This invasion of locusts destroys everythingthe fields of grain, the vineyards, the gardens and the trees. Book of joel overview insight for living ministries. In the two speeches that make up this book, joel uses an agricultural crisis to measure his audiences knowledge of its god, warn them of a worse disaster if they ignore his preaching, and express his conviction that all faithful judahites would someday enjoy a secure future. By the millions ravenous locusts will swoop over israel, gorging themselves on every plant in sight. The greek septuagint lxx, and latin vulgate versions follow the hebrew masoretic text, titling this book after joel the prophet, the recipient of the message. The day of the lord is spoken of five times in this book, this is a thousand year period where christ will set up his kingdom on earth from the time he returns to earth till the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. The specific place from which joel wrote is not known. Nevertheless, while the date of the book cannot be known with certainty, the impact on its interpretation is minimal. Twelve other men in the old testament have this name, none of whom can be identified with the author of this book. Indeed, in joel we find the message of the whole bible in a nutshell. Its purpose was to call the southern kingdom to repentance or prepare for the coming judgment. Joel was a prophet of god whose writings appear in the minor prophetic books of the bible.
The book gives us no other information about the prophet, and he is mentioned nowhere else in scripture. Overview of the book of joel third millennium ministries. Joel sets his message up by pointing to a literal locust plague which he poetically morphs into a eschatological day of the lord. Verses 30 and 31 are clearly before the coming of the great and awesome day of the lord verse 31, while the surrounding verses are about the time after christs return. To contact joel osteen ministries by email, fill out the form below with your question or comment and submit. Your email will be forwarded to the appropriate department for a response. Please open our hearts and minds and help us see all the good and gracious things you do for all mankind including animals and plants. To understand the message of joel one must decide to what degree the book is a description of actual events, represents allegorical teaching, or is apocalyptic in nature. The book relates nothing about joel except his name and that of his father. What is the book of joel about and how does it apply to us today. The genre of joel is narrative and prophetic oracle. The book of joel is without the customary dating formula used by the prophets hos. The day of the lord is spoken of five times in this book, this is a thousand. The really important thing is that joel has a message from god.
Judgment is global in the sense that, throughout joel, judgment will come upon israel joel 1. The book of joel is part of the hebrew bible, one of twelve prophetic books known as the. The day of the lord is a significant timing indicator in understanding the structure of the book of revelation and the timeline of endtime activity. Joels message, while short, is incredibly important in our understanding of evil, repentance, gods mercy, and a future hope. The book of the prophet joel comes second in the group of minor prophets, but. He was welleducated and he was a gifted poet and one of the books of the bible is named after him. Detroits freeways are framed by dozens of billboards featuring happy, young, successful people enjoying a night of. The book contains no references to datable historical events. Book of joel, second of 12 old testament books that bear the names of the minor prophets. The book of joel is part of the hebrew bible, one of twelve prophetic books known as the twelve minor prophets. Joel describes them destroying wheat and barley crops, stripping trees down to their bark, ruining grape vines so no wine offerings could be made to the lord.
Some students think that he wrote his book about 850 years before the birth of jesus. Joel is a narrative and prophetic source of wisdom. Joel means jehovah is my god and he pictures christ as the restorer. They also point out that joel routinely mentions judah and jerusalem, but not israel. Book of zephaniah overview insight for living ministries. This is what was spoken by the prophet joel desiring god. Further, in the chapter guidelines for spiritual unfoldment through the infinite way goldsmith clearly lays out guidelines for conducting an infinite way tape group activity and provides detailed guidance for how to study the infinite way message, which truly is a message for the ages. The central message of joel, as is so often the case in the prophets, is that of salvation amid judgment. And afterward i will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. The jewish canon lumps all together as the twelve and divides joel into four chapters. Joel uses a recent plague of locusts as an analogy for the coming day of the lord, warning that devastation is in store, and that repentance is required. It is a mistake to assume that events and actions of the book are not historical in nature.
Joel spends a majority of his time writing about the day of the lord. The book is universally called joel after its author. The author281 the name joel means, the lord is god. Like the writings of many of the prophets, the book of zephaniah follows a pattern of judgment on all people for their sin followed by the restoration of gods chosen people. Indeed, in light of gods justice and holiness, it would be wrong of god not to judge.
The message of joel southside church of christ in fort myers. This is the day in which god reveals his attributes of wrath, power and holiness, and it is a terrifying day to his enemies. In the first chapter, the day of the lord is experienced historically by the plague of locusts upon the land. The book of joel written around 800bc and begins by describing a disastrous attack of locusts in the country of judah. What do we know about joel and the original context of his prophecy. The theme of joels message is a familiar one, and here it is prompted by a locust attack combined with a drought. Joel s familiarity with this area and the worship in the temple suggests that he lived in judah, possibly even in the city of jerusalem itself. The prophet joel has a book in the tanakh named for him and devoted exclusively to his. The masoretic text places joel between hosea and amos the order inherited by the tanakh and old testament, while the septuagint order is hoseaamosmicah joel obadiahjonah. Since the book of joel contains no clear indications as to when it was written, it is exceedingly difficult to date the book. For better or for worse, joels book provides ample evidence for this and helps explain the huge rift in society and the world today and does it with some funny jokes. I discovered a god of second chances and his infinite love towards me. The prophet joel is identified only as joel son of pethuel joel 1. Over the past few months, we did an intensive verse by verse study of the book of joel.
