Isn't that a beautiful thing to know, is that God shelters us in storms, and He's a strength when we realize we've run out of gas, we're weak, we can't do it? But we look up and we see a God who's able to supply. He, He pours out His Spirit, giving us power from above. He's there with us in the midst of the locusts that are eating, and He says, "I'm gonna restore what's been taken from you."

And I just see the gospel here, I see redemption, and I see the Lord saying, "You went away from me, but I'm coming after you, and I want you on my side. I wanna bring you home."

Well, hello, and welcome to the You Can Learn the Bible podcast, where we summarize complete Bible books in single am Bodie here with Joey Rozek, Lead Pastor of Living Springs Fellowship in New Jersey and my dear brother in Christ, my good friend on the East Coast. How you doing, man? Good to see you.

Bodie, great to see you, my brother. Great to see you. I'm having a gorgeous, beautiful, sunny day here in New Jersey,

Good, 'cause you haven't had a lot of those recently,

No, no, and it's very contrasting

' cause the book we're going into has very overcast, kind of cloudy days in this book.

Oh, man. Oh,

man.

book called Joel, but it packs a big punch.

That's right. That's right. Yeah. We're still in our section of the podcast journey as we kind of take each book one at a time. We're now in the minor prophets, aren't we, Joey? So minor doesn't mean less important, just means that these are smaller books.

And so this one is actually unique. This is Joel Explained, episode 35. So we're gonna take our seven-part framework that we've applied to every other book, and we're gonna apply it to this. Actually, Joey, this is kind of gonna be challenging, not 'cause it's so big, 'cause it's actually a pretty small book. But what should our listeners, even before we get into it, Why should they even read this book?

Well, it's in the Bible. Let's just start that

Yeah. I was hoping you were gonna say that

we, we, we never skip anything that's divinely inspired by God, God-breathed. And clearly everything in the Bible has a purpose and fits the narrative of the meta-narrative of the Bible leading us to Jesus. And there is actually portions of scripture in the Book of Joel that are literally quoted at the beginning of the birth of the Church, so this is important.

we know that as the Church was birthed at Pentecost, this is the book that Peter goes back to, and we'll hit that a little later in the episode here. But it is a great book, Bodie. In fact, it's, it's really a powerful book of prophecy because it's gonna explain to us a lot of things about God's heart and His holiness and His character, but also His desire to bless his people, so shall we dive in?

Yeah, let's dive in. So we're gonna apply the framework we've applied to every other book. What is that? Seven parts. We're gonna have Joey talk about the essentials of the book. I'm gonna talk about the storyline, then we're gonna go into the themes and ideas.

We'll talk about a structure of the book that we think is helpful. But we always wanna ask, w- how... Okay, all of that's great, but, like, what does it teach us about God? What can I apply to my own life? And, what are the things that we wanna make sure that we don't miss? So this is sort of our s- our, our seven-part framework, some of our favorite things we're gonna end with.

But we really wanna equip you. The whole purpose of this podcast is you can learn the Bible. We want to make sure that you get a chance. When you open it up, you don't just open up with no plan, no context at all. We wanna equip you.

And Joey, I'm gonna hand it to you first. Start us off. So if somebody, like, has n- heard of the Book of Joel, 'cause I think the minor prophet section of the Bible is one of those sections that people really don't go to a lot. Sometimes their churches don't preach through a book like this book. So if somebody wants to get started, where would you have them start first?

Yeah. So when we hit the Book of Joel, normally we've got a pretty good reference point as to where we are in the Bible narrative. We'll talk about this in the storyline, that it's a little harder in this book to figure that out.

But one of the things you need to realize is, is that this is definitely before the Assyrian invasion that took place in the Northern Kingdom. I- I- is about 830 or so BC, let's put it about there. Some- some would even say that maybe Joash was king during this time that Joel was probably a contemporary with the prophet Elisha. But again, we don't know for sure, so we're gonna leave that out and just say that's a possibility.

The genre of this book is prophecy. It's the, one of the minor prophets, as we already mentioned, Bodie. But what we're gonna really see is an emphasis on the general call to repentance. And the author of this book is Joel. It's told to us in the very opening verse of the book that the word of the Lord that came to Joel so we, we know this.

He was a prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah, and that's the setting as well. during a time, though, of great instability and desolation in the land. It literally starts off with a plague. How about that? It's a book that starts with a plague. It doesn't have a genealogy, it has a plague-ology, that's a whole nother story.

