Book of the Prophet Joel

The prophet Joel came from the tribe of Reuben; he died and was buried in the land of Reuben. The name Joel is interpreted as “the fortress of the Lord.” “The word of the Lord came to Joel the son of Bethuel” (Joel 1:1). Joel prophesies about the Assyrians and Babylonians during the time of their four kings, whom he represents in the image of the four plagues of Egypt. One evil serves as an image of another, similar to it, evil. Locusts and other plagues were sent to Egypt, and here kings followed one after another. “The remnant of the caterpillars of the locusts” (a genus of locusts) winged, swooped down on the synagogue of Israel, for various armies from Assyria and Babylon, under the leadership of four leaders, invaded the land of Israel. Tiglath-pileser was the first to invade, these are caterpillars; the second is Shalmaneser, these are “winged springs”; the third is Sennacherib, these are mossites; the fourth is Nebuchadnezzar, this is sipleve. Therefore, the meaning of the prophecy is as follows: “the remnant of the caterpillars,” that is, what was left by Tiglath-pileser, the “eater of the springs,” that is, Shalmaneser, “the remnant of the springs a piece of moss”, that is, Sennacherib, “and the remnant of a grain of moss”, that is, Nebuchadnezzar (Joel 1:4). “The tongue will come forth from my land” (Joel 1:6); This is Sennacherib’s army, it attacked the most fortified cities of Judea, captured them and turned the whole country into a desert. “Be sober, ye drink... and weep: wail, all ye that drink wine” (Joel 1:5). The mysterious meaning of these words is that divine joy, represented here in the form of wine, will be taken away from sinful people. “Weep... as a bride girded, and I in sackcloth after my virgin husband” (Joel 1:8). It sometimes happens that when the newlywed enters the bridal chamber, the groom is struck by illness, suffers for a day or two, and dies without knowing it. “And the wine ran out, the olive trees perished. The farmer was put to shame, and the vinedressers mourned” (Joel 1:10-11). Spiritual farmers worked hard to cultivate the field of human hearts, but it did not bear fruit. “All the wood... withered away” because the instructions of the teachers were not accepted and did not serve the benefit of those who listened (Joel 1:12). “The farmer is put to shame” (Joel 1:11), and there is no prophet. The prophet calls the pagans, Jews, and other peoples farmers, vinedressers, and other names who did not accept Christ’s Gospel, which fills life, joy, and good hope, but, by their own evil will, went into the pitch darkness to the undying worm, to weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the prophet calls the tree of life a fruitful tree, the Holy Cross, which brought the fruit of incorruption to the human race. “Put My grapes into destruction and My figs into destruction” (Joel 1:7). The grapes are the image of the synagogue, and the figs are the secret of all humanity. “The young men stand by their mangers hungry, they have destroyed the granary, they have dug up the winepress” (Joel 1:17), because with the onset of famine, tithes and sacrifices ceased. “From the house of the Lord I gave seven and a drink offering” (Joel 1:13). With the words: “from I ... I gave seven,” the prophet means that purity of morals was lost, and with the words: “from I ... a drink offering,” he makes it known that the tears of spiritual contrition have dried up due to a lack of spiritual understanding. “And the sheep herds perished... the herds of oxen mourned, - the herds of sheep perished, - for they had no pasture” (Joel 1:18). The cattle groan, and the herds of oxen cry, because the old hay is exhausted, and there is no new grass. This happened both with Judah at the end of the reign of King Zedekiah (for at that time the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and devastated all the surrounding areas), and with both kingdoms of Israel in the days of Hezekiah, when the Assyrians oppressed and ruined both kingdoms during the times of their kings Shalmaneser and Sennacherib. The first of them overthrew the throne of Samaria, and the second caused many disasters to Judea. In a mysterious sense, the groaning of oxen means the groaning of the creature, which groans and awaits the revelation of the sons of God, for the divine Paul says that “the creation is subject to futility unwillingly” (Rom. 8:20). And the fact that the prophet speaks of a severe famine, from which farmers and vinedressers wept and livestock died, this depicts an even more severe famine before the coming of our Lord, which tormented all mankind due to the scarcity of heavenly bread, and was finally satisfied and stopped by the Gospel preaching. “Blow the trumpet in Zion” (Joel 2:1), call the sinful people to repentance. “The earth is like a paradise of sweetness before him,” that is, the land of Judah was likened to Eden before the invasion of the king of Assyria. “And there is a field of destruction behind him, and there will be no one who can escape... from his hand” (Joel 2:3). This is similar to what the Assyrian king said about himself: “Have you delivered food from the gods of paganism, every one of them... from my hand?” ( Isa. 36:18, 20 ). “At his face the people will be crushed,” that is, the Egyptians, the Ethiopians and the peoples neighboring them. “Every face turns black like the burning of a highlander” (Joel 2:6). The people of Judah and the pagan peoples, fearing the Assyrians, will darken like a scorched pot. This signifies great fear, and this very analogy is used prophets Isaiah and Nahum (Nahum.2:10). “And they will not turn aside from their ways” (Joel 2:7), like the fearful. The prophet shows the strength and audacity of the Assyrians, because the fearful tend to become afraid and deviate from the path taken. “And they will come in through windows like the tatie” (Joel 2:9). The Prophet says this either about the plans of the enemies, which had not yet been carried out, or about the fact that they actually did this when they captured fortified cities to which there was no open access. “The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will extinguish their light” (Joel 2:10), that is, both the pagan peoples and the people of Judah, their kings and princes, represented under the images of the sun, moon and stars, will be captured and deported. “And the Lord will give His voice before His power.” The Lord, through His prophets, will foretell these executions even before they occur, so that people will repent and the execution will not befall them. “How great was His army,” because the Assyrian army was truly strong, prepared by God to punish the stubbornness of His people (Joel 2:11). “And rend your hearts, and not your garments” (Joel 2:13). If Hezekiah, Isaiah, Eliakim and the rest of the priests put on sackcloth, then probably many of the princes and many of the people were also clothed in sackcloth. “Who knows... will leave behind him a blessing” (Joel 2:14), that is, leftovers from a meal to satisfy hunger? “Gather together... the elders... and the sucklings” (Joel 2:16), so that everyone, from infants to old men, even cattle, may mourn and fast, following the example of the Ninevites. “Between the levels of the altar the priests will mourn” (Joel 2:17). The prophet showed the reason for this earlier, saying: “From ya... he gave seven dals and a drink offering.” “And do not give Your inheritance to reproach ... the nations of the heathen” (Joel 2:17). Rabshakeh (Rapshakes) spoke with such reproach: “Who is the Lord, who will deliver... Jerusalem out of my hand?” (Isa.36:20). “And the Lord was jealous of His land, which was trampled upon by the uncircumcised, and He had mercy on His people” (Joel 2:18), and He spared both those led into captivity and those imprisoned in Jerusalem. “Behold, I will send you wheat” (Joel 2:19) for food. He consoles them with the fact that he will give fruit to the wheat, which will grow by itself for two years, from the grains left after the harvest in the land that was cursed when they sinned. “I will also wed him from the north from you,” that is, the king of Assyria. “And its rottenness will arise, and its stench will arise” - the stench from the army destroyed by the Angel, and the stench from the corpse of the king himself, who was soon killed. “For magnify your works” (Joel 2:20), he made war against the power of the Holy One who dwells in Jerusalem. The Angel of the Lord will come and destroy his hordes, and the stench will spread from the corpses so numerous that neither people will be able to bury them, nor animals will be able to tear them to pieces. “And your threshing floors will be filled with wheat.” Blessing will come upon the threshing floors who have been cursed. “And the winepress will overflow with wine and oil” (Joel 2:24). God promises to give an abundance of wheat, wine and oil to the Jews after He has mercy on them and destroys the Assyrians who attacked them. This was fulfilled mysteriously by Christ, who gave the mysterious wheat, wine and oil to the people He redeemed, that is, His Church. Wheat is the Sacrament of His Holy Body, wine is His cleansing Blood, oil is the fragrant myrrh with which the baptized are sealed and put on with the full armor of the Holy Spirit. “And I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28), that is, on the house of King Hezekiah, so that they will know in advance about the future deliverance from Sennacherib. Deliverance from slavery to Satan is mysteriously predicted, accomplished by our Lord through the Holy Spirit, abundantly poured out on male and female servants. “And I will do wonders in heaven and on earth, blood and fire and smoking smoke: the sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes” (Joel 2:30-31). This will happen under Hezekiah, and will be repeated in the days of Zedekiah, and in the days of Gog; will be completely fulfilled at the end of time at the First and Last Coming of our Lord. “For... there will be salvation in Jerusalem” (Joel 2:32), during the invasion of Gog, just as it was during the invasion of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. “And I will gather all the nations, that is, the hordes of Gog, and