During the period of the divided kingdom, God sent many prophets to His people to teach them. God’s people were not obeying the Law of Moses and were worshipping idols and being mean to one another. God sent His prophets to tell the people that God loved them but if they did not repent, God was going to punish them.
The prophet Joel was one of the prophets God sent to His people. We don’t know exactly when Joel prophesied, but it was a terrible time in Israel’s history.
Imagine one of your parents coming back from the grocery store with no food. You ask them, “Where is the milk, bread, and other food?” Your parent sadly tells you that there was no food, in fact the food is gone from all the stores. Think how you would feel!
The book of Joel describes a similar situation with Israel. They did not have grocery stores like we do, but would grow their own food to eat. According to Joel, God sent a great number of locusts, insects that eat the plants, to eat the food that was growing in the fields. Why did God do this?
When God gave His people the law, He said that if they obeyed Him He would make sure that it rained when it was supposed to, that their animals and plants would be healthy, and they would be protected from other nations that wanted to attack them. But, if they disobeyed God and began to worship idols, God promised that He would not let it rain on their land, He would make them run out of food, and allow other nations to fight against them. This is what happened in Joel’s time. Though God sent the locusts to eat their food, if they would repent, nothing worse would happen to them.
God wanted the people to really repent. He didn’t want them to just say they were sorry, but to really feel sorry for disobeying Him. He told them that if they did repent, He would give them the rain and food again. According to Joel, the people apparently did repent because, in the second chapter, God promised to give them plenty of food.
Joel also prophesied about the coming of the church in Joel 2:28-32. What he said here was fulfilled over 600 years later when the church was established in Acts 2. If you look in Acts 2, you will see this passage quoted.
Joel’s prophecy ends with a warning that God would punish the nations that tried to hurt His people.
Joel reminds us that God will judge His people and the world. If we are pleasing God we have nothing to fear from His judgment.
Lessons from Joel:
- God will punish His children when they do not obey Him; like a good parent punishes a disobedient child.
- God will forgive His people when they repent of their sins.
- God will punish those who are mean to His people.
