A guide to Joel

Who wrote Joel, and when?

Joel son of Pethuel. Unknown; proposals range from the 800s BC to after the exile.

Joel son of Pethuel is named in the first verse and nothing else is known about him. His interest in the temple, the priests and Jerusalem suggests he lived in Judah. The date of the book is one of the most debated in the Old Testament, because it names no king and no empire. Some place Joel in the 800s BC, among the earliest prophets, partly because of his position in the Hebrew Bible. Others date him after the exile, in the 500s or 400s BC, noting that he mentions no king, speaks of the walls and the temple as standing, and echoes other prophets. Readers can hold the question open; the message does not depend on the date.

Who was Joel written to?

Judah and Jerusalem, called to fast and return to God in the face of disaster.

Joel spoke to Judah and Jerusalem in the aftermath of a natural disaster. A swarm of locusts had stripped fields, vines and fig trees, and drought followed, so that grain and wine offerings in the temple stopped. Farmers, priests, elders and children are all addressed. For an agricultural people this was famine, not inconvenience. Joel's hearers would have been frightened and looking for an explanation. He does not tell them the locusts were random. He calls the whole community to fast, to gather in the temple and to return to God with their hearts. Later generations, facing their own catastrophes, have found in Joel a pattern for shared repentance and a promise on the other side of loss.

What was happening at the time?

A devastating locust swarm has stripped the land bare. Joel reads it as a warning of a greater day of the LORD and calls priests and people to genuine repentance: rend your heart and not your garments. Then he promises restoration of the years the locusts ate, the outpouring of the Spirit that Peter quoted at Pentecost, and judgment on the nations.

Why was Joel written?

To call for repentance before the day of the LORD and to promise the Spirit and restoration.

Joel wants his people to see the locust plague as a small preview of the day of the LORD, the day when God comes to judge, and to repent before it arrives. He calls for real change of heart, not outward ritual (see chapter 2:12-13). Then he turns to promise: God will restore the years the locusts ate, pour out his Spirit on all kinds of people, young and old, male and female, servant and free, and judge the nations that have harmed his people. The book wants readers to take God's warnings seriously and to trust his readiness to relent. In the wider story of the Bible, Peter quoted Joel 2:28-32 on the day of Pentecost to explain the coming of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2).

How to read Joel today

Joel takes ten minutes to read, so read it twice. First time, follow the movement from disaster to repentance to promise. Second time, watch for the phrase the day of the LORD and notice that it is bad news for the careless and good news for the repentant. Do not force the locusts to be either only insects or only a symbol for an army; the language moves between the two on purpose. Pay attention to chapter 2:12-14 and 2:28-32, the two hinges of the book, and read Acts 2:14-21 alongside the second. As you read, pray for the church and the world to receive God's Spirit as Joel promised, and ask God to restore something in your own life that feels eaten away.

The key verse in Joel

And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

Passages worth knowing in Joel

• Joel 1

  The locust plague

  Tell your children about it; a disaster with a message.

• Joel 2:12-17

  Rend your heart

  Return to the LORD, for he is gracious and merciful.

• Joel 2:25-32

  I will restore the years and pour out my Spirit

  Quoted by Peter at Pentecost.

• Joel 3

  The valley of decision

  The nations judged and Judah restored.

The main themes of Joel

• The day of the LORD
• Repentance
• The outpouring of the Spirit
• Restoration
• Judgment on the nations

An outline of Joel