Joel
Major Points From The Minor Prophets
Pastor Brandon Ball
09/20/2023
Joel, Prophet of the Plague.
I. God’s Warning of Coming Judgement
An Invasion of Locusts
2 Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. —Joel 1:2–3 (ESV)4 What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. —Joel 1:4 (ESV)
A picture of God’s complete annellation
Flying destroyers leave crumbs that the hopping destroyer will eat. And even when the hopping destroyer leaves crumbs, the crawling destroyer will eat.
These are not agents of the enemy; these are agents of God!
- God uses vessels to execute his judgement.
God’s judgement is referred to in the Bible as the “Day of the Lord”.
Extensions of The Day of the Lord are:
- The Day of Assyria
- The Day of Darkness
- The Day of Deliverance
Three responses to the Day of the Lord are:
A Call for Repentance (2:11-19)
A Call for Rejoicing (2:20-27)
Throughout Joe’s call for rejoicing (2:20-27) the prophet anticipated the millennium reign. The thousand years of peace and prosperity. He saw a land bearing fruit, barns full to bursting, and people enjoying annual rains.
Although there is clearly a millennial context, the classic statement regarding God’s glorious promise: “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten (2:25) applies also to believers in Christ!
- Generational curses are broken and what the enemy has taken, is restored!
A Call for Revival (2:28-32)
II. God’s Admonition to Repent
The Warning
The Day of the LORD
1 Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near,
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful people;
their like has never been before,
nor will be again after them
through the years of all generations. —Joel 2:1–2 (ESV)The Admonition
Return to the LORD
12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster. —Joel 2:12–13 (ESV)With the warning of destruction comes the command to repent!
“” Judgement is always accompanied with
!
- You cannot divorce Judgement and Hope!
- This is seen with Christ! A picture of God’s judgement and yet God’s mercy.
Sign of the last days
The LORD Will Pour Out His Spirit
28 “And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit. —Joel 2:28–29 (ESV)The Coming of the Holy Spirit
1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. —Acts 2:1–4 (ESV)Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
18 even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; —Acts 2:14–19 (ESV)11 For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the LORD will speak to this people, 12 to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”; yet they would not hear. —Isaiah 28:11–12 (ESV)
God’s people would not hear the Word of the Lord, so he would speak to his people “another way” (a foreign language).
- The foreign language was God’s
, but also a sign of ! Speaking in tongues, although amazing, was also a sign of judgement. To whom? (
).
III. The Day of God
Joel is foretelling the gathering of Hebrew people, wicked, and heathen people for judgement. This is the day also of the antichrist.
The final judgement in the valley of “decision”.
The “Kidron” valley which lies between Jerusalem and the mount of Olives.
The valley of “Jehoshaphat”.
Joel is describing the last great examination, judgement, etc., before the millennium.
With the valley of Jehoshaphat, what is on display is Jehoshaphat’s inquiry of the Lord regarding a wicked enemy force. The reply ensures that the wicked will ultimately be destroyed!
15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” —2 Chronicles 20:15–17 (ESV)
This is also reminiscing of the Lord’s parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46.
In either instance, the Day of the Lord is when wickedness is righteously judged, and the holy are vindicated!
The oppressed are lifted and the haughty are brought down.
The Day of the Lord is when God will ultimately “
”.