I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat” (Joel 3:2), which is interpreted: “The Lord of judgment.” “And the youths were sold to harlots, and the young women were sold on wine and drink” (Joel 3:3). So among them, no matter what, they revered the souls of the sons of men. “And what are you to me, Tire and Sidon and all Galilee of the foreigners?” This is not the way the children of Israel have dealt with you, but you are driving my people Israel out of their borders without mercy, “will you sell them to the sons of the Greeks?” (Joel 3:4, 6). This happened in the days of Zerubbabel and in the following years, because at that time the people of Judah were being oppressed by pagan nations. The prophet calls the sons of Greece the inhabitants of the neighboring trading islands, who came to the cities of the Philistines along trade routes. “And behold, I will raise you up from the place where you will sell it” (Joel 3:7). Since this entire prophecy also applies to the Second Coming of our Lord, at that same time what the prophet said about the awakening of those who sleep will also be fulfilled. This awakening is the “resurrection of the belly” promised to the righteous, and the “resurrection of judgment” determined for the wicked (John 5:29). “Preach this to the nations, sanctify the army” (Joel 3:9). Proclaim this, you pagan nations, to your allies, so that they will go out to fight My people in the battle you are planning. “Let all the nations around come together and come to you, let them draw near, there the Lord will crush your fortress” (Joel 3:11). The Prophet summons the leaders and giants from the house of Gog to battle, and pronounces on them a decree of judgment that there the Lord will finally crush their fortress. “Release the sickles, as the grapes are about to be embraced,” for this power of nations is for you the same as the joyful embrace (harvesting) of grapes. “Tread in, tread, as the winepress is pouring out” (Joel 3:13), because you will trample your enemies and plunder their wealth. “The voice of the judgment was spoken” (Joel 3:14). The time of long-suffering that was given to them was fulfilled, and there they were destined to fall. “The sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will hide their light,” that is, the mind and heart will be darkened and remain in darkness on the day of the revelation of the Lord. “And the stars will hide their light” (Joel 3:15), that is, the brightness of thoughts, like a shining star illuminating the path to heaven, will be lost and dimmed with the onset of deep night, into which the mind plunges itself. “The Lord from Zion... will give a voice,” to the Assyrians. “And the heavens and the earth will shake,” rising up against them, “but the Lord will spare His people,” and will scatter their enemies. “And Jerusalem will be holy, and foreign women will not pass through it.” The pagan nations will not come to fight with him (Joel 3:16–17). “On that day, the mountains will burn away the sweetness, the longed-for liberation and abundance, and the hills will pour out milk.” In its own and true sense, the prophet calls the apostles mountains dripping sweetness, and the Divine teaching is sweetness; He calls the hills dripping with milk the prophets who expound the purity of the mysteries, as well as the new rulers of the people, as meek as Moses and Samuel; and also the priesthood, which cleanses the whole people with its sprinklings. The vine and fig tree will give their sweetness, that is, the divine grapes will be trampled by the apostles, and the taste of the mysterious will be revealed by the prophets. “The springs of Judah will emanate water,” the prophet calls church teachers springs, because spiritual teaching constantly flows from their lips. “And a fountain shall come out from the house of the Lord and water the brook (valley) of Shittim” (Joel 3:18). Just as the valley of Shittim was lower than the spring that filled it, so people will become a pure and low field for the Law of God, and will receive the waters flowing from the house of the Lord, that is, the Law of God, which will come from there, as it is written: “Out of Zion the law will go out” (Mic. 4:2). In addition, the source emanating from the house of God represents Holy Baptism, called the source of life, washing away the sins of the sons of the Holy Church. “Egypt will be desolate,” for the desolation to which you have been reduced. In a mysterious sense, the prophet means the persecutors of the holy people and says that their fortress will be crushed and their treasures will be scattered. “And Edom means an uninhabited desert” (Joel 3:19); it will not be inhabited by either people or beasts, because the Edomites said: “destroy, exhaust it to the foundations,” that is, Jerusalem (Ps. 137:7). “Judah will be inhabited forever” (Joel 3:20), because it remained uninhabited for seventy years. “And I will require their blood,” from those who shed it and rejoiced at this bloodshed. “And the Lord will dwell in Zion” (Joel 3:21), will return and dwell in His tabernacle. Moses also predicted this in his song (Deut. 32:43). You might be interested in: