The Book of Joel
A short review for the breakfast study group
At a glance
Joel is a short prophetic book of three chapters in our English Bibles (four in the Hebrew). We know almost nothing about the prophet except his father’s name, Pethuel. The book gives no king and no date, so scholars place it anywhere from the ninth century to the fifth century B.C. That uncertainty does not hurt the message, because Joel speaks to every generation.
The story in three movements
1. A plague of locusts (1:1–2:11). Swarms strip the land bare. Fields, vines, and fig trees are gone, grain offerings stop, and the people mourn. Joel treats the disaster as a warning of something larger, the coming Day of the LORD, and he calls the priests and the whole community to lament.
2. A call to return (2:12–27). This is the heart of the book. God says, “Return to me with all your heart,” and Joel adds that the people should tear their hearts and not their clothing. The reason is the old confession of Exodus 34: God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. God relents, and the land and the harvest are restored. The LORD promises to repay “the years the locust has eaten.”
3. The Spirit poured out and the nations judged (2:28–3:21). God promises to pour out his Spirit on all flesh: sons and daughters, old men and young, even servants. The book closes with judgment on the nations and a picture of the LORD dwelling with his people. “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (2:32).
Why it matters to us. Peter quotes Joel 2:28–32 in his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2), and Paul uses 2:32 in Romans 10:13. Joel also gives us the Old Testament reading for Ash Wednesday (2:1–2, 12–17), which opens Lent with the same call to return.
A Lutheran reading
- Law and Gospel in one short book. Chapter 1 and the first part of chapter 2 hold up the mirror, and God’s earnest call to repentance is the Law at work. Then the Gospel arrives in 2:13 and after, because the God who calls us back is gracious and merciful.
- Repentance is a gift, not a performance. Torn clothing is easy and can be for show. Joel wants the heart, and our confession and absolution each Sunday are a good place to hear that again.
- Promise over circumstance. The locusts are real, but they do not have the last word. God restores, and God gives his Spirit.
- Pentecost. The gift of the Spirit comes by promise to all people, which fits how we think of Baptism and the Word as the means by which the Spirit works.
A caution
Joel can be read as a code for current events, such as the locusts as armies or the timing of the end. Our tradition has generally resisted that. The book is better heard as a call to repentance and a promise of mercy than as a timetable.
Questions for discussion
- Joel treats a natural disaster as a reason to turn back to God. How do we think about hardship in our own lives and in the world, without claiming to know exactly why it happens?
- What does it mean to “rend your hearts and not your garments”? Where do we see the outward form of religion without the heart?
- Joel 2:25 promises to restore “the years the locust has eaten.” Where have you seen God give back what seemed lost?
- Peter says Pentecost fulfills Joel’s promise. How does it change our view of the Spirit that Joel names old and young, women and men, and even servants?
- Where do we hear Law and Gospel in this book, and where do we hear them in our own Sunday liturgy?
Suggested reading for the morning
Read Joel 2:12–14 and 2:28–32 aloud, then Acts 2:14–21 for the Pentecost connection. The whole book can be read in about fifteen minutes.