The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
The verse names Joel the son of Pethuel as the prophet to whom the word of the Lord came. Its opening words mean that what follows is Jehovah's own message, with God as its source and Joel as His instrument to speak it. It introduces a prophecy for the last generation in the closing time before Christ's second coming. It foretells an unprecedented calamity in which insect devourers consume the crops, harvests fail, land and waters waste away, animals suffer, and famine, pestilence, and death spread, the devourers being literal locusts and worms and not figurative armies of men. That devastation warns that the day of the Lord is at hand, and God's people are to prepare beforehand and take the Lord's shelter to escape destruction.
Prophet and Divine Message
The verse names the prophet as Joel, the son of Pethuel, the one to whom the word of the Lord came. Joel is not Samuel, and Pethuel is simply a proper name with no special significance. He lived at least two hundred years after Samuel, and possibly as much as six hundred years after him.
The opening words are a very common expression used by the sacred writers to announce that what follows was received from the Lord. They mean that Joel received from the Lord what he was to speak. The message given to and through him was the word of Jehovah, the word of the Lord, and not merely his own words. God was the source and spoke through the prophet, with Joel serving as His instrument for delivering the message to the people. His prophecy is thus one of the instances in which holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit.
The prophecy belongs to about 800 years before Christ. It is somewhat older than those of Amos and Hosea.
Coming Judgment and Warning
The word that came to Joel opens a prophecy for the last generation, for the closing time and the last days, describing conditions just before Christ's second coming. Its first chapter portrays an invasion of crop-destroying insects with ruined fields, trees and harvests, groaning animals, widespread disease and death, and fading human joy. The same book foretells insect pests and a great spirit of war among the nations in the closing time. Three generations are pictured asking about the dreadful conditions then closing in.
It foretells an unprecedented calamity in the earth's decay under the curse, when insect pests consume crops, harvests fail, trees wither, waters dry up, the land mourns, animals groan and suffer, fire scorches the land, human joy fades, and famine, pestilence, disease and death spread. Famine and pestilence are among the coming destructions for which preparation must be made before the last plagues. The devourers are literal locusts, caterpillars, cankerworms and palmerworms, standing for the many destructive insects burdening people now and in the future, not figurative armies of men. They are released as an army when God's restraining power is withdrawn in a dreadful time.
That devastation warns that the day of the Lord is at hand and approaching, making those ruined crops, dried waters, suffering animals and scorched fields a sign of that day and a description of the time of the plagues, the last plagues and the judgment. The prophecy also warns against cries of peace in a world making extensive preparations for war. So important is the warning that it is to be recounted from generation to generation, that people yet to face it may be warned and escape.
Those whose sins bring down the plagues will experience the very scene Joel saw. God's people are to prepare for these calamities before the last plagues and to take the Lord's shelter to escape destruction. Christ's servants will retain their joy amid fading human joy and share it with others. The prophecy refers to a work to be done before the Lord comes, the same work typified by the day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles, belonging to mortal probation following the Third Angel's Message and not to immortal saints.
The verse names Joel the son of Pethuel as the prophet to whom the word of the Lord came. Its opening words mean that what follows is Jehovah's own message, with God as its source and Joel as His instrument to speak it. It introduces a prophecy for the last generation in the closing time before Christ's second coming. It foretells an unprecedented calamity in which insect devourers consume the crops, harvests fail, land and waters waste away, animals suffer, and famine, pestilence, and death spread, the devourers being literal locusts and worms and not figurative armies of men. That devastation warns that the day of the Lord is at hand, and God's people are to prepare beforehand and take the Lord's shelter to escape destruction.
Prophet and Divine Message
The verse names the prophet as Joel, the son of Pethuel, the one to whom the word of the Lord came. Joel is not Samuel, and Pethuel is simply a proper name with no special significance. He lived at least two hundred years after Samuel, and possibly as much as six hundred years after him.
The opening words are a very common expression used by the sacred writers to announce that what follows was received from the Lord. They mean that Joel received from the Lord what he was to speak. The message given to and through him was the word of Jehovah, the word of the Lord, and not merely his own words. God was the source and spoke through the prophet, with Joel serving as His instrument for delivering the message to the people. His prophecy is thus one of the instances in which holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit.
The prophecy belongs to about 800 years before Christ. It is somewhat older than those of Amos and Hosea.
Coming Judgment and Warning
The word that came to Joel opens a prophecy for the last generation, for the closing time and the last days, describing conditions just before Christ's second coming. Its first chapter portrays an invasion of crop-destroying insects with ruined fields, trees and harvests, groaning animals, widespread disease and death, and fading human joy. The same book foretells insect pests and a great spirit of war among the nations in the closing time. Three generations are pictured asking about the dreadful conditions then closing in.
It foretells an unprecedented calamity in the earth's decay under the curse, when insect pests consume crops, harvests fail, trees wither, waters dry up, the land mourns, animals groan and suffer, fire scorches the land, human joy fades, and famine, pestilence, disease and death spread. Famine and pestilence are among the coming destructions for which preparation must be made before the last plagues. The devourers are literal locusts, caterpillars, cankerworms and palmerworms, standing for the many destructive insects burdening people now and in the future, not figurative armies of men. They are released as an army when God's restraining power is withdrawn in a dreadful time.
That devastation warns that the day of the Lord is at hand and approaching, making those ruined crops, dried waters, suffering animals and scorched fields a sign of that day and a description of the time of the plagues, the last plagues and the judgment. The prophecy also warns against cries of peace in a world making extensive preparations for war. So important is the warning that it is to be recounted from generation to generation, that people yet to face it may be warned and escape.
Those whose sins bring down the plagues will experience the very scene Joel saw. God's people are to prepare for these calamities before the last plagues and to take the Lord's shelter to escape destruction. Christ's servants will retain their joy amid fading human joy and share it with others. The prophecy refers to a work to be done before the Lord comes, the same work typified by the day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles, belonging to mortal probation following the Third Angel's Message and not to immortal saints.