From Christine Hayes’s Lecture 23 transcript in DropBox.
Joel, a very short little book, probably the latest prophetic book, also contains apocalyptic material. The versification of Joel varies tremendously in different English translations, so I’m using the verse markings that are in the Bible you have. But if you consult another Bible some of them only have three chapters, some have four — it can be confusing.
But we can divide Joel into two parts.
- Up to chapter 2, verse 27 — that’s the first part, from 1:1 to 2:27 (or 1:2 really). And that contains a description of a military invasion. It’s symbolized by an army of locusts. And this invasion — this army of locusts — is interpreted as a divine punishment that is necessary or that must come before the day of the Lord.
- The second part of Joel which begins in verse 28 of chapter 2 [=3:1] is a fully apocalyptic description of the final day of terror.
Reading from chapter 3:3-4,
Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes,
I will set portents in the sky and on earth:
Blood and fire, and pillars of smoke;
The sun shall be turned to darkness
And the moon to blood.
Before the great and terrible Day of the Lord comes — but the righteous are going to survive. This is pointed out in chapter 3:5, “But everyone who invokes the name of the Lord shall escape; for there shall be a remnant on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised.” As we move into chapter 4 of Joel, the Day of the Lord is envisaged as a judgment day for all peoples. So this is increasingly the view of the eschaton: a final battle and also a judgment day, and that judgment day will then issue in a new age. This is an idea that the book of Daniel will elaborate on in a minute, not to mention the apocalyptic writings that are outside of the Hebrew Bible.
In this judgment day, God will summon all of the godless nations to the valley of judgment, Jehosaphat which means “God will judge”, so the Valley of Jehosaphat. And here the final battle between good and evil will take place, and after that God’s people will be blessed and the Holy City will never again suffer shame. [4:1-2]:
For lo! in those days
And in that time,
When I restore the fortunes
Of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all the nations
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehosaphat,
There I will contend with them
Over My very own people, Israel,
Which they scattered among the nations.
Towards the end, then, of the book we read,
Let the nations rouse themselves and march up
To the Valley of Jehosaphat;
For there I will sit in judgment
Over all the nations roundabout.
Swing the sickle,
For the crop is ripe;
Come and tread,
For the winepress is full,
The vats are overflowing!
For great is their wickedness.
…
But the Lord will be a shelter to His people,
A refuge to the children of Israel.
…
And Jerusalem shall be holy;
Nevermore shall strangers pass through it.
And in that day,
The mountains shall drip with wine,
The hills shall flow with milk,
And all the watercourses of Judah shall flow with water;
A spring shall issue from the House of the Lord
And shall water the Wadi of Acacias.
…
But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
And Jerusalem throughout the ages.
So we see a lot of eschatological features in the Book of Joel. You have, first of all, the series of disasters; they signal the impending wrath of God. You have a cosmic battle in which Yahweh triumphs over Israel’s enemy. And we see in apocalyptic literature in general, a facile equation of the righteous and the wicked with Israel and other nations. Then also we have this outpouring of blessings on God’s people, city, and land. And finally, God’s continued protection and presence; and nations who are not Israel’s enemies join in the worship of God in that final time.
Again, note the important difference between classical prophecy and the apocalyptic literature. Both of them speak about final things; both of them speak about an end-time. But the classical prophets did not in general expect that the course of human affairs would come to an end. Only that Israel’s rebellion would end or that Israel would live under a perfect king anointed by God. In the apocalyptic imagination history itself is a closed process; it will end, and then a new age, a new world order would begin. And the present age and the new age are qualitatively distinct. The present age is under the dominion of evil powers. We see it particularly in the apocalyptic writings outside of the Bible and in the New Testament. That power that has dominion over the present age is Satan. Satan is the arch enemy of God. The age to come will be free of all evil, moral corruption, and death; Satan will be defeated. But God himself is the one who has to do this. God must intervene to bring the present age to a crashing halt and initiate this new world order.
From ChatGPT 9/14/2025 before Rob Couch’s sermon on the book and the prophet.
Critical scholars treat Joel as a small prophetic book whose date, setting, and purpose are not obvious from the text itself, so they focus on four main issues:
1. Date and Historical Setting
Joel never mentions a king, foreign oppressor, or clear historical event, so scholars debate when it was written.
- Early-date view: Some place it in the late 9th or early 8th century BCE (before Amos), arguing that the temple cult is functioning and there is no hint of exile.
- Late-date view (the majority today): Others see it after the Babylonian exile, even as late as the Persian or early Greek period (5th–4th century BCE). Reasons include references to “elders” instead of a king (Joel 1:2; 2:16), the scattering of Judah among nations (3:2 NRSV), and language that sounds like other late biblical books (e.g., Zechariah, Malachi).
2. The Locust Plague and “Day of the Lord”
The opening chapters describe a devastating locust swarm (Joel 1:4 ASV) and then move into cosmic language of the “day of the Lord” (2:1–11).
- Many scholars (e.g., John Barton, Joel and Obadiah, 2001) think the prophet begins with an actual ecological disaster and uses it as a springboard for apocalyptic imagery.
- Others argue the locusts themselves are a metaphor for invading armies. Both readings highlight how Joel turns a local crisis into a vision of worldwide divine judgment.
3. Cult and Liturgy
Joel urges priests to call a fast and assemble the people at the temple (2:15–17). This, along with repeated references to offerings, shows the book’s strong liturgical orientation. Many see it as a temple sermon or festival text meant to prompt communal repentance rather than political revolt.
4. Universal Outpouring of the Spirit
Joel 2:28–29 (NRSV) promises that God’s spirit will be poured out “on all flesh,” crossing lines of gender, age, and social status. Critical scholars note how radical this is within the Hebrew Bible and how it shaped later Jewish and Christian thought. The book of Acts (2:16–21) explicitly quotes Joel here to explain the Pentecost experience.
5. Theology and Influence
Joel links natural disaster, repentance, and eschatology: disaster is a wake-up call, but ultimate restoration is God’s work (Joel 3:17–21). Scholars point out that this blend of liturgical repentance and cosmic hope helped set the stage for later apocalyptic writings.
In short, critical scholarship sees Joel as a carefully crafted prophetic/liturgical text—probably post-exilic—that uses a real or symbolic locust plague to announce the “day of the Lord,” calls for temple-centered repentance, and anticipates a universal gift of God’s spirit.
