Joel
📜 Old Testament
🗺️ Overview
Joel delivers a powerful message of warning and hope. A devastating locust plague becomes a picture of God’s coming judgment — the Day of the Lord. Yet Joel also announces God’s mercy, calling for repentance and promising a future outpouring of the Spirit and restoration for God’s people.
💡 Joel calls us to take God’s warnings seriously and respond with genuine repentance. He also assures us that God delights to restore, and His Spirit empowers a renewed people. The Day of the Lord is both sobering and hopeful — pointing to Christ’s judgment and salvation.
🏛️ Historical & Cultural Notes
Insights into the cultural, historical, or geographical background of the book.
The Locust Plague
A locust invasion in Joel’s time served as both a real disaster and a prophetic image of God’s judgment.
📚 Source: ESV Study Bible
Pentecost Fulfillment
Peter quotes Joel 2 during his sermon at Pentecost, interpreting it as fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
📚 Source: Acts 2; The Bible Project
The Day of the Lord
Joel emphasizes “the Day of the Lord” — a time of both judgment and hope, later echoed by many prophets.
📚 Source: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary
📊 Book at a Glance
- 📝 Author
- Joel
- 📅 Date
- Uncertain (possibly 9th–5th century BC)
- 📖 Chapters
- 3
- 🏷️ Genre
- Prophecy
- 📍 Location
- Judah, following a natural disaster (likely a locust plague)
- 🧵 Main Themes
- The Day of the Lord as a time of judgment and salvation, Call to national repentance, God’s mercy and desire to restore, The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Hope for a future renewal
📚 Outline
- The Locust Plague and Lament (Ch. 1)
- The Coming Day of the Lord and Call to Repentance (Ch. 2:1–17)
- Restoration and the Outpouring of the Spirit (Ch. 2:18–32)
- Judgment and Final Blessing (Ch. 3)
📖 Key Stories
The Locust Plague and Call to Repent (Joel 1)
A severe locust swarm devastates the land, calling the people to lament and fast before the Lord.
The Day of the Lord (Joel 2:1–17)
Joel describes the coming Day of the Lord as a terrifying army of judgment — yet calls the people to return with all their hearts.
Promise of Restoration and the Spirit (Joel 2:18–32)
After repentance, God promises to restore the land and pour out His Spirit on all people.
Judgment of the Nations and Final Blessing (Joel 3)
God will judge the nations and bless His people — Jerusalem will be secure, and the Lord will dwell with them.
👤 Key Figures
🔍 Christ Connections
How this book anticipates or reflects the person and work of Christ.
- ProphecyJoel 2:28–32, Acts 2:16–21
Joel’s promise that God will pour out His Spirit is fulfilled in Jesus through Pentecost.
- ThemeJoel 2:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10
The Day of the Lord in Joel anticipates the final judgment and salvation brought through Jesus.
🧠 Key Verses
“Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” — Joel 2:12
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.” — Joel 2:25
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” — Joel 2:28
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” — Joel 2:32
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