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JOEL
PENTECOST -
825 b.C.
©
Carlos Padilla, June 2013
Joel, the prophet was called by God to proclaim the Day of the
Lord, both to the people of Judah, as well as to the neighbour nations, in
prophecy. No doubt Joel is one of the twelve prophetic pillars that make the
group of the so called Minor Prophets. He begins his prophecy with the
phrase common to all: "The Word of the Lord that came to..." this time to
Joel. His prophecy initiates a description of a series of consecutive plagues
that come to the kingdom of Judah, to inform the nation of its moral and
spiritual decadence before God.
Once he makes sure they have received the message, the
second part of the message of God to the people follows, in the middle of chapter 2,
which is no other than, they must convert to Him with all their heart from
their wicked ways, with fast, cry and lamentation, for the matter is grievous. The
Lord includes a promise of blessing and prosperity without precedent, and also reminds them that God
is in the midst of Israel.
The second part of chapter 2 is a prophecy that we have read
as fulfilled, in part, in Acts of the Apostles, also chapter 2, in the Day of
Pentecost, about the pouring of the Holy Spirit. It also tells of eschatological
events in the heavens and on earth. Before he finishes his exposition, the
prophecy that Joel received from God announces that in the Day of the Lord two
relevant events will come to pass. The first is that Judah will come back from
captivity, and so will Jerusalem. The second is that He will gather all
nations in the Valley of Decision, 3:14, where they shall repent, or else be judged.
Finally the prophecy concludes with the roar from
Zion, and Judah will be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem, from generation to
generation, while the Lord will inhabit in Zion.
BOOK OF JOEL THE PROPHET
The Prophet
Prophet Joel (Yō’Ēl in Hebrew) "God is" was son of
Pethuel. He is the first of the written prophets. The second of the twelve minor
prophets in the canon. Prophet to Judah. His prophecy is short but deep. Joel
fulfils the requirements of the true prophet: Not to teach other gods, did not
participate in divination, and his prophecies have fulfilled. Joel, also
fulfils the mission of lifting his people through the message that God gives
him. It is not only a matter of warning from judgment, from the terrible Day of
the Lord –that will, by all means, be
fulfilled in those that did not obey the call to repent–
but that also, with them or with out them, God will bless the remnant of faith.
Also the future of the people will be blessed because it is for love to His
name, it is the plan of God and it shows the glory of God in all its fullness.
The book in the canon
The book is found in the canon
placed the second of the group of the called Minor Prophets. It is the
first of the written prophets to Judah in the chronological order, after the
oral prophets, who are included in the books of Kings and of Chronicles.
In the canon of the Hebrew Bible it is found in the group of the Nebilim
or latter prophets, while in the Septuagint it is in a section before the last,
dedicated to the prophetic books: The Twelve, that has become known as
Dodekapropheton. In the Vulgate it is found, as in the other Christian
Bibles, in the last section with the twelve minor prophets.
Who's is the audience of the
book
Joel is focused on Judah in
times of the pre-exilic, before Judah was invaded by the Assyrian empire due to
their stubbornness to sin. Joel lives in a different kingdom to the glorious that
Israel had lived, when Judah was part of it, with David as the king that had unified
the children of Jacob. Due to sin, after the kingdom of Solomon, and caused by inner
fights of the children of David for the succession to the throne, also due to
Solomon's idolatry and other sins, the prophets warned of division and
destruction. Now Joel found himself receiving the first prophetic message to be
written for the divided kingdom, in his case, to Judah. On the other hand, no
king is mentioned as being in power at the time, and his message is to the priests, elders and the
people, which is logical taking into account the young age (seven years old,
according to 2Chronicals 24), at which Joash takes the throne.
