Thursday, November 7, 2013

The book of Joel


The coming day of the Lord

The historical background and purpose of the prophet Joel:
He is a prophet to the Kingdom of Judah. It is not clear when this book was written- some says after the exile, and some says earlier because he never mention kings, but only elders as leaders. Traditionally it has been dated to 835 BC at the time of Joash (becoming a king (as a child) SVB p.1155. It is probably written by Joel himself.
Joel warned Judah of God’s judgment – an agricultural disaster  - if they did not repent –
He also spoke in the future – predicted more than hundred years before it happened.
The book contents a lot of imperative – active verbs – I love studying those kinds of words – so that will be an interesting thing to do sometime.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Theme tracing:                                                                                                                                                                                               
What does the book show about the character and nature of God?                                                                                                                             
It shows Gods intense desire for intimacy with His people. Ch.2.12
Thought the prophet God want to warn the people before ore disaster ch.2.1
These great verses in ch.2.13 “Return to the Lord your God for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish” – really put to words the heart of God that we see in so many of the OT books.                               To

What does this book show about God´s redemptive plan for mankind?                                                                                                                    
In Ch. 2 .28 we read the verses, which is quoted in Act 2.16-32 at the day of Pentecost. So Joel was prophesying about the Holy Spirit being poured over all people – and thus the birth of the Church.
In Ch. 3.1-16 he has a vision about the ultimate defeating of God’s enemies: Ch.3.1-16                                                                           
“The day of the Lord” is a major theme of this book  - and from the hand out we had from John – we see this is a theme occurring in several of the prophets. I assume that trough the history – as for us today, it has given God’s people great hope of His resurrection and final restoration. This should remind us of the sovereignty of God.                                                                                                                                            
The plague of locusts is seen as a foreshadowing of the coming day of the Lord.

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