Joel 1

It’s uncertain when and where to place Joel into history. Many scholars seem to prefer a century long after the Assyrian invasion and destruction of 722 BC and the Babylonian devastation of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah in 586 BC. They place the writer deep into Persian times, in the 400s-300s BC. Other students of the Bible place him much earlier, when the Jewish nations of Israel and Judah still had kings.

Joel doesn’t identify what land he’s talking about. It could be the southern Jewish nation of Judah, since he mentions its capital city of Jerusalem half a dozen times, starting in 2:32. But he also mentions the northern Jewish nation of Israel (2:27; 3:16). But this could be a generic reference to all Jewish people everywhere.

There are four kinds of locusts here. Some Bible scholars say they represent different animals, such as the caterpillar, as the cutting locust. Others suggest the four types of locusts represent different stages in a locust’s life, such as the nymph as the hopping locusts, since nymph’s do hop. Still others say the four kinds of locusts represent the four major empires that fed on Israel: Assyria, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Whatever theory may be right, this isn’t a lesson about locusts. It’s about Joel’s land being destroyed by invaders.

Sackcloth is a rough fabric like burlap feed sacks. It was made from goat hair and camel hair. Farmers and their customers used those sacks to store grain. People in Bible times dressed in rough clothes as an expression of mourning or sadness. Our version in the Western world is to wear stylish clothes and makeup. We often dress in black clothes or an armband. But nothing raggy.

Priests got most of the grain and wine offerings as part of their salary. They could use it or trade it for other goods or services. Priests also got parts of most other offerings and sacrifices (Leviticus 7). Burnt offerings were the exception. That entire animal was burned on the altar.

Bible writers talk about a “day of the LORD” or “on that day” or “day of visitation” or “there’s a time coming.” It’s a day that can go in one of two directions. It can be a good day—a day God comes to save his people. It’s something to look forward to. Some scholars trace the idea back to what happened when God came to Egypt and with 10 plagues, he freed the Israelites. But it can also be a fearful day to people at odds with God. To them, it is Judgment Day. But to people on good terms with God, his arrival for Judgment Day or any other reason is welcome. The prophet Joel describes it in graphic terms as a terrible day when invaders destroy sinful Jerusalem (Joel 1:15; 2:11). Obadiah uses the phrase that way as well. But to God’s people, the “day” is the day of salvation (Joel 2:32).

The writer might not mean a literal fire. It might be a symbol of God’s punishment. Sometimes God himself is described in the glowing terms of fire, for better or worse. For worse, God says, “I’m blazing with anger. This fire will burn to the bottom of the grave. Crops will die, seared to nothing, Mountain foothills consumed in flames” (Deuteronomy 32:22).