In the regency, and latter
kingdom of Joash he commands a collect from the people to repair the walls of
the Temple, but on the other hand, after the death of Jehoidada, he cedes before
the people and keeps the high places where the people use to offer sacrifices in
ways of idolatry, being disobedient to God and bringing on them the wrath of
God. The personal situation of Joel was of the security for having the message
of God, knowing that the people were stubborn, and foreseen how the invasion was
going to take place, but with the hope of a future time of glory with blessing and
kingdom coming through the hand of Yahweh.
The times of the book
The times of the book are around
the period between 835 and 825 b.C. Before and after, also contemporary to Joel
we find Elijah and Elisha, prophets to Israel. At the same time we find Obadiah,
prophet to the nations.
At the time the kings of
Judah were: Asa, Jehoram, Joash reigning and priest Jehoidada in the ministry, in
times of the ministry of Joel, Jehoshaphat and Athaliah, 2Kings 2:13. And kings
of Israel were: Baasha, Jehu reigning in time of the ministry of Joel, the other
Joash, of Israel, Ahab and Omri. In the Assyrian empire were rulers at
the time: Shalmaneser II, whom was succeeded by Shamshiadad V, also while Joel was
in Ministry.
The nations that are mentioned
are: Phoenicia, Philistine, Egypt and Edom, not mentioning as enemies Assyria,
Babylon, Chaldea or Persia, which gives us an idea of where would the people of
Judah expect an attack from, and exactly those whom they never thought of, would
be the invaders. The prophecy that Joel received referred to unexpected and
successive attacks using the different plagues that they suffered as a parable.
Time would show them that the invasion of Assyria was the deserved judgement for
leaving God.
As a historic support
for the times of the book of Joel, as well as these data, we can refer to the book
of A.F. Kirkpatrick "The
Doctrine of the Prophets" where
he concludes, with much information, that the date that we have mentioned,
against some liberal critics, is correct. Amongst the arguments and data, the
ruling system stands out, which was not a monarchy, but more a regency in the
style of government of the priests and elders of the people. In 2Kings 11:4, we
are provided the data that Joash took the throne when he has seven years old, so
he had to be guided, in his case, by his uncle Jehoidada, the priest.
On the other hand we
can add that the data that refers to the book of Amos, as it is the case of the
mounts that will drip with new wine, in Joel 3:18, is a reference to Amos 9:13,
where the context supports that Joel wrote before. Or by referring to the Bible
Text that the "king will roar from Zion..." that we find in Joel 3:16, as
well as in Amos 1:2, allows us to place Joel with assurance before Amos.
The Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord, as
exposed by Joel, includes four events. The first one is to do with the plagues
that hit Judah. The second, with the call to repent, which brings the Holy Spirit
upon all flesh. The third initiates with the supernatural judgment of God to the
nations. And the fourth with the culmination of the project of God that
takes Judah to a blessing promised before, for the glory of God and for
testimony to Judah, to the nations and to the Church.
The Plagues
They begin to be
announced by Joel through devastation plagues. It tells that what was
not eaten by the palmerworm, was eaten by the locust, and what was left, the
cankerworm eat, and what was left the caterpillar eat. This plagues would laid
waste His vine and would strip His fig tree, its branches would be white. The
wheat, the wine, the oil, the barley, the harvest of the field would be
devastated; the stock would suffer. The palm tree, the apple tree, and all the
trees of the field would be withered. The seed shrivels under the clods and the
storehouses shambled. Herds of cattle, flocks of sheep would have no pasture.
Dry would be the brooks of the waters, and the fields burned by fire, Joel
1:8-20. A desolation panorama which Judah seams to not reach initially. The
warning begins with Joel 1:
1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the
son of Pethuel. 2Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye
inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of
your fathers? 3Tell ye your children of it, and let your children
tell their children, and their children another generation. 4That
which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust
hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left
hath the caterpiller eaten.
