Joel 2:21-32
To: Joel Main
Menu
To: Grace Notes Home
Page
Joel 2:21-25
"Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the Lord has
done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures
are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and
the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the
Lord your God, for he has given you a teacher for righteousness. He sends
you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing
floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and
oil. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten -- the great
locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm -- my
great army that I sent among you."
In verses 21,22,23 and 24 the "land," the "animals,"
and the "people of Zion" are commanded to be unafraid and to rejoice.
And with each strophe the foundation for happiness becomes more cogent.
The "land" will prosper under the economy of the Millennium,
for there will be perfect environment. The "animals," too, will
prosper and lose their viciousness and cease suffering for lack of food.
And the picture here is pure grace. The land and the animals will benefit
-- and they do not deserve it. They have done nothing -- good or bad.
They are blessed because of who and what God is. And the "children
of Zion" are the believing Jews; they belong to God ("your God").
The Teacher of Righteousness: this concept is found in the phrase "for
he has given you a teacher for righteousness." And "he"
is God the Father; and the "teacher" is Christ Himself as He reigns
during the Millennium. This teacher is also referred to in Hosea 10:12,
"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until
he comes and showers righteousness on you." And again is found in
I Kings 8:36, "Then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants,
your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on
the land you gave your people for an inheritance."
The final phrase in verse 25, "my great army that I sent among you,"
refers to the permissive and directive will of God -- He utilizes both natural
(locusts) and human (Assyrians and the King of the North) agents as His
whips. Jesus Christ controls history!
The Restoration of Israel's Worship During the Millennium and the Nature
of the Worship
Joel 2:26
"You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will
praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never
again will my people be shamed."
First, note the repetition of the phrase "never again will my people
be shamed" at the close of both verse 26 and 27. This is an example
of epistrophe, which is the repetition of a phrase at the end of successive
sentences for the purpose of emphasis of the idea. And the idea being emphasized
is that of no confusion of soul, no mental disturbance in the souls of the
Millennial believers.
"You will have plenty to eat, until you are full," is a very interesting
phrase. It connotes beneficial, non-fattening, delicious food. And the
idea is that during the Millennium there is perfect environment; there is
no war, no poverty, no physical death, no disease, and there is perfect
spirituality. This also includes perfectly functioning human bodies --
you will not gain weight from overeating. [1]
"Praising the name of the Lord your God" means they will praise
Christ as He rules for 1000 years. And the "wonders he has worked"
refers not only to the restoration of the Jews and perfect environment,
but also to the miracle of grace and salvation. "My people"
is any and all believers (Jew or Gentile) during the Millennium; and they
will have a full understanding of God's Word -- this is the reason that
they will not be "shamed" or confused in their souls. They will
have a full and perfect understanding of doctrine, the mind of Christ.
[2]
Joel 2:27
"Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your
God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed."
"Then you will know" refers to knowledge in the human soul; Christ
will be known during the Millennium. And taken together, these two verses,
Joel 2:26,27, provide us with an outline of worship and Spirituality in
the Millennium. All believers will have a 'full knowledge' of God's Word
and the Filling of the Spirit.
Joel 2:28
"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, your sons
and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young
men will see visions."
"To pour out" is used for the pouring out of water in Exodus 4:9,
the pouring out of blood in Genesis 9:6, and generally, for the pouring
out of liquids. And "Spirit" is hAUr, ruach. This is a different
filling of the Spirit than that of the present Church Age. During the Church
Age the function of the Holy Spirit is to reveal and convict, to teach the
Word of God to believers. During the Millennium, since every believer has
a 'full knowledge' of Christ already, the emotions of the believer may fully
respond to, and appreciate, that full knowledge of God. Thus the ministry
of the Holy Spirit during the Millennium is to aid in the appreciation of
this full knowledge of Christ -- thus to produce ecstatics in the believers
of the Millennium.
Thus, Ecstatics and the Filling of the Spirit depends on four factors during
the Millennium:
1. The removal of all false religions.
2. Perfect environment, including perfect physical health.
3. The presence of Christ on the earth.
4. A full knowledge of God's Word. [3]
So the adverb "afterward" refers to after the Second Advent, during
the Millennium. And "all flesh" means all believers, Jew or Gentile,
who have escaped the Baptism of Fire, and their believing progeny. And
the references to sex, age, and class indicate that there will be no human
distinctions which could cause limitations to these ecstatics. There are
no gender limitations, both male and female will have a full knowledge of
God and the 'pouring out of the Spirit;' both old and young will have this
'pouring out;' and all classes will experience 'this pouring out.' This,
then, will be the fulfillment of Moses' wish in Numbers 11:29, "But
Moses replied, 'Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's
people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!'"
Of course, this wish of Moses' also refers to the present filling of the
Spirit during the Church Age.
The Apostle Peter, in Acts 2:13-21, quoted Joel 2:28 on the Day of Pentecost.
