Achtemeier: Apart from Joel 2:12-19 and Joel 2:28-32, Christian churches pay little attention to this book. But it proclaims the two great themes of the gospel: God’s judgement and his grace.
Date: Between 500 and 350 BC (Achtemeier). Frequent reference to the temple and its rituals (Joel 1:9, 13–14, 16; 2:14, 17; cf. 3:18) suggest a date some time after 515 BC, when the temple was rebuilt by those returning from exile.
Historical context: Judah was a small province of the Persian Empire. There is no mention of a king, and the community is led by priests and elders.
The background to the book is the devastation of the harvest of more than one year by a plague of locusts, Joel 1:4; 2:25).
Allen (NBC): A locust swarm can contain up to ten billion locusts, and evour in one day what 40,000 people can eat in a year
The prophet’s role was to interpret this crisis in terms of the people’s relationship with the Lord, to call the people to repentance, and to announce the Lord’s deliverance.
Joel interpreted the plague as a warning to return to the Lord (Joel 2:13, 18, 26–27; 3:2f, 16f) cf. Amos 4:9). The prophet uses both the political name, ‘Judah’ (e.g. Joel 3:1) and the covenant name, ‘Israel’ (Joel 2:27; 3:2, 16).
God’s covenant relationship with his people involves their relationship with ‘the land’, Joel 1:2; 2:1, 14, 18. ‘God’s gift of the land was a sensitive instrument that registered the spiritual state of the people. It was fertile in times of fellowship and obedience, but barren and lifeless in times of disloyalty. Indeed, locust plagues feature as one of the covenant curses in Dt. 28:38, 42, while agricultural prosperity is credited to Yahweh’s blessing (Dt. 28:4, 8, 11, 12.’ (NBD)
New Bible Dictionary: Joel stresses the relationship between material fortune and obedience to God’s will. This will be qualified in Job, and rarely appealed to in the NT, Mt 6:33; 2 Cor 9:6–11; Phil 4:15–19. But a kinship betwee humanity and the rest of creation remains, and is not to be neglected.
Although the Book of Job and other OT scriptures remind us that human misfortune cannot always be attributed to specific human sins, nevertheless, even the NT writers maintain some sort of connection between the two, 1 Cor. 11:30–32; Heb. 12:5–11. A prophetic warning is always to be raised against the possibility of spiritual treason, (e.g. Heb. 10:26–31; Rev 2:5; 3:3, 14–22), although tender encouragement also has its place, Joel 2:13; Heb 6:9-12.
The concept of ‘the day of the Lord’, already prominent in Amos (see Amos 5:18-20) also features in Joel (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11). Here, God’s judgment is mediated (in the first instance, at least) by the plague of locusts.
As a post-exilic prophet, speaking to a people restored to their own land, Joel had the task of explaining why the golden age foretold by Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had not fully materialised.
Allen (NBC): Joel is a skilled teacher,
‘quoting Scripture and religious traditions and applying them to his own time. For instance, in Joel 2:13 he quoted the beautiful description of God found in Israelite worship (cf. Ex. 34:6; Ps. 86:15) and used it as an incentive to repent. Also he was careful to pave the way for divine oracles, as when he issued his challenges to different groups of people (Joel 1:2–18) and offered a sample prayer (Joel 1:19–20) before God’s summons for the people to assemble in repentant worship at Jerusalem (Joel 2:1). Moreover, he explained oracles, once they were given: in Joel 2:13 (‘Return to the LORD …’) the divine call of Joel 2:12 is reinforced with reasons for obeying it, and in Joel 2:32 the significance of God’s intention for his people (vs 30–31) is clarified.’
Joel also makes use of earlier prophecies, including that of Obadiah.
Allen (NBC): Job was also a sensitive pastor:
‘he was sensitive to the frustrations and heartaches of an ethnic minority. He replaced despair with hope, and a poor self-image with confidence in God’s positive purposes. God would recognize and reverse the suffering of his people at the hands of the nations (Joel 3:2–3, 5–6, 19) by vindicating and blessing them. Whenever the church feels insecure and threatened by a hostile world, it can turn to Joel for support.’
The Book of Joel is referred to in two distinct ways in the NT. Firstly, the concept of ‘the day of the Lord’ is applied to the return of Christ, when God will complete his overthrow of evil Secondly, in Acts 2:16–21, 33, 38–40, Peter applies the language of Joel 2:28-32 to the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This dual usage ‘reflects a conviction that for the church the last days have already begun, but are not yet completed, while for the world they still lie in the future.’ (NBC)
Allusions and quotations in the New Testament
Joel 1
Joe 1:6 || Rev 9:8
Joel 2
Joe 2:2 || Mt 24:21
Joe 2:4–5 || Rev 9:7
Joe 2:5 || Rev 9:9
Joe 2:10 || Mt 24:29 || Mk 13:24–25 || Rev 6:12–13 || Rev 8:12
Joe 2:11 || Rev 6:17
Joe 2:23 || Jas 5:7
Joe 2:28 || Acts 21:9 || Tt 3:6
Joe 2:28–32 || Acts 2:17–21
Joe 2:31 || Mt 24:29 || Mk 13:24–25 || Rev 6:12
Joe 2:32 || Acts 2:39 || Acts 22:16 || Rom 10:13
Joel 3
Joe 3:4–8 || Mt 11:21–22 || Lk 10:13–14
Joe 3:13 || Mk 4:29 || Rev 14:15 || Rev 14:18 || Rev 19:15
Joe 3:15 || Mt 24:29 || Mk 13:24–25 || Rev 6:12–13 || Rev 8:12
Joe 3:18 || Rev 22:1