| |
|
|
JOEL CHAPTER TWO
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand within the
normative rules of language, context and logic 
which limits the observer to the content offered by the book of Joel. This
will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere; and more
importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and objective
comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
****** EXCERPT FROM JOEL CHAPTER ONE ******
Or
skip to the beginning of chapter 2: 
(Joel 1:1 NKJV) "The word of the LORD that [has come] to Joel, the son of Pethuel. (Joel 1:2 NKJV) Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? (Joel 1:3 NKJV) Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. (Joel 1:4 NKJV) What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. (Joel 1:5 NKJV) Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth. (Joel 1:6 NKJV) For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. (Joel 1:7 CBL) It [has made] My vine become [destroyed], And My fig-tree become [debranched], completely stripping [the branches] off; and they have thrown it down [to the ground]; Its branches have been made white. (Joel 1:8 NASB) Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the husband of her youth. (Joel 1:9 NKJV) The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD; The priests [have mourned], who minister to the LORD. (Joel 1:10 NASB) The field [has been] ruined, The land [has mourned]; For the grain [has been ravaged - ruined], The new wine [grape juice has dried], Fresh [olive] oil [has languished, in the sense of failed]. (Joel 1:11 NKJV) Be ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished. (Joel 1:12 NKJV) The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree - All the trees of the field [have] withered; [Because] joy has withered away from the sons of men [i.e., humankind]. (Joel 1:13 NASB).Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. (Joel 1:14 NKJV) Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. (Joel 1:15 NKJV) Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty." =
In light of the unsurpassed, devastating locust plague which had recently occurred in Judah, the prophet Joel exhorted the people of Judah and the priests of the temple to wear mourning sackcloth, and lament the devastation of the plague which destroyed the grain and vineyard crops. For there were no grain or drink offerings to present in the house of God, causing the priests to suffer the loss of their sustenance along with the people. Joel also exhorted the priests to consecrate a fast and call a sacred assembly in the house of the LORD for the elders and all the inhabitants of the land; for all Israel was exhorted to cry out to the LORD in national repentance. Joel's exhortations were immediately followed by his emphatic declaration, "Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty!!" Joel wrote that the Day of the LORD was at hand in the sense of it being imminent - that is, it would commence when all Israel repented unto faith in the LORD to provide deliverance from the worldwide destruction from the Almighty and eternal life in the Kingdom of God. So the judgment which the Almighty LORD brought upon the land of Judah via the destructive plague of locusts was to be pre-imminent to the commencement of the judgment of the Day of the LORD, conditional upon all Israel's national repentance. For key to the commencement of the Kingdom of God was the preservation of God's chosen people so that, according to the promises of the LORD, they can enter it and rule. This plague in Judah was one of a number of judgments upon the people of the LORD which was designed to bring them to national repentance unto faith in God's temporal and eternal salvation in order to usher in the Day of the LORD. But the people did not all repent at that time, so the Day of the LORD did not occur in Joel's time. Scripture has repeatedly presented the phrase rendered "the Day of the LORD" with the definite article "the" and the singular word, "Day" as a unique, one of a kind and imminent event - the last event in history, moving on into the eternal Kingdom of God; and predicated upon the moment of Israel's national repentance. The Day of the LORD was never something that was to be repeated in history every time the LORD brought judgment upon His people, as some contend. Nor was it something that history was to be moving toward, as others contend. It has always been ready to break into history at the moment that a generation of Israel expressed national repentance.
Note that the
locust plague in Judah was not the Day of the LORD, as
some contend, for it was not the worldwide judgment of the LORD as
portrayed in Joel chapters two and three. It was one of the many judgments
upon God's people - each one of which was to be pre-imminent to the Day of
the LORD had all Israel repented at any of these times. When the Day of
the LORD does commence, there will be far greater devastation upon the
earth than the regional plague in Judah - it will be worldwide /
creationwide. After which the LORD would establish His eternal Kingdom on
earth with His people as ruling nation via the pouring out of the spirit
of God upon all mankind, (Joel chapters 2-3 ).
Note that the arrival of the Day of the LORD in the time of Joel would in
no way change any of the Old Testament prophecies, especially those of the
Son of God atoning for the sins of the whole world. For there would be no
hindrance to their perfect fulfillment by the arrival of the Day of the
LORD at any time in the history of Israel as God's chosen people. On the
other hand, the eternal Kingdom of God would then have arrived before the
occurance of the times and events - not the unfulfilled prophecies
- portrayed in the "New Testament" books - a history that then
would not have occurred as stipulated, (Joel 1:13-15).