On this day, the day of Pentecost, the Church Age began and all the believers
in Jerusalem were filled with the Holy Spirit. Some supposed them to be
drunk, for Acts 2:13 says, "Some, however, made fun of them and said,
'They have had too much wine.'" However, Peter said they were not
drunk; he then drew a comparison between the filling of the Spirit on the
day of Pentecost and the 'pouring out of the Spirit' during the Millennium.
[4]
Joel 2:30
"I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and
fire and billows of smoke."
The "wonders" are the miracles that surround the Second Advent
of Christ. "In heaven" refers to our Lord's return (Rev. 1:7);
"on earth" refers to His feet touching the Mount of Olives. "Blood"
refers to the slaughter of unbelievers at the Second Advent. "Fire"
is a reference to the death of large numbers of people during the Tribulation
by fire, for Revelation 9:17,18, "The horses and riders I saw in my
vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue,
and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions,
and our of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind
was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out
of their mouths." Some commentators liken this fire, smoke and sulfur
to chemical warfare, even nuclear warfare.
"And pillars of smoke" are associated with the destruction of
the evil, false, Satanic, ecumenical religious system of the Tribulation.
Revelation 18:9,18 and 19:3 read as follows, "18:9 When the kings
of the earth who committed adultery with her (the false religion) and shared
her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
18:18 When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there
ever a city like this great city?' 19:3 And again they shouted: 'Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever."
Joel 2:31
"The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
The "darkness," of course, refers to the supernatural darkness
of Joel 2:10,11 and Isaiah 13:9,10. And the "moon to blood" is
not literal blood, but a reference to the moon turning the color of dark
clotting blood -- black, as all light fades. And "the great and dreadful
day of the Lord" is the Second Advent and Armageddon. Recall that
for some the day is great, for He is zealous for His believers; for others
the day is dreadful, for He will come to render perfect, righteous judgment.
Joel 2:32
"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord
has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls."
In this final verse of chapter 2, Joel cites the qualification to enter
the Millennium. There is but one qualification: "calling on the name
of the Lord," which calling is a verbal expression of soul faith in
Jesus Christ. For these believers, then, there will be "deliverance."
They will enter the Millennium; everyone else (unbelievers) will enter
the Lake of Fire. And the term "survivors" refers to the believing
remnant at the Second Advent.
Confirmation that this verse refers to salvation and subsequent physical
deliverance is found in Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13. "And everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21). And
Romans 10:13 says, "For, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved." Thus, both Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 quote Joel 2:32,
and provide us with clarification.
The Millennial civilization, then, begins with these believers. [5]
Seven Judgments in Scripture
There are seven specific judgments cited in Scripture:
1. The Cross; here, the sins of the world were judged as Christ
was judged for our sins. This was a real judgment. And in this judgment
the "blood" refers to the spiritual death of our Lord on the Cross.
II Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin
for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
2. Self-judgment or confession. Here the believer confesses his/her sins
to God the Father. I John 1:9, Hebrews 12:3-15, John 15:1-9 and I Corinthians
11:31, which says, "But if we judged ourselves, we should not come
under judgment."
3. The dead works of the Church Age believers are judged in heaven during
the Tribulation. They are disposed of by burning. This particular judgment
is only for believers, the saints, and has nothing to do with sins, which
have already been judged. This judgment involves "the divine appraisal
of the Christian's works and service. This will entail reward or loss of
reward." [6] II Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10, Ephesians 6:8, and
II Timothy 4:8, which says, "Now there is in store for me the crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me
on that day -- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his
appearing." This judgment is referred to as the Judgment Seat of Christ.
4. Judgment of Tribulational Gentiles, Matthew 25:31-46.
5. Judgment of Tribulational Jews; Matthew 25:1-13, Ezekiel 20:33-44 and
Joel 3:11-15. [7]
6. The Judgment of all fallen angels at the end of the Millennium. This
judgment is associated with the Great White Throne, I Corinthians 6:3, II
Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6, and Revelation 20:10.
7. The Last Judgment, which is the final judgment at the end of the Millennium;
here, all unbelievers are cast into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:11-15
narrates this judgment. All who are not mentioned in the 'book of life'
are cast into 'the lake of fire' based upon 'the book of works.' [8]
Since the Baptism of Fire has been recently examined in our study of Jude,
we will not inspect it in detail again. We need only note the three pertinent
passages in Scripture that deal with the Baptism of Fire: Matthew 3:11,12;
Luke 3:16,17; II Thessalonians 1:7-9.
Notes:
[1] Thieme, Robert. Joel.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Bullinger, E.W. From notes, which were unmarked and undated.
[5] Thieme, Robert. Joel.
[6] Unger, Merrill F. Unger's Bible Dictionary; page 621.
[7] No. 4 and No. 5 in the above disquisition are both part of the 'Baptism
of Fire.'
[8] This exposition on the 'Seven Judgments in Scripture' is based on the
scholarship of Merrill F. Unger, and Robert Thieme.
There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. You can help further
this work by your prayer and by sending a contribution to:
Grace Notes
1705 Aggie Lane
Austin, Texas 78757