Joel chapter 1
1:4 This verse describes the devastation of the locust plague. Moses prophesied that God would use locusts to
punish His people if they were disobedient (Deuteronomy 28:38, 42). The language may express the four stages in
the development of a single type of insect. The palmerworm (Hebrew gazam, "to gnaw") is the stage at which the
locust is first hatched and is characterized by its gnawing activity. The locust (Hebrew arben, "to be many") is the most
common name for the locust, and is the second stage, in which the locust gets its wings and flies. The cankerworm
(Hebrew yeleg, "to lick off") is the stage in which it does its destructive work. The caterpillar (Hebrew chasil, "to devour
or to consume") is the final stage, in which the locust reaches its full growth and devours everything in its path.
Joel chapter 2
2:1, 2 The trumpet was used primarily for religious purposes to call the congregation together for meetings, to usher
in the beginning of the month and to note solemn days and festive occasions. In this instance, it is to be used to alarm
the people to the seriousness of the crisis that is upon them. A double figure of locusts and a future invading army
may be intended in verses 1-11.
2:3-6 The locusts have the appearance of warhorses and sound like the noise of chariots as they go about their
destruction. No natural barrier can contain them because they leap.
2:11 Nature has not gone awry; the locusts are not beyond God's control. They move at His specific command.
2:12, 13 The customary way a Jew showed his grief was to tear his outer garment. This external sign could be
meaningless. The tearing of the outer garment is useless, unless the heart is broken in repentance and contrition.
2:14 God is immutable and does not change. This verse sets forth the possible results of revival and repentance from
man's point of view. When man changes, he is unaware of the change in himself, and views it as though it were a
change in God.
2:12-17 This is the second invitation to blow the trumpet in Zion. It summons the whole nation to an assembly of
repentance in order to implore God's mercy.
2:28-32 And it shall come to pass afterward is a formula employed to speak of future events. This differentiates the
message on the locust plague from the day of the Lord. The promised outporing of God's Spirit will be on all ages and
classes of people: sons and daughters. Accompanying the outpouring of the Spirit will be full salvation, or
deliverance, for all who put their trust in the Lord as their Redeemer. Joel has compressed together, in true prophetic
fashion, events separated by millennia. The crucial points of history are the events of the locust plague in Joel's day:
the Day of Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit was indeed poured out universally and made available to all mankind,
about A.D 33; the events of the Great Tribulation (separated from the Day of Pentecost by over 1,900 years, 3:1-17);
and the establishment of the earthly Davidic millennial kingdom that follows the events of the Great Tribulation (verses
18-21).
Joel chapter 3
3:9-17 In anticipation of the judgment that will be visited on them, God taunts His enemies and urges them to get
ready for war, to come and fight Him, even though it is a hopeless cause (verse 9); to get their armaments ready,
though they will be of no avail (verse 10); to get their allies ready, though they will be of no help (verse 11); and to get
all the nations ready to fight Him. All of their efforts and preparations will be futile, for God will judge them. Just as the
land was helpless before its devastators, so they will be helpless before God, who will judge them on behalf of Judah
and Jerusalem. The valley of decision (verse 14) is synonymous with the valley of Jehoshaphat (verse 2). The scene
is not one where the multitudes are in the midst of making a decision in favor of the Lord and repenting of their sin.
Rather, the decision is made by God, a decision to judge the multitudes for their treatment of Judah and Jerusalem!
This judgment will be meted out against them in the day of the Lord that takes place in the Great Tribulation.
3:18-21 Joel's final prophecy pictures the great millennial age when the Lord dwelleth in Zion. The word dwelleth
(Hebrew shakan) indicates the abiding presence of the shekinah glory of old with His repentant and restored people.