Warning for Judah
This warning was more than just an event, is was a parable of
the nation that would invade Judah: Assyria, in Joel 2:2. Judah is used to known
enemies, those that they think they know. These, in the case of Tyre, Sidon (both in
Phoenicia, and Sidon under Egypt according to Homer) and Philistia. If these are
a foreshadow of the palmerworm, the
locust, and the cankerworm, now a new plague appears: the caterpillar, a plague
of proportions of those in Egypt by Moses, which allows us to understand that
the judgment is serious, and can foreshadow Assyria, the new powerful empire
that would conquer all the land. According to William MacDonald in his Old
Testament Biblical Commentary, it would be a foreshadowing of the four
empires that would govern over the people of God: Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece
and Rome. The four plagues are at the same time, the four phases of development
of the caterpillar since its born until its adult stage: palmerworm, locust,
cankerworm and caterpillar, really the similarity with the development of the
empires is great, especially if we compare it with the statue of the dream of
Nebuchadnezzar that Daniel the prophet would interpret.
This parable is of use
in life, and in the Church. The enemies that we know and control, more or less,
we think they are the only ones that can attack us. But when man persists in
sinning, God raises an enemy that we do not know. In the same way, this happens
to the nations in history. In the case of Judah, what one would not devastate,
the next one would if Judah didn't repent from its evil ways. The warning to
Judah comes with these plagues, that are greatly devastating, that are a wake up
call to repentance for Judah. The invasion of a an enemy not mentioned, not
known as such, a new enemy that the Lord raises to discipline His people. The
day of the Lord, here, takes the connotation of day of judgment. Joel 2:2-11:
11And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his
camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the
LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
God is merciful
God is
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness,
therefore calls for the repentance of His people, through the prophets, Joel
2:12-19. God seeks true repentance of the heart "...And rend your heart, and not
your garments...", that those whom He calls may return to Him. In a prophecy of the
world power of the end time days, the prophet promises blessing from God in
2:20-32, which was fulfilled in the victory over the invaders of the north;
Sennacherib. This is, then, the second part of the Day of the Lord.
The Holy Spirit
poured out upon all flesh
The Holy Spirit upon
all flesh is the third consequence of the Day of the Lord. After the devastating
plagues that destroyed Judah in the prophecy, we have travelled along the history
of the book until we found the message of the Lord’s mercy, in the raining of
blessings promised to those who repent. The armies of the enemies are defeated
by God’s providence. These rains are the advent of how the people would react in
the prophecy, and symbolizes the future pouring, as if it was referring to a
“guided wind” that would fill them with the Spirit of God, in Joel 2:28-32:
28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I
will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days
will I pour out my spirit. 30And I will shew wonders in the heavens
and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the
terrible day of the LORD come. 32And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount
Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the
remnant whom the LORD shall call.
The rain that the Lord sends
after the drought and the caterpillar plague, links to the prophecy of the
pouring of the Holy Spirit, which is, in part, fulfilled at Pentecost which is a
promise not only for Judah, or for the entire Israel, but one that fulfils in
the Church, something that was not being foreshadowed in the times of the
prophet and that Judah would not understand. Also, the promise of the Holy
Spirit is made by Jesus Christ to the Church when He tells them that in a few
days they would be baptized with Him. The last part that we can foreshadow is,
either in the millennium, or either in eternity when we will be filled with the
Holy Spirit for ever and ever. The Text is found in Acts 2:14-21:
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there
came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. 3And there appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4And they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance... ...14But Peter, standing up with the
eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye
that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third
hour of the day. 16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel; 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will
pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams.
The main character of the event
of the pouring of the Holy Spirit is Himself. The story that Luke tells and that
we know as Acts of the Apostles, really are the Acts of the Holy Spirit,
through the apostles, and this is how it will be in the Church until the day it
will be caught up.
The nations judged
Nations judgment, is the fourth
part, which comprises two phases, in which we find the consequence of the
instauration of the Day of the Lord, as we find in Joel 3:9-12:
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare
war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into
spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 11Assemble yourselves, and
come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause
thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. 12Let the heathen be wakened,
and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the
heathen round about.
