Joel 1:1

This whole chapter (Joel 1:1-20) relates to a terrible and destructive locust plague that came upon Israel, particularly Judah, a disaster so overwhelming that no escape was possible. The fact of it is dramatically stated (Joel 1:1-4); the prophet's admonition to the people is given in three terse commandments: (1) "Awake ..." (Joel 1:5-7), (2) "Lament" (Joel 1:8-12), and (3) "Gird yourselves with sackcloth ..." (Joel 1:13-14). Despite the fact of these appeals being directed to three different classes, namely, the drunkards, the agricultural community, and the priests, they should be understood as applicable generally to all the people, and not merely to specific groups.

As in many another human disaster resulting from natural causes, the prophets of God, and all persons with spiritual discernment, have invariable associated such things with the wrath of God, due to divine disapproval of human sin and wickedness. Joel at once concluded that the locust disaster was a harbinger of "the day of the Lord," a truth that is not nullified by the fact that the Final Judgment was not to occur for at least 2,700 years! That disaster which so long ago brought fear and despair to a portion of the earth's population was a type of the final and eternal judgment that shall overwhelm all men; and significantly, many other such natural disasters since that time (as well as before that time) should be understood in exactly the same way! We must therefore reject the superficial interpretation of the final paragraph of this chapter (Joel 1:15-20) which views it merely as Joel's foolish fear that the end of time was at hand.

Joel 1:1

"The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel."

"The word of Jehovah ..." This phrase identifies the content of this prophecy as the inviolate and eternal word of Almighty God, and so we receive and interpret it. It had an immediate and compelling relevance to the first generation that received it and is no less pertinent and relevant to our own times. Great natural disasters are still taking place on earth, in the face of which men are just as powerless and helpless as were the ancient Jews who struggled against an overwhelming invasion of devastating locusts. God wanted his people to see in that natural catastrophe something far more than merely an awesome natural phenomenon; and therefore God moved to reveal through his holy prophet what the genuine significance of such an event really is. This significance still should be recognized in all physical disasters that torment and destroy men upon earth, as was beautifully discerned by Boren:

"It is my conviction that the eruption of Mount St. Helens is an awesome display of the omnipotent power of God, and one of the countless warnings of God to humankind of impending judgment! Certainly, God warns through his word; but he also warns through the observable cataclysmic happenings of the natural world."[1]

One of the reasons, therefore, why God gave his word to Joel upon the occasion of a great natural disaster is that men of all subsequent centuries should know how to interpret such things.

It is wrong to refer the judgments and conclusions that are set forth in Joel as merely the judgments and conclusions of the prophet himself. On the day of Pentecost, an inspired apostle of Christ said:

"This is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel: And it shall be in the last days, saith God, I will pour forth of my Spirit .... etc." (Acts 2:16-17).

Note particularly the words "spoken through the prophet Joel ... saith God ..." We may be certain therefore that no merely naturalistic origin of the great conclusions in Joel is possible. The words spoken and the conclusions given are of God Himself, and not merely based upon the prophet's fears, interpretations and discernments. For this reason, such interpretations as the following should be rejected:

"So terrible was the devastation that the prophet feared that Yahweh's Day, the judgment of Yahweh's people, was near at hand.[2] Joel regards the locust plague as comparable to any other mighty act of Israel's history."[3]

It was not merely Joel's fears that connected the locust plague with the Day of the Lord; it was not merely Joel's private conclusion that the locust plague was comparable to any other mighty act of God in the history of Israel. These conclusions were part of the "word of Jehovah" which came to Joel.

"Joel the son of Pethuel ..." Despite the fact of there being a dozen persons named "Joel" in the O.T., the name "Pethuel" is found nowhere else. It has the utility, thus, of dissociating Joel from others of the same name in Hebrew history. The use of expressions like, "son of ... etc." "was analogous to our use of second names."[4]