Exposition on Joel - 12 - Verses 4-6 Continued

     V. 4 is one of the places where one’s interpretation of the passage may be influenced by one’s view of Joel’s place in history, or vice versa. If one accepts the interpretation that the locusts in v. 4 are figurative and the army in v. 6 is literal, then this prophesy of Joel’s must have occurred at or just before one of the noted invasion in Judah. As mentioned previously, in 701 BC, the Assyrians invaded but not to the point of Judah’s destruction and exile. The Babylonians came in their first major assault on Judah in 588 BC. In 586, they successfully sacked Jerusalem and overran Judah taking the people into captivity. So it could be said that Joel gave these oracles during one of those ominous events.

Based on the verb tenses in our English translations, it appears as though the invasion has already begun. The prophet calls the event to Judah’s attention in v. 2 and asks them in v. 3 to memorialize this horrible day when God’s judgment came upon a stiff-necked people. It seems to me that Joel is calling the people to repent because of their suffering, indicating that the crisis of verses 4-18 is current, which lends credence to the speculation that he prophesied during one of the invasions and not entirely before, not between, and not after those historic and calamitous events. There is however, the possibility that this verb tense is “prophetic perfect” like in the oracles of other prophets. So, even though this event hasn’t happened yet, its occurrence is so certain that the prophet speaks of it as though it has already happened. This also could be the case in Joel’s oracle here. So if you consider the idea in verse 15, that the day is near, and destruction yet comes, one might be inclined to believe this prophecy happened at least before the Babylonian invasion. If Joel gave this prophecy before that time, then it seems clear that the purpose was to call the people to lament their present hardships (whatever they may have been) and repent so to avoid the judgment of God through the Babylonian invasion. In that case, this 1^st oracle would serve as both a “call to communal lamentation” and as a warning, such as the one near the end of Deut. 28.