the book of joel - lifebpc.com sunday school 12 feb 2017 - slides.pdf · message of the book •it...

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JOELTHE BOOK OF

The Writer of the Book

• The book is named after its author,

Joel the son of Pethuel.

• His name in Hebrew is Yo’el,

which means “Jehovah is God.”

• He was a pre-exilic prophet of Judah who

lived during the reign of King Joash,

around the year 820 BC.

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2. Joel2. Joel

Joel• Jewish tradition assigns him to

the tribe of Reuben.

• Nothing more is known about

him.

• The Historical Background of

the Book is found in

2 Kings 12 and

2 Chronicles 24…

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Historical Background

• Joel lived during the reign of

King Joash who ascended

to the throne at the age of 7.

• He proved to be a good king

at first.

• But when Jehoiada, the

high priest who mentored

him died, he turned away

from the Lord.

Historical Background

• 2 Chronicles 24:17-19 – “Now after the death of

Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made

obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto

them. And they left the house of the LORD God of

their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath

came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their

trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring

them again unto the LORD; and they testified against

them: but they would not give ear.”

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The Wrath of God

• This refers to a severe plague of locusts that

devastated the land of Judah because of the

sins of the Jews under King Joash and his

wicked princes.

• Joel therefore calls the people to repent of

their sins in order to avert a greater judgement

and manifestation of the Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord

• It appears five times in this book.

(1:15; 2:1; 2:11; 2:31; 3:14).

• It refers to God’s special

intervention in the affairs of

human history and may be:

–Historical

–Eschatological

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Message of the Book

• It warns us that a great and

terrible “Day of the Lord” is

coming.

• This will take the form of a

series of end-time events

when God will execute

judgment on the sins

of the world.

Message of the Book

• It also encourages us

with a message of

blessing for wholehearted

repentance – one that

came into full

manifestation at the

outpouring of the Holy

Spirit (cf. Acts 2)

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Outline of the Book of Joel

A. The Present Desolation (1)

B. The Coming Desolation (2)

C. The Future Deliverance (3)

A. The Present

Desolation

(Joel chapter 1)

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The Present Desolation

Character of the Desolation

• 1:2-4 - “Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye

inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or

even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of

it, and let your children tell their children, and their

children another generation. That which the palmerworm

hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust

hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the

cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.”


• One of the disasters most feared by

farmers is a plague of locusts.

• These locusts would come in swarms of

several million, and approach like a thick

black, noisy cloud that nothing can stop….

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• Deuteronomy 28:15,38, 42 –

“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not

hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy

God... Thou shalt carry much seed out into

the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the

locust shall consume it... all thy trees and

fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.”

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Question: What are these creatures? (vv.2-4)

• Palmerworm

• Locust

• Cankerworm

• Caterpillar


Two Interpretations:

• Four different kinds of locusts

• Technical names for the different stages

of the growth of the same locust....

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Different Stages

The “Palmerworm” (gazam)

• The locust when it has just

emerged from its egg in the

springtime.

• A wingless, gnawing creature.

Different Stages

The “Locust” (arbeh)

• The same creature in late

spring, when it puts forth

little ones.

• This is the swarming stage.

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Different Stages

The “Cankerworm” (yeleq)

• When it develops small

wings which enable it to

leap better but not to fly yet.

• It devours a lot.

Different Stages

The “Caterpillar” (chasiyl)

• It refers to the fully mature locust with its full wings

• It about 7½ cm long.

• It consumes much and is able to leap and fly.

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• What made the situation even worse was

that there was also a drought.

• v.20 – “The beasts of the field cry also unto

thee: for the rivers of waters are dried

up, and the fire hath devoured the

pastures of the wilderness.”


The Ones Affected by the Desolation

• Joel calls all the people to cry out to God in

repentance.

• But at the same time he mocked a

social evil that many had become involved

in…

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The Ones Affected by the Desolation

• v.5 - “Awake, ye drunkards, and weep;

and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because

of the new wine; for it is

cut off from your mouth.”


• The priests had no sacrifices to

offer to the Lord.

• V.9 – “The meat offering and the

drink offering is cut off from the

house of the LORD; the priests,

the LORD’S ministers, mourn.”

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The Required Response to the Desolation:

National Repentance

• 1:14,15 – “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn

assembly, gather the elders and all the

inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD

your God, and cry unto the LORD, Alas for the

day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a

destruction from the Almighty shall it come.”

B. The Coming

Desolation (Joel chapter 2)

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The Coming Desolation

• When the locusts attacked, only

plants were destroyed.

• But in this coming desolation,

human lives will be destroyed!


The Character of This Desolation

• 2:1-3 – “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm

in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land

tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at

hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of

clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread

upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there

hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more

after it, even to the years of many generations.”

