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Scripture Reading: Joel 2:12-32; 3:1-21
Joel is a short book of three chapters, but it covers human history from 606 B.C. to the millennium. A major revelation in Joel is that God has raised up four empires symbolized by four kinds of locusts, beginning with Babylon and continuing with Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire, to devastate the one small nation of Israel, God’s elect. Today this devastation is still going on. Along the way, while such a history was proceeding, God poured out Himself as the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended One, the processed and consummated Triune God as the Spirit, upon the believers of Christ. That outpouring produced the church and began the age of mystery. Everything concerning the church is a mystery, and this mystery is the manifestation of Christ. Now we are here in the church doing things in a mysterious way to usher in the final appearing of Christ to bring in the age of restoration, the thousand-year kingdom, which is the prelude to the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem. This is the revelation in the book of Joel.
Let us now go on to consider further the content of Joel in 2:12—3:21. In this portion we have the turn of Jehovah to His elect, Israel (2:12-32), the judgment of Christ upon the nations (3:1-15), and the victory of Christ with His overcomers over the nations and His reign among Israel in the age of restoration (3:9-13, 16-21).
Jehovah wanted His elect to turn to Him. Verses 12 through 17 of chapter two reveal in what way they should return to their God.
Jehovah wanted His elect to turn to Him with all their heart (v. 12a).
He wanted them to turn to Him also with fasting, weeping, and mourning (v. 12b).
In returning to their God, Jehovah’s elect should rend their hearts and not their garments (v. 13). They should do this so that God would turn, repent, and leave a blessing behind Him — a meal offering and a drink offering (v. 14).
The meal offering and the drink offering are blessings to Israel. When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, Israel lost the place appointed by God where they could offer their offerings to God (Deut. 12:5-6). Also, God’s army of locusts destroyed the produce of the land, leaving no grain to make a meal offering and no grapes to make wine for the drink offering. Thus, Israel lost both the ground and the materials to offer the meal offering to feed God and the drink offering to cheer God. Today both God and Israel are still suffering the loss of this blessing.
In Joel 2:15a Jehovah says, “Blow a trumpet in Zion.” To blow a trumpet is to make a declaration in a triumphant spirit.
Verse 15b goes on to say, “Sanctify a fast.” This fast was not to be common; rather, it was to be sanctified, separated for God.
Jehovah also wanted His elect to call a solemn assembly: gathering the people, assembling the elders, and letting the bridegroom go forth from his chamber and the bride from her canopy (vv. 15c-16). Such an assembly is a great blessing, something that should not be missed.
Verse 17 says, “Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, / Weep between the porch and the altar, / And let them say, / Look with pity, O Jehovah, upon Your people; / And do not give Your inheritance over to reproach, / That the nations should rule over them. / Why should they say among the nations, / Where is their God?” The porch and the altar were outside the temple, and between the porch and the altar the priests were to weep for Israel’s having lost the blessing. Nevertheless, the people, having been brought back to God, had the ground to enjoy the blessing. They had the altar, ordained by God, where they could offer what God desired for His satisfaction.
In verses 18 through 27 we see that God desires to bless His own land. The holy land, a particular area of land, is God’s land.
God desires to bless His own land with the rich produce of the land (vv. 19, 21-22, 25-27).
God desires to bless His land also by the rains: the former rain and the latter rain (v. 23).
Finally, God desires to bless His land by driving away from the peoples the enemies sent by Him as the swarming locusts, the licking locusts, the consuming locusts, and the cutting locusts as His great army (vv. 20, 25).
Verses 28 through 32 reveal that God is willing to save His elect, Israel.
Jehovah is willing to save Israel by pouring out His Spirit (as the former rain) upon them (vv. 28-29). This prophecy was fulfilled as a foretaste on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 16-21), and it will be fulfilled as a full taste before the great tribulation for the salvation and regeneration of many of the returned Israelites. This outpouring is different from the outpouring of the Spirit on the last day of the tribulation (Zech. 12:10) for the salvation of the remnant of the Jews under Antichrist’s besieging.
The Spirit poured out on the day of Pentecost was the Spirit of God compounded with Christ’s humanity, death, resurrection, and ascension. This compounded Spirit who has been poured out is the realization of Christ and the consummation of the Triune God. God poured Himself upon those who called on the name of the Lord. This outpouring produced the church. Formerly, there were only the Jews and the Gentiles, but now there is the church as a third entity (1 Cor. 10:32). The church is mysterious, for it is in the church that Christ is manifested.
