Joel 1:2-3

Joel called on everyone, from the most respected ruling elders of the land (cf. 1 Samuel 30:26-31; 2 Samuel 19:11-15; 2 Kings 23:1; Ezra 10:8; Proverbs 31:23; Jeremiah 26:17; Lamentations 5:12; Lamentations 5:14) to the ordinary inhabitants, to pay attention to what he had to say. Nothing like what he was about to describe had happened in their lifetime or in that of their recent ancestors. He urged them to retell the devastating news to their descendants for generations to come.