(Joel 1:1 NKJV) "The word of the LORD that [has come] to Joel, the son of Pethuel. (Joel 1:2 NKJV) Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land! Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers? (Joel 1:3 NKJV) Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation. (Joel 1:4 NKJV) What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten. (Joel 1:5 NKJV) Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth. (Joel 1:6 NKJV) For a nation has come up against My land, Strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, And he has the fangs of a fierce lion. (Joel 1:7 CBL) It [has made] My vine become [destroyed], And My fig-tree become [debranched], completely stripping [the branches] off; and they have thrown it down [to the ground]; Its branches have been made white. (Joel 1:8 NASB) Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth, for the husband of her youth. (Joel 1:9 NKJV) The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD; The priests [have mourned], who minister to the LORD. (Joel 1:10 NASB) The field [has been] ruined, The land [has mourned]; For the grain [has been ravaged - ruined], The new wine [grape juice has dried], Fresh [olive] oil [has languished, in the sense of failed]. (Joel 1:11 NKJV) Be ashamed, you farmers, Wail, you vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field has perished. (Joel 1:12 NKJV) The vine has dried up, And the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate tree, The palm tree also, And the apple tree - All the trees of the field [have] withered; [Because] joy has withered away from the sons of men [i.e., humankind]. (Joel 1:13 NASB).Gird yourselves with sackcloth And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the drink offering Are withheld from the house of your God. (Joel 1:14 NKJV) Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land Into the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. (Joel 1:15 NKJV) Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. (Joel 1:16 NASB) Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God? (Joel 1:17 NKJV) The seeds [have dried, i.e., shriveled up] under their [the farmers' shovels]; The storehouses [have deteriorated], The barns [have been broken] down, For the grain [has] dried up. (Joel 1:18 NKJV) How the beasts [have groaned]! The herds of cattle [have wandered] aimlessly. Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep [have been inflicted]. (Joel 1:19 NKJV) To You, O LORD, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. (Joel 1:20 NKJV) The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures." =
Before proceeding in chapter two to the details of the Day of the LORD, the prophet Joel provided further details of the devastation of the countryside of Judah to remind the people to return to their God in national repentance, "Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God? The seeds [have dried, i.e., shriveled up] under their [the farmers' shovels]; The storehouses [have deteriorated], The barns [have been broken] down, For the grain [has] dried up. How the beasts [have groaned]! The herds of cattle [have wandered] aimlessly. Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep [have been inflicted]. To You, O LORD, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. The beasts of the field also cry out to You, For the water brooks are dried up, And fire has devoured the open pastures." Notice that the aftermath of the locust plague had caused further devastation - loss of livestock, drought and pervasive wildfires in the fields and forests. The seeds in soil clods were discovered by the farmers digging with their shovels (Hebrew: "megepOtêhem") to have dried up, making planting useless. The devastation was so pervasive that the prophet Joel cried out to the LORD for mercy on behalf of the people of the LORD. And even the beasts of the field - with no water to drink and facing starvation - were characterized as crying out to the LORD, (Joel 1:16-20).
****** END OF EXCERPT FROM JOEL CHAPTER ONE ******
(Joel 2:1 NKJV) '''[The LORD said] "Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the Day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand:
(Joel 2:2 YLT) A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloud and thick darkness, As darkness spread on the mountains, A people numerous and mighty, Like it [has] not been from of old, And after it there is not again - till the years of generation and generation [i.e., for ages to come].
(Joel 2:2 HOLMAN) A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dense overcast, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come.
(Joel 2:3 NKJV) A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them.
(Joel 2:4 NASB) Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run.
(Joel 2:5 NKJV) With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array.
(Joel 2:6 NKJV) Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color.
(Joel 2:7 NASB) They run like mighty men, They climb [a] wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths.
(Joel 2:8 HOLMAN) They do not push each other; each man proceeds on his own path. They dodge the arrows, never stopping.
(Joel 2:9 NKJV) They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief.
(Joel 2:10 NKJV) The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon will [have grown] dark [lit., black], And the stars will diminish [lit., be gathered up] their brightness.
(Joel 2:11 NKJV) The LORD [has given] voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?"
(Joel 2:12 NKJV) "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning."
(Joel 2:13 NKJV) So rend [tear] your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
(Joel 2:14 NKJV) Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?
(Joel 2:15 NKJV) Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly;
(Joel 2:16 NKJV) Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room.
(Joel 2:17 NKJV) Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare [Have pity upon] Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach [disgrace], That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' "
(Joel 2:18 NKJV) Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity [i.e., have compassion for] His people.
(Joel 2:19 NKJV) The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine [lit., grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach [disgrace] among the nations.
(Joel 2:20 NKJV) But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive [it] away into a barren and desolate land, With [its] face toward the eastern sea And [its] back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things."
(Joel 2:21 NKJV) Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things!
(Joel 2:22 NASB) Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.
(Joel 2:23 NKJV) Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully [lit. "for righteousness" in the sense of 'because He is righteous and faithful'], And He will cause the rain to come down for you - The former ['Spring'] rain, And the latter ['Autumn'] rain in the first month.
(Joel 2:24 NKJV) The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine [grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil.