The purpose of the book is watchfulness, about watching the signs, watching what God's doing, watching the judgment, watching how the Holy Spirit can be poured out in the day before the day of the Lord is coming, and that's kind of interesting. The day of the Lord is coming, that's the real watchfulness.

We know that this is really waking up people for the time when God himself will judge this earth. We know that's in the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the audience is the Jews. It's a warning to rebellious Judah. I would also say it's a warning to anybody who's not living right with God.

This is a book that will wake you up and get you back in alignment with God. So that's what this book is about, the Book of Joel, as far as the essentials

Right, yeah. And it's good to know, the, a lot, a lot of the prophets, again, they're at a time either when there was the divided kingdom where there was two, or there was these, just with Judah was left after the Assyrians overtook the North. And, and of course, this one is unique, as we kind of now lead from the essentials of this book, knowing that it is a book of prophecy. It's a short book,

but number two, where does Joel fit in the story of the Bible? This is almost, like you already mentioned, Joey, almost a question we can't totally answer, and we wish we could, and I think scholars have really tried to look for clues in some of the wording. But really, we just don't know the exact historical context of this book, but we do know the general context,

we know that it's in the kingdom of Judah, which means it's after the time of Saul, David, and Solomon. It's before Judah gets destroyed. So it's, either during or it's after what we call the divided kingdom, after Israel splits into north and south of Israel and Judah. It's somewhere during that time. But scholars are divided as to exactly when, and there are people who have some different views on that.

It's not really as important. It doesn't seem to even be what Joel cares about, which we'll get to when we talk about the themes and the structure of the book. But the reason why it's so hard is usually, Joey, we get at least some mention of a king or a place or an event that's a historical hook, and it's almost as though, in the same way that we don't know who wrote the book of Hebrews, it's almost as though God intended for this to not be known, because there's really not a single detail other than the general context and some of the themes of where we can exactly place it.

So that's actually useful because it's not just for one generation at one time. It's for all people, as all scripture is. But this one, that we know it's a time of plagues and desolation. We know that this, there's also a call for national repentance. So there's a time when it's not just bad, but God is raising up Joel to be the voice to call them back to covenant loyalty and allegiance.

But there's also serious warnings he- happening in this book. So we'll get to that in the uh, themes and in the structure a little bit. But Joey, anything you wanna add there on number two on the storyline? There's just not that much to offer in this particular book.

Yeah. No, I mean, the name Joel in Hebrew means Yahweh is God. and I think as you just said, Bodie, I mean, we really... The attention is more on who God is and what He does as He sees sinfulness in the land and so forth. So the other details aren't as important, and that's why perhaps why we don't have a time period to put it in. So, it's gonna take us into a real deeper understanding of the heart of God and His plan

Right. Well, take us there, Joey. Like, so now that we know a little bit about sort of where it is or isn't, it's not as important as where we're going next. What are the themes of this book? So talk to us about number three of our framework. What are those major biblical concepts that we find in the Book of Joel

So the first thing we wanna say is this book speaks about the coming day of the Lord.

It's mentioned definitively five different times throughout the book. It is very much about when everything winds down or, in a sense causes us to look up. We are looking for redemption, restoration as you go through this book because one of the key themes is sorrow, lament, and desolation in Judah.

These are things that cause us to wanna have hope. Hopefully, it's not gonna stay this way forever. And maybe even in our world today, you might be in a place in your life of lament or sorrow, and the Book of Joel comes with definite glimpses of hope and the clouds will be removed, and we're gonna see the great coming of the day of the Lord.

Now there's an urgent call to repentance, and I think one thing, whenever we think about God giving the final answer on all things, we need to make sure we have a heart that's right before him. So we're gonna see an urgent call to repentance. We're gonna see a beautiful promise of the Holy Spirit being poured out.

As we alluded to earlier, this is a book where Peter will actually quote from in his sermon in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. we also have a very strong restorative plan of God to heal the land and the people. But we are also gonna see, once again, God's judgment for the nations that surround Israel and that come against Israel.

We're also gonna see a corporate lamenting and fasting praying. A real... This is one of those books where there's an assembly call. Let's come together and pray and seek the Lord, and we need that even in our times today, for sure. But the book ends on a positive note. It ends with God's purpose for perpetual blessing.

