TOM · The Owner's Manual · Old Testament

Joel 2

Chapter 2 in 30 seconds

The locusts march like an army, climbing walls and crawling in through windows. Then God says it is not too late: return to Me with all your heart. He promises to pay back the years the locusts ate and to pour out His Spirit on everyone.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyThe Locust Plague of 1915 · after verse 9 The Big Question · Christians disagreeReal Locusts or an Army? · after verse 11 Field Notes · ArchaeologyThe Murabbaat Scroll · after verse 24 The Big QuestionDid Pentecost Fulfill Joel 2? · after verse 32

The Army of Locusts// Amos 7:1–9

¹Blow the ram’s horn in Zion;

sound the alarm on My holy mountain!

Let all who dwell in the land tremble,

for the Day of Yahweh is coming;

indeed, it is near—

²a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and blackness.

Like the dawn overspreading the mountains

a great and strong army appears,

such as never was of old,

nor will ever be in ages to come.

³Before them a fire devours,

and behind them a flame scorches.

The land before them is like the Garden of Eden,

but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—

surely nothing will escape them.

JOEL 2:3[NOTE]LIKE EDEN, THEN A DESERT. See The Locust Plague of 1915.

⁴Their appearance is like that of horses,

and they gallop like swift steeds.

⁵With a sound like that of chariots

they bound over the mountaintops,

like the crackling of fire consuming stubble,

like a mighty army deployed for battle.

⁶Nations writhe in horror before them;

every face turns pale.

⁷They charge like mighty men;

they scale the walls like men of war.

Each one marches in formation,

not swerving from the course.

⁸They do not jostle one another;

each proceeds in his path.

They burst through the defenses,

never breaking ranks.

⁹They storm the city;

they run along the wall;

they climb into houses,

entering through windows like thieves.

JOEL 2:9[NOTE]THROUGH THE WINDOWS. People who lived through the 1915 plague in Jerusalem saw locusts do exactly this.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Locust Plague of 1915

Joel 1:4 · 2:3 to 10 · 2:25

The Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem before and after the locusts of 1915. American Colony photographers, Library of Congress, public domain.

WHAT IT IS: Photographs of a real locust plague that hit the land of Israel, then part of the Ottoman Empire, in 1915. Photographers of the American Colony in Jerusalem recorded it from the first swarms to the bare fields.
HOW OLD IT IS: Not ancient: 1915, during World War I. It is here because it shows, in our own times, what Joel saw.
WHAT HAPPENED: In the spring of 1915 huge swarms flew in and darkened the sun. They laid eggs, and the young locusts that hatched marched across the land, eating everything green and stripping the bark off trees.
JUST LIKE JOEL: The young locusts marched in straight lines, climbed walls and went into houses through the windows, the way Joel 2:7 to 9 says. Trees were left white, as in 1:7. John Whiting of the American Colony wrote about it in National Geographic and quoted Joel.
FIGHTING BACK: The Ottoman governor ordered every man from 15 to 60 to bring in about 44 pounds of locust eggs or pay a fine. It was not enough.
WHAT IT COST: Most of that year's fruit and vegetables were lost. With the war already cutting off food, many people in the land went hungry.
THE DESERT LOCUST: A kind of grasshopper that changes when crowded: it turns color and starts to swarm. The United Nations food agency says a swarm one square kilometer in size can eat as much food in a day as about 35,000 people.
LOCUSTS IN THE BIBLE: Locusts were the eighth plague on Egypt, Exodus 10:12 to 15. Solomon prayed about them when he dedicated the temple, 1 Kings 8:37, and Amos saw them in a vision, Amos 7:1 to 3.
WHY GETHSEMANE: The photos show the old olive garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus prayed the night before He died. Same trees, same spot, before and after.
WHERE THE PHOTOS ARE: The American Colony photos are kept in the Library of Congress, in the Matson Collection, and anyone can see them online.
WHAT IT SHOWS: Joel was not writing fantasy. A locust army can turn a garden like Eden into a desert, Joel 2:3, as the photos of Gethsemane show.
SEE ALSO: Locusts on a Stick, in this book, and Real Locusts or an Army?

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

¹⁰Before them the earth quakes;

the heavens tremble.

The sun and moon grow dark,

and the stars lose their brightness.

¹¹Yahweh raises His voice

in the presence of His army.

Indeed, His camp is very large,

for mighty are those who obey His command.

For the Day of Yahweh is great and very dreadful.

Who can endure it?

The Big Question · Christians disagree

Real Locusts or an Army?

What Did Joel See?

Joel 1:4 to 7 · 2:1 to 11 · 2:20 · 2:25

THE PUZZLE: Chapter 1 is clearly about locusts. Chapter 2 describes an army that looks like horses, charges like soldiers, scales walls and enters houses, and God calls it His army, 2:11 and 2:25. Is it the same locusts, or something else?

