Joel 1 Shows Us That It Is Not Too Late to Seek the Lord

Disastrous Events

I think I will always remember 2011 as a year of disasters.¹ Early in the year, we saw videos of the earthquake and floods in Japan. It was sobering to see raging waters sweeping away homes, automobiles, and human beings. People entered eternity swiftly, in a matter of seconds. In April, we had a night of tornadoes in Alabama, where I live. Several towns were struck. More than 200 people died across our state. The size of the tornado that landed 100 miles west of my home was staggering. The very next month, a tornado of similar size hit Joplin, Missouri, where my sister lives. The path of destruction was wide, and many people died. These places all learned that nature is not always kind. It can be a source of death as well as a source of life.

How should we think about such events? Should we simply consider them a bit of bad luck? Should we think they punish bad people? Should we think God is not in control of such events? Should we just put such terrible events out of our minds? How can we think Biblically about what seem to be freakish acts of nature? I do not have all the answers to these questions.

I do not fully understand God’s ways. But I believe that studying Joel 1 will help us begin to find answers.

Here, Joel describes a terrible locust plague. In fact, he states that it is a plague for the ages. It is one that people who experience it will never forget. More than that, Joel writes, it is an opportunity to seek God and return to him. This chapter invites us to see natural disasters as times when our faith in God can grow. Joel uses a plague for the ages to build faith for the ages.

Joel 1 is a tightly connected message. We cannot separate its contents the way we can some other Biblical passages. However, a few clear themes emerge. This passage stresses the day of disaster, the day of the Lord, and the day of prayer.

The Minor Prophets

Paul R. House, Stephen M. Coleman

This Preaching the Word commentary explores the 12 minor prophets in the Old Testament, studying how each biblical book declares God’s judgment and grace.

The Day of Disaster (Joel 1:1–12)

In Joel 1:2, he declares that every elder and inhabitant of the land must listen. Joel is about to announce an unprecedented event. Clearly, this is an urgent message that affects the whole land. It is like the tornado sirens that warn Americans when a storm is approaching.

Verse 4 reveals the great danger. A locust plague would soon descend on the land. Joel lists four types of locusts that will eat away the nation’s food supply. Whatever one type of locust leaves, another type will devour. Verse 6 compares these locusts to an unstoppable, mighty army.

It may be hard for citizens of great cities to grasp what the text envisions. Imagine that you are in a rural place. Imagine all the crops and trees destroyed. Imagine livelihoods wiped out. Imagine economic disaster and panic, starvation, and desperation. Perhaps older people who have experienced war recall similar terrible images. Israel was an agricultural nation. It depended on its crops to survive. Joel’s message means that everything the people knew and loved was at risk.

This disaster will affect everyone.

Joel 1:1–12 demonstrates creation’s total dependence on God. Everything we have—every good gift—comes from God (James 1:17). We must make plans. We must plant crops and conduct business. It is right to use our knowledge and gifts to provide for our families. Yet we must realize how fragile life really is. We may act like we are independent and self-reliant. We may live in great nations and have fine allies. But God rules the universe. We must bow to his authority. We must recognize that we are but small children, helpless without our Father’s help. We must bow before him, and he will lift us up.

The Day of the Lord (Joel 1:15)

Joel 1:15 explains that the plague has not come by accident. God has sent it. Joel reveals that this plague is “the day of the Lord.” This is a familiar Biblical term we must study if we want to understand the prophetic books.

The day of the Lord is a concept that describes the different ways that God judges. The Biblical roots of this concept goes back to Moses. In Deuteronomy 27–28, Moses tells Israel the benefits of keeping their covenant commitments to God. He also explains the consequences of breaking their covenant promises.

Joel informs the people that God will discipline them when they sin. God promises to bring hardships on them to lead them to repent. If they refuse to repent, God promises worse problems, including crop failure and plague. If they still do not repent, Moses warns, God will drive them from the promised land. He will send them into exile. Clearly Moses taught that God loved his people enough to lead them to repentance (compare Deuteronomy 7:6–11). He also taught that God would not let sin go on forever. Thus, he taught that God is righteous and will therefore judge sin.

By the time Joel wrote his book, the concept of the day of the Lord was probably well known (see Amos 5:18–20). The Biblical writers believed in only one God. They believed that this one God made the world. They believed that he rules the world and judges the wicked. They taught at least three kinds of the day of the Lord. Context determines which type a text describes.

First, they taught that hard times could be a day of the Lord. God uses historical events to punish sin and lead people to repentance. The plague in Joel 1:1–12 is an example of this. Second, they taught that wars could be a day of the Lord—God can use armies to punish wicked persons and societies. God sending Babylon to destroy Jerusalem in 587 b.c. is an example of this type of day of the Lord. Third, the Biblical writers taught there would be a final day of the Lord. On that day, God will judge all nations and all people. Then there will be new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65–66 describe this type of day of the Lord. When this final day of Yahweh comes, there will be no more sin, sickness, sorrow, or death (Isaiah 65:17–25; cf. Revelation 21:1–7). All things will be made new.

