Joel - A Prophet of the Lord

The host, Julie Callio, discusses the minor prophet Joel and the difficulty in placing him in the timeline of prophets. There is debate about whether Joel comes before or after certain events in history. Joel describes an invasion of locusts that devastates the land, causing mourning for the priests, farmers, and drunkards. Joel calls for repentance and warns of the coming day of the Lord. He emphasizes that the day of the Lord is a time when God deals with his enemies. Joel also speaks of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all people and the salvation that comes from calling on the name of the Lord. Judgment is not God's default setting, but rather a call to repentance and restoration. The discipline of Judah and Jerusalem is temporary, and there is hope for restoration and pardon. The message encourages listeners to be ready for the day of the Lord and to know that God's love is unchanging. I'm Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at vab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering the minor prophet of Joel, and of all the minor prophets this one is the hardest to figure out where he goes in the timeline of prophets. Sometimes he is placed as the first literary prophet before Jonah while the northern ten tribes of Israel were still in existence. Since Joel chapter 3 verse 6 says you sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks that you might send them far from their homeland, and since the Greeks came to power after the Medes and the Persians, which came after Babylon, they place the book as the last literary prophet before the New Testament. But it seems as if the devastation of Judah and Jerusalem has not happened yet. It also seems that the temple is still standing, and there are priests and elders still functioning because Joel calls them back to the Lord. Dr. Betts, my Old Testament professor, put Joel after Isaiah, and after reading 2 Kings chapter 21 and finding out that Manasseh king of Judah did such evil in the eyes of the Lord that the Lord sent him servants, the prophets, 2 Kings chapter 21 verse 10. It seems like a good place to put Joel and his call to repentance. Joel starts with the word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel, that's it. Since his writing covers Jerusalem and Judah, it seems likely he is from Judah and maybe even Jerusalem. Since he addresses the elders and the priests in his book, it seems unlikely that he is either one of those. One thing Dr. Betts said in Old Testament class is that the prophets of the Lord come from all different backgrounds. Joel is written in a poetic format, and he is great with descriptive words. There are also a lot of imperatives in his words. Chapter 1 verses 2 through 12 describe an invasion of locusts that came in three stages, the regular locusts, and then what they left the great locusts ate, and what they left the young locusts ate. There was nothing left. Scholars debate as if this is a real swarm of locusts or an invading army, but either way there was nothing left. The drunkards were to mourn because they had no wine, verse 5. The priests were to mourn because there is nothing for the sacrifices, verses 9 and 10. The farmers were to mourn because their fields were destroyed. So Joel calls the priests who minister before the altar of the Lord in the temple of the Lord to mourn and lament since they minister before the Lord. It is time to repent. Verses 14 and 15 say, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly, summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord, Alas for that day, for the day of the Lord is near. It will come like destruction from the Almighty. The key word for Joel is the day of the Lord. One thing Dr. Betz said in class, Judah and Israel want the day of the Lord to come in order to vindicate them. The Lord will deal with their enemies. What they don't realize is that the day of the Lord is the day when the Lord deals with his enemies, end of quote. If you remember where we left off in 2 Kings chapter 21, Manasseh was acting like an enemy of the Lord. Chapter 2 begins, blow the trumpet in Zion, another name for Jerusalem, sound the alarm on my holy hill, let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is close at hand. Then Joel described it as an army that comes and even though the land was like Eden, after they come it will be like a desert waste behind them. And again there they call to turn to the Lord, verses 12 and 13, even now declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning, rend your heart, not your garments, return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Then verse 18 says that if they repent, then the Lord will respond. The Lord says in verse 25, I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten, the great locusts, and the locust swarm, my great army that I sent among you. Then verse 27, then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other, never again will my people be ashamed. Then in Joel chapter 2 verses 28-32 are some of the most known verses of this book, because Peter the apostle of Jesus used these verses to describe what happened at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, and as C. Hassel Bullock calls it, the day of universal prophecy. Let me read these verses. And afterward I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, even on my servants both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke, the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls. The apostle Paul quotes from verse 32a in Romans chapter 10 verses 12 and 13 and says that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. As Dr. Bett said that Peter and Paul both saw this being lived out and fulfilled in their time and continuing to be fulfilled now in our time, what a great message from Joel. Chapter 3 starts in those days and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, this does show that Judah and Jerusalem will be destroyed but then it will be restored, then comes the judgment upon the nations that harmed them, the Lord is not just the judge over Israel and Judah but over all the nations, the Lord will judge those from all nations who have not followed him and the Lord will vindicate people from all nations who are obedient, faithful and humble before the Lord God Almighty. One verse that is interesting to me is Joel chapter 3 verse 10 which says beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears, let the weakling say I am strong, war is coming but in Isaiah chapter 2 in the last days verse 4 says he will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples, they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they train for war anymore, there will be a day when we won't have to even train for war, there will be a day of peace but we haven't come to that day yet, Judah and Jerusalem's discipline is just for a while and then there is hope and restoration and that comes with the Lord's greatest blessing himself and all those who come to him the Lord will pardon chapter 3 verse 21, as I shared before Dr. Betts said in his lesson on Joel judgment is not God's default setting, God's default setting is a call to restoration and repentance so ladies how are you doing, are you ready for the day of the Lord, are you ready to meet your creator, do you know that he loves you, that is one promise of the Bible that never changes, Dr. Betts said there is nothing you can do to make him love you more and there is nothing you can do to make him love you less, it's not a question of his love but of our obedience, if you have heard his voice today please don't harden your heart like Judah and Jerusalem instead let's be women of the Lord whose spirit of the Lord is upon us who faithfully calls on the name of the Lord and we will be saved, until next time and thanks so very very much for listening.