enemy of Israel, such as Assyria or Babylonia, in the relatively
near future.1 Feinberg and Patterson argued for the army being that of
Assyria.2 In favor of such a view is the reference to the invasion being
"near" (v. 1). Against it is the statement of its uniqueness in all of history
(v. 2). Other interpreters view 2:1-11 as a further description of the locust
plague that Joel described in chapter 1.3 This seems unlikely since the
locust plague of chapter 1 was past, but the attack in 2:1-11 was future. I
think verses 1-2 probably refer to an attack by some enemy in Joel's day,
in view of what follows.
2. The destructive power of the army 2:3-5
2:3 Joel saw a huge army that advanced like a forest fire,
consuming everything in its path (cf. 1:19). Before the
devastation, conditions were idyllic, but after it, there was
nothing but a scorched-earth wilderness. Nothing escaped the
advancing desolation (cf. Exod. 10:5, 15).
"Joel is quite interested in 'before and after'

descriptions, and they form a motif throughout
the book."4
2:4-5 Joel compared this advancing army to "war horses" and

"chariots," which were the war machines of his day. He heard
1E.g., Wolff, p. 42; Chisholm, "Joel," pp. 1411-12; Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, p. 250.
2Charles Lee Feinberg, Joel, Amos, and Obadiah, p. 19; Patterson, pp. 245-46.
3E.g., Allen, pp. 29, 64-76; Driver, p. 28; Chisholm, Interpreting the …, p. 57.
4Finley, pp. 44-45.
the familiar sound of chariots in battle, which he likened to the

crackling of fire as it rages up a mountainside, swiftly
consuming everything in its path. The huge army that Joel saw
appeared unstoppable.
It is interesting that locusts look like tiny armored horses, and

they behave like them as well (cf. Job 39:19-20; Rev. 9:7).
The Italian word for locust means "little horse," and the
German word means "hay horse."1 Thus, the correspondence
between the army of locusts that had recently swept through
the land swiftly, and this future invading army, is unmistakable.
Even their sounds were similar. However, the point of the
comparison is probably that the horse is a symbol of power
and might (cf. Isa. 31:1-3; Hos. 14:3; Mic. 5:10; Hag. 2:22;
Zech. 9:10; 12:4; Rev. 9:7).2
3. The relentlessness of the army 2:6-9
2:6 As this army advanced, all the people in and around Jerusalem
felt terrified and turned pale with fear (cf. Isa. 26:17; Jer. 4:31;
Mic. 4:10).
2:7-9 The enemy soldiers ran with great stamina and climbed over
walls, as locusts do. They were very disciplined in their attack,
each one staying in his proper position and not crowding his
fellow soldiers (cf. Josh. 6:5). Even when they broke through
an obstacle they did not break ranks. They rushed on the city
of Jerusalem, ran along its walls, and climbed into its houses
like so many thieves. Again, the comparison with locusts is
striking (cf. Exod. 10:5-6).
4. The invincibility of the army 2:10-11
2:10 The earth trembles as this army advances. The heavens also
tremble. The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars fade
from view. Cosmic disturbances like these are common in
biblical descriptions of Yahweh waging war (cf. 3:16; Judg. 5:4;
1Cf. Wolff, p. 45, n. 46; Driver, p. 52; Feinberg, p. 20; Keil, 1:192; et al.
2Dillard, p. 274.
Ps. 18:7; 77:18; Isa. 13:10, 13; Ezek. 32:7; Zech. 14:6-7; Rev.
6—18).
2:11 It now becomes clear that Yahweh is leading this army against
Jerusalem. Normally the LORD fought for His people, but here
Joel saw Him leading an army against them. He is the One who
is directing the soldiers with His voice. His host is both
numerous and strong. The day of this attack, the day of the
LORD, is great and awesome, and no one can withstand it (cf.
Mal. 3:2; 4:5).
"Here we find one of the great principles of God's

dealing with man throughout his history: God only
inflicts punishment after great provocation, and
when He does so, it is meant to draw man back
from further and more severe visitations of the
wrath of God."1
"God brings us into straits, that he may bring us

to repentance and so bring us to himself."2
Some interpreters regard the description of the locust plague in 2:1-11 as

simply another description of the same locust plague as the one described
in chapter 1, or another locust plague in Israel's past history. Others take
this description as an allegory picturing Israel's traditional enemies. Still
others view it as picturing the eschatological day of the LORD, in which the
LORD Almighty Himself will come with His heavenly army in holy war against
evil.3 Many amillennialists take this last view. The view that seems best to
me, and to many other interpreters, is that it is a metaphor based on the
past locust plague. In other words, Joel used the past locust invasion as a
harbinger of an impending human invasion by an undesignated foreign foe.
B. A CALL TO REPENTANCE 2:12-17
Such an awesome prospect of invasion led Joel to appeal to the people of

Jerusalem to repent. This would hopefully turn away God's judgment. He
voiced two appeals, but, unusually, he did not say what the sins of the
1Feinberg, p. 21.
2Henry, p. 1124.
3E.g., Dillard, p. 278.
people were—at least here. Evidently they were known well enough at the
time.
1. An appeal for private repentance 2:12-14
2:12-13a Speaking for the LORD, Joel urged his hearers even now—even
though judgment was threatened—to repent. However, he
clarified that their repentance needed to be wholehearted, not
just external. Fasting, weeping, and mourning would give
evidence of the people's sincerity, but they had to tear their
hearts, not merely their garments, as was customary in
mourning. They needed to return to Yahweh their God (cf. 2
Chron. 7:14). This was a call to return to obedience to the
Mosaic Covenant.
2:13b-14 If they did, they could count on Yahweh being gracious,

compassionate, patient, loyal to them, and willing to withhold
punishment (cf. Exod. 34:6; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 103:8; 143:8; Isa.
28:21; Jon. 4:2). Their genuine repentance might—Yahweh is
still sovereign—move Him to turn from His previously intended
course of action and bless them, rather than curse them (cf.
Mal. 3:7).
"Human repentance does not control God. People

cannot force God to show them his forgiveness.
They can only appeal to him for mercy in not
meting out against them what they very well
deserve. They may hope for his compassion, but
they cannot command it (Zeph 2:3; Lam 3:29)."1
Agricultural blessings would signal a reversal of God's

judgment in the recent locust invasion, and they would then
be able to offer grain and wine to the LORD again (cf. 1:9, 13).
"Some dismiss biblical references to God

