Joel 01: The Day of the Lord

Have you ever wondered why certain challenging events keep repeating in your life? The ancient prophet Joel might have an answer that will transform how you view life's devastations.

Today we're unpacking Joel chapter 1 and discovering the profound concept of "The Day of the Lord." While this sounds ominous—and it certainly carries serious warnings—the message of Joel offers surprising hope. Writing during Judah's recovery from a dark political period, Joel uses a catastrophic locust plague to illustrate spiritual truths about judgment and restoration.

The devastation Joel describes is total: crops destroyed, joy vanished, even wild animals crying out in hunger. Yet within this bleak landscape lies an invitation. When everything falls apart, we face a crucial choice—retreat into isolation and self-pity, or pivot toward God with renewed intensity. As your host Pastor Brandon confesses, "I wish I could tell you that when everything's going wrong, my default is to turn to Jesus... but honestly, I tend to pout like a little kid."

What makes Joel particularly fascinating is how his prophecy extends beyond his own time. The spiritual principles he outlines continue to operate in our lives today, and his vision of God's Spirit being poured out famously connects to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Joel teaches us a timeless truth: the level at which we experience spiritual warfare should be the level at which we turn to God.

Ready for a spiritual reset? Subscribe now, share this episode with someone facing their own "locust plague," and join our Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. Remember Joel 2:13—"Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

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Chapters

• 0:48 Introduction to the Book of Joel
• 3:02 Background and Historical Context
• 7:59 The Locust Metaphor Explained
• 11:00 Joel Chapter 1: The Devastation
• 14:38 Responding to Personal Devastation
• 18:46 Closing Prayer and Reflection

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Joel, chapter 1. And today's title and the overall theme of the book of Joel is the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord, and we're going to get into all this in just a moment.

Speaker 1: 0:43

And many of you have probably actually heard of the book of Joel, but maybe not because of it being a book in the Old Testament, but because of something that happens in the New Testament. So, if you want to get your Bibles out and get ready to jump into a book of the Bible that you probably are more familiar with than you think you are, while you're doing that, if you're new here, take just a moment. Like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. Man, I'll tell you there's a great group of people doing a wonderful job over there and, as always, the more we dig the more we find, and our hope in all of this is to create an environment where we can just celebrate reading God's Word and just gather around the truth of God's Word, and it's just a wonderful opportunity to do that, and so make sure you're going to the Facebook page and make sure you're enjoying all of that. Okay, all right.

Speaker 1: 1:35

Well, if you have your Bibles, you open up with me to Joel, chapter two. Remember, the idea in the New Testament is is so many things in the New Testament were fulfillment of prophecy that happened in the Old Testament, and so the book of Joel is very important, because Acts, chapter 2, actually speaks about the prophet Joel, and so that's why we want to take time and really go through it, especially on the first part. We always do this, but remember, the overall theme is talking about the day of the Lord, and it's dual in its meaning. It's the day of the Lord, as in the day of judgment, but also in the day when God restores everything again, and so the prophet Joel had the opportunity to really warn the nation of Israel about this. And so let's dive in a little bit deeper to Joel and get some background information.

Speaker 1: 2:28

First of all, who wrote Joel? Well, that's the good thing about the book of Joel is it has the name of the prophet as the title. So it was written by a guy named Joel, son of Bethuel. We don't really know much about Joel, except that his name means Yahweh is God. Now, one of the ways to tell this is the word Joel. If you were to say this in Hebrew, you could even call it, say Joel, and that Joel part, the E-L is a Hebrew word for God. So Joel means is is God, so God is Yahweh, or Yahweh is God. That's how you can tell what his name means.

