This Is the Old Testament is part of a twelve-week thematic overview of the entire Bible. Each day we’ll read a thematic selection from a different book or two of the Bible, along with supplemental passages that show how the theme of that day’s main reading is found throughout Scripture. We’ll also read a brief summary of each book and a reflection on how the book fits into the larger story of Scripture. This week, we’ll continue looking at the genres of Major and Minor Prophets.
What Is Joel? This book, addressed to Judah, is a collection of prophecies made through the prophet Joel, primarily revolving around a locust plague meant to signify the coming Day of the Lord. In it, God calls Judah to repent and return to Him.
How Joel Fits Into the Story: The book of Joel shows the Creator and Redeemer God in complete control of all the universe. Joel reminds us that the God of judgment is also a God of mercy, who stands ready to redeem and restore when His people turn to Him and trust Him.
Reflection Questions:
1. What did you learn about God’s nature from Joel 2:12–17 that can draw you to repentance?
2. How does today’s reading shape your understanding of the story of redemption?
Take time to reflect on your responses and share what you are learning with others in the community in the comments.
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30 thoughts on "Joel"
God is always there for us and he is waiting for us when we wonder away. God is always I control.
I love that the same God that judges is also the one who is quick to forgive if we just turn to him! He is steadfast in his perfect moral basis but when he sees us coming close, just like the father in the prodigal son story, He picks up his garments and runs to greet us!! Such a beautiful reminder of how he has pursued and will continue to pursue me despite my flaws and mistakes!!
Lord help and save us
I love that part of the verse that says he will abundantly pardon. What a joy and an unburdened heart it gives me!
“Submit to God and turn from the devil”—yeah that sounds a whole lot easier than what it actually is I’ve come to find out! We are tempted day in and out with giving our hearts to the pleasures of this world. But the spirit cannot dwell wholly within us if we give our heart over to these earthly temptations. It’s crazy how loudly and clearly the God and the spirit can speak to you if your heart is only shifted towards God and eternal life not the love of this mortal decaying world. I loved the snow analogy—it’s like God sprinkles down wisdom upon us from up above. But, like the snow it doesn’t just end there, it’s is eventually sent back up into the clouds. In the same was God will speak his wisdom and his higher ways to us so that the joy of his will being done by his humble servant will return much joy to the Lord. God is so great, we just have to turn our hearts completely towards him so that he can have ALL of us and use us for his purpose.
I love that God forgives, restores, and changes us. I pray that I would be quick to turn to him when I fail.
God is a merciful and forgiving God if we give Him a chance. He wants to help us and will help us if we will let Him but many times we think we know what’s best. God wants us to repent from our sins. Yes He sent Christ to die for our sins but we still need to repent and ask for forgiveness. We also need to believe and have faith. Without faith we are nothing.
Sisters have a great weekend.
For continues to pursue his people through your history. Thank you Father for pursuing me!
Our God is slow-to-anger! Thank you Jesus. I NEED to be more like that mainly with my aging mother.
I took today off to spend it with my sister who goes back home to Florida late tonight. We won’t see her for about two years. Please pray for her as she starts the nursing program. Her name is Patty.
God desires us to return to Him with all our heart. He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love. Amazing forgiveness offered to us.
1. Today’s reading reminded me that God wants us to repent of our sins. Not just in the sense of doing it because we are supposed to, but doing it because we truly mean it. If we truly are asking for repentance it should result in a change in our lives. Are we repenting and living for our Father? Or are we repenting and continuing to live for the world? I’ve been guilty of the second one more often than not.
2. This story reminds of the need for redemption before salvation, but it also reminds us of God’s mercy when he brought down His Son to die on a cross for us. If He can give us His one and only Son, then we can be serious and mean it when we apologize and ask for repentance from our worldly pleasures.
Relentless reach for us – that’s powerful to reflect on! Thanks you, LORD!
Dear ERB, praying for your family. May our God work out His Way to bring peace and peace to you all. May His grace break down the walls. I will also be praying for your brother. Tough news, Jesus bring your miracles for we know You are working, fighting for us. Please LORD show us. I thank you for your prayers, I could feel prayers yesterday and God near in some heavy things. Please pray for wisdom, that I would obey whatever He asks and hear His voice clearly. I am moving my things out of my home this weekend. So, would be good to have time off. Pray for this too. Just switched phones yesterday, and having a hard time navigating this system, so forgive my lack of cohesive comments. Today’s scripture in Joel, Isaiah and James so good. He is near, abounding in faithful love, and we can draw near. Sorry, I am out of time and this phone is difficult. Maybe we can do 51 again on Monday? Sisters praying for your requests. Know His love never fails. And He loves you.