'relenting' from judgment as anthropomorphic,
arguing that an unchangeable God would never
change his mind once he has announced his
intentions. While it is true that God will not deviate
1Stuart, Hoses-Jonah, p. 252.

from an announced course of action once he has

issued a formal, unconditional decree (see Num.
23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 110:4), he is often
depicted as 'changing his mind' in contexts where
he has given only a warning or made a conditional
statement about what he will do. Since Joel 2:13
lists God's capacity to 'change his mind' as one of
his fundamental attributes (see also Jon. 4:2),
one cannot dismiss this characteristic as
anthropomorphic."1
God's graciousness is seen in His willingness to respond, even

when people do not deserve it.2
2. An appeal for public repentance 2:15-17
Joel went beyond calling for personal heart-felt repentance, to urging the
people to assemble for a corporate expression of their sincere contrition.
2:15-16 The prophet urged the blowing of the shophar in Zion again,
but this time, to call a public assembly and a fast, rather than
to announce the coming invader (v. 1; cf. 1:14). Fasting
involved sacrificially going without food in order to devote
oneself to a higher spiritual purpose. God's people needed to
gather together and re-consecrate themselves to Him as a
special and holy people.
Everyone without exception, in the entire "congregation,"

should participate, from the oldest ("elders") to the youngest
("nursing infants"). The "elders," in this context, probably
refers to the leaders of the nation. Even newlyweds ("groom"
and "bride"), who sometimes received a special exemption for
being newly married (Deut. 24:5), needed to attend this
meeting.
1Chisholm, Handbook of …, p. 372. See also idem, "Does God Change His Mind?"
Bibliotheca Sacra 152:608 (October-December 1995):387-99; and Thomas L. Constable,
Talking to God: What the Bible Teaches about Prayer, pp. 147-48.
2Finley, p. 54.
It is interesting that the Jews will assemble in the Promised

Land, having received encouragement from the Antichrist,
during the first half of the Tribulation. Then the invader will
descend on their land and the terrible prospect envisioned in
verses 1-11 will take place, in the second half of the
Tribulation. Antichrist will persecute them (cf. Dan. 9:27; Matt.
24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20). They will not assemble then
in repentance, however.
2:17 The priests should take the lead in this public expression of
repentance. They should weep and pray for God to have mercy
on His people, because they were His special inheritance, for
the glory of His name.
"Thus the priests are directed to take their stand

on the temple-side of the altar, as representing a
people who, although in failure, are yet the
redeemed of the Lord (vers. 16, 17)."1
The pagans might conclude that the LORD was unable or

unwilling to defend His chosen people from their enemy, if He
allowed the invader to succeed.
"They cannot hope that Yahweh will forget all

about the invasion by ignoring the enforcing of his
covenant. Their punishment is a foregone
conclusion; they can only hope that his mercy will
restore them soon (Deut 32:36, 43; Lam 3:31-
32, 40-50)."2
C. THE POSSIBILITY OF FORGIVENESS AND RESTORATION 2:18-27
Joel next revealed the LORD's response and comforting words in view of the
people's private and public repentance. It is unclear whether he meant that
the LORD had responded or would respond. The problem is the Hebrew
perfect tense verbs, which can be rendered in English with either past or
future tense verbs. Several English translations interpreted the LORD's
response as being conditioned on the people's repentance, and they
1Ironside, p. 125.
2Stuart, Hosea-Jonah, p. 253.
translated the verbs in the future tense. It is equally possible that Joel
meant that God had already responded positively because the people had
repented, which the prophet did not record. Thus, the verbs in verses 18
and 19a would be translated in the past tense.1
I view this section as what God promised to do if the people responded to

Joel's call to repentance. Sometime before the destruction of Jerusalem in
586 B.C., God told the Israelites that they had passed the point of no return
and that captivity was inevitable (Jer. 7:16; 11:14; 14:11-12). Since
repentance was still possible for the Israelites when Joel wrote, this
prophecy evidently does not deal with that time.
"Laments in the OT are sometimes followed by a divine oracle

in which Yahweh, through a prophet, assures his people that
their prayers will be answered (or sometimes rejected)."2
1. The LORD's gracious response 2:18
If the Israelites repented sincerely, Yahweh would be zealous to protect His

chosen land from foreign invaders and have pity on His chosen people. This
was His essential response.
"Beginning in Joel 2:18, Israel ceases to be the object of God's

judgment and becomes instead the object of His blessing. In a
similar reversal the hordes (locust and human) cease to be the
instruments of God's judgment on Israel and become instead
the objects of God's judgment. This reversal was originally
foretold by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 30:1-9."3
"Between verses 17 and 18, we should presume that the

invitation and commands of verses 12-17 have been accepted
and obeyed."4
1Chisholm, Interpreting the …, p. 61.

2Allen,p. 85. See 2 Chr. 20; Ps. 12:5; 60:6-8; Isa. 33:10-13; Jer. 4:1-2 (cf. 3:21-25);
Hos. 14:4-7; Mic. 7:11-13.
3Dyer, p. 742.
4Hubbard, p. 61.
2. The LORD's promise of blessing 2:19-27
Having given His essential response to the people's repentance, the LORD
now explained what He would do in more detail. This section is chiastic (has
a crossing structure), with the focus of emphasis on verses 21-24. Verses
19 and 26-27 promise a restoration of crops and a cessation of shame.
Verses 20 and 25 promise the elimination of enemies, and verses 21-24
urge courage and encourage rejoicing.
2:19 Joel had interpreted the LORD's response (v. 18), and now he
relayed His instructions (vv. 19-27). Yahweh would restore all
that the locusts had eaten: grain, wine, and oil (cf. 1:10). The
people would enjoy plenty of these products in the future (cf.
Deut. 6:10-11; 8:7-10; 11:13-15). Yahweh would also never
again allow the nations to disparage His people, assuming that
they would not apostatize again (cf. vv. 26-27).1
Another view, less acceptable from my viewpoint, is that this