(Joel 2:25 HOLMAN) "[And] I will [have repaid] you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust - My great army that I [will have] sent against you.
(Joel 2:26 NKJV) You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.
(Joel 2:26 CBL) And [you will have eaten] abundantly, eating and being satisfied and [you will have praised] the name of Yahweh your God, because of what [wonderful works] He has done with you. And My people will not ever again be put to shame.
(Joel 2:27 NKJV) And you will [have known] that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
(Joel 2:28 NKJV) And it shall [have] come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh [all mankind - implying that all mankind are believers]; Your sons and your daughters will [have] prophesied, your old men will dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
(Joel 2:29 NKJV) And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
(Joel 2:30 NKJV) And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
(Joel 2:30 YLT) And I will [have given] wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, Blood and fire, and columns of smoke.
(Joel 2:31 NKJV) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
(Joel 2:32 NKJV) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved [in the sense of delivered from temporal destruction / premature physical death]. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls." '''
(Joel 2:1 NKJV) '''[The LORD said] "Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the Day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand: (Joel 2:2 YLT) A day of darkness and thick darkness, A day of cloud and thick darkness, As darkness spread on the mountains, A people numerous and mighty, Like it [has] not been from of old, And after it there is not again - till the years of generation and generation [i.e., for ages to come]. (Joel 2:2 HOLMAN) A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dense overcast, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come. (Joel 2:3 NKJV) A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them. (Joel 2:4 NASB) Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. (Joel 2:5 NKJV) With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array. (Joel 2:6 NKJV) Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color. (Joel 2:7 NASB) They run like mighty men, They climb [a] wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths. (Joel 2:8 HOLMAN) They do not push each other; each man proceeds on his own path. They dodge the arrows, never stopping. (Joel 2:9 NKJV) They run to and fro in the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief. (Joel 2:10 NKJV) The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon will [have grown] dark [lit., black], And the stars will diminish [lit., be gathered up] their brightness. (Joel 2:11 NKJV) The LORD [has given] voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? " ''' =
In chapter one, Joel the prophet provided a detailed description of the devastation of the countryside of Judah due to an unparalleled locust plague. With this in view, he commanded the people of the LORD to gird themselves with mourning sackcloth, consecrate a fast and answer the call to a sacred assembly to which the elders and all the inhabitants of the land were to come into the house of the LORD their God and cry out to the LORD in repentance unto faith in Him for temporal deliverance from the wrath to come and eternal life in the Kingdom of God - for at that time it would commence upon the earth. Since the locust plague in Judah was to be pre-imminent to the commencement of the Kingdom, for the prophet declared in Joel 1:15 that the Day of the LORD was at hand in the sense that its arrival was imminent, it is evident that the coming of the LORD was predicated upon all Israel's repentance. The LORD once again warned His people before He brought His judgment upon them, graciously providing them with an opportunity for repentance. If all Israel had, at the time of Joel or multiple times throughout the history of God's chosen people, turned to faith in the LORD - accepting by faith the LORD's coming to provide deliverance from temporal harm and eternal life for them in the Kingdom of God, then the day of the LORD would have commenced. For key to the commencement of the Kingdom was the preservation of God's chosen people, so that they could enter it and rule. Scripture has repeatedly presented the phrase rendered "the Day of the LORD" with the definite article "the" and the singular word, "Day" as a unique, one of a kind and imminent event - the last event in history, moving on into the eternal Kingdom of God; and predicated upon the moment of Israel's national repentance. The Day of the LORD was never something that was to be repeated in history every time the LORD brought judgment upon His people, as some contend. Nor was it something that history was to be moving toward, as others contend. It has always been ready to break into history at the moment that a generation of Israel expressed national repentance. Note that the arrival of the Day of the LORD in the time of Joel would in no way change any of the Old Testament prophecies, especially those of the Son of God atoning for the sins of the whole world. For there would be no hindrance to their perfect fulfillment by the arrival of the Day of the LORD at any time in the history of Israel as God's chosen people. On the other hand, the eternal Kingdom of God would then have arrived before the occurance of the times and events - not the unfulfilled prophecies - portrayed in the "New Testament" books - a history that then would not have occurred as stipulated, (Joel 1:13-15).
So, in the last section of chapter one, verses 16-20, the prophet Joel reminded the elders and inhabitants of Judah of the locust plague which they had just gone through, implying their unfaithfulness was the cause of the LORD's judgment upon them. Joel provided further details of the devastating plague and then immediately at the beginning of chapter two, he announced once again the imminence of the Day of the LORD, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the Day of the LORD is coming, For it is at hand." This second announcement of the Day of the LORD had the character of a warning, again implying a call for national repentance. (The first announcement emphasized lamentation, (Joel 1:15)) The Hebrew word "sôpAr" rendered "trumpets" in Joel 2:1 NKJV is defined as "horn;" - likely a "Ram's horn," which was characteristically used for such a warning. Note that the phrase rendered, "My holy mountain" refers to Jerusalem, more specifically the temple mount in Jerusalem, (cf. Joel 3:17). The commencement of the Day of the LORD is that part of the Day in which all of the inhabitants of the land of Israel will tremble - for there will be unprecedented calamity and devastation, far beyond what they had just experienced with the locust plague, (Joel 2:1).
