Exposition on Joel -25- Verses 14-15

     In v. 14 Joel called the same group to set-apart a fast. This is an interesting play on words as well. He asks them to sanctify a time when they will corporately engage in a sanctifying act. All the people are to participate: the young the old, the clergy and the laymen. They were to gather all the people by calling them to assemble with a manner of seriousness and to come together and fast. Communal fasts like this probably lasted for a day and involved all the people coming to the temple and around it. Just like wearing sackcloth, breaking the daily routine and gathering for the purpose of abstaining from food was intended to highlight the gravity of the occasion. It would not only involve the lack of food for a day but also likely cause some the lack of profit that would regularly be gained in their business endeavors. This seems a bit ironic to me that God has His prophet call the people to cry out for His mercy upon their hunger by having them abstain from eating. So in essence, stop eating so you can call out to God to relieve your hunger, or to prevent your future hunger, caused by the devastation of this invader.

In v 15 we are introduced to the concept of the DotL in Joel’s prophesy. He places the calamitous event to which he has been referring in the context of the idea that one day, on “That Day”, the Lord will return to judge the wicked and vindicate the righteous. As we have seen in the introduction, the theme of the DotL has two components, one of destruction and one of deliverance. The Jews assumed, because of their covenantal relationship to God, that they defaulted in the deliverance category and the gentile nations would be judged and destroyed. In Joel’s day they hadn’t grasped the idea that the Jew/Gentile distinction as an illustration of those counted righteous and those who do not believe, thus in the end, we know that some national Jews will receive judgment for their unbelief and some believing Gentiles will be delivered on account of Christ’s righteousness. Joel uses that imagery to shock the Jews of his day into repentance. Amos had a similar lot. In 5:18-20 where he too points out their misunderstanding of that coming Day. Joel continues toward the end of the verse with yet another play on words. “…destruction comes from the Almighty”, which might also be rendered, “…a mighty ruin from the Almighty” (Stuart 234). As though another outcome was possible coming from the Almighty; certainly even God’s mercy is given with the might of Christ’s perfect life and Passion that was necessary to answer the cry for justice against all who sin. We see it described by Lewis as the mighty Aslan roars at the demand for justice made by the White Witch though he would go on make provisions for mercy on the stone table—So even mercy is not without its might. And that’s how Joel ends v. 15, “…a mighty ruin from the Almighty”