promise is unconditional and refers to Israel's eschatological
future. The problem with this view is that the Jews will
experience some antagonism at the very end of the Millennium
(Rev. 20:7-10).
2:20 The prophet now revealed that this invader would come from
the north. Both Assyria and Babylon, as well as all other
eastern invaders, entered Israel from the north because of the
impassability of the Arabian Desert to Israel's east. This is
probably the strongest verse in support of the view that a
literal army is in view in chapter 2.2
"If 'the northerner' is yet future (eschatological),

the army is possibly the army in Joel 3:9, 12;
Daniel 11:40; and Zechariah 14:2."3
Instead of leading this army against Jerusalem (v. 11), the LORD
would drive it from Judah. He would drive these enemy soldiers
"into a dry and desolate land" (Arabia?), and into "the eastern
(Dead) sea," and into "the western (Mediterranean) sea" (cf.
1Ibid.
2Finley, p. 62. Cf. Feinberg, p. 79.
3Chisholm, "Joel," p. 1419.
Dan. 11:45). In other words, He would turn against them rather

than leading them, and scatter them rather than uniting them
against Jerusalem.
The "stench" and "odor" of the dead carcasses of the many

soldiers would fill the air because they had done many "great
things" (possibly meaning that they had arrogantly invaded
the Holy Land—unprovoked—causing vast destruction and
much death). In short, they had tried to overthrow God's
people (cf. the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea). Masses of
dead locusts also smell terrible, especially after dying in the
sea and then being washed ashore.1
2:21-24 Joel called on the land, personified to represent its people, to

rejoice because the LORD had done great things (in contrast to
the enemy army, v. 20; cf. v. 1). The NIV interpreted the last
line of verse 20 as referring to the LORD, but it probably refers
to the invading army, as the NASB, AV, and RSV translated it.2
Specifically, He had delivered His people from a much larger
and more powerful enemy invasion, assuming the Judahites'
repentance. The animals, too, could stop fearing because
God's blessing had returned to the land.
Green pastures had replaced brown, and trees and vines had
again become abundantly fruitful, rather than dry and lifeless
(cf. 1:7, 10-12, 19). Fall and spring rains, signs of divine
blessing (cf. Deut. 11:14), had replaced drought, so the LORD's
people could again rejoice rather than grieve (cf. 1:5, 8, 11,
13, 20). The threshing floors would be full of grain and the
vats would overflow with new wine and oil (cf. 1:17).
A possible translation of verse 23 is "the teacher for

righteousness" instead of "the early [autumn or former] rain."
"Normally the Hebrew word hammoreh means 'the

teacher,' but here and in Ps 84:7 it refers to 'early
rains.' Elsewhere the word for 'early rains' is yoreh.
1Driver, pp. 62-63; Smith, 2:420.

2NIV refers to The Holy Bible: New International Version, AV refers to The Holy Bible:
Authorized King James Version, and RSV refers to The Holy Bible: Revised Standard
Version.
The phrase here hammoreh litsdaqah is similar to

the expression 'teacher of righteousness' (Heb.
moreh hatsedeq) found in the Dead Sea Scrolls
referring to a particular charismatic leader,
although the Qumran community seems not to
have invoked this text in support of that notion."1
2:25 The LORD further promised that He would make up to His people
what they had suffered because of the locust invasion (cf. 1:4;
Exod. 22:1; 2 Kings 4:7). The "years that the swarming locust
has eaten" refers to the yield or produce of those years. Sin
had resulted in covenant curses, but repentance would result
in covenant blessings (cf. Deut. 28—29).
2:26-27 The people would have plenty to eat and would feel satisfied
physically. They would also be full spiritually and praise Yahweh
their God for working wonders for them (cf. Exod. 3:15; 15:11;
34:10; Josh. 3:5; Jud. 6:13; Ps. 77:14). Then they would never
be put to shame, again assuming that they continued in their
attitude of humble trust and obedience (cf. v. 19).
God's blessings would be evidence of His presence among

them, increasing the intimacy of their fellowship with Him (cf.
Num. 11:20; 14:14; Deut. 7:21). They would realize in their
experience that He is the only true God (cf. Exod. 6:7; 16:12;
Deut. 4:35, 39), and they would abide in that shameless
condition (as long as they remained faithful to Him).
"… just as God's warnings of judgment are often conditional

and can be averted by repentance, so his promises of
prosperity are often contingent on their recipients remaining
loyal to God (see Jer. 18:7-10)."2
1The NET2 Bible note on 2:23. The NET2 Bible refers to The NET2 (New English
Translation) Bible, 2019 ed. See Michael A. Rydelnik, "The Teacher of Righteousness: A
Messianic Interpretation of Joel 2:23," Bibliotheca Sacra 176:702 (April-June 2019):164-
73.
2Chisholm, Handbook on …, p. 373.
IV. A FAR FUTURE DAY OF THE LORD: ANOTHER HUMAN INVASION AND
DELIVERANCE 2:28—3:21
The preceding promises foreshadowed even greater deliverance and

blessing for the Israelites in their far distant future. The clues to a leap to
the distant future in the prophet's perspective are the words: "after this"
(2:28), "in those days" (2:29), "the great and awesome day of the LORD"
(2:31; cf. 2:11), "in those days and at that time" (3:1), and "on that day"
(3:18).
Alva McClain organized and expounded the Old Testament revelation

concerning this distant day of the LORD fairly concisely.1 He divided the
events chronologically, according to the four periods of a normal 24-hour
day, from the viewpoint of the Israelites—with the day beginning at sunset
(darkness followed by light). Some of the predictions describe what will
happen before the darkness sets in. Others describe what will happen
during the period of darkness. Then there are events that will take place in
the twilight period: just before the period of daylight begins. Finally, there
are events during the light of that great day. His outline is as follows:
1. Preparatory events—before the day of the LORD
a. A court of judgment will be set in heaven.

b. The voice of a prophetic messenger will be heard on earth.
c. Internecine warfare and chaos will sweep the world.
d. A blasphemous political ruler will rise to world power.
e. There will be great geological and cosmic disturbances.
2. Penal events—during the darkness of the day of the LORD
a. Wrath will fall upon a great northern power.