Prayers Maura. So sorry for this trail you are bearing.
Phoebe…I didn’t know that about the Lord and LORD. So cool. Thank you for sharing. Now I need to remember and read my Bible specifically according to how it is written. Love it!
I didn’t remember much about Joel when I saw it was today’s book. The verses we read were familiar (and beautiful) to me but, I didn’t really remember clearly the story line, so I reread it. Chapter 1 and into 2, reads like a horror film plays out. Everything is destroyed, ruined, consumed, devoured, dried-up. There is darkness, fire, writhing in horror, attacks to the point that the earth quakes and the sky shakes.
In 2:10 our Hero, the One and Only, enters the picture, the LORD. He calls for repentance, not lip-service repentance but life-altering, heart-healing, repenting. It requires an about face-return to the LORD, for everyone, no excuses. Young, old, infant, nursing babes, even a bride and her groom are called immediately to return to the LORD. (It is not a “let me think, I will soon.” It is “all” or nothing – delayed obedience is disobedience.) The “all” is truly The All-mighty God, and all He provides: new wine, oil, sweet smelling people, rejoicing and glad, no fear, green pastures and food, rain and sunshine, all that would be considered…plenty. And most importantly, the presence of the LORD God and His Spirit. That feels really good to read because, I am His, and He is mine, and those promises are for us, His children.
But Joel doesn’t end at chapter 2, chapter 3 is titled, Judgment of the Nations. Multitudes upon multitudes, in the valley of decision will find that they are not among those protected and cared for and will face an eternity in the horrors described.
Sometimes I think our consciences are numb. We forget, or do not fully realize that judgement will come. God is holy and righteous. He has given opportunity after opportunity to repent. He does not want anyone to experience the horror described. Through Jesus Christ, His Son, the path is opened. The Shepherd longs to carry the lost Home. But the choice is individual to make, God will not force us. He also does not want lip-service but a whole-hearted laying down of self. Lost only need cry out in repentance and He is there.
At least for me, I need to remember, (as I am safely held in my Father’s arms) that any trials I face are temporary, and will be used for good by my good, good Father. Multitudes of people will one day experience the horrors of chapter 1, for real, and for eternity. LORD, thank you for the peace of God given your children. May we march forward for you today, every day, Lights shinning lost see and call out in repentance to the Good Shepherd. Amen.
Angie, great synopsis of the book! Thank you so much I always feel it is better to have the verses in context but it takes time to read the entire book! This is wonderful
Y’all- today sent me into a tizzy of sending verses to my brother who is deployed again. God is so gracious in His mercy. Please pray for Nate as he works with his team.
Thankful for your comments. I try and catch up on the previous day’s thoughts and prayer requests. Saying a prayer that “my God will supply all your needs.” ❤️
That he is gracious & merciful! His love is everlasting! He wants us to redeem & give ourselves to him. Such a powerful message today.
Sorry, in my comment I’m not sure how I ended up with “YHWH be”…it should’ve just been “YHWH”!
SYDNEY S – Yes! That stood out to me today, too. The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love! I feel like this has been sprinkled throughout our readings this study, and it is a helpful reminder of God’s character and His heart for His people. We’ve seen how the Israelites have been unfaithful time and time and time again, yet because of the LORD’s great love and His great name He always calls them back.
It is never too late to turn to the LORD, as shown in today’s passage in Joel that begins with “Even now”. Even now, this very moment, I have the opportunity to submit to God and His faithful love!
Also, a bit of a side note that I’ve learned and found so helpful in my Bible reading is the difference between “the Lord” and “the LORD”. For years I had no idea that there even was a difference, but then did a study on the names of God and learned that “Lord” is the Hebrew word “Adonay” (or various forms of it?) and is a title that describes God as master and shows his lordship. “LORD” is the Hebrew word for “YHWH be” (or “Yahweh” as we’ve added in vowels) and it is the sacred, personal name of Israel’s God. Sometimes in my reading I try to say Yahweh when I read LORD to remind myself of this close, personal God! And maybe you all already knew that, but I wanted to share in case it helps someone else like me! ☺️
God doesn’t hold grudges and hold our party sins over us. He forgives and M moves on and helps us do better so that we can glorify Him! Thank you Father for loving us
Joel 2:12-13 show me that God’s heart is all about redemption over judgment. He wants us so badly that he delays judgment hoping upon hope that we will turn to him.
Amen Susie! I always need reminding about God’s merciful nature- sometimes I focus only on His judgment and not His mercy.
