Introduction

1:1 This is the Lord’s message that was given to Joel the son of Pethuel:

Jehovah gave this message to Joel. Joel means “Jehovah is God.” Pethuel means “the sincerity of God.” These names indicate that this was a godly family who were part of the Jewish believing remnant.

Joel is quoted twice in Amos, so he wrote before Amos. However, he did not teach hard against idolatry as Amos did, so he was most likely a prophet during the reign of the good king Joash, which would be around 835 B.C.

A Locust Plague Foreshadows the Day of the Lord

1:2 Listen to this, you elders; pay attention, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your whole life or in the lifetime of your ancestors?

This message was proclaimed and written to the people living inside of Judah around 835 B.C. The elders were the older men of Judah who had been around for a long time. It was also written to the inhabitants of Judah who were living in 835 B.C. Joel commanded the elders and the inhabitants of Judah to pay attention to his message. He asked these older men if they had ever seen anything like this locust invasion in their lifetime.

Judah was under the Mosaic Covenant. If they kept the covenant, then they would be blessed. If they did not keep the Mosaic Law, then they would be cursed. Since locusts had devastated their land, then they were under the curse of the Mosaic Covenant.

1:3 Tell your children about it, have your children tell their children, and their children the following generation.

The Jewish believers were to teach the historicity of this event to their children. It was to become part of the school curriculum. The Jewish prophets added the Word of God to the school curriculum. Modern liberals take the Word of God away from the curriculum. Liberals who take away the Word of God from the school curriculum will be judged for this erasure, because they are hurting children and placing a millstone around their own neck.

1:4 What the gazam-locust left the ‘arbeh-locust consumed, what the ‘arbeh-locust left the yeleq-locust consumed, and what the yeleq locust left the hasil-locust consumed!

In Hebrew, the four categories of locusts were “the gnawer,” “the swarmer,” “the licker,” and “the devourer.” There were four successive swarms of locusts eating what the previous swarm had left behind. The four stages of locusts devastated the land of Israel in 835 A.D.

1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you wine drinkers, because the sweet wine has been taken away from you.

The locusts had eaten all of the grapes. Therefore, the drunkards of Judah would drink no more wine. This passage was condemning the drunkards who had not learned to drink in simple moderation as the Bible allows. Instead, they drank heavily in excess, which the Bible forbids.

1:6 For a nation has invaded our land. There are so many of them they are too numerous to count. Their teeth are like those of a lion; they tear apart their prey like a lioness.

Judah had been devastated by a locust invasion that was so numerous, it could not be counted.

1:7 They have destroyed our vines; they have turned our fig trees into mere splinters. They have completely stripped off the bark and thrown them aside; the twigs are stripped bare.

Olives and grapes were two of Israel’s biggest commercial resources. The economy of Judah had been devastated by the locusts.

A Call to Lament

1:8 Wail like a young virgin clothed in sackcloth, lamenting the death of her husband-to-be.

The Hebrew word for “young virgin” is בְּתוּלָה (betulah), meaning a young widow who has lost her husband during her first year of marriage. This is not the same Hebrew word as הָעַלְמָ֗ה (ha-almah), which is used in Isaiah 7:14 exclusively as “the virgin.” Liberals like to switch the meanings of these two words so that they can confuse ignorant Christians about the virgin birth. This deception will not fool those trained in the biblical languages. The RSV even translates the English as “young woman” so that they can escape the translation of the virgin birth.

The young widow was singing a funeral song for her beloved dead husband. Judah was to sing their funeral song as well. They were about to die as a nation.

1:9 No one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of the Lord anymore. So the priests, those who serve the Lord, are in mourning.

The locusts ate all of the grain. There was no grain for the meal offerings. There was no grain for the sheep, so there were no sheep offerings. There were no drink offerings, because the vineyards had been eaten. The priests had nothing to offer in the temple. They also had no substance for themselves. Therefore, the priests were to sing a funeral song as well. The priests had not been feeding the people the Word of God, so God refused to feed them.

1:10 The crops of the fields have been destroyed. The ground is in mourning because the grain has perished. The fresh wine has dried up; the olive oil languishes.

The ground was to sing a funeral song, because it had nothing to give. There were no crops, no grain, no wine, and no olive oil. These were all of the staples of the Jewish economy.

1:11 Be distressed, farmers; wail, vinedressers, over the wheat and the barley. For the harvest of the field has perished.

The farmers and vinedressers were to sing a funeral song, because their substance had been destroyed.

1:12 The vine has dried up; the fig tree languishes— the pomegranate, date, and apple as well. In fact, all the trees of the field have dried up. Indeed, the joy of the people has dried up!

The people of Judah were to sing a funeral song, because they would have no more pomegranates, dates, apples, or trees.

1:13 Get dressed and lament, you priests! Wail, you who minister at the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you servants of my God, because no one brings grain offerings or drink offerings to the temple of your God anymore.

The priests were commanded to sing their funeral songs in public as a time of national mourning. They were to wear sackcloth publicly. The reason for their funeral song was that no one would be bringing them offerings anymore.

1:14 Announce a holy fast; proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the temple of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.

This passage is not commanding modern charismatics to fast. It was commanding the priests and people who were living in Judah in 835 B.C. to publicly fast and pray.

1:15 How awful that day will be! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer.

The locust invasion of Judah in 835 B.C. was the worst locust invasion in which Judah had ever encountered. However, Jonah looked into the future and warned the nation of Israel that another locust invasion is coming and it will be much worse than this locust invasion of 835 B.C.

The future locust invasion will occur in “the day of the Lord.” The Day of the Lord will be the seven years of the Great Tribulation. These locusts will be supernatural locusts from “the divine destroyer.”

In Hebrew, “the divine destroyer” is שַׁדָּי (shadai), meaning the Almighty. The supernatural locust invasion of the Great Tribulation will be a demonic army sent by Jehovah Himself.

1:16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God!

The Jewish Temple will be rebuilt during the Great Tribulation. It will be the temple of the Antichrist. The supernatural demonic army of the Great Tribulation will destroy the food supplies during this time period. There will be no food supply for the temple.

1:17 The grains of seed have shriveled beneath their shovels. Storehouses have been decimated and granaries have been torn down, for the grain has dried up.

During the Great Tribulation, there will be no food supply for the people.

1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! The herds of livestock wander around in confusion because they have no pasture. Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.

During the Great Tribulation, the livestock will have nothing to eat.

1:19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help, for fire has burned up the grassy pastures, flames have razed all the trees in the fields.

During the Great Tribulation, the supernatural locusts will destroy the crops by fire. This is not a normal locust invasion.

1:20 Even the wild animals cry out to you; for the river beds have dried up; fire has destroyed the grassy pastures.

During the Great Tribulation the animals will cry out to Jehovah for food. All of the river beds of Israel will be dried up. The pastures will be destroyed by fire. Normal locust cannot dry up rivers and set grasslands on fire.