And no matter how hard things get in life, I thank the Lord that he is a God who has not only the final word, but he's able to bring the oil of joy from mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and beauty for ashes. And we really see that when the book concludes, Bodie. So that's kind of what we're dealing with as far as themes and ideas in this book.

And it's interesting, too, like we see that we're starting to notice themes that are present in more than one book of the Bible. So if you've been tracking with us, there's, constant themes of God's goodness, His patience, His call to repentance, man's d- tendency to drift and rebel and sin.

But this concept, Joey, let me ask you real quick. This idea, if someone has never heard this phrase, the day of the Lord, what is that? Is it an actual day? Is it a 24-hour period? Is it a time period? And we're gonna talk about it in this episode. But just if somebody says, "I don't know what that means," how would we-- how could we help define what that means simply, and then we'll unpack it a little more throughout the rest of the episode?

would say the day of the Lord carries with it a connotation of ultimate judgment. So it, there's references where it carries sort of a a symbolic sense of the final judgment of God. But it also, I would say, kind of in the last days or the latter times, when you see those kind of phrases used throughout the Bible, it's really comes to a pinnacle day. There is going to be a specific day of the Lord.

And we know it when Jesus comes back in the Book of Revelation, for example, we see his eyes are fiery red. We see that a sword comes out of his mouth, and we see that he deals with all the evil and wickedness and injustice in the world, and that is the day of the Lord where things are made right, and it ushers in the Kingdom of God in, in a full sense.

'Cause, of course, the kingdom is both now and operating in our hearts, but one day will come in fullness when our Lord Jesus returns. So I, I think that helps you to see that it has... It's a multiple meaning, but it is also very specific to appointed time and

Perfect. That's super helpful. Okay, so these themes are all gonna be at play now as we walk through the structure of the book.

So let's do that next. Let's give people sort of a guide as we have done for previous books, looking at our own framework. So we've talked about the essentials, the storyline, those themes and ideas. Let's walk through the structure, and as we do that, we like asking application as we go. So we're gonna give you the structure of the book, but then we're also gonna say, okay, what does it teach us about God? What can we offer? What can we apply to our life?" 'Cause we really want this to be both helpful and practical for your knowledge and growth, but as well as your sanctification and your love of the Lord, and really understanding and love of, of His word.

so as we talk through the basics of this book, we have broken it into five sections. Even though there's only three chapters, we feel like there are five distinct sections. And again, this is not a lot of text, right, Joey? We're not talking about that are th- 30, 40, 50 chapters. This is three chapters, right? But here's the way that we think y- we would wanna teach through it and help you understand the book. Chapter one is the first section, and this is where it talks about this present crisis of two things, locusts and lament.

Like, there is a devastating plague happening in Judah right now. We don't know exactly when, but it's a season of desolation and, devastation. But there's also a call to awaken, right? Joel is to... there to call the people back to the Lord. That's what prophets do. So that's what chapter one is about.

Now, chapter two, we're actually gonna break up into three sections. So chapters two The first 11 verses focus on the coming day of the Lord, which we just talked about. So Joel is sounding the alarm. He wants to call people to get right with God because greater judgment is coming. That's the role of a prophet. And so we really see that in the first 11 verses on the coming day of the Lord. That's section two.

Then section three, also in chapter two, verses 12 through 17, that's where we see the call to repentance. There's this urgent call the people to fast and to pray and to return to the Lord. So you have this present crisis. You have the coming day of the Lord. Section three, the call to repentance.

But then, Joey, after that, as we see with the heart of God, there is the outpouring of blessing. So section four is still in chapter two, but this is the last part, verses 18 through 32. So you got verses one through 11, 12 through 17, and now 18 through 32, section four, the outpouring of blessing.

The Lord wants to heal His people, and He promises to heal the land. He promises to pour out His spirit, which we're gonna talk about. But it's on everybody. It's not just on certain people, young, old, men, women. He's mentioned all of those, and the heart to deliver and restore them. That's what we see in in the section four, the outpouring of blessing.

All of those three, those middle three are in chapter two, and then chapter three is gonna be our third section, the judgment of the nations. And as Joey said earlier, it ends with a final blessing. So here, God actually prepares the nations for war this one location we do get the Valley of Jehoshaphat, but it does end with the future promise of restoration for Zion. So you'll start to notice some of these themes are gonna carry over through these prophetic books. But Joey, anything else you want to say on the larger structure? Or if not, just go ahead and take us into section one if you want.

