Exegesis+of+Joel+1

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= **Wake up Call – Recent Disaster (1:1-13) ** = 

**Overview: **


Joel uses the recent locust plague as a wake-up call for Israel that they need to repent. But the immediate question becomes, “Is this locust plague real or merely figurative?” Arguments for a real locust plague are many and weighty. First, locusts are always real in the OT. They are not used for direct symbols in ANE literature. When the bible wants to use them as an analogy they are used that way. The biblical author would say, “like a locust” (Nahum 3:15-16). Secondly, as mentioned earlier, Joel is walking through Israel’s history using a Deuteronomic lens. A locust plague is a curse for disobedience (Deut. 28:38). In Deuteronomy locusts come just before the exile. A good Israelite who knew the book of Deuteronomy and who saw the time clock of Jehu’s four generations of sons, would clearly see exile approaching. Instead of using the real locust plague as an opportunity to comfort Israel, Joel will describe the events to rub salt in the wound, to show the power of God and make people feel the pain so that they would repent. They will tremble wondering what can God is capable of in his wrath.

**Exegesis: **


**Prophetic Introduction (1:1) **
Joel is introduced albeit briefly in v. 1 as the son of Pethuel, to whom the word of the Lord came. Little is explicitly state et briefly in vs. 1 as the son of Pethuel, to whom the word of the Lord came. Little is explicitly state d about the man, and history tells nothing. He may have been well enough known that only his father’s name was given in order to differentiate him from other Joels of his day. God’s covenant name is here used to emphasize God’s active manifestation on behalf of his people. Throughout Scripture the name Yahweh is used to stress the active intervention of the covenant keeping God, as he here now intervenes by revealing his word to Israel through the mouth of Joel. [i]

**Locust Infestation (1:2-7) **
** 1:2-3 **Joel begins his prophecy by summoning all the people. The word “hear” indicates that Joel wants the elders and the inhabitants of the land to pay careful attention. The language shares similarities to covenant lawsuit passages such as Isaiah 1:2 and Hosea 4:1 and suggests that Israel has been found guilty according to the Deuteronomic Covenant. [ii] The word “hear” involves listening, perceiving, and obeying a message. The phrase “give ear” indicates that Joel wants his audience to consciously, purposefully decide to pay attention. What does Joel want Israel to pay attention to? He wants to emphasize the unparalleled nature and memorial nature of the locust plague so that they will respond correctly to it. Nothing like it is has happened in the days of even the elders or the elders’ fathers. Therefore they are told to tell it to future generations. Joel’s purpose in this disaster is to show the relationship of the disaster to the providence and intervention of God. [iii] The extent to which Joel urges the elders and the inhabitants of the land to relate the event to the future generations is unprecedented in the Scriptures. [iv]  **1:4** Joel then continues to describe the nature of the disaster. One must ask, “What is going on with references to four types of locusts in verse four?” There are many possibilities. Most likely there are four because in Hebrew the repetition of three indicates completeness, four being over 100%. After three waves there was nothing left, and then yet another locust wave came. Only four out of the nine words for locusts in the Hebrew vocabulary are used here. [v]  **1:5** Not only did the plague have a terrible effect on the land, but it had a great effect on the people of the land. The drunkards and drinkers of wine are told to weep and wail, “wail” meaning to howl with one’s voice. [vi] They were consuming the little wine supply they had left, but they would have to wake up. Even the drunk would soberly weep because of the overwhelming reality of the irreparable destruction, for the wine was cut off from their mouths. The OT frequently utilizes wine to graphically depict a state of joy and rejoicing (Deut. 14:23, 26; Num. 28:7), but instead here Israel experiences anguish. [vii]  **1:6** In verse six, Joel compares the locusts to an army. He artfully anticipates the exile; the visual swarm of locusts lends to the terrifying hint that an enemy army comes to ravage the fig tree and the vine. They are without number, which indicates the breadth of this force, but they also possess destructive potential, seen in the description of the locusts having the teeth of a lion. Locusts have saw-like teeth like the eye teeth of the lioness, so this comparison is an appropriate and effective one. [viii]  **1:7** Joel then clarifies that the destruction of the armies of locusts was an act of God. Joel says the army has laid waste to “my vine” and “my fig tree.” The words refer not only to the land but also metaphorically to Israel. The vine and fig tree are merged with Israel in Ps. 80 and Judges 9, and throughout Scripture. In Scripture, the physical nature of the land of Israel is a sign of its spiritual health. The vine and the fig tree became their status symbol, and in the book of Joel, the locusts have laid waste to the vine and splintered the fig tree. This destruction indicates the judgment of God because of the failures of the nation. [ix] How does one know that? God allowed his own vine and fig tree to be laid to waste according the Deuteronomic covenant. The description of the bark being stripped off and the branches being made white shows the irreparability of the damage.

