Most people who are church going people will know some of the bigger names in the Bible. Names like John or Mark or Matthew or Peter are all pretty common. But what about some of those odd ones in the Old Testament? Or what about the ones who really don’t have a lot of references made to them?

I’m currently leading a group of people at the church I serve through some of the lesser known books of the Bible. We’re in the book of Joel, so I thought it would be a decent time to unpack a little of what’s going on in the book of Joel and better yet – why we should even care!

We’ll do a quick flyover of this book. Don’t worry it’s only three chapters long! We’ll focus on four quick things: who wrote it, what is prophecy, what was the fulfillment they saw, what can we take from it.

Who is Joel?

First of all, names mean something in the Bible. Joel is no different. His name means the Lord is God. It’s pretty cool how names can actually tell you a little bit about what the person is going to do or what they do shed light on their name.

What is prophecy?

Biblical prophecy has two parts: foretelling something and forth telling something. Foretelling is essentially what we would call predicting the future. However it’s not really as sci-fi as we like to think. Biblical foretelling was when a prophet would tell the people something that was going to happen based on what God told them was going to happen. So it was really passing along a message from God about their future.

The second aspect of prophecy is about forth telling. The idea here is basically interpreting what’s going on in a way that makes it relatable and understandable for the future. We’ll unpack both of these in the next section.

But first we also need to see that there are generally multiple layers of fulfillment to a prophecy. There is often an event that triggers the prophet to speak which is the first layer. Then, at some point in the relatively near future, there is another layer which will give the initial event a little spin and that the initial event helps us understand better. And ultimately there is a fulfillment that occurs in the person of Jesus at some point in the often very distant future.

When you think of these layers, think of the eye doctor. They put different lenses on that help you see what’s on the little screen on the opposite wall. These different events help bring the next one into focus a little more clearly. Another way of seeing it is like ripples in a pond. Each inner ripple pushes the next ripple further from the center. One directly impacts or influences the next one. The same is true with how we see Biblical prophecy.

What did the people of Joel’s day see?

Ok so here’s where we get into the types and layers of prophecy. Let’s take a quick look at what Joel is using as the impact event. Evidently there was a swarm of locusts that had come through the nation. If you’ve never seen them, locusts are nasty little buggers. They eat everything in sight making the land impossible to live off of for just about anyone. From crawling immediately after birth to hopping when they’re a little older to flying which makes them a real terror, there is essentially nothing out of their reach.

Now the locusts were bad, but God was using the locusts to show the people that something far worse was on its way. They were like a swarm of locusts but even more devastating. The locusts pointed the people to an army that was going to invade and terrorize the nation even worse than the locusts did!

But it’s not done there. Because there is this final ring or lens of fulfillment that was of great concern to people of the Bible and should be for us today as well.

Why should we care about Joel?

Perhaps you’re a history buff and just love historical narratives. Well if that’s the case then you love the book of Joel for the style of literature it is. But if you’re like the rest of the world, then what’s so important about Joel? I mean Jesus isn’t mentioned by name in there. There’s no reference to the church or outreach or worship or anything like that in it. And I sure hope we don’t have to see a swarm of locusts anytime soon!

The importance of Joel is found in the not yet part of the prophecy. Remember the rings of prophecy ultimately end with Jesus? Well this is one of those type of prophecies. The final swarm of locusts or army of devastation is coming in an even worse form than the previous. Every generation thinks it’s living through what some call the end of the world.

But ultimately there will be a final ring of fulfillment that will awaken the swarm of locusts that will bring about the end of the world as we know it. But there are a few things to keep in mind. Light comes after darkness. Good comes after bad. Morning comes after night time.

That might seem a little abrupt and out of place but hang in there. This culture would mark the day starting at night. Which meant that day came after night and light after darkness. Throughout the ending period of Joel’s writing he talks about light and day verses dark and night.

There will be a period of darkness, much like the invasion of locusts or the nasty army of Joel’s day. But just like after the locust and army invasions there will be a new day after the final ring of darkness. The Bible calls this time the Day of the Lord. It’s a phrase that is used several times in Joel and it’s a designation of this end of the world time period.

Put it all together.

Joel means the Lord is God. The one who made everything is in control of the ending. The locusts destroyed much of the nation of Israel of Joel’s day but the people, in large part, survived. The army invaded and many met their end but many were saved through the whole invasion. Even though they were captured and taken in to exile and had some really hard times, God brought them through. And they saw the light of day on the other side of their exile.

The same is true for you and me today. As we go through these moments getting closer and closer to the end of the world or the Day of the Lord, we shouldn’t think that God is going to zap his people off the earth before the bad stuff happens. That just isn’t how God works. No matter how much you’d rather it be that way, nowhere in the Bible does God take his people away from the bad stuff. Instead he shows how he is with them through it and brings light after the darkness.

One final example

There’s a famous Bible verse found in Jeremiah. It says that God has plans for us, to make us prosper and give us hope and a future. People love that verse! I mean who wouldn’t? Right? But you should probably read right before it. That hope, future, blessing, good stuff all happens after the darkness and crap of life piles on them.

So Joel is important because he helps us realize that life will suck and God won’t always keep us from the suck of life. But in the end God wins and light prevails and a new day happens. And that new day is for us.

Pressure. It’s not always a bad thing. When I wash my truck, I like to use pressurized water. When we blow up a balloon we pressurize the air going in so that the balloon will inflate. But pressure applied in the wrong way or at the wrong time can lead to bad results. Take that same pressurized water that goes through a pressure washer and you can cut your skin.

Pressure isn’t a bad thing but when it’s the wrong pressure applied in the wrong way at the wrong time it can lead to devastating results.

Recently we talked about a type of pressure that we all go through in life. In some places we call it testing. In others it’s called trials. And in other circles it’s called temptation. They all three essentially are the same idea. The end result is generally what determines the word we use.

A test is something that isn’t intended to cripple us. A trial is something that makes us struggle and often rely on other people to help us through. And a temptation is generally something that leads us into a bad scenario that often bites us in the butt.

So the Bible uses these three words almost interchangeably. And be totally honest it’s super confusing the way we do it! In several cases we see these words used in a variety of scenarios and think they mean totally different things. But in actuality it’s the same original word that we translate differently based on the context.

In one place it says we are going to face trials of various kinds. In another we read that with every temptation there will be a way out. And in yet another we see that faith that is tested genuine will be like gold refined by fire. Three words trial, test, temptation and they all are the same root word. Confusing huh!?

One way that I tend to look at this is by the outcome. And this is where I kind of disagree with how some have translated the Bible throughout history. For me a test or a trial is something that is intended to cause us to slow down and consider what and who we know. Often these types of events can be overcome if we use the resources that are at our fingertips. But a temptation isn’t the same.

A temptation is something that often brings defeat. Temptations will generally put us in the driver seat and lead us to rely on our own self centered ways. What makes me happy? What can I do to overcome this? What’s in this for me? Why is this happening to me? I deserve better. These are all things that come out of temptations.

A famous, and generally misquoted, bible verse about temptation says that God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear but in every temptation there will be a way of escape that he provides for us. Note that the testing, trial or temptation will be greater than we can bear on our own. The point is that we will go through these things, and if we don’t look for the way out we will be overcome. The point is the way out.

What’s the way out in your temptation? Where has God put an open door in the midst of your struggle? Are you so busy trying to figure out the problem that you fail to see the open door right in front of you? If so then perhaps you’ve turned a test or trial into a temptation.

Look for the way out. It’s most assuredly there. You just have to look for it.