Speaker 1: 3:09

And where was he? But he was in Judah. That's the southern kingdom. If you remember, after the time of Solomon you had Saul, which is the first king of Israel, then you had David, the greatest king of Israel, then you had Solomon, his son, and then, after Solomon, the kingdom split into two and you had most of the tribes of Israel that went away from the house of David, the son of Solomon, and they developed their own kingdom that we just simply call Israel, and that was the northern kingdom. But then you had Judah and Benjamin that stayed with the house, the dynasty of David, and that was the southern kingdom, and they called them Judah because Judah was the main tribe. And so Joel is in the southern kingdom, probably living in Jerusalem at the time.

Speaker 1: 3:58

And kind of when would this have been? This would have been during like 835 to 796 BC. So the people that would have been around that you may recognize during the time of Joel would be the prophet Elisha, the prophet Obadiah and the prophet Jonah. So while Jonah is being swallowed up by fish, while a guy named Obadiah is talking about the different things that God is doing, joel is living in the city of Jerusalem and he is prophesying because of the waywardness of the people of God, but at the same time that God is wanting to bring his people back again. So Elisha is out there doing all these miracles, and I think that's important Already to remember that we sometimes think that God is only doing one thing in one place, but we can already see that Elisha was doing all this great stuff that you can read about in the Old Testament, but while he is out and about doing that, there is a prophet in the city of Jerusalem that's also obeying God and also doing some great things. And so the big idea of Joel, like I was saying before, is it's all about a day of judgment, but it's also about a day of salvation at the same time. That God can do both at the same time that God is always up to something. So it's a call to repentance, it's a warning of coming judgment, but it's also the promise of future hope.

Speaker 1: 5:24

Now, why is the book of Joel important? Why are we not skipping this one and going on? Well, the reason why is because it reminds us that God uses both natural and spiritual means to get our attention, and we could think deeply about that for a long time, couldn't we? I mean, how many times have bad things happened in our life that really did a wonderful job at refocusing our mind on our need for God, right? The next thing is it's a call to repentance, which is timeless, and then the one that I was alluding to earlier is Joel's prophecy that's going to come up in chapter 2 is actually still being fulfilled today, and so we still get to see some of what happened in Joel's life even today.

Speaker 1: 6:06

So what's going on in the time of Joel give you a little bit more background is Judah is recovering from the reign of Queen Ataliah, who was just a dark and violent period, and if you remember you go back and listen to earlier podcasts this was a time when they had to hide this little boy who was going to be a king from Queen Ataliah, because she was just absolutely evil and her reign has come to an end. But now they're grappling with their identity. Are they going to turn back to God or are they going to follow all the idol worship by Queen Adelaide and some of the other nations that have come up and some of the just the you know, jezebel and some of those people. They're dead now, but some of the influences they brought. The next thing is is this is a time when the temple is being repaired, because under Queen Adelia some terrible things had happened to the temple, and they are in the process of restoring these different things. There's a lot of work that needs to be done and also kind of foreshadowing. The kingdom of Assyria is rising to dominant power in the region. Now, if you have been reading along with us, eventually the nation of Israel, the northern kingdom, falls to the invading armies of the Assyrians because they don't repent of their sin, and during this time it hasn't happened yet, but they are starting to gain power.

Speaker 1: 7:28

So a couple more things, some interesting facts, and then we're going to jump into this. First of all, god uses this situation that has happened in the nation of Judah to point to a spiritual thing, and one of the things is he's going to talk about locusts. He's going to talk about different types of locusts that do different kinds of things, and, depending on where you live in the world, it is going to mean absolutely nothing to you. You're going to be like, okay, ugly bugs, let's move on. But here's the thing During the time, and especially when their primary source of food and making money and all that was agriculture, a swarm of locusts could be like a death sentence, because what locusts would do is they would come in by the thousands. Just think of thousands of flying grasshoppers. Right, that would come out of nowhere and they would just land on your crops and within just almost no time at all, they would destroy your crops, and so you could have started out having a great season and then you end in just devastation, like it could be terrible. And so when locusts would come through you, just I mean, people would just fall apart. And so he is using this locust metaphor, but that's just it.

