The Prophet Joel

By Arno Clement Gaebelein

Introduction

We know but little of the personality of the Prophet Joel. This is the case with many of the prophets and is in itself no argument against the authenticity of the Book. The personality of these holy men of God, the mouthpieces of the Lord, were hidden on purpose. In profane literature the person of the writer always plays an important part; but in the Word of God they are but instruments by whom God transmitted His thoughts and messages. What does it matter if we do not know the details of their lives, who they were and how long they lived, as long as we know they were the chosen vessels through whom God spake (Heb. i:1).

Joel means "Jenovah is God." He was the son of Pethuel. This is all we can find about him in the Bible. Numerous guesses have been made about his personality, but they cannot be verified. For instance, in I Chronicles xxiv:i6 we find a Pethaliah mentioned; some have connected him with Pethuel, so it is claimed that Joel was of a priestly family; but this cannot be confirmed. Jewish expositors state that Pethuel was none other than Samuel, because Samuel had a son whose name was Joel. But as the sons of Samuel were evil doers, it is quite impossible to accept this view. The book itself does not give us even a single hint as to who he was.

However, from his prophecies one can fix more readily the time and the place, when and where he exercised his prophetic office. He is, no doubt, the earliest of all the Prophets, preceding Hosea and Amos. He prophesied in Judah. This is seen from the fact that he mentions Jerusalem, Mount Zion and the Temple. He must have prophesied and written between 860 and 850 B. C. during the first part of the reign of King Joas. The arguments for this time are numerous. Without attempting to enumerate these we take a brief glance at the book itself, which bears the name of Joel.¹

There is absolutely no ground for the claim, which has been made that Joel did not write this Book. The evidence is altogether on the other side that he wrote down what the Lord revealed to him. The style of the Book is sublime ; it can only be fully appreciated if read in a corrected metric version and at one time. The oftener the entire book is thus read the more it will grow on the reader, by its vividness, terse and solemn utterances, its full, smooth phrases, and above all, by the revelation contained in these few chapters.

The occasion of the book and the prophecy of Joel was an awful scourge which had come upon the land of Judah. Locusts had fallen upon the land and stripped it of everything. In connection with the locusts there was also a drought. This was a chastisement from God. All are seen lamenting, the old and the young, the priests and the people. Extremely vivid is the description of the devastation of the land. Then the vision widens. The locusts appear no longer as a scourge of insects, but they become typical of an invading army. An army presses upon the land from the north. They make the land once more a wilderness. The alarm is sounded in Zion and the nearness of the day of Jehovah is announced. In the hour of extremity the call comes to repentance. Then comes a marvellous turning point in the picture of despair and trouble. The Lord is jealous and pities His people. He delivers them from the northern army; He restores what the locusts had eaten ; He gives the land the former and the latter rain, and with it wheat and wine and oil. At the end of the second chapter stands the prophecy predicting spiritual blessings through the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon all flesh, a prophecy which by no means has ever had its complete fulfilment, but which shall be fully accomplished in a future day. The last chapter is the solemn and sublime Finale of this great symphony of Prophecy. The day of Jehovah coming in judgment, wrath and mercy, as well as the events connected with it, is here portrayed. All this is so vividly described, that it opens up a most wonderful vista into the future. Only a closer, analytical study can bring out the treasures, which God's Spirit has here deposited in this prophetic Book. On the language and descriptions as used and given by Joel a German expositor² says: "His poetry is distinguished by the soaring flight of imagination, the originality, beauty and variety of his images and similes. The conceptions are simple enough, but they are at the same time bold and grand. The perfect order in which they are arranged, the even flow and well compacted structure of the discourse are quite remarkable."

Five times Joel's prophecy contains the phrase "the day of Jehovah." Chapter i:15; ii:1-2; 10-11; 30-31 and iii:15-16. The great subject matter of his prophetic messages is therefore "the day of Jehovah," the day in which Jehovah is "God" that is "Jehovah" will be manifested as God. This is indicated in Joel's name. He may well be called "the seer of the Day of Jehovah." What that day is, what will take place before the day comes, and after it has come, the exposition of the text will make clear.

We cannot improve upon the division of the Book as given in our English version. The Book has three parts :

I Part. Chapter I. The local plague of locusts.

II Part. Chapter II. The day of Jehovah with its preceding calamities for Israel's land; the repentance of His people ; the restoration of their land and the greater Spiritual blessings.

III Part. Chapter III. Events connected with that day; the judgment of the enemies of Israel; the supremacy of Jerusalem and the Kingdom.

2. A Wiinsche, Die Weissagungen, Joel's.