b. Wrath will fall upon the nation of Israel.
c. Wrath will fall also on all the Gentile nations.
3. Transitional events—at the dawn of the day of the LORD
a. The glorious arrival of the Mediatorial King

b. The destruction of the hostile armies
1Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom, ch. 16: "The Establishment of the
Prophetic Kingdom," pp. 178-205. For more extended discussions, see John F. Walvoord,
The Millennial Kingdom, pp. 256-334; and Pentecost, pp. 229-32.
c. The doom of the blasphemous "Little Horn"
4. Constitutive events—during the light of the day of the LORD
a. There will be a resurrection.

b. There will be a repentance of Israelites in the land.
c. There will be a regathering of dispersed Israelites.
d. There will be a judgment of living Israelites.
e. There will also be a judgment of living Gentile nations.
A. ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL RENEWAL AND DELIVERANCE 2:28-32
2:28-29 "After this," namely, after the deliverance from the northern
invader just described, God promised to pour out His Spirit on
all the Israelites—without gender, age, class, or position
distinctions. In other words, He would pour out His Spirit on all
classes of Israelites. Other similar promises identify the
Israelites as the recipients of the Spirit (e.g., Ezek. 36:27;
37:14; 39:29; Zech. 12:10), and here "your sons and your
daughters" (i.e., Israelites) are the object of this blessing. God
never gave His Spirit to unbelievers, so believing Israelites are
in view.1
Amillennialists typically believe that "all flesh" means all

believers, namely, all believing Jews and Gentiles, which they
believe constitute one great people of God called the church.2
Premillennialist Walter Kaiser believed that "all flesh" means
"all mankind," because the gift of the Spirit extends to slaves,
and the Israelites had Gentile slaves (Deut. 20:10-14; cf. 1
Chron. 2:34-35).3 But the Israelites also had Israelite slaves
(Exod. 21:1-11; cf. 2 Kings 4:1).
In Old Testament times, God gave His Spirit only to select

individuals (cf. Num. 11:24-29; 1 Sam. 10:10-11; 19:20-24),
but in the future, everyone (i.e., all Jewish believers) would
prophesy and receive revelations from the LORD. Prophesying
1Smith, 2:428.
2E.g.,Dillard, p. 295. Cf. Hubbard, p. 73; Keil, 1:210; J. N. Darby, Synopsis of the Books
of the Bible, 2:538.
3Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Uses of the Old Testament in the New, p. 97.
often describes praising God in the Bible (cf. 1 Chron. 25:1-3),

so that may be in view here. Prophesying usually involved
proclaiming messages from God. "Dreams" and "visions" were
God's customary ways of giving special revelations to people
in Old Testament times (cf. Num. 12:6).
Normally, the absence of prophetic revelation indicated sin and

divine judgment, but the presence of such revelation reflected
divine blessing (cf. 1 Sam. 3:1; Amos 8:11). So a universal
bestowal of the "Spirit" on Jewish believers indicates a future
time of unprecedented divine blessing. This would be the
fulfillment of Moses' desire: "If only all the LORD's people were
prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!" (Num.
11:29; cf. Isa. 32:15; 44:3-4; Ezek. 36:27-28; 37:14; 39:29;
Zech. 12:10).
"When Joel speaks of those who prophesy, dream

dreams, and see visions, the language must mean
more than simply that, as Walter Price says,
'everyone would be his own prophet. All would
have a direct revelation from God.'1 Rather, it
denotes a new era of revelation with the Israelites
preaching to each other or, perhaps, even to the
entire world."2
"The expression … (bayyamim hahemma, 'in

those days') is another way the prophets indicate
the end times when the Lord will intervene in
history to deliver His people and set up His
kingdom (cf. Jer. 33:15, 16; Zech. 8:23).
Particularly important is the variety of terms Joel
uses, as well as the way he gradually makes the
time notices more explicit: 'after this' (2:28 [MT
3:1;]) 'in those days' (2:29 [MT 3:2;]) 'before the
day of Yahweh, the great and awesome day' (2:31
[MT 3:4;]) 'in those days and at that time when I
restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem' (3:1
1"Walter K. Price, The Prophet Joel and the Day of the Lord, p. 74."
2Finley, pp. 72-73.
[MT 4:1;]) 'the day of Yahweh is near' (3:14 [MT

4:14; and]) 'in that day' (3:18 [MT 4:18.])1
2:30-31 The LORD also promised awesome displays of celestial

phenomena before this great and terrible day of the LORD
arrived. Awe-inspiring miracles ("wonders") would occur "in
the sky" as well as "on the earth." The appearance of "blood,
fire, and columns of smoke" suggests warfare, with God's hand
at work behind the scenes (cf. Exod. 19:9, 16-18; Rev. 6:12-
17). "The sun" would become dark and "the moon" would turn
red ("blood"). These are probably descriptions of how these
heavenly bodies will look (the language of appearance), not
what will become of them, in view of other similar descriptions
(e.g., vv. 2, 10; 3:15; Jer. 4:23-24; Ezek. 32:6-8; Amos 5:18-
20; 8:9; Zeph. 1:15; Rev. 6:12-13).
"The synonymous parallelism of the initial couplet

… (sun … darkness, moon … blood) does not
focus on the sun and moon separately, as if there
were to be daytime and nighttime signs in the sky,
but merely pairs moon with sun, the sign being
darkness during the daytime (cf. 1:2; Josh 10:12-
14)."2
This sign will precede the great and awesome day of the LORD—
still future (cf. Matt. 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27; Luke 21:25-
28).
2:32 The promise continued: that whoever would call on the name
of Yahweh would be delivered ("saved").
"To 'call on the name of Yahweh' … means not

merely to pray to him, but to worship him
consistently and presumably exclusively (Gen
4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 1 Kgs 18:24; Ps 116:17; Zeph
3:9); the expression can also indicate open
acknowledgement of one's faith in the midst of a
1Ibid., p. 74.
hostile environment (Ps 105:1; Isa 12:4; Zech