Speaker 1: 8:38

Many scholars believe it was very possibly a metaphor Because, remember, the genre of Joel is apocalyptic literature, and what that means is is you don't read it like you would read, you know, the book of Colossians or Romans, where Paul is saying do this and do that, don't do this, don't do that. This is a form of poetry, and so he will a lot of times write in different prose and different illustrations, to make a point. And so many scholars believe that, yes, there was probably locusts that were wreaking havoc all over the place, but it may have more, symbolized the different invading armies that would just come in and devastate the different area and talk about how that's what has been happening, but how God wants to do something different in their life. Joel another interesting fact Joel is also one of the few prophets who does not mention specific sins like idolatry or injustice. He's just saying we need to repent of everything Because of what had been going on in the nation's history. He's just like can we just have a general, just sorry before God? Also, peter quotes Joel too, that the day of Pentecost, when it happens that he is saying this is the fulfillment of what Joel had said, like almost a thousand years ago. And what I love is Joel ends with a note of restoration, with God blessing for his people and pointing of the hope of final redemption and so the overall final goal of the book of Job is this idea that bad things are happening, it's the day of the Lord, but it's also a day of possible restoration, so there's a lot of hope that's there as well.

Speaker 1: 10:15

So, if you're ready, we're going to jump into Joel, chapter 1. And remember, he is talking to the nation of Judah as they are grappling with all of the sin they have been committing under these bad rulers, and he is telling them it is now time to come back to God, even though all these bad things have been happening, most of which we have earned by turning our heart from God. So if you're ready, here we go. Joel, chapter 1, verse 1, says this the Lord gave this message to Joel, son of Bethuel. Now one more time every time, remember you see capital L-O-R-D. It is talking about Yahweh, so it's just the covenant name of God. So God's saying me, the covenant God, who has made covenant with you, in other words, made promises with you. This is the one who is talking and he says this hear this, you leaders of the people. Listen all who live in the land. All your history has anything like this happened before? Tell your children about it in years to come, and let your children tell their children Pass the story down from generation to generation.

Speaker 1: 11:19

After the cutting locusts have finished eating the crops, the swarming locusts took over what was left. After that came the hopping locusts, and then the stripping locusts too. Wake up, you drunkards and weep Wail, all you wine drinkers. All the grapes are ruined and all your sweet wine is gone. A vast army of locusts have invaded my land, a terrible army, too numerous to count. Its teeth are like lion's teeth, its fangs are like those of a lioness. It has destroyed my grapevines and ruined my fig trees, stripping their bark and destroying it, leaving the branches white and bare.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Weep, like a bride dressed in black mourning for the death of her husband, for there is no grain or wine to offer at the temple of the Lord. So the priests are in mourning and the ministers of the Lord are weeping. The fields are ruined and the land is stripped bare. The grain is destroyed, the grapes have shriveled and the olive oil is gone. Despair. All you farmers Wail. All you vine growers Weep because of the wheat and barley. All the crops of the field are ruined, the grape vines have dried up and the fig trees have withered, the pomegranate tree, palm trees and apple trees. All the fruit trees have dried up and the people's joy has dried up with them. Dress yourselves in burlap and weep. You, priest Wail, you who serve before the altar, come spend the night in burlap, you ministers of my God, for there is no grain or Verse 2. And all the people of the land into the temple of the Lord, your God, and cry out to him there.

Speaker 1: 13:14

The day of the Lord is near, the day when destruction comes from the Almighty. How terrible that day will be. Our food disappears before our very eyes. No joyful celebrations are heard in the house of our God. The seeds die in the parched ground and the grain crops fail. The barns stand empty and the barns and the granaries are abandoned. How the animals moan with hunger. The herds of cattle wander about confused because they have no pasture. The flocks of the sheep and goats bleat in misery. Lord, help us. The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures. The flames have burned all of our trees. Even the wild animals cry out to you because the streams have dried up and the fire has consumed the wilderness pastures. Devastation, absolute devastation.

