Exegesis+of+Joel+2

toc

= = =**Day of the Lord’s Destruction (2:1-11)**=

**Overview:**
Joel, having proved God’s displeasure in 1:14-20, goes on to describe the Day of the Lord, informing Israel about the horror of the day so that they will repent. The locust plague was merely a down payment of the unparalleled destruction which accompanies the Day of the Lord. According to the book of Obadiah, God would restore a remnant in the Day of the Lord, but according to Joel, Israel would initially first undergo a period of judgment. Those in Zion, a place which symbolized God’s promise a loyalty, would blow a trumpet to alarm the inhabitants that destruction comes from the Almighty God (Joel 1:15). The God who promised to preserve them would initially judge them terribly. The invasion is depicted in locust-like terms, yet clearly it refers to the Day of the Lord. The target of the army is the city, not the crops. [i] Also, Chapter 2:1-11 consistently looks to the future, whereas chapter 1 looked to the recent past. Part of Joel’s reason for using this imagery may have been to help Israel understand the Day of the Lord by witnessing the locust plague in their own day. It would be strange for Joel, after just describing the locust plague, to describe a human army without allowing the locust analogue to influence his language. [ii]

**Exegesis:**

 * 2:1** As the watchman for Israel, Yahweh warns Israel through Joel of the coming, dreadful Day of the Lord. The command to blow a trumpet inherently indicates imminent danger and today could be likened to an air raid siren blaring its alert. [iii] The reference to Zion, “my holy mountain,” is a phrase intimately associated with the inviolability of Jerusalem and here reveals God’s vested interest in the situation. [iv] The situation must be serious if God is so displeased as to allow the seat of his presence and special revelation to be attacked. All should tremble, for just as the locust plague affected everyone, surely the Day of the Lord would also. [v] Joel now begins where he left off in v. 15 in describing the Day of the Lord in vivid detail.


 * 2:2** In verse two and following Joel describes theophanic representations of God’s wrath. The Day of the Lord will be characterized by darkness, a word used to denote the opposite of light—its absence. Just as the locusts blocked out the light of the sun, in that same way would the Day of the Lord be characterized by darkness and gloom. Moreover the day would bring clouds and thick darkness. The word cloud is derived from a primitive word meaning to intervene/obstruct. [vi] Thick darkness denotes darkness with substance, one that veiled the glory of Yahweh in Deut. 4:11 and Exodus 20:21, which in this case accompanies his wrath. And when Israel believes that dawn is coming, the only light they see reveals a great and mighty people, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Dawn strongly contrasts with darkness, to shift the emphasis of the text from the general description of the day to the specific portrayal of the coming army. [vii] “Great” refers to their numbers, “mighty” to their strength, and one can be sure this army far exceeds the army of locusts (Cp. Joel 1:6 with Joel 2:2). The Day of the Lord is unprecedented and unparalleled, and it will remain unparalleled throughout all generations. This is clearly a greater catastrophe than the locust plague, since the tale of it extends perpetually throughout all generations (Cp. Joel 1:3 with Joel 2:2). Those in Zion and in all the land have good reason to anticipate destruction and death, and nothing else.


 * 2:3-5** The army misses nothing; like fire in consumes everything in front, and everything behind them continues to burn. The land, though it be luscious as Eden before the army arrives, becomes a desolate wilderness after they pass through. Nothing escapes them. Not only does the army comprehensively destroy everything, but their unbridled potential instills terror and allows them to overcome all obstacles. As a charging horse causes a man to flee in terror before the thunder of its hooves and the momentum of its charge, so will this army. The army will have the speed and maneuverability of chariots, chariots that can climb mountains. The descriptions here mirror those of the locusts. Phrases like “leaping” remind Israel of the current disaster, but those who the Day of the Lord anticipates something far more terrifying. The phrase “crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble” again suggests swiftness and rapidity. [viii] This army is well-prepared, organized, majestic, and unstoppable.
 * 2:6-9** The prophet then shifts from describing their appearance and approach to laying out their method of operation. [ix] What exactly does this army do? All faces grow pale; all people are in anguish before them, the strong and weak alike. Like warriors they run and like soldiers they scale walls.Unhindered they march in rank, not swerving from their purpose, bursting through all defenses with ease and purpose. No part of the city escapes them; they run on walls and onto the tops of roofs. They leap through windows, like a locust, and with stealth, like a thief.


 * 2:10-11** But God does not just judge Israel with this army; he also judges the entire cosmos. The whole world knows God’s judgment is terrible; that is the extent of the power of the Day of the Lord. Earth and heaven tremble, shudder and almost cannot withstand the wrath of God. The Lord is before this army, judging Israel and launching plagues that affect the cosmos. This army is later referred to as the Northern army in Joel 2:20, and the prophets regularly spoke of the northern army as the army of Yahweh or as his instrument (e.g. Isa 10:5; Jer. 25:9), so this view agrees with other portions of the Scripture. [x] As the Lord directed the locusts, so he would be at the front of this Northern army, executing his word with power. Who can endure the Lord and his exceedingly great armies? None can.