13:9)."1
The day of the LORD described earlier in this chapter involved

God judging the enemies of His people, and this eschatological
day of the LORD also involves divine judgment. Therefore, the
deliverance in view must be from divine judgment (cf. Rom.
11:26). Specifically, there will be people on Mt. Zion and in
Jerusalem who escape, even among the survivors of previous
distresses whom Yahweh has chosen for deliverance (cf. Isa.
51:3; Zech. 13:8).
The Apostle Paul quoted this verse and applied it to spiritual

salvation (Rom. 10:13). His usage does not fulfill what God
promised here, namely, physical deliverance in the coming day
of the LORD. Paul meant that, just as God will deliver all who call
on Him in that future day of the LORD, so He will deliver all who
call on Him for salvation from sin. They will avoid the terrible
day when all unbelievers will suffer condemnation by their
Judge (Rev. 20:11-15).
There are nine different New Testament contexts in which

these important promises appear (Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24-
25; Luke 21:25; Acts 2:17-21, 39; 21:9; 22:16; Rom. 10:13;
Titus 3:6; Rev. 6:12).
The Apostle Peter also quoted this passage (vv. 28-32) in his Pentecost
sermon (Acts 2:14-36). He said that what the people of Jerusalem were
witnessing, which they mistook for drunkenness, was what Joel had spoken
of (Acts 2:16-21; cf. Acts 10:45). Many interpreters believe that Peter
meant that Joel's prophecy was completely fulfilled on the day of
Pentecost.2 This can hardly be what he meant, however, because much of
what Joel predicted in this passage did not occur on the day of Pentecost,
specifically the celestial phenomena. The day of Pentecost was not the
"day of the LORD" that Joel predicted.
A second interpretation is that the outpouring of the Spirit occurred on the

day of Pentecost and continues throughout the whole of the Christian era.
1Ibid.
2E.g., Dillard, p. 295.
The day of Pentecost was the beginning of the ongoing fulfillment of this
prophecy.1 The problem with this view is that it interprets the day of the
LORD as the entire Church Age.
"There is, however, no Scriptural foundation for the statement

that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit commenced on
Pentecost must continue throughout this present age. The
Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. He was poured out
once, and nowhere in the New Testament is there a continued
or repeated outpouring of the Holy Spirit promised. The
difficulty with interpreting this great prophecy of Joel of
having been fulfilled on Pentecost and being fulfilled
throughout this age is that which follows in the next two
verses."2
A third interpretation of Peter's meaning is that part of what Joel predicted

was fulfilled on Pentecost, and the rest awaits fulfillment in the future day
of the LORD.3 God poured out His Spirit on the church on the day of
Pentecost, but He will also pour out the Spirit on Israel in the eschatological
future. The problem with this view, is that the promises of the outpouring
of the Spirit and the other miracles are so intertwined, that separating them
by thousands of years seems unnatural. Moreover, Peter quoted the whole
passage in Joel, not just the promise of the Spirit's outpouring. In contrast,
Jesus only quoted part of Isaiah 61:1-3 when He said that that prophecy
was fulfilled when He read it in the Nazareth synagogue (Luke 4:18-21).
A fourth possible interpretation is that Peter meant that what happened

on Pentecost was similar to what Joel had prophesied that God would do in
the future day of the LORD.4 He drew a comparison and pointed out an
analogy, but he did not claim fulfillment. Similarly, Jesus said, "This is my
body," in the Upper Room. Both expressions are metaphors, according to
this view. This view sees the entire fulfillment of Joel's prophecy in the
eschatological future. The outpouring on the day of Pentecost was simply
a foreview of what the LORD will do in the future (cf. Gal. 3:28). J. Sidlow
1Keil, 1:216-17; Robinson, p. 45.

2Gaebelein, 2:3:106-7.
3E.g., Darby, 2:533, footnote 1; Ironside, pp. 121, 131; Chisholm, Handbook on …, p.
374; Finley, p. 79; Kaiser, The Uses …, p. 97.

4E.g., Feinberg, pp. 26-29; McGee, 3:674.
Baxter called it a sign that the kingdom was drawing near.1 The day of
Pentecost was not the day of the LORD that the prophets spoke of here and
elsewhere.
"Peter's words call the attention to the fact that something

like that which took place on the day of Pentecost had been
predicted by Joel, but his words do not claim that Joel's
prophecy was there and then fulfilled. Nor does He hint at a
continued fulfilment or coming fulfilment during this present
age. The chief purpose of the quotation of that prophecy on
the day of Pentecost was to point out to the Jews, many of
whom were scoffing, that the miraculous thing which had
happened so suddenly in their midst was fully confirmed by
what Joel had foretold would be the effect of the outpouring
of the Spirit. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit had taken place,
but not in the full sense as given in the Prophecy of Joel."2
There is not much practical difference between views three and four. View
three sees the outpouring on Pentecost as a partial fulfillment, and view
four sees it as a foreview of the fulfillment.3
"When Peter saw the outpouring of the Spirit, he reasoned

correctly that the eschatological program prophesied by Joel
was being set in motion. However, Jewish unbelief resulted in
the suspension of the prophecy's complete fulfillment. The full
realization of Joel's vision awaits a future day when, following
the salvation of God's chosen ones among the Gentiles, Israel
turns back to the Lord (Rom. 11:25-28)."4
"Peter quoted this passage in Acts 2 because (a) it related to

the outpouring of God's Spirit (2:4, 15-16), (b) it stressed his
theme of repentance (2:21, 37-39), and (c) it fit with his
understanding that the Jews were about to enter the Day of
1Baxter, 4:124.
2Gaebelein, 2:3:108. See also 2:3:109.
3For a fuller discussion of the views regarding Peter's use of this prophecy, see my notes
on Acts 2:16-21.
4Chisholm, Interpreting the …, p. 64.
the Lord, leading up to the return of Israel's Messiah, Jesus

