“The Day of the LORD is at Hand” (Joel 1)

Scripture reading – Joel 1; Joel 2

Click here to translate this Bible study into Hebrew, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Urdu, or French.

* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

Continuing our chronological study of the Scriptures, we arrive at the Book of Joel. He is listed among the minor prophets because his book is only three chapters long. His name means “Jehovah is God,” reminding all who speak it that the God of Israel is Jehovah.

The subject of Joel’s book is the “Day of the LORD,” a prophecy of God’s imminent judgment on Judah (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14). The date of this book is uncertain; however, scholars propose that it was among the earliest prophetic writings and that it preceded the destruction and judgment of Jerusalem and Judah.

Joel 1 

Summons to Old Men (Joel 1:1-4)

Summoning the “old men” to hear and give ear, Joel called upon them to testify to the coming judgment on the nation and to declare that it was unlike any that had preceded it (Joel 1:2). The severity of God’s judgment would be so great that it behooved the “old men” to tell the story of God’s judgment to the generations that would follow (Joel 1:3). Taking the locust and its four stages of growth as a symbol of four judgments, Joel drew a portrait of a vast judgment that might provoke God’s people to repent and turn to the LORD (Joel 1:4; Jeremiah 15:3; Ezekiel 14:21).

Summons to the Drunkards (Joel 1:5-7)

After awakening the “old men,” Joel summoned the “drunkards” (Joel 1:5-7). These “drunkards” symbolized a hedonistic, pleasure-seeking people who reveled in wine and drunkenness (Joel 1:5). Joel prophesied that God’s judgment would fall on the drunkards and that “the new wine…[would be] cut off from [their] mouth” (Joel 1:5b). Rather than locusts, the prophecy described the LORD’s judgment carried out by “a nation [that was]come up upon [the LORD’s] land” (Joel 1:6). 

Scholars generally agree that this nation was Assyria, which, a century before Joel’s prophecy, had taken northern Israel captive (the ten tribes of the north). Described as “strong, and without number,” Assyria’s soldiers were the bane of the ancient world. Twice, we read that the Assyrians had “the teeth of a lion” (Joel 1:6). Joel foretold that the enemy would strip the land bare, wasting the vine (symbol of Judah) and the fig tree (most likely a symbol of Jerusalem, Joel 1:7).

A General Summons to the Congregation (Joel 1:8-14)

Joel then summoned the people to “lament like a virgin” mourning her husband’s death (Joel 1:8). In their distress, Judah was urged to cry out to the LORD. The people were impoverished. With no harvest, they had no offerings for “the house of the LORD” (Joel 1:9). 

The farmers were commanded to mourn the failure of their crops and “be ye ashamed…because the harvest of the field is perished” (Joel 1:11). Of the workers in the orchards, it was said that their “joy [was] withered away” because the vines and fruit trees were withered (Joel 1:12). The priests and those who served as “ministers of the altar” were called to mourn and lament because there were no offerings to present to the LORD (Joel 1:13).

Joel longed for the LORD to deliver Jerusalem from the enemy. He called the people to gather at the Temple to “fast, call a solemn assembly,” and “cry unto the LORD” for deliverance (Joel 1:14).

A Prophetic Lamentation (Joel 1:15-20)

Knowing that only the LORD could save Judah, Joel cried out, “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand [Day of Judgment]” (Joel 1:15). The Assyrian siege of Jerusalem led to famine (“meat cut off before our eyes”) and a time of sorrow (Joel 1:16). With no harvest, there were no offerings, and “the barns [were] broken down, and the crops withered in the fields (Joel 1:17). Not even the beasts were spared, for there was no pasture (Joel 1:18).

Joel cried to the LORD and confessed, “The fire [i.e., the drought] hath devoured the pastures… the flame hath burned all the trees…the beasts of the field cry…for the rivers are dried up” (Joel 1:19-20).

Closing thoughts…

Joel 1 reminds us that when humanity’s sin provokes God’s judgment, nature also suffers. Natural disasters, droughts, famine, and earthquakes serve as signs that not only does humanity experience the consequences of sin, but nature itself also bears witness to God’s judgment (Romans 8:22).

The sufferings of God’s people prompted the prophet to urge Judah to turn to the LORD, knowing that all was lost without His mercy.