Joel indicated in chapter two that the day of the LORD would be characterized by a number of astounding and unprecedented events. A locust plague was not in view in chapter 2, as some contend. For the context went beyond the scope of a locust plague - beyond the devastation of agricultural land - especially with the level of ferocity to be perpetrated directly upon the people of the LORD, (Joel 2:3, 6). Furthermore, since the home land of the invading army is stipulated in verse 20 as north of Judah, and since locusts came from the south, then a plague of locusts was not in view. And in that same verse, the phrase rendered, "With [its] face toward the eastern sea And [its] back toward the western sea" better suits a human army as opposed to the face and back of locusts, which does not make anatomical / directional sense. Finally, the land of Judah had just been decimated by a locust plague, so another one right after it would be unlikely. There was no vegetation left for the insects to devour! On the other hand, Joel used descriptive terms to portray the commencement period of the Day of the LORD that could also describe aspects of a locust plague such as the one that had just occurred in Judah, i.e., he used parallelism to portray graphic images of what was to come from their immediate past experiences. Hence the context of chapter two best fits that of a human army of innumerable soldiers causing unprecedented destruction. Since Joel had declared that the local plague, which had just occurred, was pre-imminent to the commencement of the judgment of the Day of the LORD, the descriptive terms of the locust plague would get the people's attention to what was at hand: the Day of the LORD and the need for Israel's national repentance for temporal and eternal salvation.
The first part of the Day of the LORD - the destructive part - Joel stipulated will be a time of darkness and terror, characterized by the onslaught of huge armies of human soldiers so numerous that they would appear like huge dark clouds moving up and over the mountains, coming down upon the face of the earth - coming to wage war upon the people of the LORD. In a number of ways, they will resemble a locust plague of unprecedented, supernatural proportions. But the phrases rendered "A people numerous and mighty" in verse 2, "A great and strong people" in verse 3, "Like a strong people set in battle array" in verse 5 and "The earth quakes before them" in verse 10 best portray a human army and overshadow the possibility of a locust plague.
The phrases in verse 2 rendered, "A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dense overcast, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come," conveyed imagery of an imponderable mass of enemy soldiers - innumerable and strong - which will suddenly, quickly and ominously spread over the land of Israel, like the morning light suddenly and quickly spreads up and over the mountains, but with deadly force - to an extent which had never occurred, nor will ever occur again, (Joel 2:2).
Joel went on to provide further details of the destruction phase of the Day of the LORD, with the phrases "A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them." The destructive force of fire before and after the army goes far beyond what an "army" of locusts can do. There will be no escaping them, nor death, (Joel 2:3).
Joel then provided a description of the massive invading army, "Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run" - painting a picture that paralleled Judah's recent locust plague as described in chapter one; evidently to bring to his readers' minds the connection between their recent local plague and the Day of the LORD - to impress upon their minds that the devastation of the locust plague was pre-imminent to the commencement of the much greater judgment / devastation of the Day of the LORD which he declared was imminent - dependant upon their national repentance. Note that the face of the locust was like a miniature horse; and it's movements resembled the way a horse lifts its forelegs and propels its body with the hind legs. Although one could use this description of locusts to refer to such a plague as occurred in Judah, it is evident that it refers to war horses which will be used in the future to conduct war in the Day of the LORD, as opposed to another locust plague. For the vegetation in Judah had already been destroyed leaving nothing for the locusts to attack in another plague, (Joel 2:4).
Joel's terrifying description continued: "With a noise like chariots Over mountaintops they leap, Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array," portraying the calamitous din that hordes of chariots (or 21st century war machines) will make going through mountains in such great numbers and at such speed that they will appear to leap over them. And the noise of this will be like a roaring, flaming fire which devours dry stubble. This army will be "like a strong people set in battle array." Although the noise of the locust wings and their legs rubbing together have been known to sound like advancing chariots as well as fire devouring dry stubble, the imagery most likely described a human army as opposed to another locust plague. Since the bodies and heads appear to be miniature armored horses, then Joel's imagery certainly connected the recent plague in Judah to the imminent coming of the Day of the LORD and the imminent need for Israel's national repentance, (Joel 2:5).