LOVED today’s scriptures!!! Joel 2 is always one of my favorites, but today James 4:1-10 (especially verses 1-4 and verse 10) really stood out to me!!! SOOOO Good!!! I was also VERY Happy to see a reading in Isaiah again today!! Maura and I haven’t read chapter 55 together yet, but man, it’s AWESOME!!! God’s ways are NOT our ways!!! Yet, He is always seeking us, encouraging us to come up out of our ‘selves’ & live a ‘higher’ existence, and He is always desiring that we come and meet with Him. We have such a wonderful Father, so forgiving, so loving…SO faithful!!!
Isaiah 55:9-11 really spoke to me… I love the example in nature that is given here…nothing that comes from the mouth of God comes back empty!!!! What an amazing COMFORT!!!!
…May all of us ladies take comfort today KNOWING beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is WITH us and FOR us!!! ❤️
…speaking of, my family could really use your prayers today!! We are going to my estranged brother and SIL’s house (which they just moved into) to celebrate 2 of their 3 kids Birthdays..their birthdays were in June but we are just now getting a chance to celebrate with them, and only because we kept asking… It’s always really uncomfortable being in a situation where you know that you’re not really desired or wanted.. the sad thing is that they are Christians..they go to church every Sunday (online for the past year) but this type of behavior and relationship is not Christ-like… and it’s been going on a long time (years) …we pray EVERYday about it & for them.. but God is the only one who can change hearts. Please pray for God to be at the forefront and that our visit would not be strenuous but filled with the LOVING presence of our God!!! Thank you sisters!!
Also, an UPDATE on my other brother (the one who lost consciousness & broke his back) he FINALLY heard back from his PCP… who now has him going to physical therapy (today), and ordered a couple more intense tests.. one for his heart (we should hear about that in 10days or so) and one for bone density (he got the results yesterday) my 33yo brother has osteoporosis…this is NOT normal, especially considering that he leads a super clean, healthy, balanced and active lifestyle.. he was pretty bummed to receive this news.. and is very disheartened. Because of these results he needs to see an endocrinologist… for further testing… we aren’t sure yet when this appointment will happen, but I will keep you in the loop!! PLEASE keep praying for him!!! Thank you ladies!!!
MAURA, I’m so sorry that this week has been tough… I am praying daily for you my friend and can only imagine how difficult and emotional this season you are in… is there anything specific that you desire prayer for? Let me know and I’ll get on that!! ❤️
How do feel about taking this weekend off from reading? It sounds like you could use some R&R…. Let me know, and I will do whatever you would like! ❤️
Isaiah 51… a LOT in this chapter!! But I have run out of time to comment in detail… but the main things I got from this chapter are Foundation, Deliverance, Freedom, Faithfulness!!! God is WAY bigger than we are and He knows exactly how and when to get our attention… a lot to take away but very good to be reminded about!!! Here are the verses I highlighted:
Isaiah 51:1
Isaiah 51:4-8
Isaiah 51:11-16
Isaiah 51:21-23
..also how COOL is it that Isaiah 55 showed up in today’s reading!!! I LOVED this chapter and highlighted almost the entire thing!! Haha!! We will get into more detail when we read it next week.. ;)
Lots of love and prayers to all you dear sisters! May you find God everywhere you look today and this weekend!!
ERB I agree. James is one of my favorite “lay it on the line” books.
Living in this messy, complicated and unstable world apart from God is a path to nowhere. For years, I thought I was doing good, had all the answers, rolling along – but God knew better and had a different plan for me. A plan that brought me literally to my knees, reeling and eventually humbling myself in His grace and mercy. He did and is lifting me up every hour of every day. His relentless reach for us, the ones he created with His own hands and breath, loving us so deeply even in our mess and disobedience, is the story of redemption. Amazing grace, indeed!
The verse for today keeps returning in various iterations throughout the Old Testament. The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in faithful love. I feel God really wants me to hear this message about His character today. And to appreciate the wonder of His works and His ways. They are so much greater than we are fully able to comprehend.
What a loving Father we have who, yes, disciplines His children, but it is for our good to draw us closer to Him!
MELANIE-praying for your physical struggle today.
KAITLIN – praying that Derrick is responding well.
1. Just as He declared who He was to Moses on Mount Sinai, Joel reminds us that God “is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love.”
As Paul said in Romans 2:4, it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.
2. Every act of judgment on God’s part is to turn people’s hearts toward Him. His desire is for me to learn from His judgment now and run to Him instead of spending eternity in judgment away from Him.