(1:6-8; 2:36; 3:19-21)."1
The day of the LORD that Joel predicted here begins with the Tribulation
(cf. Dan. 9:24-27; Rev. 6—18), continues through the return of Christ and
the Millennium (cf. Rev. 19—20), and culminates in the Eternal State (cf.
2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21—22). The signs in view picture what the Book of
Revelation describes further as occurring in the Tribulation, and the pouring
out of the Spirit will occur at the beginning of the Millennium. Then all
believers will possess the Spirit and will have the ability to receive fresh
revelations from the LORD. Forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit are two of four great blessings of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34;
Ezek. 36:24-30).
"Joel envisioned the outpouring of the Spirit as being confined

to Jews, but in the progress of revelation and history, we
discover that Gentiles are included as well, for they too are
incorporated into the new covenant community."2
"Just as the death of Christ provides salvation for the church

today and will one day be experienced by Israel, so the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit provides for the life of the church
today. The church now enjoys the benefits of Christ's death
and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Israel has yet to
experience both the benefits of Christ's death (Zechariah
12:10; 13:1; Romans 11:25-27) and also the renewing work
of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:23-29). The complete fulfillment
of Joel 2 is yet future, but believers today experience the
benefits of Christ's death and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
that still await Israel at the day of the Lord."3
B. GOD'S JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL'S ENEMY NATIONS 3:1-17
God's judgment on unbelievers would accompany the spiritual renewal and

deliverance of His own in the future day of the LORD. As God promised to
wipe out the locusts for despoiling Judah, now He promised to do the same
1Dyer,p. 743. Cf. Wiersbe, p. 338.

2Chisholm, Handbook on …, p. 374.
3Hanna, p. 439.
to the nations that had despoiled Judah (cf. Zeph. 3:8; Ezek. 38—39; Matt.
25:31-46).
"Like a photographer, Joel has used a wide-angle lens for the

overall picture in 2:30-32. Then he zooms in for a close look
at the Day of the Lord, with its mixture of judgment and grace,
in chapter three."1
"No prophet of the Old Testament has a more important

revelation of the end times than the one now before us in the
third chapter."2
"Joel 3:1-21 … became the classic passage for the rest of the
OT on God's final judgment on all nations. It also became the
classic statement of the blessed result for the people of God.
They would possess an exceedingly fertile land enriched with
fountains of running water and dripping with wine and milk. And
to climax it all, Yahweh would personally dwell in Zion."3
1. The announcement of judgment 3:1-8
3:1-3 "The Prophet by the word, for, shews [sic] that

he is about to explain in detail, what he had before
spoken of, in sum."4
When God would "restore the fortunes of Judah and

Jerusalem" in that future day (cf. Deut. 30:3), He would gather
the other nations to "the Valley of Jehoshaphat" (lit. "Yahweh
Judges"). If this is a geographical location, this is the only
passage in Scripture that names the site of this judgment (cf.
Zech. 14:2-5). Its exact location is debatable, since no valley
by this name appears elsewhere in Scripture (cf. vv. 12, 14).
Many interpreters believe it is the valley of Megiddo, just north
and east of the Mt. Carmel range. Others believe that it must
be a site near Jerusalem, perhaps the Kidron Valley.5
1Hubbard, pp. 73-74.

2Feinberg, p. 32.
3Kaiser, Toward an …, pp. 190-91.
4Pusey, 1:200.
5Keil, 1:220; Pusey, 1:201; Smith, 2:432; Gaebelein, 2:3:111; Feinberg, p. 32.
"Close to this monument [i.e., Absalom's tomb in

the Kidron Valley], on the northeast, is the
reputed tomb of Jehoshaphat, and from it the
valley may have taken this name."1
Another view is that Joel was referring, in a more general

sense, to the place where God will judge the nations.2 That is,
the name is symbolic. In this case, "the Valley of Jehoshaphat"
would mean the place where Yahweh judges, without reference
to a specific geographical site. The following clause ("Then I
will enter into judgment with them there") seems to support
this view.
Valleys were often preferred locations for battles in biblical

times, so "valley" is an appropriate word to use to describe
the place where God will judge (defeat) Israel's enemies. I think
Joel probably called the Kidron Valley the Valley of
Jehoshaphat because of its double association with
Jehoshaphat: the king's burial place, and the meaning of his
name, "Yahweh judges."
Later, Joel referred to this place as the "valley of decision" (v.

14).3 There, God would judge the nations for scattering His
covenant people, His inheritance, and for dividing up His land
(cf. Lam. 5:2). They had thought so little of the Hebrews that
they gambled for them. They had valued them no higher than
the price of a prostitute or the cost of a drink. (Compare the
Nazis' treatment of the Jews in the concentration camps.)
"In vers. 2 and 3 Joel is speaking not of events

belonging to his own time, or to the most recent
past, but of that dispersion of the whole of the
ancient covenant nation among the heathen,
which was only completely effected on the
conquest of Palestine and destruction of
1W. M. Thomson, The Land and the Book, 2:482-83.

2Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Practical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, p. 787; Hubbard, p. 74; Finley, p. 84; Chisholm, Interpreting the …, p.
64.
3Cf. also "the valley of vision" (Isa. 22:1, 5).
Jerusalem by the Romans, and which continues to

this day …"1
Another view is that this prophecy was fulfilled to a limited

extent by the conquests of Antiochus Epiphanes and
Alexander the Great, in the fourth century B.C., but final
fulfillment awaits the future.2
Ironside distinguished four "days" in Scripture, though not all

dispensationalists agree with him:
"Four dispensational days are brought before us in

Scripture. The present is called 'man's day' (1 Cor.
4:3, margin). The manifestation at the judgment-
seat of Christ is in 'the day of Christ' (Phil. 1:6,
10). ('The day of Christ' in 2 Thess. 2:2 [(KJV,
NKJV)] should be 'the day of the Lord,' as a
glance at any reputable critical version will show.)
Then follows 'the day of the Lord,' which is the
entire period during which the once-rejected Lord
asserts and makes good His title to the earth. 'The
day of God' is the eternal state, and is only
mentioned in 2 Peter 3:12."3
3:4 The LORD addressed the Phoenicians and Philistines directly.