The text went on, "Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color." For the great army was one where "They run like mighty men, They climb [a] wall like soldiers; And they each march in line, Nor do they deviate from their paths. They do not push each other; each man proceeds on his own path." The phrase rendered, "Before them the people writhe in pain; All faces are drained of color," better fits the agony of anticipated slaughter by a human army in overwhelming numbers than a locust plague. For immediate physical harm would not be in view with another locust plague. Verses 7 through 9 also pointed more to an army of men rather than to a plague of locusts. For locusts can be observed to push, shove and climb over one another, as opposed to the efficient and controlled actions of a trained, disciplined human army. The text went on to favor a massive human army: "They dodge the arrows, never stopping;" for dodging arrows is not germane to a locust plague. And like locusts, the men of a disciplined attacking human army, "Run to and fro in the city, They run on [a] wall [Note that eastern buildings typically had walls surrounding each house]; They climb into the houses, They enter at the windows like a thief." (Joel 2:6-9).
Verse 10 indicated the supernatural, all creation-wide range of the Day of the LORD: "The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness." Notice that the phrase rendered "The earth quakes before them" best portrayed a vast human army and all its war making machinery as opposed to a locust plague. Nothing like this has occurred, from the time of Abraham when Jewish history began. If the Day of the LORD was to be another locust plague, then the earth quaking before the army and the trembling of the heavens, would have to be of supernatural origin and creation-wide in scale. This would demand a worldwide supernatural locust plague - something which was not in view in the context of the book of Joel, (Joel 2:10).
Joel went on to write that there would be unparalleled judgment that the LORD would bring upon the world whereby no one would be able to endure it without His protection: "The LORD [has given] voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?" (Joel 2:11).
(Joel 2:12 NKJV) ''' "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." (Joel 2:13 NKJV) So rend [tear] your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. (Joel 2:14 NKJV) Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? (Joel 2:15 NKJV) Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; (Joel 2:16 NKJV) Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. (Joel 2:17 NKJV) Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare [Have pity upon] Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach [disgrace], That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' " ''' =
The first eleven verses of chapter two provided details of the worldwide / creationwide destruction / effect that was to occur from the commencement of the Day of the LORD. Total destruction of the people of Israel would be inescapable without trusting in the LORD's protection and in His grace provision for eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Once more Joel wrote of the LORD's appeal to His people to repent unto faith in Him alone for temporal and eternal deliverance: " 'Now, therefore,' says the LORD, 'Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.' So rend [tear] your heart, and not your garments: Return to the LORD your God [in the sense or repenting unto faith in Him], For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?" Notice the emphasis upon internal faith as opposed to the outward expressions of it underlined in verse 13 above in order to receive the LORD's temporal and eternal deliverance / salvation. Whether or not certain sins were in view was not stipulated anywhere in the book of Joel relative to the people of the LORD. But the prophet Joel did command the people of the LORD to be ashamed, (cf. Joel 1:11); and they were to fast, weep and mourn - all of this implying their condition of being sinful. For all Israel had not trusted in the LORD for deliverance from temporal harm and for entrance into the eternal Kingdom of God, (Joel 2:12; cf. Joel 1:11, 13). Joel indicated that the LORD was gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and that He relented from doing harm. Whereupon, Joel posed the question, "Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God;" implying that this would be His response to Israel's national repentance, i.e., restoration to prosperity. There would be crops in the field and grapes in the vineyards sufficient for the people of the LORD to present grain and drink offerings to Him when they celebrated their salvation in the House of the LORD, (Joel 2:12-14).
Joel repeated the warning message of 2:1 in 2:15 to be announced once more by the blowing of the ram's horn. Whereupon Joel commanded the priests to consecrate a fast and call a sacred assembly: Each and every individual - man, woman and child of the people of the LORD was to stop what he was doing and gather together in a sacred assembly in the Temple to express national repentance: '''Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare [Have pity upon] Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach [disgrace], That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' " ''' The priests were to: (1) sanctify the people in the sense of performing a purification rite which symbolized the setting of them apart to the LORD as His people whom He would save from temporal and eternal judgment, (2) lead the people in national sorrow before the LORD in the court of the temple, (i.e., between the temple porch and the bronze altar of burnt offering; cf Exek 8:16); and (3) lead the assembly with a prayer for deliverance from temporal and eternal judgment. Notice that Joel's prayer for the priests to lead the assembly included an appeal to the LORD relative to upholding His reputation. If the LORD did not deliver His own people from the hand of the marauding mass of Gentiles, they would mock the Israelites and their God Who failed to deliver His people as promised. Note that the appeal in verse 17 to the LORD to uphold His reputation by delivering His people implied that the whole nation of Israel had a responsibility to turn to the LORD in national repentance so that the reputation of the LORD would be upheld. There would be times in history when a defeated Israel would be mocked by godless Gentile conquerors - the underlying cause: failure to come to the LORD in national repentance so that the LORD would provide temporal and eternal deliverance / salvation. For centuries the sovereignty, honor and glory of the God of Israel had been disgraced because of the unfaithfulness of His chosen people. His consequent disciplining of them often caused them to be shamefully conquered - their Gentile conquerors mocking their God for allowing the Israelites to be defeated. To this day, the commencement of the Day of the LORD and the eternal Kingdom of God awaits national / universal repentance of a generation of God's chosen people, Israel, unto faith in the LORD unto temporal deliverance and salvation unto eternal life in the eternal Kingdom of God. In the time of Joel, the prophet indicated more than once that the result of all of Israel coming together in national repentance would be that "The LORD [would] be zealous for His land," in the sense of restoring it; "And pity [i.e., have compassion for] His people," with the result of their entrance into the eternal Kingdom of God, which would then have commenced, (Joel 2:15-18).