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This is a reference to the Assyrian invaders

that would soon:

• come to Palestine,

• conquer the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC,

• and then attempt to do the same to the

Southern Kingdom.

The Assyrians

• They were the most

formidable army of

their time.

• Their great numbers

were enough to

overwhelm!

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The Assyrians

• Originating from Northern

Mesopotamia they became

great and powerful for

300 years…

The Assyrians

• …but they were

also known for their

extreme cruelty.

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The One Who Will Bring This Desolation

• 2:11 -“And the LORD shall utter His voice

before His army: for His camp is very

great: for he is strong that executeth

His word: for the day of the LORD is great

and very terrible; and who can abide it?”


• This prophecy was fulfilled after slightly more than a

hundred years after the time of Joel.

• God brought the Assyrians

to chastise His people in

Judah for their sins.

• To the Assyrians the one

who was leading them

was their king,

Sennacherib.

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A Plea in View of the Coming Desolation

• 2:12,13 - “Therefore also now, saith the LORD,

turn ye even to Me with all your heart, and with

fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

And rend your heart, and not your garments,

and turn unto the LORD your God: for He is

gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of

great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil.”


• Joel emphasizes

total effort for this

repentance.

• No one was to be

exempted, not even

those who just got

married.

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• History records that when

the Assyrians arrived at

Jerusalem, King Hezekiah

led the people to repent and

seek the Lord.

• God responded by

sparing them, and slaying

the Assyrian forces!

The Results of Their Repentance

1. Rejoicing: v.21 –

“Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the

LORD will do great things.”

2. Restoration vv.23-25 –

“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in

the LORD your God: for He hath given you the

former rain moderately, and He will cause to

come down for you the rain, the former rain, and

the latter rain in the first month.”

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The Results of Their Repentance

• V.25 - “And I will restore to you the years

that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm,

and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm,

my great army which

I sent among you.”

C. The Future

Deliverance(Joel chapter 3)

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The Future Deliverance

• Joel now looks another seven centuries

ahead to another event.

• The refreshing outpouring of blessings he

had just described was itself a foretaste of

an even more glorious future outpouring

of blessing the Jews would experience...


• 2:28-29 -“And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams, your young

men shall see visions: And also upon the

servants and upon the handmaids in those days

will I pour out My spirit.”

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The Promise of the Holy Spirit

• In OT times, only certain key people who needed

God’s wisdom and strength to accomplish their

tasks had the privilege of being filled with the

Holy Spirit.

• Joel pointed to a day when the Holy Spirit would

be poured out on all believers.

The Future Deliverance• Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was

poured out visibly on the disciples at Pentecost.

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• Acts 2:16,17 – “But this is that which was

spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come

to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour

out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons

and your daughters shall prophesy, and your

young men shall see visions, and your old men

shall dream dreams.”


The Promise of Deliverance in the Last Days

• Joel’s vision now jumps to the End Times when

God will perform signs in the sky just before the

second coming of Christ…

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• 2:30,31 - “And I will shew

wonders in the heavens and

in the earth, blood, and fire,

and pillars of smoke. The sun

shall be turned into darkness,

and the moon into blood, before

the great and the terrible day of

the LORD come.”


• This part of the prophecy will be fulfilled

shortly before the battle of Armageddon.

• Christ will descend from heaven and deliver

the Jews from the

tribulation caused

by the Antichrist.

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The Promise of Judgment on

Those Who Oppress God’s People

• 3:2,3 – “I will also gather all nations, and will bring

them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will

plead with them there for My people and for My

heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the

nations, and parted My land. And they have cast lots

for My people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and

sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”


• Many Gentile

nations have

been guilty of

mistreating

the Jews.

• They have been

sold as slaves, their possessions plundered,

and they have even been massacred by the

thousands.

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• God will bring judgment on those

nations in the Valley of

Jehoshaphat.

Jezreel

Valley

Kidron Valley


• 3:14 - “Multitudes, multitudes in the

valley of decision: for the day of the

LORD is near in the valley of decision.”

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The Promise of God’s Reign from Jerusalem:

• Jerusalem will be established as the center of the

Lord’s reign here on earth.

• Israel will then experience

a time of blessing she

had never known before.


• 3:18 – “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the

mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall

flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with

waters, and a fountain shall

come forth of the house of

the LORD, and shall water

the valley of Shittim.”

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Conclusion

• Joel wrote about

several events

separated by large

intervals of time…

Conclusion

• The Locust invasion in his time.

• The Assyrian invasion, a century later.

• The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, eight centuries later.

• The Gentile invasion of Israel, in the end times.

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Conclusion

The message behind these events:

• God’s future judgments against sin are to be

feared above all things.

• God’s future blessings for true, sincere

repentance are to be sought above all things.

• Therefore: Repent and turn to the Lord!

the book of joel - lifebpc.com sunday school 12 feb 2017 - slides.pdf · message of the book •it...

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