Joel 1:15 indicates that the people in his day faced the first type of day of the Lord. God is sending them a message: they need to turn to him. Amos also notes that God sent circumstances that led to a lack of food, and yet Israel did not repent ( Amos 4:6). He writes that God withheld rain, sent plague and defeat in war, and yet they did not return to him (Amos 4:7–11). Therefore, they must prepare to meet their God, the Maker of heaven and earth (Amos 4:12, 13). They ignored every sign that they needed to return to the Lord. They left themselves open to a worse kind of day of the Lord.

How should we think about and respond to times like Joel 1 describes? First, Hebrews 12:3–11 states that God disciplines those he loves. The Bible indicates that we should consider times of discipline opportunities to draw closer to God. Some of us walk with God daily. Yet we are still not sinless. We should search our hearts for ways God wants us to grow. Second, we should also pray for others. God can use such hard times to bring unbelievers to Christ or to bring straying Christians back to God. Third, some of us may know we have walked away from our covenant commitments. If so, then we need to see hard times as God’s way of bringing us back to him. We must not rebel further. We must do as God says. He loves us enough to discipline us. Let us respond obediently to his love. Fourth, pastors must preach these things. In the United States, many pastors never speak of God’s discipline or God’s judgment. God expects pastors to care for people’s souls. We must do so in a Biblical way. Sin is rebellion against the King of the universe. It is disrespect for his person. Despite such disrespect, God still loves people. He does forgive them when they ask. Pastors must teach these truths.

The Day of Prayer (Joel 1:13, 14, 16–20)

Joel concludes chapter 1 by telling the people what steps they must take in their situation. The people have heard that the locust plague is a day of the Lord. Now they hear that they must call for a day of prayer. Just as the “day” of plague will last longer than twenty-four hours, so the prayers may need to last for a while.

Verses 13, 14 explain who should pray and how they should pray. The priests must take leadership. They must “consecrate” or “make holy” a time for prayer. This time of prayer will include putting on rough garments (“sackcloth”) (Joel 1:13) usually worn during times of mourning. In fact, they are to wear these garments all night. This time of prayer will include fasting. Wearing sackcloth and fasting indicate the priests’ seriousness. The combination shows that God has their attention. But they are not to pray alone. The priests are to gather “the elders,” which most likely refers to the community leaders (v. 14). They are also to call “all the inhabitants of the land” to prayer. The plague involves everyone, so everyone should pray. All should come to God’s house and cry out in their time of need. Once again, Joel teaches us our dependence on God.

We should search our hearts for ways God wants us to grow.

We must be careful to see what verses 13, 14 teach and do not teach. They teach us that prayer is the proper response to the troubles that God sends to awaken us. Of course, prayer is also the right response to life in general. Paul tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). This means, I think, that we must pray at all times, in all circumstances. Yet times of trouble especially call for serious prayer. Thus, these verses also teach us that organized prayer and worship matter. It is good for God’s people to come together in normal and unusual times. These verses teach that prayer should be serious and that it may be costly and time-consuming.

We also need to see what these verses do not teach. There is nothing magical about prayer. God does not give us specific blessings if we pray a certain number of hours. God does not hear us when we fast, and not hear us when we do not. God does not answer only when we wear sackcloth. God looks at the heart. He desires a humble and submissive spirit (Micah 6:6–8). God hears serious prayer, however long it lasts.

What is serious prayer?

Joel 1:15, 16 indicate that serious prayer recognizes God’s hand in daily life. Verses 17, 18 show that serious prayer addresses specific needs. They also show that serious prayer includes having pity for all God’s creatures. Most importantly, verses 19, 20 show that serious prayer focuses on God. Serious prayer cries out, “To you, O Lord, I call” (Joel 1:19). It cries out, “Even the beasts of the field pant for you” (Joel 1: 20). Prayer is ultimately about God, not about us. Prayer is not primarily about us getting what we want. Prayer is about God’s kingdom coming and his will being done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matt. 6:10). It is about God’s glory filling the earth (Isa. 6:3). If God is glorified, then all will be well. Plagues will end, and the earth will be healed.

Conclusion

Joel 1 is but a beginning. We stop here with the people called to prayer. The plague has not stopped, and worse times may come. But great promises remain over the horizon.

We must recognize our dependence on God. We must come to him, for he alone can save us, provide for us, and teach us. Our prayers should reflect our trust in him. An awakened people will be a prayerful people. Joel 1 shows us that it is not too late to seek the Lord. We may be in the middle of a personal plague. We may have nearly ruined our lives. Nonetheless, God sends his word to us through Joel. The Lord calls us to come back, just as he called the Israelites. May God help us see today as his day and thus see it as the day to pray.

Notes:

These chapters were adapted from sermons first preached in Seoul, Korea in 2012. I am grateful to my friend Sehoon Jang for inviting and hosting me. Readers may notice that the sentences in these chapters are shorter than the ones in Hosea, Amos, Obadiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. This was intended to aid translation.

This article is adapted from The Minor Prophets: Seek the Lord and Live by Paul R. House and Stephen M. Coleman.

Paul R. House (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the former professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. He has been a pastor or teacher in churches, Christian colleges, and seminaries for over forty years. He is a past president of the Evangelical Theological Society and an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature. House is the author of several books, including Zephaniah: A Prophetic Drama; The Unity of the Twelve; Old Testament Theology; 1, 2 Kings (NAC); Lamentations (WBC); Daniel (TOTC); and Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision. He was the general editor of the ESV Concise Study Bible.

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