Speaker 1: 14:14

And so when we read this and we look at this, what's going on? Well, what is happening is this invading army of locusts have come. This bad thing has happened and it has absolutely devastated everything. And so what Joel is saying is it is time to get serious with God. And so what Joel is saying is it is time to get serious with God, it's time to come back to him and to ask for him to do something about this terrible situation that they're going through. And can I tell you, the lesson for us today is that in the day of the Lord, in other words, in the day when it seems like everything is falling apart, that's also the day when everything can come back together again.

Speaker 1: 14:54

I don't know about you, but when everything is going wrong and everything is bad, I wish I could tell you, I wish I could sit here and just brag, you know, and just say, man, when everything's going wrong, I love to just turn to Jesus. I just get close to him, I call up my life group and they pray for me. Man, everything is great. I wish I could tell you that is my default. But I'm just. You go ahead and act like it's, you polish your halo, all the good things, but can I tell you what I do whenever the day of the Lord comes in my life, in other words, bad things starts to happen, and usually you know cause. I've earned it. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1: 15:27

Like the discipline of the Lord is coming upon my life because I've not been faithful in different areas. I will tell you, I pout like a little kid. I will isolate myself, I go over somewhere else. I'll even tell my wife. I'll be like hey, listen, I need you to leave me alone right now. I'll tell our staff at church hey, I need you to give me some space right now. You know what I mean, because I just want to have a pity party and if I'm not careful, I'll just isolate myself, away from everybody.

Speaker 1: 15:52

And that's honestly what the book of Joel is saying. That's exactly what we should not do. That actually, when the day looks its darkest is actually the day when God can do the most If we'll turn to him. And so what Joel is saying? Bad things have happened, horrible things have happened. And one of the things that he's talking about is he's saying okay, look at all of these things that we've been doing. And this is the result we have turned away from God over and over and over again. We haven't trusted in him. We've done our own thing and this was the result, and so he is saying so.

Speaker 1: 16:28

Then our next step is turn back to him as seriously as we can and can I tell you what I've learned to do and I'm learning to do and I wish I could tell you that I get it right all the time is the level at which I start experiencing spiritual warfare or I start experiencing something bad. I'm trying to learn that, with that same energy, I need to turn to God. So if I'm having kind of a bad day, then maybe on the way home I'll turn on some worship music and I'll just say God, I just give it to you and I pray that you'll. You know, whatever. But when I'm talking about, everything hits the fan, everything's going wrong. It just seems like nothing's going right and I'm trying to learn to do is whatever energy is coming at me, like, however big it is. That's how much I turn to God, which means what I'll do is, instead of coming home, I'll go somewhere quiet and I'll say God, I'm not leaving this place until I feel like I have poured out my heart before you and to make sure my heart is right with you, because the only one who can do something about this is you, and just turn over to him absolutely as much as I possibly can, because I have learned and I've learned the hard way that only God can do something about it. So here's my question for you Is there something in your life right now that's just going crazy, just going wrong?

Speaker 1: 17:52

Maybe you call it the day of the Lord in your life. Maybe it's because of mistakes you've made, maybe it's because of things, or maybe not, but maybe, maybe things are still going wrong. Can I tell you the number one thing that God says is give it to me. You were never intended to do this thing called life alone. You were intended to bring it to me, and that's what Joel is telling us.

Speaker 1: 18:13

When the day of the Lord comes, it's a bad day, but it can also be the best day, depending on how hard you pivot and you turn it over to the Lord. Let's pray together right now, god, thank you so much that you're with us and you're for us in every way. I'm so thankful, lord, that you see us, that you're walking with us even now and in this moment, and I pray today, god, that whatever we're going through, lord, we won't waste it. But, lord, it will help us remember to turn our lives over to you and to let you have your way. Let's pivot toward you and watch what you can do. In the name of Jesus, we pray Amen, amen. Well, god's Word says in Joel 2, verse 13,. It says Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That's my prayer for you today. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Joel, chapter 2.