The fourteenth verse of the
third chapter tells us of the Valley of Decision, while in the other
verses is telling us of the Valley of Jehoshaphat. If we understand that
we are talking of the same valley, this verse clarifies what is happening in it,
by calling it of decision. We find the scene in other prophets as Isaiah
23:1-28; or in Ezekiel 26:1-28; in Amos 1:9-10; in Zechariah 9:1-4 and also in
the New Testament, in Matthew 11:21-22; and in Luke 10:13-14.
The decision is the one
to be taken before the call of the Gospel. Nations, in this case, as well as
each individual, will, in that Day, receive their reward on their decision to
gather in the valley to make war on Jerusalem, as well as all the impious way
they treated Judah and their children, selling them, spreading them, likewise
nations and individuals do with those that are in need. The Lord Jesus Christ,
in Matthew 25:31-46, leaves no doubt on how the fruit of the enemies of God will
be reveled:
31 When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of
his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats
on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in
prison, and ye came unto me.
As well as seeing, through each
one’s fruits, what is in the heart –which God weighs even before the foundation
of the world– also the evil and lack to fear God of the pagan nations can be
seen, because they took the silver, the gold and the precious things of Yahweh
to their pagan temples. For this they will be receivers of the wrath of God,
because the Day of the Lord is nigh. The concept wrath of God is a consequence
of His justice. The Word reminds us that God is
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness,
which means that when His wrath comes is because man has not received the
multiple opportunities to repent.
Again, all that is precious to
God, the pagan nations use for their cult. That way, the sinning man, in his own
mind, uses the precious things of his own life –which are to be enjoyed in God’s
blessing– and uses them for his own cult, as it can be marriage, children, work,
relations, even his own relation and service in the local church. God, however,
gives reward of all those who repent of their wicked ways, and as the blessing
is promised to Judah, it is also promised to all those who believe and do the
Word of God in Christ.
Prophecy of the future blessing
of Judah
Finally, the second of the last
part, from the four parts that the great Day of the Lord in the book of Joel
takes us to the final blessing of the people of God, in Joel 3:20-21:
20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from
generation to generation. 21For I will cleanse their blood that I
have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
Gleason L. Archer, in his book
A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, comments on Joel 3:17-21,
that this is the millennial triumph for Jerusalem, in company of all those
redeemed. The end of Joel we find in Amos 1:2.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that Joel includes: The message to prevent Judah
and Israel from judgment, using plagues, and, in specific, the caterpillar: 1.
To call them to repentance: 2:12-27. To show the power and the mercy of God in
the Day of the Lord: 2. To pour out the Holy Spirit on all flesh: 2:28-32, as
foreshadow of the work of Jesus Christ in the day of Pentecost: Acts 2:17-21.
The future resurrection of Judah, by the grace of God inhabiting in Zion
3:16-21.
The doctrinal lesson and its practical use, that we have been
unfolding along the book of Joel, comes to conclusion. The life of the disciple
of Christ, no matter in which nation he lives, and no matter to which family he
belongs, will have a final characteristic, which is that his expectation will
always be the Day of the Lord. This Day will be reflected in his previous
life, in the calling of God through the circumstances lived, as a preparation of
the soul, a symbol of the land that receives the plagues, as for the experience
in Christ in his church that God inhabits in the midst of His people.
Document Q, base of the synoptic Gospels, proves that the
central message that the people of Israel receive at the beginning of the Jewish
Church, is that the dependence and hope, is still in the Messiah, the Son of Man
and in His return at the end of times. His characteristics don't change: God is
just; God punishes the sinner; God loves the sinner and warns him with prophecy;
God calls to repentance; God defends his people; God defends His Church; God is
the same yesterday, and to day and for ever; God pours out His Spirit upon those
who love Him; God fulfils His word and will reign for ever. Amen.
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