Peter, Are You Serious? Joel?

We’re testing Peter’s claim that all the prophets spoke about his days, his generation. According to the inmillennial prophetic model, these were the “last days” of the Mosaic age.¹ We verified Moses (here and here), Samuel, and Obadiah did so, following the chronological order Peter (and Jesus) suggested (Acts 3:24; Luke 24:27).

Now we turn to Joel,² who some commentators think lived in the time of Uzziah in the 700s BC.³ This date would make him about a century after Obadiah.

In this post, I aim to show Joel’s overall flow of thought. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll consider the significance of its fulfillment, especially the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

Joel spoke of God’s dealing with Israel beginning in his day and extending to Peter’s generation and beyond. Let’s consider the three significant parts of his prophecy: 1.) the coming judgment, 2.) the refreshing of the land, and 3.) the judgment of the nations.

The Coming Judgment

God’s coming judgment would be like the destruction caused by locusts (Joel 1:1–2:17). This description of devastation should have caused the people to lament and repent of their unfaithfulness to God. Joel said, “Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth” (Joel 1:8; cf. Joel 1:11, 13, 16–20). Sadly, they did not.

These locusts produce a swarm of problems for readers who want to understand Joel. Does he mean literal locusts, or is he using the insects as figures of human armies?

I agree with commentators who think a locust plague occurred in Joel’s day and that he is using it to point to another, more devastating invasion by human legions in his near future. John Gill says the locusts “may point at the several invasions and incursions of the Chaldean army into Judea, under Nebuchadnezzar and his generals.”⁴

The Scriptures sometimes say symbols are the things they symbolize. For example, Jesus said the wine of communion (the symbol) is His blood (the thing signified) (Matt 26:28).

Joel intertwined the recent (?) locust plague with the soon-coming invasion, sometimes equating the two events. At points, it is difficult to distinguish between them. Still, certain words show he meant for us to think of a human army coming in his future.

Joel said, “A nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number” (Joel 1:6). One commentator, who holds a literal-locust-only view of chapter 1, admits a key point: “The word here rendered ‘nation’ is usually applied to heathen nations, considered as the enemies of God and of his people.”⁵ This invader would be a nation of human warriors.

A people, great and strong, would come (Joel 2:2), and God’s army, with a vast base camp, would do the Lord’s bidding (Joel 2:11). These words suggest a human reality behind the locust symbol.

The coming judgment would be the day of the Lord for Israel. We must understand the Scriptures use this terminology to describe several of God’s judgments. There was “the day of the Lord” against Babylon (Isa 13:1, 9) and another against Edom (Isa 34:5, 8).

Joel foretold two days of the Lord against Israel. The first was “at hand” (Joel 1:15; 2:1) and in the prophet’s near future. (O that commentators would honor such time statements in the Bible!) The Assyrians captured Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, around 720 BC, and the Babylonians destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC.

Joel used standard prophetic language to describe this judgment, including cosmic collapse imagery (Joel 2:2, 10–11). Isaiah used an imploding universe to describe Babylon’s collapse (Isa 13:10), and Jesus would use it to depict God’s judgment of Israel in His generation (Matt 24:29, 34).

According to this word of the Lord, God judged Israel soon after Joel prophesied.

The Refreshing of the Land

After this judgment, Joel said the Lord would refresh His land and people (Joel 2:18–32). He would “remove far from [them] the northern army” that had destroyed them (Joel 2:20). This confirms our analysis of Joel to this point, for Babylon conquered Assyria in 612 BC, and the Medes and Persians destroyed Babylon soon after Israel returned to their land. Thus God removed the locust-like armies that had plundered Israel.

Joel used rain to describe the Lord refreshing the land: “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” (Joel 2:23).

Without attempting a proof, I will suggest the former rain on Israel was God’s creation of her during the Exodus, and the latter rain pointed to His re-creation of her in Peter’s generation. Isaiah contrasts Israel’s before and after creations in a similar way with his own water imagery (Isa 43:15–21). Messianic passages use rain to describe the future (to Joel) blessings of God: “He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth” (Psa 72:6; cf. Zech 10:1).

This refreshing would culminate in God pouring out the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28–29) and bringing another day-of-the-Lord cosmic collapse on Israel (Joel 2:30-31). I will say more about these events next week. I’ll note that God fulfilled Joel’s prophecy on Pentecost and in AD 70, both in Peter’s generation!

Joel’s refreshing of the land ends in the same place Obadiah described—on Mount Zion. “On Mount Zion there shall be deliverance” (Obad 17). “In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance” (Joel 2:32).

Let us rejoice God brought us to this Mount Zion in Peter’s generation: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb 12:22)! The time of the latter rain arrived in the “last days” of the Mosaic age.

The Judgment of the Nations

Beyond the immediate judgment and the following refreshing of the land, Joel saw God judging the nations (Joel 3:1–21). He began to speak from the perspective of “in those days and at that time” (Joel 3:1), the generation in which God would pour out the Holy Spirit and then judge Israel. 

As this judgment of the nations begins, Joel said, “The day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14)—not near to Joel’s day but near “in those days” of his prophetic perspective. This day would also bring cosmic collapse (Joel 3:15–16).

After this, great blessings would follow: “No aliens shall ever pass through [Jerusalem] again” (Joel 3:17). “A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD” (Joel 3:18).

Again, let us rejoice. The day of the Lord against Israel came, and we live in the time of these blessings. Now, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). And the ever-refreshing streams of water now flow. As Jesus said, “The water that I shall give … will become … a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

Jesus executed His sentence against apostate Israel in Peter’s generation. He continues to judge the nations and will conclude this work at the final judgment of all men. In the meantime, God’s people enjoy the blessings of Mount Zion.

Conclusion

Joel traced Israel’s history—in advance—from his day to Peter’s and beyond. God would complete His work of refreshing the land by pouring out His Spirit and ending the Mosaic age. Next week we will concentrate on this culmination.

Peter knew Joel had spoken of the generation in which he was living.

1. Please consider becoming familiar with the inmillennial view of prophecy. You can read a summary version here or tackle the full book-length version here. The title of the book—Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days—hints at the reason for my suggestion. This model says the “last days” are identical to Peter’s “these days”; both terms refer to the “last days” of the Mosaic age. This perspective will shed light on the prophets as we work through them.
   Also, consider watching the sermon I preached related to this material at Hopewell Primitive Baptist Church in Opelika, AL, on June 18, 2023. You can watch it here.
2. The image in this post is The Prophet Joel by Michelangelo (1475–1564). It is in the public domain per PD-US-expired.
3. Richard D. Patterson, “Joel,” in Daniel–Minor Prophets, vol. 7 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 7:231-33.
4. John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 9 vols. (1809–10; repr., Paris, AR: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1989), 6:458.
5. Henry Cowles, The Minor Prophets; With Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Practical (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1868), 82.