Yeah. so as we kind of just start the Book of Joel, i- if you have your Bible open, you might even notice it begins with this word of the Lord. And of course, you know, God's word is living, it's powerful, and it also paints us such clarity as to how God sees things. And really at this point, all the inhabitants of the land are beginning to see what is this crisis, why is it going on?

And because the prophet is speaking so clearly about the locust, and you'll notice there's different kinds of locust: the chewing locust, the swarming locust, the crawling locust, swarming, crawling, consuming. There's a lot of locusts okay? Um, I, I would not really wanna see any of these locusts personally, but one thing I will say is, we learn that God is always able to restore the years the locusts have eaten. I think we've all heard that phrase before, and of course, it's great to know that no matter what is consuming in our lives, we have a God who is an all-consuming fire, who can burn it away and start over.

And so, in chapter one, one of the key verses that we wanna highlight for you is, verse seven actually, where it says that, "He," that is the Lord, "has laid waste my vine, and ruined my fig tree. He has stripped its bare and thrown it away, and its branches are made white." and so, God is showing us what He is doing, and He's doing it through judgment. so you know, it was referring back to a, a fierce lion before this how the nation has come up against God's land. So we see there's kind of been some attacks, some war. we know this is a constant cycle with Israel.

But one of the things that I, I really wanna point out as we look at this key verse is God often uses figurative language when describing His people. He, He says, "My fine-- my vine and my fig tree." Jesus will pick up the vine part in John 15, "I am the vine," right? "And you are the branches." And of course, that refers now to all of His

And even talks about pruning, right? And, cutting back, The same kind of thing.

Exactly. And then you have this reference to the fig tree. And this is kind of interesting because the Bible opens up with Adam and Eve hiding their sin behind fig leaves, and then you have in Jesus' ministry, ending His ministry with cursing the fig tree because it didn't bear the fruit in its time, which I think has a very prophetic at least application for Israel, although it might have more application than just that.

But I think there's, in a prophetic marker, we have to realize that God expects fruit from His people. He wants us to be fruitful and to multiply. That was the original command. He wants us to multiply godliness. He seeks godly offspring. And so when you see God ruining the fig tree and sort of laying waste the vine, you see there's judgment upon His people. That's very clear in the opening chapter of Joel.

Yeah. And we see too Joel holds nothing back, you know? But there's actually quite a bit of verbs in this first chapter, right? There's awaken, there's come back. This is a very action-oriented prophet. He's not just kind of casting doom and gloom. He's really trying to awaken.

He's-- I can see him just visually just grabbing people by the hand and trying to get them to their feet and saying, you know, this is, this is the pastor coach that's getting in your face and saying, " don't you know who you are? Don't you know what promises are available to you? Don't live like the other nations. Live like God's people, who you are." And so we just, we feel this urgency, I think, in chapter one, along with the desolation around it as well, too.

Yeah, well said,

yeah.

So that pretty much is chapter one of the Book of Joel. And so now we're gonna dive into chapter two, and of course, as Bodie already mentioned, we have three sections here to look at.

And, and this first section has to do with that coming day of the Lord that we have already spoken about.

And what we're gonna see is in the very opening verse of chapter two, it's, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, for it is at hand." We, we see this opening verse just sets the stage of urgency. It sets the stage of, you know, the trumpet that's referred to here, you know, we think of the shofar horn.

We remember the ram that was caught in his horn back in Genesis 22, and Abraham was gonna sacrifice Isaac, and that became the horn of calling, and for war and for warning and for assembling God's people together, even on feast days.

So we gotta blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm in His holy mountain, because something's coming. What's coming? This day of the Lord. verse two tells us that it's a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. Why? There's judgment coming. This is gonna be a day of reckoning, a day of resolve, a day of revelation, a day of Jesus's return, a day for all of us to recognize God is in control as well.

but you better be ready for it. You better be ready for this day. So, that, that, that kind of sets the tone, doesn't it, Bodie? What else do you wanna add

I think even, I mean, think back to Noah, right? There's never been a judgment in scripture that God does not first forewarn his people for, right? God does not delight in judgment. He does not delight in, bringing harm to his people, But he always brings a voice of warning. We see it all the way back in Genesis with Noah. We see it with every single prophet here. God does not want to destroy his people. He wants to reconcile them back. we studied that with Hosea in our last episode. But there has to come a point where grace and patience and more time end because they're not helping, right?

