Joel

Book Reviews aim to provide succinct, thoughtful summaries of books I have read. Each review contains quotes from the book, thoughts from others, and also some thoughts of my own. Typically they will be structured in the following order: author, introduction, message and purpose, remarkable chapter, and conclusion. This review will cover Joel, a book written over 2,400 years ago and one that is part of a larger collection of books called The Bible.

Joel

Author

Joel

Introduction

Joel is one of the shortest books in the Old Testament. The book is broken into two parts: the first part describing a terrible locust plague concluding with a plea for confession of sins, and the second part proclaims hope for the repentant people coupled with judgment upon their enemies. Although brief, Joel is a strongly purposeful book with much meaning.

Message and Purpose

Among many exhortations in the book, Joel calls readers to hear (1:2-3), to war (2:1; 3:9-13), to lamentation (1:5, 8, 11, 13-14; 2:15-16), and to celebration (2:21-23). The only true instruction message in Joel occurs in 2:12-13, the call to repentance.

Joel's message was concerned primarily with motivating repentance by proclaiming the Day of the Lord, which is at the same time one event and many events, and refers to a decisive action of Yahweh to bring His plans for Israel to completion.

Joel insisted that the only hope for God's people was through repentance (2:12-17). He assured Judah that repentance would be rewarded with physical (2:18-27) and spiritual (2:28-32) restoration associated with the Day of the Lord (2:31). He concluded by promising a Day of the Lord that would bring judgment against the nations opposing the Lord and His people (3:14).

Remarkable Chapter

In the second chapter of Joel, God's call for repentance offers some really good news for you and I. In verses twelve and thirteen, the tone of the prophet changes until the end of his message:

"Even now—this is the Lord's declaration—turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster."

The phrase "even now—this is the Lord's declaration" announces a wonderful possibility. Yahweh is a God of mercy and compassion to repentant sinners. Even the worst king of Judah, Manasseh, who sinned more heinously than all the rest, repented and received forgiveness (2 Chronicles 33:10-13).

"The Lord's declaration" is a solemn promise. This is the only place where this phrase appears in Joel. Solomon's prayer was answered by Yahweh, who promised that He would forgive and heal the land from a locust plague, but Yahweh required genuine and sincere repentance from the people for this to happen.

Conclusion

The book of Joel shows us the Creator and Redeemer God of all the universe in complete control of nature. Joel made it clear that the God of judgment also is a God of mercy who stands ready to redeem and restore when His people come before Him in repentance. Joel points to a time when the Spirit of God would be present upon all people. On the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed that the new day of Spirit-filled discipleship, foretold by Joel, had arrived. Joel assures us that there is always hope for repentant people, and this is wonderful news to anyone reading this.