They had no special relationship to Yahweh, as Israel did, and
they had not been just in dealing with the Israelites. The LORD
promised to repay them for their sins. Probably these nations
are representative of all of Israel's enemies, since God later
said that He would judge "all" of them (v. 12).4
3:5-6 Specifically, these Gentile nations had robbed God and had sold
the children of His chosen people as slaves to the Greeks.
These nations had stolen from the Israelites. Amos also
referred to the Phoenician and Philistine slave trade (Amos 1:6,
9; cf. Ezek. 27:13, 19).
1Keil, 1:221.
2Chisholm, Interpreting the …, pp. 64-65.
3Ironside,
p. 132.
4Chisholm, "Joel," p. 1422.
3:7-8 To pay back these nations, the LORD said He would revive the
Israelites in the remote places to which they had been sold.
The Israelites would grow strong there and would sell the
descendants of these Phoenicians and Philistines to the
Sabeans (cf. Ezek. 27:22-23). Thus He would pay them back
in kind, which is His customary method of retribution (Gal. 6:7).
This may have been fulfilled in the fourth century B.C., or the
fulfillment may still be future. Allen saw Antiochus III's
enslavement of the people of Sidon, in 345 B.C., and Alexander
the Great's enslavement of the citizens of Tyre and Gaza, in
332 B.C., as a partial fulfillment, assuming Jews were involved
in these transactions.1
Probably the fulfillment lies in the future, specifically toward

the end of the Tribulation, since this whole section of Joel
deals with what God will do in that "day of the LORD." Again,
Phoenicia and Philistia probably represent all the enemies of
Israel (cf. Isa. 25:10-12; Obad.) over whom Israel will
eventually gain ascendancy.
2. The description of judgment 3:9-17
This pericope (section of text) contains a call to the nations to prepare for
war (vv. 9-11), a statement by the LORD (vv. 12-13), and a description of
the battle site (vv. 14-16).
3:9-11 The LORD issued a call to war. The nations will evidently believe
that God is calling them to do battle, but, ironically, it is really
to hear His sentence of judgment against them. The nations
should prepare for a great battle by beating their plowshares
into swords and their pruning hooks into spears. At a later
time, in the Millennium, they would do the reverse, because
Messiah will end war (cf. Isa. 2:4; Mic. 4:3). The weak should
"psych" themselves up in preparation.
"In the coming great war of judgment, even the

weakling … will have to declare himself a soldier
1Allen, p. 114.
… This synecdochic formulation is a way of saying

that all the enemy population will be judged."1
The nations should hurry and assemble (cf. Zech. 12:9). Joel
also called on Yahweh to bring down His mighty army of angelic
warriors to engage the enemy of His people (cf. Deut. 33:2-3;
2 Kings 6:17; Ps. 68:17; 103:19-20; Zech. 14:5).
"But, when the nations were assembled in the

valley, fully equipped for battle, they would
receive a shock; they would find there the Judge
of all the nations, and in their hands they would
be holding the incriminating evidence of their own
history of violence."2
3:12-13 The LORD urged the nations to rouse themselves and to

assemble in the valley of Jehoshaphat (cf. v. 2) because it was
there that He would sit in judgment on them. He compared this
judgment to harvesting grain with a sickle and to treading
grapes in a vat (cf. Isa. 17:5; 63:1-6; Rev. 14:14-20). As
grapes squirt juice when trodden, so the nations will give up
the wickedness with which they have been full (cf. 2:24).
This scene of divine warfare corresponds to the battle of

Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation (cf. Rev. 14:14-20;
16:16; 19:11-21). The judgment of the nations following
Christ's second coming (Matt. 25:31-46) will not involve
warfare.
3:14-16 The prophet viewed many multitudes in the valley, which he

now referred to as "the valley of decision" because there God
will make a decision concerning their fate.
Like the reference to "the Valley of Jehoshaphat" (v. 2), "the

valley of decision" involves wordplay in Hebrew. The Hebrew
word harus ("decision") sounds like haras, which means "to
render judgment" or "moat" (cf. Dan. 9:25).
1Stuart,Hosea-Jonah, p. 269. Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which the use of a whole

represents a part, or the use of a part represents the whole.
2Peter C. Craigie, Twelve Prophets, p. 116.
"Their [the many multitudes] gathering against

God shall be a token of His coming to judge
them."1
"Many preachers have appealed to verse 14 for an

evangelistic thrust; their audiences are addressed
as 'multitudes in the Valley of Decision' who must
decide their fate. There is a problem with that use
of this passage: in Joel the hordes do not gather
to make a decision, but to hear one; they will not
be deciding their fate, for God has already decreed
it. The time for decisions is now past."2
"It is the day of the Judge's decisions; not a time

when men are being called upon to decide for
Christ."3
This "day of the LORD " was "near" from His perspective, which
for the prophets was often deceiving due to their
foreshortened view of the future. He saw the celestial
phenomena again that signaled doom (cf. 2:10, 31).
"The ancient hearer/speaker would not tend to

think because of this language that the night
would be unusually dark, too, but would see the
whole verse [i.e., v. 15] as stressing the total
darkness of the fateful day. On such darkness as
curse fulfillment, see Deut 28:29."4
Lion-like, Yahweh roared from Zion announcing His attack on

the nations, and everything trembled (cf. 2:10-11; Rev. 16:16,
18). For His own people, however, He proved to be a refuge
and a stronghold.
3:17 Yahweh's victory will demonstrate to His people that He is

indeed Israel's covenant God, and that His special place of
abode is Mt. Zion (cf. 2:27). After this battle, Jerusalem will
1Pusey, 1:210.
2Dillard,p. 309.
3Ironside, p. 136.
truly be the holy city, set apart entirely for God's people and
no longer defiled by pagan invaders.
C. ISRAEL'S ULTIMATE RESTORATION 3:18-21
3:18 Joel continued describing the future day of the LORD, but now
he passed from the judgments of the Tribulation to the
blessings of the Millennium. "The mountains" of Israel would be
so full of grapevines that they could be described as dripping
"with sweet wine" (cf. 1:5). There will be so many milk-yielding
animals feeding on the luxuriant hills, that "the hills" could be
said to "flow with milk."
Instead of the wadis that have water in them only a few days
each year, "all the brooks of Judah" would "flow with"
abundant, life-giving "water." All these descriptions recall
conditions in paradise (cf. 1:5, 18, 20). A spring will flow out
from the millennial temple that will water the valley of acacia
trees ("Shittim"), evidently between Jerusalem and the Dead
Sea (cf. Ezek. 47:1-12; Zech. 14:8).
Feinberg believed this valley lay on the border between Moab

and Israel and was known for its dryness.1 Finley believed "the
Valley of Shittim" refers to the lower stretch of the Kidron
Valley.2 The "spring" will also be a visual reminder that Yahweh
is the source of all provisions and fruitfulness.
"Jerusalem is the only city of antiquity that wasn't

built near a great river. Rome had the Tiber;
Nineveh was built near the Tigris and Babylon on
the Euphrates; and the great Egyptian cities were
built near the Nile. But in the kingdom, Jerusalem
will have a river that proceeds from the temple of
God."3
3:19-20 "Egypt" and "Edom," probably representative of Israel's

enemies, will become deserts because they "shed innocent
1Feinberg,p. 37.
2Finley,
p. 101.
3Wiersbe, p. 340.
blood," presumably the blood of God's people ("sons of