(Joel 2:12 NKJV) ''' "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." (Joel 2:13 NKJV) So rend [tear] your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. (Joel 2:14 NKJV) Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? (Joel 2:15 NKJV) Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; (Joel 2:16 NKJV) Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. (Joel 2:17 NKJV) Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare [Have pity upon] Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach [disgrace], That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' " (Joel 2:18 NKJV) Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity [i.e, have compassion for] His people. (Joel 2:19 NKJV) The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine [lit., grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach [disgrace] among the nations. (Joel 2:20 NKJV) But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive [it] away into a barren and desolate land, With [its] face toward the eastern sea And [its] back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things." (Joel 2:21 NKJV) Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! (Joel 2:22 NASB) Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. (Joel 2:23 NKJV) Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully [lit. "for righteousness" in the sense of 'because He is righteous and faithful'], And He will cause the rain to come down for you - The former ['Spring'] rain, And the latter ['Autumn'] rain in the first month. (Joel 2:24 NKJV) The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine [grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil. (Joel 2:25 HOLMAN) "[And] I will [have repaid] you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust - My great army that I [will have] sent against you. (Joel 2:26 NKJV) You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. (Joel 2:26 CBL) And [you will have eaten] abundantly, eating and being satisfied and [you will have praised] the name of Yahweh your God, because of what [wonderful works] He has done with you. And My people will not ever again be put to shame. (Joel 2:27 NKJV) And you will [have known] that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. (Joel 2:28 NKJV) And it shall [have] come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh [all mankind - implying that all mankind are believers]; Your sons and your daughters will [have] prophesied, your old men will dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. (Joel 2:29 NKJV) And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:30 NKJV) And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. (Joel 2:30 YLT) And I will [have given] wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, Blood and fire, and columns of smoke. (Joel 2:31 NKJV) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. (Joel 2:32 NKJV) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved [in the sense of saved from temporal death such that only the survivors will enter into the Eternal Kingdom of God which will have arrived - which implies that all the survivors will be believers]. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls." ''' =
If all Israel repented unto faith in the LORD for temporal and eternal deliverance / salvation, (cf Joel 1:14-15; 2:12-17), then the LORD would be "zealous for His land, And pity His people," (Joel 2:15-18)
Verse 19 continued to provide details of the blessings that the LORD would bestow upon the people of the LORD in the Day of the LORD: "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine [lit., grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil, And you will be satisfied by them." The phrase at the end of 2:19 rendered, "I will no longer make you a reporach [disgrace] among the nations [Gentiles]," recalled the times before the Day of the LORD when the LORD had repeatedly disciplined His people for unfaithfulness - a number of times with locusts plagues. They were a reproach - a disgrace - among the Gentile nations - often acting worse than the Gentiles, (Joel 2:19).
Verse 20 declared that the LORD would remove the northern army far from Israel. The phrase rendered "the northern army," (lit., "the northerner") refers to those of the invading army whose native land is to the north of Judah. Since the native land of locusts was to the south, a plague of locusts was not in view. The army would be driven into a barren and desolate land with its face toward the eastern sea [the Dead Sea] and its back toward the western sea [the Mediterranean Sea] to be destroyed - the dead bodies giving out a stench and foul oder. Although this portrayal some contend fits a locust plague, it is more consistent with a human army because, (1) the army will come from a northern land, not from the south from where the locusts came. (2) the phrase rendered "Because he [the army] has done monstrous things" in the sense of doing things which are done in an evil manner and for self-glorification has in view things which are inapplicable to locusts, who merely seek food. (3) and the phrase rendered, "With [its] face toward the eastern sea And [its] back toward the western sea" better suits a human army, because the face and back of locusts cannot face east and west - this does not make anatomical / directional sense, (Joel 2:20).
In verse 21, Joel wrote as if speaking to the land - the promised land of the LORD's chosen people to be fully inherited and fully occupied by them in the Day of the LORD. He wrote for the land not to fear, but to be glad and rejoice; for the LORD would do marvelous things. Furthermore, Joel wrote as if speaking to the beasts of the field: they were not to fear, for the pastures of the wilderness would turn green, the trees would bear fruit - the yield of fig trees and vines would be full. Finally, Joel addressed the children of Zion - the people of the LORD. He wrote that they should be glad and rejoice in the LORD their God; for He would give them rain because He is righteous and faithful to His promises. He would cause the former [the Spring] and latter [Autumn] rains to come down - for planting and growing, respectively; hence the threshing floors would be full of wheat - the vats overflowing with new wine [grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil, (Joel 2:21-24).