And so I think so much of the prophetic tension in the heart of God is, "I want my people to come back, but I want them to want to come back." A lot of times people don't, and a lot of times, sadly, they need some tough love. And you might be in a situation like that where, grace and the patience just aren't working, and sometimes it has to become more direct and more difficult.

And it doesn't feel like love, but it absolutely is. What we are seeing here, even in the desolation Judah, is we're seeing the sin play itself out, and now God is using Joel to call the people back to the covenant that he made for them. This really should show you how long-suffering and loving and patient God is, shouldn't it?

Amen, Bodie. And it's funny how it actually even mentions in verse three the Garden of Eden is referenced here, which of course was what God did when He made everything good, and then mankind spoils what is good and it turns into desolation. You actually see that in verse three, "Behind them, a desolate wilderness, and surely nothing shall escape them."

And, and nothing escapes the eyes of God. We know in the Garden of Eden, God came to Adam and said, "Where are you? Where are you with me? Where are you?" Because your heart has drifted and sin has come in.

So that's, that summarizes this first section really well, and it, it ends with the earth quaking and the sun and the moon growing dark, and of course these signs. Apocalyptic literature is kind of interwoven into these judgments, so we can kind of see how it's gonna relate to later times in the book of the New Testament, like Revelation and Jesus' Olivet Discourse

Well, and I think it's... Yeah. No, you're right, and it's important to remember too, a lot of times what's recorded in scripture are those key turning point moments, It doesn't record the 500 years or, or thousand years where God's patiently calling and calling. It only records the judgment because it's such a big cataclysmic event.

So that's what the prophets... That's why we have to see the heart of God and the patience of God, and that's why I think understanding the biblical timeline and its relationship to the coming day of the Lord is so important. Because we don't see God doing anything capriciously or out of spite or impulsively.

It is out of long-suffering and patience. And so if you feel like maybe there's a sin in your life that God has not judged you for, I would repent on your own before God is the one that calls you to have to do that, 'cause it's always gonna be better, 'cause that's His heart. His heart is not to destroy. It's always to restore and to heal. So

Amen. So that takes us right into the third section now, which is the call to repentance, verses 12 to 17, right, Bodie?

And, and one of the things I, just wanna say right from the get-go on this section here is, you know, as you said, Bodie, God's judgments are righteous, and God's law is perfect. And what it does is it exposes how imperfect we are and how we can never get away with something before the eyes of God.

All things are naked- and open to him to whom we must give account. We read that in the Book of Hebrews. And, and one of the things I want you to understand is that repentance then means to change your whole way of thinking. it has to do with change your lifestyle, change the pattern of sin that you've been in so you can come back to the Lord.

And one of the key verses, it starts with the heart, doesn't it, Bodie? All true repentance says ... Okay it might, you might say it starts with the mind, 'cause repentance, metanoia in the Greek, it means change your mind, but it always, the mind and the heart have to be in unity. And so, chapter 2 verse 13 says, "So rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness."

and we see also that He relents from doing harm, it goes on to say. I love that, that God relents from doing harm. And then you get to verse 15, and it says, "Blow the trumpet," there it is again, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, and call a sacred assembly." This is a call for God's people to gather together as a national repentance. We don't just need one or two to repent, everybody as a nation is being called to repent here in this sacred

I like that you pointed that national element about, 'cause I think people think of their term, their relationship with God of, often in terms of just me and God, just me and the Lord. But really, like much of the Old Testament and the New Testament is, corporate and covenantal to a people group, and we receive blessings as being part of a people group.

We are in Christ, right? And so yes, we do have a unique personal relationship with God, but that's not all we have. We have a relationship with Christ and his church through one another and for the sake of the mission and purpose of God. And so I think when we see the national heart here, Joey, that you talked to us about, it reminds us that God is really for people. He is for you, but He's also for your neighbor, and he's also for your unbelieving friend down the street, right? So, so often I think we can individualize the faith more than we ought to based on what we see in Scripture.

Yeah, that's beautiful, Bodie, and, I'll just say one more thing in this section is, is because God wants us to see it as a corporate picture, as you rightly said one day it's gonna be you're either the bride of Christ or you're not. and one of the terminology we see all throughout scripture is this idea of harlotry when you actually- Have an affair on God like Israel was doing, and turning to other gods, and so forth.

So I love how verse 16 says, you know, "Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and let the bride from her dressing room." We have to realize our time on Earth right now, this lifespan, is our dressing room. We're getting ourself ready for Jesus. We're getting ourself... Just like a bride wants to look so beautiful for her husband to be.

I just did a wedding this past weekend, and it's wonderful when you see that beautiful bride, presented to the bridegroom. And, and, Genesis starts with the Eve was taken from the side of Adam and presented to Adam, and one day we will be presented to Jesus. So I just wanna throw that in there, 'cause I see that terminology and I get excited about the marriage coming of the Lord in that sense

Yeah, well, we see so much repentance language, but the purpose of repenting is not to just repent. The purpose of repenting, in the same way that like learning scales on the piano is not to get good at playing scales, it's to get good at playing music. the purpose of repentance is to love God and to live the life that he created, right?

We live in a broken version, but God doesn't want us to experience any more of that than is possible. That's why he sends the prophets. That's why He sent His Son, just to call us back to him. And that, we see that heart here in this section three this urgent call to repentance. But it sets up the next one, right?

So we go from verses 12 through 17, this call to fast and pray and return,

to the outpouring of blessing in section four, where now there's a, there's a really beautiful promise here, and this is where Joel's touchpoint to the New Testament that you actually mentioned earlier, this is where we start to see it. So Joey, talk us through... This, I think, is probably the most important key verse I'd say of the whole book. Wouldn't you say?

It's the heart of the book, and it hits the heart of the people. So

Amen. So walk us through these verses and then share anything else you feel like

Yeah, sure. Sure. So I mean, what I'm about to read to you should be very familiar, because I, I would say the key verses in this section here is all about God's desire to not only be with His people, but be in His people And be upon his people. So here's what we read in Joel 2:28-29. It says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions. And also on my menservants and on my maidservants, I will pour out my Spirit in those days." Notice all the people involved here. This is old men, this is young men, this is men, this is women. The older dreaming dreams, the younger seeing visions. And this is not just like having their own thoughts about life. This is God's heart being put into His people. This is all new covenant theology right here.

This is what Jeremiah in chapter, 30 and 31 as we get into that whole picture of the new covenant. And you know what he- one, one of the things I love in this passage, and you know, it's God's zeal being shown here.

We actually read in verse 18, "The Lord will be zealous for his land and pity his people." But he doesn't just pity us, he pours out his Spirit on us so that we actually have power to function as the people of God. and so Peter actually stands up and quotes this, you know, in Acts chapter 2, right?

and this is exactly what he says, "I'm gonna tell you what was spoken by the prophet Joel." And on the day of Pentecost, after the disciples were in the upper room for 10 days, the Spirit came upon them and, and Peter repeats this very passage. Wasn't, wouldn't that have been awesome to have been there on Pentecost, Bodie, and see the fulfillment of this passage?

Yeah. Well, and we see what happens, right? It says that the Lord numbered 3,000 souls to the church this day, right? So the- we have the powerful, powerful... Not just the coming of the Spirit, but the coming of the Spirit in line with the prophecy given by this prophet Joel, right?

So Peter is not just speaking something out no context. He's saying, "Men of Israel, remember back to our prophets. Well, guess what? It's actually happening now." And literally, as you said, in their midst, in Jerusalem in the first century, the Spirit comes upon the church. The church is birthed. People, Jews and Gentiles, receive the Spirit, and then... And we are now doing this podcast thousands of years later in the wake of this exact moment, call all the way back to this prophecy in Joel, right?

So it's not just belief, and I think that, that today people think like, "I j- we just need to believe in Jesus. Yes, that's true. That's what links you to Christ, but the overflowing life is in the Spirit, in the presence, and that was promised all the way back in Joel chapter two, wasn't it, Joey?

Yeah ... and you know what's amazing is that when you look at this period of time known as the last days- We discover that this is actually the beginning of the last days is Acts chapter 2, Pentecost, but it'll continue all the way over to the day of the Lord, if you will. So one of the things you have to realize is that this last days picture that's presented a lot of times in scripture starts with the outpouring of the Spirit, kind of the ushering in of the new covenant.

After the resurrection of Jesus and after his ascension comes the outpouring of the Spirit. Now, I also wanna point out that anybody born again truly has the Spirit in them, but this is a promise of power, as you said, and of the presence of the Lord. God wants his people to be operating in the fullness of his new covenant.

We want to know that there's the outpouring of the Spirit, which is where the Spirit within us is overflowing out of us, and that's why the gifts of the Spirit are even mentioned here, like prophecy. This is why men and women both can be operating in this way because everyone who's in Christ is a new creation in Christ, has the Spirit in them, and therefore all can prophesy.

