Joel Explained | The Lord Has Done Great ThingsSample

Day 2 | Joel 2

This devotional works best as an audio experience. Hit the play button now, and read along if you like.

In Joel chapter 2, the people of Judah are about to face a calamity so severe, the previous chapter’s locust invasion would be looked upon fondly. Well, perhaps not, but the coming disaster was going to be exceedingly worse than the locust invasion.

Now, before we jump into the chapter, I want to remind you about our conversation yesterday. Locusts have invaded Judah, and Joel calls the people to repent and to return to the Lord. The danger is that if the people of Judah didn’t repent, they would face worse judgment. So, now Joel switches gears, and instead of looking back at the locust invasion, he begins here, in chapter 2, to look ahead at the day of judgment that is coming. 

 “Blow the trumpet in Zion;

    sound the alarm on my holy hill.

Let all who live in the land tremble,

    for the day of the Lord is coming.

It is close at hand—

a day of darkness and gloom,

    a day of clouds and blackness.

Like dawn spreading across the mountains

    a large and mighty army comes,

such as never was in ancient times

    nor ever will be in ages to come.” (Joel 2:1-2).

The people of Judah were about to see a terrible day of judgment, a day the Bible calls, "The Day of the Lord". The Day of the Lord is a common theme in the books of the prophets, particularly in the Minor Prophets. It is a day of both judgment and salvation, depending on the condition of a person’s heart. When we are right with the Lord, The Day of the Lord is something we hope for. We want that final day of the Lord to come, when we will stand before the judge, and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”. But when we are not right with God, it is a day to fear, a day when God will show His strength and might against us.

Joel then describes a great army coming from the North, coming to destroy the nation. The army would not be like the locusts, this was a human army. And this army would not just be coming for crops, either. It would be seeking conquest. 

“Before them the earth shakes,

    the heavens tremble,

the sun and moon are darkened,

    and the stars no longer shine.

The Lord thunders

    at the head of his army;

his forces are beyond number,

    and mighty is the army that obeys his command.

The day of the Lord is great;

    it is dreadful.

    Who can endure it?” (Joel 2:10-11).

One of the scariest things about this army is the fact that the Lord calls it His own. This is not just a human army that may be appeased by enough tribute. The Lord cannot be bought off, and if He wants an army to devastate a land, it will be accomplished.

Now, scholars have tried to ascertain the army of this prophecy. Was it the Assyrians or the Babylonians? Maybe the Greeks or Romans? Or is it possibly even a future army, and what is being described here is Armageddon?

Honestly, it doesn’t matter. I truly believe there is a reason Joel doesn’t give us a clear date as to when these events take place. His message is actually a message for all people, at all times.  And this message is found in verse 12.

“‘Even now,’ declares the Lord,

    ‘return to me with all your heart,

    with fasting and weeping and mourning.’

Rend your heart

    and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God,

    for he is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and abounding in love,

    and he relents from sending calamity.

Who knows? He may turn and relent

    and leave behind a blessing—

grain offerings and drink offerings

    for the Lord your God.” (Joel 2:12-14).

Repentance. This is the great word of the prophets. If God’s people would repent and turn from their wicked ways, God would relent from punishing the nation. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel and Amos - they all called for Israel to repent. It was the great message of John the Baptist and of Jesus, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” And it isn’t only the nation of Israel that received this message. The Assyrians, ancient enemies of Israel, repented and were spared during the time of Jonah.

And so Joel, for the second time in the book, tells Judah how they should repent. He calls them to fast, assemble, gather the nation together and cry out to the Lord as one. And the people listened. 

“Then the Lord was jealous for his land

    and took pity on his people.

The Lord replied to them:

‘I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil,

    enough to satisfy you fully;

never again will I make you

    an object of scorn to the nations.’” (Joel 2:18-19).

God promised the people of Israel that He would relent from the judgment He was going to pour out on them. Now, there can only be one cause of this; the people returned to the Lord. They cried out to God in the midst of their sorrow, and he withheld the judgment that was due to them. The army was driven off, never to bother them. This is the Lord’s mercy at work. 

But it doesn’t end there. Not only was God going to spare the judgment, but He was going to do an amazing work in their lives. The Lord began to pour out His blessing on the land again.

“The trees are bearing their fruit;

    the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.

Be glad, people of Zion,

    rejoice in the LORD your God,

for he has given you the autumn rains

    because he is faithful.” (Joel 2:22-23).

It wasn’t because of the goodness of the people that these blessings would come. It is because of the faithfulness of God. We can repent all day long, but we are still guilty of our sins. However, God’s faithfulness to His covenant results in Him showing mercy to us sinners. What a beautiful picture of the love of God. And it isn’t done yet:

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—

    the great locust and the young locust,

    the other locusts and the locust swarm—

my great army that I sent among you.” (Joel 2:25)

God promised His people that even that which was taken in judgment would be repaid to them because of his love. Sparing the people from further plagues - that was mercy. This is grace. The undeserved love of God poured out abundantly on us. God says, “Not only will I keep the army away, but I will pour out my blessings on you so abundantly that you will gain even that which was lost.”.

It truly is "The Day of the Lord", a day of judgment for sinners, but a day of blessing for those who remain faithful. 

“And afterward,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your old men will dream dreams,

    your young men will see visions.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

I will show wonders in the heavens

    and on the earth,

    blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness

    and the moon to blood

    before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls

    on the name of the Lord will be saved;

for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

    there will be deliverance,

    as the Lord has said,

even among the survivors

    whom the Lord calls.” (Joel 2:28-32).

In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, Peter reaches back to this passage to explain what had happened in the early church’s prayer meeting. The church was gathered in prayer when fire descended upon them all, and they began to speak in other languages, so that everyone who was in Jerusalem could hear the praises of God being proclaimed in their own heart language.

And since that day, we live in the time prophesied of by Joel. God’s Spirit is still being poured out on His church as we wait for the great and terrible Day of the Lord. A day of judgment is coming upon the earth and all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. The question is: will you be one of them? Today is the day, we aren’t promised tomorrow. So make your choice today. Call on the name of the Lord and be saved.

Read Joel 2

All verses are quoted from the NIV unless otherwise noted.