Joel 2:25, declares that the LORD would restore all that of which the years of locusts plagues had taken: "[And] I will [have repaid] you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust - My great army that I [will have] sent against you." This verse parallels Joel's description of the locust plague in Joel 1:2-4 - the last and greatest of them all, but in slightly different order.
(Joel 1:2 NKJV) "Hear this, you elders, And give ear, all you inhabitants of the land!.Has anything like this happened in your days, Or even in the days of your fathers?
(Joel 1:3 NKJV) Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation.
Joel 1:4 NKJV) What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten."
So Joel 2:25 has in view a number of locust plagues brought upon Judah by the LORD's "great army,"which devastated Judah "over the years," implying that the sovereignty of the LORD directed "His" army of locusts to plague the land and the people of Judah, due to the unfaithfulness of His people. At least three key points establish that the LORD's army of destruction portrayed in chapter two of the time of the Day of the LORD was not one or a series of locust plagues as depicted in Joel 2:25, as some contend: (1) The scope of Joel 2:25 was regional - nothing to compare to the Day of the LORD which will bring destruction that will be a unique, one time event of unparalleled, worldwide and creationwide proportions. (2) The Book of Joel declared that, upon her national repentance, Israel would be delivered from harm from the LORD's army in the Day of the LORD - unlike the locust plagues of the past which devastated the countryside each time. (3) And finally, after the deliverance of Israel during the Day of the LORD, the book of Joel stipulated that the LORD would never again put His people to shame - unlike each of the locust plagues which struck the people of the LORD, bringing shame to them and disgrace to the God of Israel, (Joel 2:25).
These three points are corroborated especially well in the last eight verses in chapter two:
(Joel 2:26 CBL) '''And [you will have eaten] abundantly, eating and being satisfied and [you will have praised] the name of Yahweh your God, because of what [wonderful works] He has done with you. And My people will not ever again be put to shame.
(Joel 2:27 NKJV) And you will [have known] that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.
(Joel 2:28 NKJV) '''And it shall [have] come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh [all mankind - implying that all mankind are believers]; Your sons and your daughters will [have] prophesied, your old men will dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
(Joel 2:29 NKJV) And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
(Joel 2:30 NKJV) And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
(Joel 2:30 YLT) And I will [have given] wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, Blood and fire, and columns of smoke.
(Joel 2:31 NKJV) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
(Joel 2:32 NKJV) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved [in the sense of saved from temporal death such that only the survivors will enter into the Eternal Kingdom of God which will have arrived - which implies that all the survivors will be believers]. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls." '''
Notice that the people of the LORD, in the blessing part of the Day of the LORD, will eat plenty and be satisfied. And they will praise the name of the LORD their God, Who has dealt wondrously with them. Author Joel declared that thereafter the people of the LORD will never be put to shame; for their ongoing faith in the LORD will be evident. The LORD will forever be in the midst of His people. Joel wrote that the LORD declared that He was the LORD their God And there was no other. And once again author Joel wrote, for emphasis, making it clear that chapter two does not portray a regional locust plague of ancient times as some contend; but it does portray what has not yet occurred up to this day - for Israel continues to be disgracefully estranged from the LORD to this day: "And My people will not ever again be put to shame," (Joel 2:26-27).