This is what Moses had hoped would happen when he prayed, "I wish all could prophesy," back in the, in the Old Testament, and now it's happening in the New Testament, in the new covenant. And, I just wanna point out this is such an important part of scripture because, Bodie, God's saying this can still happen today.

God can still pour out his Spirit on any believer today- yeah. where we can continue to speak the name of Jesus in power, the gospel, which comes in power. And we also know that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Christ. And so when we are speaking Christ, the Spirit wants to come empower us so we can be bold witnesses for Jesus and expand his kingdom through the ministry that we were given by the Lord to take the gospel to all the nations and to make disciples of all those

Oh, yeah. friends, I encourage you guys to read Acts chapter two along with Joel chapter two because we can see the, fulfillment and, you know, even the, even the Jewish leaders were like, they said, You know, they were cut to the heart and said, "What shall we do?"

And now the answer was what? Repent, believe in the Lord Jesus, repent, and be baptized, right? New covenant markers. So this prophecy... Scripture interprets scripture, friends, and the whole point of this is to be able us, for us to see the interconnected beauty of these 66 books across this 1600-year timeline in harmony and beauty.

And so that's section four, the outpouring of blessing. That key verse there of Joel chapter two really is probably the key verse of the whole book.

But chapter three is gonna be our final section, and that's the judgment of the nations, and it does end with this final blessing. So again, we have some key themes here that we've seen now operate through this structure, right? We've seen judgment, we've seen repentance, we've seen hope and promise, Now the focus is really gonna be on the other nations, isn't it, Joey?

For example, in Joel chapter three, verses 14 through 16, right, it's like uh, we see multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. Like, there's, there's so many exclamation points in this book. Like, this is such a passionate prophet. I just love it, right? He just uh, so badly wants the people to repent, and he wants the nations to shudder in wake of the, of the glory of the Lord.

But he says, "The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon will grow dark. The stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord will roar from Zion," what a phrase, "and utter his voice from Jerusalem. Heaven and earth will quake. The Lord will be a shelter for his people and will be a strength for the children of Israel." So, we can see those themes right there as well. It's beautiful stuff.

Yeah, I think it's important to note that this is really culminating now, Bodie. When you get to chapter three, we're coming to a real point of eschatological fulfillment where the Bible says these nations are gonna gather in what's called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. This is gonna be a time where we're gonna see a real sense of God saying, "This is your last opportunity."

the Lord tells us even in the Book of Romans in chapters 9, 10, and 11, that God wants to return back to the root, to Israel, and this is a time of, Jacob's trouble coming to a fulfillment where God wants to remove the veil over the eyes of his people. We know Zechariah says, "They will look upon him whom they've pierced."

And, and the multitudes and multitudes in the valley of decision is like, "Hey, you're at the point now." The judgment is about to come. The nations have gathered together for war, and I, I love how it says the Lord will also roar from Zion 'cause he's the lion of the tribe of Judah. He came the first time as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

He comes the second time to bring a finality and an ultimate fulfillment of his promise that he will, he will put an end to all sin and all of the evil that has been really triumphing throughout this world. And so there's this wake-up call. Joel 3:12 says, "Let the nations be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations."

So this is a time of decision. It's a time of seriousness. And of course, every day is a day of decision and every day is a day of salvation because lives are in the balances all the time, right, Bodie? But this is a very specific event as well that's being spoken of here, this culmination

but we also see there's an alwa- there's this leaning towards the future, right? That there's gonna be something new. That judgment isn't the last word. It isn't the, the ultimate goal. Judgment is, is for the sake of something better, right? And that's really important. Like, if God ever brings you through a season of what feels like judgment, that is never the final goal.

There's always something restorative that is intended to come after that, that God wants to do, whether it's repenting, turning, reconciling. There-- He always wants to bring us back to Him or reconcile us sometimes with one another, right?

So in Joel three eighteen, it says, "It will come to pass in that day," right, that's a future-casting phrase, "that the mountains will drip with new wine, the hills will flow with milk, the brooks of Judah will be flooded with water. A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord in the Valley of Acacias," right? It's just like this picture of restoration. This is what God wants, right? Sometimes judgment is one of the tools that He, He needs to lead us there. all of that we see in in Joel chapter three.

