The Prophet Joel

By Arno Clement Gaebelein

The Exposition

After the reading of these three chapters, which contain the Word of Jehovah, as it came to Joel, the son of Pethuel, one is deeply impressed with the grandeur and solemnity of these revelations. At the same time it seems strange that so few of God's people read and prayerfully study these great prophetic visions. Of all generations we are the most privileged, living in these significant days, standing on the threshold of the fulfilment of these predictions. We behold in our day how everything is shaping for the great events with which this present age will close. The study of the sublime, God-breathed utterances of Joel is indeed of great value and help to those who truly "wait for His Son from heaven." Prophecy concerning things to come is that portion of the Bible, which reveals the triumph and glory of our blessed Lord. In it we may well read all which concerns us, for we are His fellow heirs. We shall also by a continued study of God's revealed purposes concerning Israel and the nations be kept from many snares, which are ever multiplying in these perilous times.

In order to get the correct knowledge of the Book of Joel it must be studied with the help of other prophecies given by the Spirit of God at other times and through different instruments. In studying prophecy, Scripture must be compared with Scripture. This is clearly stated in 2 Peter i 120-21 : "This first understanding, That no prophecy of Scripture becomes self-solving; for not by will of man was prophecy brought in at any time ; but, as by the Holy Spirit they were being borne along, spake holy men of God" (Rotherham). Or as John N. Darby translates it: "Knowing this first, that the scope of no prophecy of Scripture is had from its own particular interpretation, for prophecy was not even uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit." The same Spirit spoke in each Prophet, revealing God's purposes concerning the future, confirming His previous testimony and adding new revelations.

As Joel is the earliest of God's Prophets, the Holy Spirit revealed through him, so to speak, in a nutshell, the great facts concerning the day of the Lord, its preceding and succeeding events. The subsequent Prophets did not copy from him, but the Holy Spirit unfolds the great theme.

And now we turn to the text itself and give an exposition of what God revealed through Joel.

The important question is the question concerning the locusts. The prominence of the locusts, their dreadful work, as pictured in the first chapter, and their second mention in the second chapter is evident to all readers of this prophet. Only in the third chapter the locusts are not mentioned. It is therefore an important question what these locusts mean. Are they simply the scourge, which at stated times devastate oriental countries? Did such a scourge come upon Israel's land in the day of Joel, or was it a prophecy about the future? Are the locusts symbolical? Are they the type of the Assyrian invasion? These are a few of the questions with which the numerous expositors of this book have wrestled. We have examined some of the leading expositions of this prophet; some of them were written in the fourth and fifth century. In modern days during the last hundred years not a few attempts have been made to interpret the book of Joel. It would be intensely interesting to write a history of the interpretation of Joel and to point out the different views which have been expressed by the Greek and Latin "church fathers" as well as by the reformers, such as Calvin and Luther, and the expositors of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, this would hardly help us in understanding this book. Most of the expositions we have seen in different languages are given to spiritualizing. Thus one of the oldest expositors explains chapter ii -.24 : "the corn, the wine and the oil," as being fulfilled in the church. The corn he applies to the body of Christ, the wine to the blood and the oil as being the Holy Spirit. Nearly all of them fail, on account of their ignorance of dispensational truths not distinguishing between Israel and the Church, while others, who Rave some light in this direction, break down in some other way or are fanciful in their application. The Jewish expositors, however, are far more satisfactory. They at least adhere to the literal meaning. Some of the oldest see in the locusts the types of the nations which have preyed upon the land. The invasion of the land by a hostile army, as described in the second chapter, is interpreted by some of these ancient writers as being the invasion of Gog and Magog. Several Jewish interpreters of Joel declare that the whole book is descriptive of the days of the Messiah. By this they mean the glorious manifestation of the Messiah as King for the establishment of the Kingdom, the deliverance of his earthly people and the punishment of their enemies.

Our conception of the locusts is that they were in the first instance literal locusts. At the time the Word of the Lord came to Joel the land of Judah was fearfully devastated by the dread locust plague. They had covered the entire land and nothing had escaped them. A great drouth followed ; human beings and all creation suffered in a terrible way. Through the locusts even the sacrifices and the temple worship had become an impossibility. This literal locust plague is the foundation fact and starting point of the prophecy of Joel. Its description is confined to the first chapter.

But is this the sole object of the first chapter to describe the oft occurring locust invasions and to portray vividly the work of destruction wrought by these powerful insects? Are we to look for nothing but a description of what happened then and nothing else? If the first chapter in our prophet had no further meaning than the description of what the literal locusts did in Israel's land, we could then hardly look upon it as the Word of God. It would rank indeed as one of the finest literary products in any language, but the Word of God with a message deeper than a mere literary description, we could not call it. However, the magnificent picture of the then present locust plague and the havoc they produced, has a deeper, a spiritual and prophetic meaning.

The literal locusts and what they did to the land are prophetically typical of the different world powers which have preyed and are still permitted to prey upon the land, which God has given to His earthly people. The first chapter therefore becomes a great prophecy concerning the condition of the land of Israel during the times of the Gentiles and up to the time when the Day of the Lord begins. This day is mentioned by the Prophet in this first chapter (verse 15). It confirms fully our interpretation that the chapter has a great prophetic application and directs us to the future day of Jehovah. Our exposition, taking up each verse, will bring this out more fully.

In the second chapter the locusts are mentioned again, however, not in the first part, but only in the second part, where the promise of restoration is found, that the evil, which the locusts have done should be repaired.

In the first part of this second chapter we find first of all the day of the Lord announced and then there follows a description of an invading army, which comes from the North. It is strange that some of the most learned expositors hold that this entire description still refers to the literal locusts, when the word locust is not at all mentioned. It is quite true the imagery is taken from a mighty locust swarm, but there is absolutely no reason why literal locusts should be meant here. Literal locusts are before us in the first instance in the opening chapter, typifying nations, and here in the second chapter it is a prophecy about an invading host, which swarms over the land in immense numbers working great destruction like the literal locusts.

We do not doubt that partially the prophecy was fulfilled in the Assyrian invasion, but the final great fulfilment is a matter of the future. Such an invasion as described here will come at the end of this age. A part of the nation must be restored to the land and once more the trumpets are sounded as of old. After the description of this last great invasion of the land we find the Lord's interference and how Israel's land is restored, the nation blest and the Holy Spirit poured out.

The third chapter has nothing to say about the locusts, but we see instead the nations, which were represented by the locusts, gathered together for judgment. It is a great descriptive chapter of the day of the Lord and all the events which cluster around that great coming day. And now we are prepared to take up the chapters separately and follow the prophecy of Joel in an analytical study.