This passage of Scripture reveals that God honors the repentance of people. There is the foretelling that He will restore the land.
Joel states: The LORD will reply to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine, and oil, enough to satisfy you fully…” (2:19).
Joel also states: “The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil” (2:24).
God replies to the people’s remorse.
Dr. Eric Welch, a professor at the University of Kentucky, and an archaeologist, spoke at Colorado Christian University in the winter of 2016. His seminar talk was on the subject of olive oil in the Ancient Near East, and it was fascinating.
Stating that agriculture was the mode of life in the ANE, Dr. Welch noted how the Bible often lists together the three staples of grain, grapes, and olive oil. He said such a phrase is often used in the Bible as a literary expression to indicate prosperity.
And the bottom line is stated in Joel 2:26 – “You will have plenty to eat, until you are full…”
Picture the arid region of ancient Judah with stripped and burnt fields. Yet then picture autumn and spring rains provided by God. I speculate it rained more than usual.
“…for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches” (Joel 2:22).
And Joel records God’s statement that He will drive back the Assyrian army from Judah. This was the response to the people’s repentance by our loving God.
One big challenge in this passage: Joel states, “…never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations” (Joel 2:19).
Later in this passage Joel states, “…never again will my people be shamed” (Joel 2:26).
Then he repeats that: “…never again will my people be shamed” (Joel 2:27).
Since this specific restoration took place before the Babylonian exile, how can this be the case? In knowing what took place in the history of the Israelites for many centuries after this, and in knowing what will take place in the ‘end times’ thanks to prophecies from Zechariah and Joel, this statement does not seem to fit.
In fact, to take this as a general statement, this passage would be a prophecy which would take place after the Second Coming of Christ.
Is the day of YHWH, which Joel speaks of five times, as I discussed in the last piece, actually the “day of the LORD” from Zechariah?
No. Remember that the "day of the LORD" is found in two different contexts in the book of Joel. In fact, when we get to the next passage, Joel 2:28 states: “And afterward….” There is a chronological progression here.
Thus this statement about God’s people being preserved from shame by other nations needs to be taken as a statement made solely to that generation.
However, I do think there is continued foreshadowing here for all generations of Jewish people. The day of their glory is coming as Zechariah foretold as is recorded in Zechariah 14:11 and 14:16.
Not a double entendre, which is a risky literary tool, there is indeed foreshadowing of the second stage of the Second Coming of Christ.
Yet back to the subject Joel is addressing: How awesome it must have been for the Hebrew people to go from a stripped and charred land to blossoming fields.
After the trauma of the locust invasion, it may have taken some time for them to truly grasp their livelihood was being restored. Yet when they did, as was foretold, many Israelites praised the LORD!
Hunter Irvine
