Skip to main content

The Day of the Lord - Why Study The Book of Joel?


...for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? -- Joel 2:11ff

Few people realise how important and wonderful Bible prophecy can be. Its invaluable benefits include:

1.    Insight into the character of God;
2.    A preview into the future;
3.    An alarm clock to wake up the spiritual sleepers and sober up the drunkards (I Thessalonians 5:6); 
4.    Incentive for holy living;
5.    Incentive for evangelism;
6.    Prospers those who heed its timeless message (II Chronicles 20:20 KJV);
7.    The brightest light on this planet until Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, comes again (II Peter 1:19).

Above all, Bible prophecy is a much-needed ‘early warning service.’ Early warnings save lives and souls.

One of the key themes in Bible prophecy is ‘The Day of the Lord.’ A simple description is the ‘Day of the Lord’ is that complex, contrasting, crisis-riddled, change-filled period between the ‘kingdoms of this world’ and ‘the kingdom of Christ’ (Revelation 11:15).

To understand the ‘Day of the Lord,’ you need to study the Old Testament Book of Joel. This short, 3 chapter prophesy provides unsurpassed insight on this vital period of history and the future.

A foretaste of the ‘Day of the Lord’ happens in Joel’s day, namely the 9th Century B.C. The Kingdom of Judah gets hit twice, with a plague of locusts, then a day of drought.

All of this is just a warm-up to the ultimate, end-time ‘Day of the Lord.’ In that day, Judah is threatened with invasion but salvation is promised. More than that, the Holy Spirit will be poured out in revival, last days proportions. Once the final Day of the Lord comes, the Gentiles who gather against Judah will be judged (Armageddon) and Judah will be restored.

So why study the Book of Joel? Some of the things you will learn include:

      The real nature of the ‘Day of the Lord?’
      What’s the distinction between the ‘Day of the Lord’ and the ‘End-Times?’
      What are the similarities & differences between the invasions in chapters 1 & 2;
      What are some of the wonderfully unprecedented high points, despite invasions;
      The prophesied outpouring of the Holy Spirit (2:28-32);
      The glorious future God has prepared for His redeemed.

Study the Book of Joel. Not only will you prosper, Joel will change your life.



Outline of Joel

I.   Day of the Lord in Joel’s Day (1:1-20)

A.  Day of Locusts                        (1:1-12)

B.   Day of Drought                      (1:13-20)

II.                 Day of the Lord in the Last Days   (2:1-3:21)

A.  Imminent Day of the Lord (2:1-27)

1.  Prophecy of Judah’s Imminent Invasion  (2:1-11)

2.  Promise of Judah’s Salvation (conditional)  (2:12-27)

B.  Ultimate Day of the Lord (2:28-3:21)

1.  Final Events before the Day of the Lord (2:28-32)

2.  Events at the Day of the Lord (3:1-21)

a.  Gentiles judged (3:1-15)


b. Judah restored (3:16-21)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 2025 Los Angeles Fires: The Bigger Issues

The new year had barely begun when New Orleans was rocked by a jihadist car ramming attack on the 1st of January. In Las Vegas, there was an explosion in front of the Trump hotel. Then, on the 7th of January, what arguably could be the most destructive fire in American history commenced. They are called the Los Angeles fires. Thousands of homes and businesses have been burned to the ground. Prestigious suburbs like Pacific Palisades or working-class Altadena look like war zones. Thousands of acres and buildings in America’s second-largest city have been destroyed and dozens have lost their lives or are recorded missing. People were told to evacuate their homes. Many abandoned their cars along the way because of the impasse. Thank God, they made it out alive but they lost everything but the clothes on their backs. It is a humanitarian crisis of the highest order. Like Australia, Southern California is dry and prone to fires. With the history and technology, there should have been pruden...

The Twelve-Day War of June 2025: Israel and Iran Have We Turned A Corner?

After years of debate, negotiations, threats and risks, the inevitable finally came: military action. Israel pre-emptively attacked Iran’s nuclear program while neutralising its nuclear scientists and top military men. There was the Six-Day War of June 1967; now we have the Twelve-Day War of June 2025. The combatants: Israel, Iran, and briefly, the United States. Despite all this, have we turned a corner? The state of war started in 1979 after the successful installation of a theocratic, fundamentalist, puritanical regime called the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic overthrew the Shah of Iran, the last sovereign of a monarchy which lasted 2,500 years since the days of Cyrus the Persian, who is prominently mentioned in the Bible. The Shah was replaced by a Shia Muslim cleric, called the Supreme Leader, who possesses broad executive powers, more than the elected Iranian President. The Supreme Leader is the most powerful person in the country. From Day One, Iran announced its...

‘Liberation Day:’ What The Trump Tariffs Are About?

  April 2, 2025, another day, another flurry of activity coming from the Oval Office. Yet, it wasn’t like any other day. After signing yet another Executive Order, US President Donald Trump declared it ‘Liberation Day.’ On paper, he had ordered ten per cent tariffs across the board on countries worldwide, friend and foe alike. In reality, he is shaking up the world's economic and political order, deliberately. Initially, there was great consternation around the world. The stock market and, more worryingly, the bond market dived. Dozens of nations queued up to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the American administration. Then, Trump announced a 90-day freeze on tariffs for those countries that had reached out to the Americans. Both stock and bond markets recovered; a correction came to what was overvalued, and life calmed down for the moment. While critics derisively called the ‘tariff freeze’ a ‘backflip,’ it was actually part of the plan all along. Liberation Day spawned...