The outpouring of the consummated Spirit is Christ’s coming. Christ came through incarnation. Eventually, He died and was resurrected, and, in a sense, He went away. But by the outpouring of the Spirit He came back to be manifested. By this outpouring all the disciples and saved ones on the day of Pentecost became parts of the corporate Christ. The individual Christ has thus become the corporate Christ, the enlarged, increased Christ, which is the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16).
From what we have covered so far in this life-study of Joel, we can see that this book deals with world history. Our text for the study of history is the Bible, in particular the short book of Joel. In this book we see the nations as the locusts and the devastation of Israel by these locusts. Here we also see a great outpouring of the Spirit as the consummated Triune God upon those Jews who call upon the name of Jehovah and who thus are regenerated to become part of the church for the manifestation of Christ.
Joel 2:32 indicates that God’s elect people will be saved through their calling on the name of Jehovah. The equivalent of this in the New Testament is calling on the name of the Lord Jesus.
God’s saving of Israel by pouring out His Spirit upon them will be accompanied by the natural calamities of the sixth seal and the first four trumpets (Rev. 6:12-17; 8:7-12) on the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth (Joel 2:30-31a) as a prelude to the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21).
The second outpouring of the Spirit for the saving of the returned Jews will take place before the fifth trumpet, the first of the three woes (Rev. 8:13—9:19; 11:14; 15:5—16:21), which are the major structure of the great tribulation, in the great and terrible day of Jehovah (Joel 2:31b). However, many of the returned Jews will not believe but will continue to be stubborn. Eventually, during the tribulation, Jerusalem will be surrounded by the Gentile armies under Antichrist, whose intention will be to destroy Israel entirely. At that juncture the Lord Jesus Christ will descend with His overcomers. Furthermore, according to Zechariah 12, at that time the consummated Spirit will again be poured out, and the remnant of the children of Israel will be saved.
Thus, there are three outpourings of the Holy Spirit: first, the outpouring on the day of Pentecost; second, the outpouring just before the great tribulation upon the Jews; and third, the outpouring upon the besieged Jews, who will have no way to escape the persecution of Antichrist. These three outpourings work together for the salvation of Israel.
Joel 3:1-15 speaks concerning the judgment of Christ upon the nations — the judgment upon the living (Acts 10:42; 17:31).
This judgment will take place at the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is the valley of decision (Joel 3:2, 12, 14).
The purpose of Christ’s judgment upon the living will be to recompense the nations’ mistreatment of Israel during the great tribulation (vv. 2b-8; Rev. 12:17; 13:7, 10; Matt. 25:41-46a). After Christ casts Antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire, He will set up His throne in Jerusalem, and all the living ones as the goats and the sheep will be gathered before Him to be judged by Him. The goats will be the evil ones, those who persecuted the Jews, and the sheep will be the good ones, those who helped the persecuted Jews during the tribulation.
Finally, Joel speaks regarding the victory of Christ with His overcomers over the nations and His reign among Israel in the age of restoration (3:9-13, 16-21).
First, according to verses 9 through 13, Christ with His overcomers (Rev. 17:14; 19:11-14) as the mighty ones will defeat Antichrist and his armies (the nations) at Armageddon.
After the defeat of Antichrist, Christ will reign among Israel on the holy mountain of Zion within Jerusalem (Joel 3:16a, 17, 21b).
As Christ reigns in Jerusalem, He will be a shelter and a stronghold to the children of Israel (v. 16b). Because of this, no one will be able to damage Israel anymore.
Christ’s reign among Israel on the holy mountain of Zion within Jerusalem will be in the restoration (v. 18; Matt. 19:28).
Joel 3:18a tells us that in the restoration the mountains will drop down fresh wine, and the hills will flow with milk. This indicates how rich the situation will be.
In the restoration there will be no shortage of water, for all the waterways of Judah will flow with water (v. 18b). Wherever there is a waterway, there will be a river full of water.
A fountain will go forth from the house of Jehovah, the temple, to water the entire holy land (v. 18c). This points to the situation in the New Jerusalem, where a river will flow out of the throne of God and of the Lamb to water the holy city.
Joel 3:19-21a tells us that all the surrounding enemies of Israel will be punished. Therefore, the nations will be punished, Israel will be restored, and Christ will be manifested. This will be a prelude to the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem.