**<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Wailing over Disaster (1:8-13) **
**<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> 1:8 **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In verse eight, Joel transitions to address the entire nation. The way Israel is to mourn is indicative of the damage done and the damage to be done in the future, if the book of Deuteronomy holds true and exile follows the other curses for disobedience. The mourning was to be similar to that of a virgin lamenting over the death of her bridegroom. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> **1:9** Why must Israel mourn like a bride losing her bridegroom? The locusts have stopped agriculture; Israel had no way to worship God. The grain offerings and the drink offering were cut off, just as the sweet wine was cut off. The phrase “cut off” indicates someone has cut these blessings off, namely God. Israel was dependent on those things to worship the Lord. God did not want to commune with them and so he made it impossible. The inability to worship is indicative of a spiritual catastrophe and a ruined relationship. If Israel did not repent, then their relationship with God would be like that of the young maiden who lost the bridegroom of her youth. [x] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> **1:10** How do we know that the grain and drink offerings were cut off from the land? Grain, wine, and oil, the three crops which specifically affect the religious routine, all disappeared from the land. Therefore the priests could not fulfill their priestly functions. [xi] The lack of harvest clearly indicates the Lord’s discipline (Deut. 28:51). Joel’s use of staccato-like phrases in v. 10, punctuated and heighted by repeated world-plays, makes these leaden phrases fall hard with a brutal weight in order to effectively communicate the calamity which has befallen Israel. [xii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> **1:11-12** Not only has the locust plague prohibited Israel from worshipping, but it has devastated their entire nation. The very staples of life itself have been snatched away. The many crops mentioned are wheat, barley, the vine, the fig tree, pomegranate, palm, apple, and all the trees of the field. Notice the progression of Joel’s portrayal of the catastrophe. First, the luxuries of life have been removed (Joel 1:5). Then Israel can no longer worship Israel because the grain and drink offerings likewise have been cut off (Joel 1:8). Now in vs. 11-12, the wake of destruction threatens lives. The many types of plants mentioned indicate the breadth of the destruction. All types of food that Israel relied on perished from the land. Even barley, the staple diet of the poorer people, perished. There is a word-play here in Hebrew between “be ashamed!” (hobisu), “dries up” (hobis), and “vine dries up” (hobisah). Israel was to be ashamed, for the wine dried up, and so all joy dried up throughout Israel. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> **1:13** Previously, Joel called Israel to mourn over the disaster, but in light of the disaster he begins to teach the nature of repentance, calling the priests to be leaders in the process. They were the official administrators of the religious community. One may notice how the temple is here referred to as the “house of your God” as opposed to the “house of the Lord” as it was addressed in v. 9. This emphasizes the priests’ responsibility in maintaining the sacrifices that maintain God’s relationship with his people. [xiii] Joel told them to gird themselves with sackcloth and to lament; the word gird adds to the terseness and urgency of the action. The word lament seems to incorporate the striking of the breast, adding one pain to another. [xiv] They were even to wear the sackcloth all night. God has withheld the blessings of having a relationship with him through grain and drink offerings. If they do not repent and restore that most important relationship, one can expect worse to come.

[i] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Irvin Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah// (Geanies House Fearn Ross-shire Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2003), 56-57. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [ii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid., 59. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [iii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Leslie Allen, //The books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah// (Grand Rapids Mich.: Eerdmans, 1976), 49. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [iv] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 63. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [v] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Allen, //The books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah//, 49. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [vi] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 72-73. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [vii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [viii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid., 75. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [ix] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Thomas Finley, //Joel, Amos, Obadiah : An Exegetical Commentary// ([Dallas TX?]: Biblical Studies Press, 2003), 24. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [x] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 79. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [xi] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid., 83. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [xii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ibid. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [xiii] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Finley, //Joel, Amos, Obadiah//, 28. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> [xiv] <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Busenitz, //Commentary on Joel and Obadiah//, 92. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">