Real Locusts or an Army? · Every View

Revelation 9:1 to 11 · Isaiah 13:6 to 10

VIEW 1: REAL LOCUSTS BOTH TIMES: Chapter 2 uses like again and again: like horses, like mighty men. Joel is comparing the locusts to an army. People who saw the 1915 plague said the young locusts moved exactly this way.
VIEW 2: CHAPTER 2 IS A HUMAN ARMY: Some say the northern army, 2:20, means an invader from the north, like Assyria or Babylon, since locusts usually came from the south or east. The locusts of chapter 1 were the warning; the army was coming next.
VIEW 3: BOTH: Many say the real locust plague is a preview of a coming invasion and of the great Day of Yahweh. One disaster points to a bigger one.
VIEW 4: THE END TIMES: Some connect Joel's army with the locusts from the abyss in Revelation 9:1 to 11 and with the armies of the last days.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: God is in charge even of disasters, and He uses them to call people back to Himself. And He promises to pay back what was lost, 2:25.

Return with All Your Heart

¹²“Yet even now,”

declares Yahweh,

“return to Me with all your heart,

with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

JOEL 2:12[HEART]Even now, after the disaster, God says come back with your whole heart. It is never too late to return.
JOEL 2:12[NOTE]EVEN NOW. It is never too late to come back to God.

¹³So rend your hearts and not your garments,

and return to Yahweh your God.

For He is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.

And He relents from sending disaster.

JOEL 2:13[HEART]Tear your hearts, not your clothes. God wants real repentance, not a show.
JOEL 2:13[NOTE]REND YOUR HEARTS. People tore their clothes to show grief. God wants a torn heart, not torn clothes. Most of the rest of the verse echoes God's own words to Moses, Exodus 34:6.

¹⁴Who knows? He may turn and relent

and leave a blessing behind Him—

grain and drink offerings

for Yahweh your God.

JOEL 2:14[NOTE]WHO KNOWS? The king of Nineveh said the same words, Jonah 3:9.

¹⁵Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,

consecrate a fast,

proclaim a sacred assembly.

¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,

assemble the aged, gather the children,

even those nursing at the breast.

Let the bridegroom leave his room,

and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷Let the priests who minister before Yahweh

weep between the portico and the altar,

saying, “Spare Your people, O Yahweh,

and do not make Your heritage a reproach,

an object of scorn among the nations.

Why should they say among the peoples,

‘Where is their God?’”

Restoration Promised

¹⁸Then Yahweh became jealous for His land,

and He spared His people.

¹⁹And Yahweh answered His people:

“Behold, I will send you

grain, new wine, and oil,

and by them you will be satisfied.

I will never again make you

a reproach among the nations.

²⁰The northern army I will drive away from you,

banishing it to a barren and desolate land,

its front ranks into the Eastern Sea,

and its rear guard into the Western Sea.

And its stench will rise;

its foul odor will ascend.

For He has done great things.

JOEL 2:20[ARCHAEOLOGY]A Hebrew scroll of the Twelve from a Bar Kokhba refugee cave holds parts of Joel from this verse to 3:16, see The Murabbaat Scroll Field Notes page
JOEL 2:20[NOTE]THE NORTHERN ARMY. Locusts usually came from the south or east, so some think Joel means an army from the north too. See Real Locusts or an Army?

²¹Do not be afraid, O land;

rejoice and be glad,

for Yahweh has done great things.

²²Do not be afraid, O beasts of the field,

for the open pastures have turned green,

the trees bear their fruit,

and the fig tree and vine yield their best.

²³Be glad, O children of Zion,

and rejoice in Yahweh your God,

for He has given you the autumn rains

for your vindication.

He sends you showers,

both autumn and spring rains, as before.

JOEL 2:23[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → JAS 5:7

²⁴The threshing floors will be full of grain,

and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Murabbaat Scroll

Joel 2:20 to 3:16 · Amos to Zechariah

Nahal Darga, called Wadi Murabbaat in Arabic, the canyon in the Judean Desert where the caves are. The scroll itself is not shown. Photo Ester Inbar, free with credit.