(Joel 2:12 NKJV) ''' "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." (Joel 2:13 NKJV) So rend [tear] your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. (Joel 2:14 NKJV) Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? (Joel 2:15 NKJV) Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; (Joel 2:16 NKJV) Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. (Joel 2:17 NKJV) Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, "Spare [Have pity upon] Your people, O LORD, And do not give Your heritage to reproach [disgrace], That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?' " (Joel 2:18 NKJV) Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, And pity [i.e, have compassion for] His people. (Joel 2:19 NKJV) The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine [lit., grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach [disgrace] among the nations. (Joel 2:20 NKJV) But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive [it] away into a barren and desolate land, With [its] face toward the eastern sea And [its] back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things." (Joel 2:21 NKJV) Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! (Joel 2:22 NASB) Do not fear, beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, For the tree has borne its fruit, The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. (Joel 2:23 NKJV) Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the LORD your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully [lit. "for righteousness" in the sense of 'because He is righteous and faithful'], And He will cause the rain to come down for you - The former ['Spring'] rain, And the latter ['Autumn'] rain in the first month. (Joel 2:24 NKJV) The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine [grape juice] and [fresh olive] oil. (Joel 2:25 HOLMAN) "[And] I will [have repaid] you for the years that the swarming locust ate, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust - My great army that I [will have] sent against you. (Joel 2:26 NKJV) You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame. (Joel 2:26 CBL) And [you will have eaten] abundantly, eating and being satisfied and [you will have praised] the name of Yahweh your God, because of what [wonderful works] He has done with you. And My people will not ever again be put to shame. (Joel 2:27 NKJV) And you will [have known] that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. (Joel 2:28 NKJV) And it shall [have] come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh [all mankind - implying that all mankind are believers]; Your sons and your daughters will [have] prophesied, your old men will dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. (Joel 2:29 NKJV) And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:30 NKJV) And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. (Joel 2:30 YLT) And I will [have given] wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, Blood and fire, and columns of smoke. (Joel 2:31 NKJV) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. (Joel 2:32 NKJV) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved [in the sense of saved from temporal death such that only the survivors will enter into the Eternal Kingdom of God which will have arrived - which implies that all the survivors will be believers]. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls." ''' =
Verses 28-32
bring an astounding close to chapter two. For the first time in history
and forever, the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon all
mankind evidently right after the LORD's temporal judgment upon the earth,
(cf. "afterward," Joel 2:28). These verses portray a series of
unique events which so far in history have not taken place to the
degree, chrononlogy and simultaneity stipulated in the Book of Joel.
Note that centuries later, the Apostle Peter referred to the imminent
fulfillment of Joel chapter two in his time as a result of the disciples
speaking in tongues. He indicated to the multitude of people who were
around him that what was about to occur in his time was the fulfillment of
what was prophesied in the Book of Joel, which included the pouring out of
the Holy Spirit upon all mankind, not just a few
disciples. The commencement of that Day, Peter indicated, was predicated
upon all Israel's acceptance of her Messiah / Savior Jesus Christ, which
did not occur. Hence the Day of the LORD did not commence at that time
either, ;
nor has anything taken place relative to the Day of the LORD to the
degree, chrononlogy and simultaneity stipulated in the Book of Joel, as
some contend.
According to the context of the Book of Joel, the pouring out of the Spirit upon all mankind implied that all mankind who survive the judgment part of the Day of the LORD will have repented unto a moment of faith alone in the LORD's provision of temporal deliverance from harm and eternal life in the eternal Kingdom of God. This universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Jews and Gentiles alike will evidently occur during the blessing part of the Day of the LORD - at the commencement of the eternal Kingdom of God. So all of those individuals whose lives the LORD preserved during His judgment period of the Day of the LORD will receive the indwelling Holy Spirit. Even the manservants and maid servants of the LORD who will serve the people of Israel will receive the indwelling Spirit. And the sons and daughters of Israel will also receive other spiritual gifts: the old men of Israel will dream dreams of revelation from the LORD, the young men of Israel will see visions of revelation from the LORD. This will evidently occur in order to enable Israel to be the ruling nation of the eternal Kingdom of God. For each Israelite will become an oracle of God to one another and to the Gentiles, (Joel 2:28-29).
Verses 30-32 return to the time of the first portion of the Day of the LORD - the judgment / destructive part. What was portrayed in this verses will go far beyond what locusts can do. Furthermore, what was portrayed in these verses has not accompanied any judgment of the LORD upon Judah - including the locust plagues, as some contend, especially to the creationwide scope, degree of severity, or spontaneity stipulated. Nor for that matter, have the events described in Joel 2:30-32 accompanied any event in history up to the present time: "And I will [have given] wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, Blood and fire, and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD." The implications of this likely point to extensive warfare where the smoke of war will often cover the sun and make the moon appear blood red. On the other hand, natural disasters would to the same to an even greater extent: multiple and simultaneous earthquakes and volcanoes throughout the world - causing great columns of smoke to block out the sun and moon worldwide, etc.; adding to the bloody human destruction of vast armies of the world at war with one another and the LORD.
(Joel 2:10 NKJV) "The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon will [have grown] dark [lit., black], And the stars will diminish [lit., be gathered up] their brightness.
(Joel 2:11 NKJV) The LORD [has given] voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?" ...............................[(Joel 2:30-31)].
All of humanity will be confronted by the LORD in the destructive / judgment part of the Day of the LORD with such ferocity that no one will be able to endure it - unless one called upon the name of the LORD to be saved - in the sense of trusting in His capacity and willingness to provide that salvation. The phrase rendered, "For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance," refers to the key focus of the LORD during the Day of the LORD: His chosen people, Israel - the people associated with Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Nevertheless, only a remnant called by the LORD from the people of the LORD and all of humanity will choose to believe in Him to save them and be delivered from His temporal destruction and enter into the eternal Kingdom of God: "And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved [in the sense of saved from temporal death such that only the survivors will enter into the Eternal Kingdom of God which will have arrived - which implies that all the survivors will be believers]. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls," (Joel 2:32).
Joel
chapter 3