Return: An Introduction
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Joel: An Introduction
Joel 1:1
1 The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
1. Introduction – Today we are embarking n a new series through a new book of the Bible.
a. Today we are going to look at this book in broad sweeping strokes – and in the subsequent weeks we’ll dive into the details.
i. And the opening verse of this book gives us everything we need to gain an introductory insight into it.
1. OK – maybe not everything, you’ll see why in just a bit, but there is actually a lot of information packed in it.
b. For the next few weeks, from on until Advent, we are going to be studying the book of Joel.
i. Now, many of you may be reacting, “Where’s Joel? Who’s Joel? What’s Joel all about? How is Joel relevant to my life, my kid’s life, our church life?”
1. But Joel, like all books of the Bible, has a lot to teach us.
a. Joel is a short book – 3 chapters in our English translations. A total of 73 verses.
i. But in those 73 verses is packed some rich and deep theology.
ii. Joel is a prophecy to a nation in turmoil – to a nation experiencing a plague. They were living in tumultuous and uncertain times.
1. They were facing an economic crisis – a health crisis – they were faced with the possibility of both the older generation and younger generation dying.
a. Does any of this sound familiar?
c. We too are in difficult and uncertain times. 2020 has been one of the strangest years of my life.
i. My colleagues and I have often discussed how they don’t teach you how to pastor through a pandemic in Seminary.
1. We all had to adapt to a new way of living, a new way of shopping, a new way of having church…a new way of getting together with people.
a. Joel’s original audience lived in times much like we are in today.
2. Background – Here’s a little background to Joel…then we’ll read 1:1 together and we’ll talk about this book in broad sweeping strokes.
a. What’s the devastating event of Joel’s day…what even prompted this prophecy?
i. Locusts…locusts…and even more locusts.
1. Have you noticed an increased number of grasshoppers and crickets this year??? My new shop has dead cricket carcasses littered throughout…well the increased number of those gross things in nothing compared to the locusts that invaded in Joel’s day.
ii. History recounts one such locust plague when a cloud of locusts was as thick as four to five thousand insects per square metre.
1. Locusts at the volume would strip all green foliage and destroy all crops and trees.
a. That would deplete the next season’s food for livestock as well as the grain for the family’s food.
i. With no way to stockpile resources – the event of Joel’s day placed people…the entire nation really – in grave danger.
b. But along comes Joel…and he uses the event of the locust plague as a means to call God’s people to repentance and reform.
i. Joel recognizes the plague as a judgment and punishment from God for Israel breaking their end of the covenant.
1. Joel doesn’t whine or complain about the situation…but instead he interprets what he sees and thinks about the events theologically.
a. He sees the plague of locusts as an opportunity for Israel to abandon their sinful and foolish ways and turn back to in repentance and proper worship.
ii. Joel sees the locusts that have ravaged the crops and ripped through Israel, and he warns them…worse things will happen if you don’t turn back to God.
1. No hear on this – I don’t believe that every disaster or plague or pandemic is a punishment by God on people.
a. However, I do believe events come along that can shake us out of our complacency and cause us to renew of our vigor in our relationship with God.
c. Like Joel, we have to learn to think theologically about our lives and the circumstances in our lives…
i. And see where and how God is working and what means God is using to call people back to himself.
1. For people in Joel’s day it was a locust plague…in the 1 century God use the ministry of the apostles, in the Great Awakenings God uses revivals and tent meetings.
a. What means is God using today to call people to himself?
d. And with that, let’s turn to God’s Word. Joel 1:1. Hear God’s Word.
i. Isn’t that a great verse!? But seriously, if we pay attention to this verse, we can actually learn a lot.
1. First – the book is named after a man named Joel. The name Joel means YHWH is God.
a. We actually don’t know a lot about Joel. Son of Pethuel. We don’t even know when Joel ministered and wrote his prophecy.
ii. Most prophets have a built-in timestamp into their prophecies. They write about the king who was ruling at the time.
1. If we know the king who was ruling, we can narrow down the dates that a prophet ministered.
a. But Joel has no such timestamp – and naturally there is great debate as to when Joel ministered. I read page after page after page detailing all the specific arguments about when Joel was written and why certain authors believed that.
iii. I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty details…here’s the Coles Notes version. Some scholars that the Joel was written prior to the Northern Kingdom’s defeat in 722.
1. While there are other scholars who thing that Joel was written during the time of Ezra-Nehemiah, or after Judah returned from exile sometime after 515 BC.
a. The best date…is probably somewhere in the middle.
e. Ultimately, the dating of Joel’s prophecy isn’t that important because the words are timeless.
i. And the truth contained in these words are applicable to all generations.
1. Why? Because the words contained in the book of Joel aren’t Joel’s words at all.
a. Look at the verse again…it says, The word of who??? The Lord that came, or was given to Joel.
i. The words recorded here aren’t of human origin, they are divine…coming from God…given to Joel.
ii. Joel is the mouthpiece. He is truly God’s prophet.
1. And we have to keep this in mind about prophecy. There’s a misunderstand about prophecy. Most think that prophecy is about predicting and telling the future.
a. But a prophet is not a prognosticator. Prophecy isn’t about telling the future. Prophecy is about “thus says the Lord.”
i. Prophecy is calling God’s people to repentance in the present…so that they can enjoy God’s blessing in the future.
iii. The prophet paints a word picture. Continue on the rebellious path you are on…and it will lead to punishment, judgment and destruction.
1. But turn back to God – repent of your sin, reform your ways…and it will lead to forgiveness, restoration and ultimately to everlasting peace.
f. That’s why these words are timeless. Yes they were written at a specific point in history to a specific group of people. And our understanding of this prophecy will greatly increase if we understand the history behind it…
i. However, since these words are of divine origin, and since God’s people always needs to heed the call to repent…the principles of this book still ring true for us today.
