Book of Joel Chapter 1 Vs. 15

 The day of the Lord

 

Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Joel 1:15

Alas for the... The 2nd section of the prophecy of Joel (Joel 1:15-2:11, unfulfilled; will be fulfilled in the day of the Lord, the battle of Armageddon, and the second coming of Christ). Next, Joel 2:12.

Forty-four Predictions—Unfulfilled:

1. The day of the Lord is at hand (Joel 1:15).

2. It will be a day of destruction from the Almighty.

3. All worship and rejoicing will be cut off from the temple (Joel 1:16).

4. There will be a crop failure (Joel 1:17).

5. The garners will be desolate.

6. The barns will be broken down.

7. There will be a great drought (Joel 1:18)

8. The pastures and trees will be destroyed (Joel 1:19).

9. The beasts of the field will cry to God because the waters are dried up (Joel 1:20).

10. Fire will devour the pastures of the wilderness.

11. The day of the Lord is near (Joel 2:1).

12. A day of darkness and gloominess.

13. A day of clouds and thick darkness.

14. There will come a great and strong people upon the land (Joel 2:2)

15. There never has been nor ever will be again, even for many generations, a people coming into the land like this.

16. A fire will devour before them (Joel 2:3).

17. Behind them a flame will burn.

18. The land before them will be like the garden of Eden; and what they have gone over will be like a wilderness.

19. Nothing will escape them.

20. Their appearance is like horses and horsemen; so shall they run (Joel 2:4).

21. Their noise will be like chariots on the tops of the mountains (Joel 2:5).

22. It will be like the flame of fire that devours stubble.

23. They will be as a strong people in battle array.

24. Before their face the people will be much pained (Joel 2:6)

25. All faces will gather darkness.

26. They will run like mighty men (Joel 2:7)

27. They will climb the wall like men of war.

28. They will march every one on his ways.

29. They will not break their ranks.

30. They will not thrust one another (Joel 2:8).

31. They will walk every one in his path.

32. When they fall upon the sword they will not be wounded.

33. They will run to and fro in the city (Joel 2:9).

34. They will run upon the wall.

35. They will climb upon the houses.

36. They will enter the windows.

37. The earth will shake before them.

38. The heavens will tremble (Joel 2:10).

39. The sun and moon will be dark.

40. The stars will withdraw their shining.

41. The Lord will be their commander and utter His voice before His army (Joel 2:11).

42. His camp will be very great.

43. He is strong that will execute His word.

44. The day of the Lord will be great and very terrible.

the day of... The day of the Lord is mentioned five times in this prophecy, plainly proving all of it future in that day (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 2:11, 2:31; 3:14). This is the first occurrence of the theme. Later in the book (2:18; 3:1, 18-21), the Day of the Lord (the occasion when God pours out His wrath on man), results in blessing and exoneration for God’s people and judgment toward Gentiles (Isa. 13:6; Eze. 30:3), but here Joel directs the warning toward his own people.

The Day of the Lord is speedily approaching; unless sinners repent, dire consequences await them.

a destruction from... Fifteen Curses of the Day of the Lord

1. A day of destruction from God (Joel 1:15).

2. A day of darkness and gloominess (Joel 2:2).

3. A day of clouds and thick darkness.

4. A day of invasion of earth by the armies of the Lord coming from heaven (Joel 2:2-11).

5. A day of devouring fire destroying all before it (Joel 2:3).

6. A day when men will be much pained and discouraged (Joel 2:6).

7. A day when supernatural beings and all heavenly armies will appear on earth to destroy multitudes (Joel 2:4-11; 3:14).

8. A great and terrible day with only a few living through it (Joel 2:11, 2:31).

9. A day preceded by a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-32).

10. A day when all nations gathered against Jerusalem will be destroyed (Joel 3:2-16; Zec. 14:1-5, 14:14-15; 2Thes. 1:7-10; Rev. 19:11-21).

11. A day of war and destruction (Joel 2:1; 3:9-16).

12. A day of judgment for the nations (Joel 3:11-12; Mat. 25:31-46).

13. A day of decision—one to decide the rulership of the earth forever (Joel 3:14-16; Rev. 11:15; 10:11-21; 20:1-10).

14. A day of darkness of the sun, moon, and stars (Joel 3:15; Mat. 24:29-31).

15. A day of great earthquakes (Joel 1:16; Zec. 14:4-5; Rev. 16:17-21).

The Hebrew term “destruction” forms a powerful play on words with the “Almighty.” The notion of invincible strength is foremost; destruction at the hand of omnipotent God is coming.

Again, this had a near fulfillment to then. Now there is also, coming a Day of the Lord at the end of this Gentile age. The judgment of God was upon them for the sins in their lives. The wrath of God will fall upon the disobedient, in our generation as well. It is bad to fall into the hands of the devil or Satan, but it is much worse to fall into the hands of God, when He pours out His wrath.

The significance of the plague

This locust plague was meaningful because of its role as a harbinger of the day of the Lord. The locusts had destroyed the crops in the fields (see esp. Joel 1:10, where the Heb. verb šāḏaḏ is used twice and is trans. “ruined” and “destroyed” in the NIV). Similarly this coming day would be one of destruction (šōḏ, related to the verb šāḏaḏ) from the Almighty (šadday; cf. see Gen. 17:1; this divine name was probably used here because of its similarity in sound to the word šōḏ, “destruction”).

It was natural for the prophet to see this plague as an ominous sign of an extraordinary event. In Egypt a locust plague (Exo. 10:1-20) had preceded the final plagues of darkness (Exo. 10:21-29; cf. Joel 2:2) and death (Exo. 11:1-10; 12:29-30). The Deuteronomic curses threatened locust plagues (Deut. 28:38, 28:42) in conjunction with exile and death (Deut. 28:41, 28:48-57, 28:64-68).