So any final words, Joey, on the last section of, this book? I mean, it's not a lot to cover. It's three chapters. But this structure I think takes us through the whole of the book.

Yeah. I think I would just say God keeps his promises. He makes a covenant with his people, and he intends to do his part in his covenant. And so I love how it just says in verse 20 at the end here, "But Judah shall abide forever in Jerusalem from generation to generation." And it ends with this, He will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed whom I had not acquitted, for the Lord dwells in Zion."

And you know, I just love that word dwell You know, we, we would all do well if we would understand the power to dwell with God. and when we dwell with God and He dwells with us, the mutual abiding, this is the promise that's now beyond Israel to all the nations and all people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We get to be a part of God's holy people and be one with God. And, and so this is how the Book of Joel ends, and I love that it ends on a positive note like this, Bodie. And, and it's not when the fat lady sings, it's when the lion roars when it's all said and

Amen, brother. Amen. Amen. Well, and what's cool too is that, like, this, as you said, Joey, earlier, I like it, I like it when, when you guys are open your Bibles and you use these episodes as guides, right? And this is actually one of the books I think that you could in one sitting walk through this entire book, pause, listen to some of our commentary, and really get the most out of this book, and then see the, some of the connections, right?

This, the structure, right? So section one, the present crisis. We see the coming day of the Lord in section two. Call to repentance, the outpouring of blessing, the judgment of the nations. Like this, you could do this in 30, 40 minutes and really have a rich time really sitting with the Lord, seeing His heart, seeing how... what God has done to restore and to bring Him, His people back.

So I think that takes us really through four, five, and six of our structure. What we talked about God, you know, what, what can we offer our life? But like, Joey, any final things that we haven't mentioned that you love about this book?

Well, really Kind of drawing us to the time where there's anticipation for Jesus. You know, I think all the books of the Bible point to Jesus. and where, one of the ways I think this book points us to the day of the Lord and of Jesus's return is we just see the heart of God kind of wooing us, right?

He's wooing us back to Him. And one of the verses we didn't mention, it's in Joel chapter 3 verse 16. So here's a, not John 3:16, but here's a Joel 3:16. It says, "And the Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but the Lord will be a shelter for his and the strength of the children of Israel."

And I just see the gospel here, I see redemption, and I see the Lord saying, "You went away from me, but I'm coming after you, and I want you on my side. I wanna bring you home."

And may you hear the voice of the Lord calling out to you, dear saint. You may be in, stuck in a situation where your sin, you're sinning, you're, you're recognizing the consequences of your sin.

The Lord's saying, "Come out of it, my, my beloved. Repent. Put your trust in me." And Jesus will be right there with open arms to take you home and to bring you to his heart.

Amen. Amen. I have nothing to add after that, Joey. That's beautiful. Yeah. Because again, this is the heart of God, right? The whole purpose of this is not just to understand the Bible, but it's to really sweeten our connection and love with the one true God through our union with Christ and through the power of the Spirit.

And I think that we see so many beautiful things in this small three-chapter book. So I hope that this seven-part framework of the book of Joel has been helpful. Again, we try and give you a a one-page summary at youcanlearnthebible.com/notes for each of these books. And so we're just praying that we are joining you on your journey and really encouraging, maybe offering some insights you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

But every book of the Bible is there by design. Jesus said... He talked about the fulfilling the entirety of the law and the prophets, and every word matters, every word is for us, and we hope that this podcast has been helpful.

And so Joey, we're done with Joel, and so now we get to go to another minor prophet, the Book of Amos. Episode 36 is gonna be next. What is one thing our listeners can look forward to?

Well, Amos is a bit of a longer book, but carries some of the similar themes. But one of the things we're gonna see in the Book of Amos is we're gonna see how God calls, in a sense, both the kingdoms- to come under the king and to really return back to the one who reveals all things before they even happen.

And he knows what's happening in your life, and the book of Amos is gonna have some insights for how to help you in times when there's famine in your own spiritual life.

Amen. So we'll look forward to that. Read the Book of Amos before we get to the episode, and we pray again that these podcast episodes help you love, treasure, and enjoy and understand the book of the Bible. In other words, Joey, we are here why? 'Cause we, we believe that you can learn the you can learn the Bible.

And we love you guys. We're thankful for all the comments and and feedback that we've been getting on YouTube and our podcast letting you know that some of these are helpful. We pray that God continues to bless you and your study of His Word. And until we meet again grace and peace, and we will see you guys next time. Thanks.