WHAT IT IS: A Hebrew scroll of the Twelve Prophets, called Mur 88, found in a cave in Wadi Murabbaat, a canyon in the Judean Desert south of Qumran. It holds parts of ten of the twelve books, starting in Joel 2:20.
HOW OLD IT IS: Copied in the late first or early second century AD, not long after the time of the apostles.
HOW IT WAS FOUND: Bedouin found it in 1955 in one of the caves where Jews had hidden during the Bar Kokhba revolt against Rome, AD 132 to 135. Nearby caves in the same canyon held letters signed by Simon bar Kosiba, the leader of the revolt.
WHAT IS IN IT: Pieces of Joel, 2:20 and 2:26 to 3:16, then Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai and the start of Zechariah, in the same order as Hebrew Bibles today.
WHAT THE TEXT SHOWS: The words are almost exactly the same as the Hebrew text used today, the Masoretic text, letter for letter in most places. By then Jewish scribes were copying one standard text with great care.
THE OLDER COPIES: Older Qumran copies of the Twelve, from before the time of Jesus, hold pieces of Joel too. See The Hosea Scrolls, Hosea.
THE CAVES: The caves sit high in the cliffs of the canyon, about eleven miles south of Qumran. Archaeologists Roland de Vaux and Lankester Harding explored them in 1952. People had sheltered there from the Stone Age to Roman times.
WHERE IT IS TODAY: The Israel Antiquities Authority keeps it in Jerusalem.
WHY IT MATTERS: Refugees fleeing for their lives probably took this scroll with them into the desert. It shows how much the people valued the prophets, and how carefully the words were kept.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

²⁵I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—

the swarming locust, the young locust,

the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—

My great army that I sent against you.

JOEL 2:25[NOTABLE]God can restore what was lost. Wasted years are not the end of the story when people return to Him.
JOEL 2:25[NOTE]THE YEARS THE LOCUSTS ATE. God can give back what was lost. He even calls the locusts My great army: He was in charge of them too.

²⁶You will have plenty to eat,

until you are satisfied.

You will praise the name of Yahweh your God,

who has worked wonders for you.

My people will never again

be put to shame.

²⁷Then you will know that I am present in Israel

and that I am Yahweh your God,

and there is no other.

My people will never again

be put to shame.

I Will Pour Out My Spirit// Acts 2:14–36

²⁸And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams,

your young men will see visions.

JOEL 2:28[PROPHECY]I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy → ACTS 2:16-18; TIT 3:6
JOEL 2:28[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ACTS 2:17-21
JOEL 2:28[TEXT]VERSE NUMBERS. In Hebrew Bibles 2:28 to 32 is chapter 3, and our chapter 3 is chapter 4. The words are the same.
JOEL 2:28[NOTE]ALL PEOPLE. Sons and daughters, old and young, even servants. Peter quoted almost all of 2:28 to 32 on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:16 to 21. See Did Pentecost Fulfill Joel 2?

²⁹Even on My menservants and maidservants,

I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

³⁰I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,

blood and fire and columns of smoke.

JOEL 2:30[PROPHECY]God would show wonders in the sky, and the sun would turn dark and the moon to blood before the Day of Yahweh → STILL TO COMEMEDIUM

³¹The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and awesome Day of Yahweh.

³²And everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh

will be saved;

for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem

there will be deliverance, as Yahweh has promised,

among the remnant called by Yahweh.

JOEL 2:32[PROPHECY]Salvation offered to all mankind through His name → ROM 10:9-13; ACTS 2:21
JOEL 2:32[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 10:13
JOEL 2:32[NOTE]EVERYONE WHO CALLS. Paul quotes this to say anyone, Jew or Gentile, can be saved by calling on the Lord, Romans 10:13.

The Big Question

Did Pentecost Fulfill Joel 2?

This Is What Joel Said

Joel 2:28 to 32 · Acts 2:1 to 21

WHAT PETER SAID: On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came on Jesus' followers, and they spoke in other languages. People thought they were drunk. Peter stood up and said, This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, and quoted 2:28 to 32, Acts 2:16 to 21.
IN THE LAST DAYS: Joel says afterward. Peter says in the last days, Acts 2:17. The first Christians believed the last days began with Jesus.

Did Pentecost Fulfill Joel 2? · How It Has Been Read

Acts 10:44 to 45 · Matthew 24:29 · Revelation 6:12

FIRST: FULFILLED AT PENTECOST: Most Christians say Pentecost was the fulfillment Joel promised: the Spirit poured out on men and women, young and old. It kept spreading, to Samaritans and then to Gentiles, Acts 8 and 10:44 to 45. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord can be saved, Acts 2:21.
THE SUN AND THE MOON: Some say the signs in the sky are picture language for a world shaking event, like the darkness at the cross, Luke 23:44 to 45. Others say those signs are still to come before Jesus returns, Matthew 24:29 and Revelation 6:12.
BEGUN, NOT FINISHED: Many say Pentecost began the fulfillment, and the last part, the great and awesome day, comes at the end.
A FUTURE OUTPOURING ON ISRAEL: Some, especially dispensational teachers, say Joel's promise will be fully kept when Israel as a nation turns to the Lord, Zechariah 12:10.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Peter said this is that. God keeps His promises, and His Spirit is for every kind of person who calls on Him.

Joel 2

The Army of Locusts// Amos 7:1–9

Return with All Your Heart

Restoration Promised

I Will Pour Out My Spirit// Acts 2:14–36

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