=**Call to True Repentance (2:12-17)**=

**Overview:**
Israel knows the urgency of repentance in light of the nearness of the Day of the Lord; Joel now tells them how God wants them to do it. He delineates the nature of repentance as defined by Moses in Deuteronomy, so that perhaps God will restrain his judgment of them on the Day of the Lord. This repentance includes both an individual and a corporate response.

**Individual Nature of Repentance (2:12-13a)**

 * 2:12** On the individual level Israel needed to have both internal and external manifestations of repentance. With the rhetorical question “Who can endure it?” just asked in verse 11, he makes no mention of advising Israel to prepare militarily. The complete invincible destruction will come from the Lord; only by repentance can one hope to escape the judgment of the God who commands an exceedingly great camp and has the power to cause the heavens and earth to tremble by the mere vibration of his voice. The introductory phrase, “Yet even now,” informs Israel that God still graciously and mercifully presents them with a way out. Israel is told to return to him with all their heart; this phrase comes right out of Deuteronomy 30:2. It means changing one’s direction and going all the way in pursuing the Lord. The path involves fasting, weeping, and mourning. Weeping denotes grief and mourning absolute loss. In Joel the urgency of repentance usurps the desire to eat. These are the external manifestations of individual repentance. Yet God wants to see the heart shredded by a volitional act as well, so that the external manifestations of repentance come out of a broken heart.


 * 2:13-14** God now gives two reasons for repentance, informing Israel why they should strongly be urged to act on his call. For one, Israel’s repentance will not be a waste of time because repentance is predicated on God’s nature; the character of God described in Joel 2:13 comes right out of Exodus 34 where God proclaimed his name as he walked past Moses. God always responds to true repentance; it is in his nature. He will intervene against his intervention of judgment. Secondly, Israel should repent because of the possibility of escape. If Israel turns, God will turn around and bless after initiating judgment, leaving a grain and drink offering behind, a blessing previously withheld (Joel 1:13). It is suggested that God must have first passed through Israel in judgment, in order for him to turn and relent. The locusts left no remainder (Joel 1:4), but the Lord may leave a remainder behind him after judgment because of his merciful nature. [xi] Joel suggests that God will still judge Israel, but perhaps he will constrain judgment, should Israel repent.

**Corporate Nature of Repentance (2:15-17)**

 * 2:15-16** Joel begins where he left off in 1:14, when he diverged into talking about the Day of the Lord. He now begins to describe the corporate nature of repentance, step one being to announce the situation by consecrating a fast, calling a solemn assembly, and gathering the people, using the same language he used in Joel 1:14. Then repentance was to be enforced. The priests must make no exceptions, for the old or the young. It does not even matter if it is the wedding night; bride and bridegroom need to come to repent. One will notice how this command supersedes the fact that Israelite law exempted the newly married from public duties for a period of one year (Deut. 20:7; 24:5). The room and chamber referred to are poetical synonyms used interchangeably for the bridal bedroom; even on the night of the consummation of marriage they must come out (cf. Judges 15:1; 2 Sam. 16:22; Ps. 19:5 [6]). [xii] The imminent priority of corporate repentance usurps everything.


 * 2:17** The Hebrew text then places emphasis on the location where the priests, the ministers of the Lord, must go to plea as intermediaries between man and God. “Between the vestibule and the altar” refers to the part of the temple also known as the “inner court” or “court of the priests” where the priests are called to meet. [xiii] As leaders they must petition on behalf of the nation, according to the book of Deuteronomy. The priests refer to Israel as God’s heritage or inheritance just as in the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 4:20; 9:26, 29). They ask not to be made a reproach or byword among the nations, as God said would happen in Deut. 28:37, which contextually is in a passage talking about a locust plague. The final line of the petition gives weight to the entire prayer and is found almost verbatim in Psalm 79:10 and Psalm 115:2, echoing the psalmists’ concerns for the namesake of Yahweh. [xiv] For all of Israel’s reproach may cause the nations to question the superiority and existence of Yahweh. The rest of the petition is predicated and built on this statement. Joel wants the ministers of the Lord to lead the people in seeking the honor of Yahweh by repenting and appealing to his nature with the firm conviction that God has the power to avert his own judgment.

[i] Duane Garrett, //Hosea, Joel// (Nashville Tenn.: Broadman & Holman, 1997), 333. [ii] Ibid., 334. [iii] Allen, //The books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah//, 67. [iv] Ibid., 68. [v] Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 117. [vi] Ibid., 120. [vii] Garrett, //Hosea, Joel//, 336. [viii] Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 129. [ix] Ibid., 130. [x] Garrett, //Hosea, Joel//, 343. [xi] David Baker, //Joel, Obadiah, Malachi : The NIV Application Commentary From Biblical Text--To Contemporary Life// (Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2006), 82. [xii] Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 153. [xiii] Ibid. [xiv] Baker, //Joel, Obadiah, Malachi//, 84.

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