3. Structure – So we’re clear – the book of Joel is God’s Word’s through Joel…not Joel’s own creation.
a. But we also have to be clear about HOW this book is written. Understanding the structure will help us better understand the content.
i. Joel is a mainly written as a series of poems. And since it is poetry, Joel uses a lot of comparisons.
1. He uses similes and metaphors and analogies. We’ll see the words “like” and “as” used frequently.
a. So we have to live in the realm of the poetic for a bit. We’d do the book a disservice if we translated it literally.
i. Instead we have to do the hard work of discovering what the comparisons mean.
b. So big picture this morning…here is a broad outline of the book of Joel.
i. First, a locust plague in Judah is described as the day of the Lord – a theme we’ll touch on a little taler today…and throughout the book.
1. Second – the image of the locust invasion of the land is transformed into another image of destruction…that of an invading army from the north.
a. Third…and really this third section is the crux, the turning point of the whole book…
i. In this third section repentance and restoration are brought forward as a means of healing.
1. Not only did the locusts destroy the vegetation, but there was also a drought…
a. But Joel writes that repentance and reform would bring rain to heal the land…and repentance will bring about the destruction of the invading army.
2. In the fourth section images once again transform – and the image of rain healing the land is transformed into the image of the Spirit being poured out on people.
a. The pouring out of the Spirit itself is a sign of favour and restoration.
i. And in the fifth section the unjust are punished for their hatred of God’s people while the righteous are rewarded.
c. I want to point out a couple things about the structure of this book.
i. First, notice that Joel used the immediate crisis facing his original audience and he used that crisis to move them towards future and ultimate issues.
1. Like us today – taking the crisis before us and asking the simple yet profound question – where’s God in this?
ii. And the second thing I want to point out is this…Notice that healing and restoration only comes after the people repent of their sin, turn back to God and reform their ways.
1. It’s a lesson for us to learn too. We can’t expect God’s blessing and peace if we are constantly walking in rebellion.
a. Repentance is the necessary step in order to experience healing and restoration.
d. That’s Joel in broad sweeping strokes. We’ll look at each part in detail as we make our way through the book.
4. Themes and Theology – Next I want to focus your attention on some major themes and some points of theology we’ll touch on along the way.
a. Joel is 3 chapters, 73 verses, but rich and deep in its theology.
i. The majorest of major themes in Joel is the Day of the Lord.
1. For Hole, the day of the Lord isn’t described as one monolithic and cataclysmic event, but a series of events that are harbingers of the final event.
a. Every event described in the book of Joel is treated as the day of the Lord.
i. The day of the Lord comes to judge Israel for her covenant breaking…but it can also be a day of salvation if they repent.
2. It is both a horrific and salvific event.
a. But no matter how it is described the day of the Lord is a decisive action by God on behalf of his people.
i. It shows that no matter what happens God is in absolute control of the present and the future. The day of the Lord…we’ll hear a lot about it.
b. The next major theme and point of theological significance is the theme of repentance.
i. But along with repentances from reformation and forgiveness.
1. A few summers ago we spent the summer months studying Joel 2:12-14 – focusing on the doctrine of repentance. We learned that it is primarily God’s people, those who had a previous relationship with him, who are called to repent.
a. Repentance is the TSN turning point on this whole book. Until the people repent of their rebellion and reform their ways…the day of the Lord will be a day of judgment, not salvation.
2. But here’s Joel’s view on repentance. Yes it is crying out before God, but it is also followed by a reformation of action and attitude.
a. It is accompanied by true and proper worship. Rend your hearts, not your clothes.
i. Don’t simply play repentance…actually repent.
ii. And when repentance is genuine, accompanied by reform…forgiveness is given.
1. And Joel is quite clear that forgiveness is granted, not because of the act of repentance, forgiveness is given because God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
a. Repentance, reform, and forgiveness – we’ll dive into those deep and rich theological truths along the way.
c. The last major theme and theological point of emphasis I’ll introduce this morning is the theme of the send of the Spirit.
i. Like rain coming to water a thirsty land…the Spirit is poured out on God’s thirsty people.
1. In fact, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter quotes from Joel 2:28-29. “IN those days I will pour out my Spirit. You old shall dream dreams, you young shall see visions.”
a. Peter sees this prophecy from Joel being fulfilled as the Holy Spirit filled those early Christians.
i. And in an act of grace, the Holy Spirit fills all those who come to God through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
1. God is dwelling in the hearts of his people.
d. Along the way we’ll study many other themes – we’ll look at proper worship, we’ll talk about judgment. We’ll look at the importance of covenant faithfulness.
5. Conclusion – but I’ll close with this today.
a. The minor prophets are fabulous books. We do them a disservice by calling them minor.
i. They are called minor simply because they are shorter in length than Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.
1. They are not minor in content.
b. They provide us with great insight into God’s relationship with his people. And they provide us with tools to view our relationship with god today.
i. And Joel in particular gives us tools to help shape our worldview.
1. No doubt we are going through some crazy times. I think the word ‘unprecedented’ will be the word of the year in 2020.
a. But even tough we are going through these times – it doesn’t mean God has lost control, it doesn’t mean God has abandoned us.
c. It may mean that God is trying to get our attention…trying to shake us up…wake us up out of our complacency.
i. So like Joel – we must learn to think theologically. Where’s God in this? What is he doing? What he is trying to teach us?
1. Those are great questions to ask, about this situation…about any situation in life.
a. Joel took the present crisis of this day…and used it as a springboard to call God’s people to repentance.
ii. What is God doing in our day? We’ll explore that question as we journey through this book together.