Today i want to consider an overview of the book itself and the central message of the prophet. The book of jonah includes the famous story of the great fish often erroneously thought of as a whale has led many to dismiss this book as merely a biblical fish story. Key personalities are joel and the people of judah. Joel wasnt the only old testament prophet who longed for the day when god would saturate his people with his spirit. Dec 19, 2015 i praise you for your grace in sending us your wisdom about the message of the book of jonah. This message serves to make people ready for what they will experience before the second coming of jesus. Detroits freeways are framed by dozens of billboards featuring happy, young, successful people enjoying a night of games and entertainment at one of the citys casinos. The overriding theme of the book of joel is the day of the lord, a day of gods wrath and judgment. There are passages to which we turn often because they help us in particular ways, because they are fairly easy to understand or because they are associated with significant times in our lives.
Joels familiarity with this area and the worship in the temple suggests that he lived in judah, possibly even in the city of jerusalem itself. Many interpreters date it somewhere between the late seventh and early fifth centuries b. The books central theme is a concept borrowed from preexilic prophets that salvation will come to judah and jerusalem only when the people turn to yahweh. The message of the book of jonah christian articles.
The book of joel states that its author was the prophet joel joel 1. The hebrew text of joel seems to have suffered little from scribal transmission, but is at a few points supplemented by the septuagint, syriac, and vulgate versions, or by conjectural emendation. The message of joel is timeless, forming doctrine which could be repeated and applied in any age. His father, pethuel, is mentioned nowhere else in the bible. The global message of obadiah obadiah in redemptive history. The date the book of joel was written has aroused a good deal of discussion among biblical scholars. The book of joels importance to the canon of scripture stems from its being the first to develop an oftmentioned biblical idea. Joel tells us his fathers name, but he says nothing about himself. The book of joel was written for joels day, yet the larger scope of the message is for this current day. Apr 18, 2020 this is what was spoken by the prophet joel. Joel sets his message up by pointing to a literal locust plague which he poetically morphs into a. Listen closely, everyone, whoever and wherever you are. This describes a time when the presence of the lord brings judgment.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. From this book, we can see that he was acquainted with the land, the farming and the geography. Joel summary we have detailed a brief summary of the book of joel for bible study or sunday school lessons. Since the edomites were descendants of jacobs brother, esau, this betrayal by edom was especially painful to gods people. These elements need not be viewed as mutually exclusive of each other. Other students think that he wrote it about 330 years later than that. Listen closely,everyone, whoever and wherever you are. This attack causes significant damage to the economy and agriculture as this disaster of locusts is accompanied by a severe famine throughout the land. Make sure you tell your children, and your children tell their children, and their children their children. One of haidts main points is that all people use their intuition first and then use logicreason to then justify their instincts. Since the book of joel contains no clear indications as to when it. Joel uses a recent plague of locusts as an analogy for the coming day of the lord, warning that devastation is. It helped me realize how weak i am and how his love. The book of joel s importance to the canon of scripture stems from its being the first to develop an oftmentioned biblical idea.
The book of joel has striking linguistic parallels to the language of amos, micah, zephaniah, jeremiah and ezekiel. A summary, synopsis or recap is a shortened version of the original. The theme of joel s message is a familiar one, and here it is prompted by a locust attack combined with a drought. The day of the lord theme for the book of joel people. The most popular bible verses from joel found 73 verses joel 2.
It is certain only that he fulfilled some of his prophetic ministry at bethel amos 7. Amos may have delivered the prophecies of this book at different places in the northern kingdom, such as samaria and bethel. It is debated whether joel is one of the earliest prophets or the latest. Mar 21, 2020 the book of joel was written for joels day, yet the larger scope of the message is for this current day. Jan 02, 2020 the overriding theme of the book of joel is the day of the lord, a day of gods wrath and judgment. We will consider the book of joel in at least two parts. Joel sees the massive locust plague and severe drought devastating judah as a harbinger of the great and dreadful day of the lord 2. Why joel osteen is the most popular preacher on the planet. Introduction united states conference of catholic bishops. Jan 11, 2016 joel osteen powers entire stadiums with his message of positivity, not pessimism. Joel osteen powers entire stadiums with his message of positivity, not pessimism. Indirect references throughout the book have been claimed in support of dates that have differed. The primary theme of the book of joel is the day of the lord, which is mentioned four times joel 1.
Judah even now, declares the lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Zephaniahs primary target for gods message of judgment, the nation of judah, had fallen into grievous sin under the reign of their king, manasseh. The book is about a prophet, some sailors and the inhabitants of the city of nineveh who are about to be destroyed because of their sin. Judah, the setting for the book, is devastated by a vast horde of locusts. The term indicates the short length of the text in relation to longer prophetic texts known as the major prophets. God wants you to be happy pastor discusses new book, explains why he doesnt want to be next billy graham. In any case, its message is not significantly affected by its dating. The book of joel opens with the telling of an impending locust swarm and its consequences. Basically, it is that, the day of the lord is coming to bring judgment for gods enemies and restoration for gods people. This was an interesting study and taught me many valuable lessons. Joels prophecy has much to say to the global church today. The dominant theme of the book is the day of the lord. And in joel both judgment and salvation are worldwide in nature. The book of joel was likely written between 835 and 800 b.