Judah"). But "Judah" and "Jerusalem" would be inhabited
forever, for all generations (cf. Ezek. 37:25; Amos 9:15; Zech.
14:11).
"Egypt and Edom represent each a different class

of enemies of the people of God [the Gentile
oppressor and the Semitic antagonist], and both
together exhibit the lot of all."1
3:21 God's final promise through Joel was that He would "avenge"
the "blood" shed by these enemies of Israel, which He had
"not" yet "avenged" in the prophet's day. He promised to do
this because He dwelt "in Zion," that is, He had a special
covenant relationship with Israel (cf. Ezek. 43:1-12; Zech.
2:10-13).
"Joel 3:1-21 [4:1-21] became the classic passage for the rest
of the OT on God's final judgment on all nations. It also became
the classic statement for the blessed result for the people of
God."2
The prophecy of Joel unfolds in chronological sequence. It begins with

reference to a severe locust invasion that had come as a judgment on the
Judahites for their covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh (1:2-20). Even
though it is impossible to date this plague, it happened in the fairly recent
past from Joel's perspective.
The LORD used this severe locust judgment to call His people, through His
prophet, to anticipate an even worse devastation coming in the near future,
not from insects but from foreign invaders (2:1-27). He called on the Jews
to repent, and promised that if they did, He would forgive them and save
them from this invasion. This would be a day of deliverance in which they
would learn that He was at work for them.
This was what happened when the Assyrians under Sennacherib's

leadership attacked Jerusalem unsuccessfully in 701 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 18—
1Pusey, 1:214.
2Kaiser, Toward an …, p. 190. The reference in brackets in this quotation appears in
Kaiser's book and represents the versification in the Hebrew (Masoretic) text, in which
there are four chapters in Joel: 1:1-20; 2:1-27; 3:1-5; and 4:1-21.
19; Isa. 36—37). If that was the near invasion that Joel predicted, he must
have written in the early pre-exilic period (ninth century B.C.).
Yet another, similar day, would be coming much further in the future
(2:28—3:21), in which the Jews would again experience an invasion by
foreigners who hated them (in the Tribulation). Nevertheless, Yahweh
promised to deliver them in that day and to restore them to unprecedented
blessing (in the Millennium)—because He was, and will always be, their
covenant-keeping God.
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87.
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Notes on

TITLE AND WRITER

1George L. Robinson, The Twelve Minor Prophets, pp. 31-32.

"It seems to be one remarkable utterance rather than notes of

Second, some authorities believe a mid-pre-exilic date of composition,

1G. Campbell Morgan, An Exposition of the Whole Bible, p. 378.

"Joel," in Daniel-Malachi, vol. 7 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary, pp. 231-33.

1Advocates include Wilhelm Rudolph, Joel-Amos-Obadja-Jona, pp. 14-15; and Arvid S.

"… as there is no certainty, it is better to leave the time in

PLACE OF COMPOSITION AND AUDIENCE

Joel's frequent references to Judah and Jerusalem suggest that he lived

"Joel was a man of vitality and spiritual maturity. A keen

1John Calvin, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, 2:xv.

The sovereignty of God and the inevitability of divine punishment for

"Joel's depiction of the absolute authority of Yahweh over all

So is Yahweh's compassionate forgiveness in response to repentance. "The

"Like all the canonical prophets, Joel depended on the Mosaic

STYLE AND TEXT

"The chief characteristic of the Prophet's style is perhaps its

A. An initial appeal 1:2-4

III. A near future day of the LORD: a human invasion 2:1-27

A. The invading army 2:1-11

1. The nearness of the army 2:1-2

B. A call to repentance 2:12-17

1. An appeal for private repentance 2:12-14

C. The possibility of forgiveness and restoration 2:18-27

1. The LORD's gracious response 2:18

A. Israel's spiritual renewal and deliverance 2:28-32

B. God's judgment on Israel's enemy nations 3:1-17

1. The announcement of judgment 3:1-8

C. Israel's ultimate restoration 3:18-21

Joel viewed Yahweh as enthroned in heaven, controlling affairs on earth.

A second illustration of the principles by which Yahweh governs is Joel's

Yet in spite of future devastating judgment, God would act again,

promises to Israel in the church (i.e., by fulfilling them in a spiritual rather

I favor the second interpretation, as do many other premillennialists. Why?

Fourth, other prophecies refer to an outpouring of God's Spirit on the Jews

II. A PAST DAY OF THE LORD: A LOCUST INVASION 1:2-20

A. AN INITIAL APPEAL 1:2-4

"Thus, the book of Joel has a didactic [morally

1:4 Several waves of locusts had consumed all the agricultural

1See Keil, 1:172-78; Robinson, pp. 35-37.

had left uneaten, other subsequent waves had destroyed. The

"Joel's depiction of the locusts causes the reader

Four different words for "locusts" appear in this verse (and in

Four waves of invasion picture a thorough devastation (cf. Jer.

Near Eastern Parallels," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 14 (1955):52-55; idem,

Robinson, p. 33; Chisholm, Interpreting the …, p. 55. For eyewitness accounts of

invasion rather than a military invasion by soldiers on horses.1

"Nothing is more natural for us than this. In place

"The weaker the instrument is that God employs

B. A CALL TO MOURN 1:5-13

"Sweet wine ('asis) was made by drying the

allowing the juice to ferment for five to seven

"We are frequently reminded that most of the

Often drunkards laugh, with no concern for what goes on

"All that remained of shady, fruit-laden bowers

"Beyond this one case, the Prophet names neither

1Hubbard, p. 44. Cf. Driver, p. 225.