JOEL 2
1 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,
sound the alarm on My holy mountain!
All the inhabitants of the earth will tremble,
because the day of the Lord has come,
because it is near—
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Like blackness spreading over the mountain,
a great and mighty army comes,
such as was never before,
and will never be again,
even through the years of all generations.
3 Before them fire devours,
and behind them a flame blazes;
the land is like the garden of Eden before them,
but behind them a desolate wasteland,
and nothing escapes them.
4 They have the appearance of horses,
and like cavalry they run.
5 As with the sound of chariots,
they leap on the mountaintops,
as with the sound of a flame of fire consuming stubble,
as a mighty army arrayed for war.
. . .
10 Before them the earth quakes,
the heavens shake;
the sun and moon darken,
and the stars withdraw their radiance.
. . .
Return to the Lord!
12 Yet even now, declares the Lord,
return to Me with all your heart,
and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning.
13 Rend your heart, and not your garments;
return to the Lord your God,
for He is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and He relents from punishing.
14 Who knows? He might turn aside and relent,
and He might leave behind a blessing—
a grain offering and a food offering
for the Lord your God.
15 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion,
consecrate a fast,
call a sacred assembly.
. . . 17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’ ”
18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.
. . .
23 And children of Zion, exult
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
because He has given to you
the early rain for vindication.
He showers down rains for you,
the early rain and the latter rain, in the first month.
24 Then the threshing floors will be filled with grain,
and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
. . .
The Outpouring of the Spirit
28 And it will be that, afterwards,
I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 Even on the menservants and maidservants
in those days I will pour out My Spirit.
30 Then I will work wonders in the heavens
and the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the great and awe-inspiring day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will be that everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said,
and among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
As a part of His covenant God promised His people some blessings “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil” (Deut.11:14). Also see Jer.5:24; Hosea 6:3; Zech.10:1; James 5:7
The ‘early or first rain‘ is a seasonal rain that provides the necessary moisture for the germination and initial growth of the plants. But there is also a rain some time later, closer to the time of harvest that provides a final nourishment to the plants or trees before the collection of the harvest (wheat), and this is called the ‘latter rain‘.
In the ancient Hebrew calendar the first month was Nissan, “And God spoke to Moses and Aaron in Egypt: This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” Ex.12:1-2. (Feast of Passover, & 1st fruit). Which falls during the Spring. The Feast of Trumpets (now called ‘civil new year’) was always in the 7th month (Lev.23:23) during Autumn.
On ‘Shavuot’ or feast of weeks was the day the Holy Spirit was poured out on the faithful. We find this prophecy of Joel about the last days & the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (partially) fulfilled in the New Testament, Acts 2:
2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them, 4 and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak . . . 13 Others mocking said, “These men are full of new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:17 ‘In the last days it shall be,’ says God,
‘that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.18 Even on My menservants and maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
and they shall prophesy.19 And I will show wonders in heaven above
and signs on the earth below:
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
and the moon into blood,
before that great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And whoever calls
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2
As many Christians do, we also believe the day of Pentecost was the early rain of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the primitive Church, in order to equip them to witness, spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, & so the Church could grow. During the feast of Weeks or Pentecost, people brought as offering the first fruits of their grain (barley) harvest to thank God.
I believe that before the day of the Lord, or before the 6th seal of Revelation 6:9-12 (& Acts 2:20), the Lord may send to His Church again the last outpouring of the Holy Spirit (or latter rain) to equip us to witness, spread the gospel to the ends of the earth & to gather a great harvest (wheat), before the day of the Lord or the wrath of God comes.
Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out laborers into His harvest.” (Mat.9:37-38 & Lk. 10:2).
We know that false teachers in the Word of Faith & the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) Movements, have been spreading a set of false & twisted doctrines using Joel chapter 2. That started out in the Latter Rain Movement.
When I was a baby Christian & had little knowledge of the Scriptures, I was going to a congregation that sadly ended up following the NAR movement, so I’m familiar with their teachings. Leaders in this movement are ‘Dominionist‘ & have a false doctrine called Joel’s Army or the Manifested Sons of God. They teach this army is themselves, a militant church of immortal people (Joel 2:8), that under the leadership of their unique apostles & prophets (that happens to be Freemasons), will take over the world by force & do spoils. That they will bring judgment upon the ungodly and ALL of those who do not accept the authority of their false apostles & prophets. They also plan a false ecumenical revival with many signs & wonders, looking to deceives God’s people into worshiping false gods & practice kabbalah or mysticism. ( See about false prophets –Deut. 13).
Do you really think this is what the gospel of Jesus Christ teach us to do? to destroy? or to take by force? Not at all, on the contrary, we are to saw God’s seed (His Word) in order for Him to bring a harvest. God will never impose Himself to anybody or force them, we all are free to choose, free to believe. Also the Word says Judgment belongs to God (Deut.1:17). He knows everything & doesn’t make mistakes.
But, because the enemy is twisting God’s Word it doesn’t mean that we reject the Scriptures or what Joel’s prophecy is saying, (that’s is exactly what the enemy would wants us to do). For a long time I didn’t want to hear anything about the words ‘latter rain‘, but I had to acknowledge this words are found in the Bible. We just need to be very careful, try the spirits of those interpreting Scriptures that we listen to, need to read the Scriptures on our own & ask God’s for His Holy Spirit to teach us & give us wisdom to understand what He is really saying.
If we read Joel 2 in context (Joel has only 3 chapters) we will notice in chapter 1 starts the prophecy mentioning a devastating plague of ‘locust‘ that caused a great famine, no grain, no wine, oil, etc. “The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the Lord” (Joel 1:9-12). Then Joel 1:13 starts with a call to repentance, which continues & is emphasized again in chap. 2:12.
It seems the prophet Joel it’s comparing the destruction & famine that is caused by the worst locust plague, with a unique period close to the Lord’s Day which will witness a terrible destruction of land, which seems to be done by fire (Joel 1:19 & 2:3), even the animals will suffer from lack of food & water (Joel 1:18-20). Only a return to God and His compassion can remedy such a terrible situation.
Some believe this army in Joel 2 refers to another terrible locust plague, but others say is a special army of well trained men (I also believe this, please see Jer 51:14 &27) but this is something never seen before (Joel 2:2 & Mat.24:21) they may have hidden tech., super soldiers. Locusts usually invaded from the south, & human armies almost always invaded Israel from the north (Joel 2:20). But either way, this will be a terrible & devastating situation that would bring famine & death at a great scale never seen before.
- To me, finding the time when this may happen is of most importance. It was the apostle Peter (Acts 2:14-16) who connected the prophecy of Joel 2 with the last days & the rain/outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (the early rain).
According to Joel 2:10 this destruction or judgment will happen close to the period of time when the heavens shake, the sun & moon darken & the starts wont give their light (6th seal), right before the Day of the Lord. This description coincides with Mat.24:29, & Revelation Rev.6:12-17. I believe all these verses speak of the same event. The big question is, would the Church still be here? Some believe this will be only for Israel because the Church had been rapture. I believe the Church may be here for those times until the 6th seal. Nonetheless, we should be prepared to meet the Lord at any time.
Joel chapter 3 is about the restoration of Israel & the judgment of the nations.
Beloved this is an urgent call to repentance! These are serious times. This trumpet blast is to sound the alarm, so we can return to the Lord with fasting and with weeping and with mourning. (It should be taken as a spiritual Emergency Broadcast system alarm or EBS, that is issued when an enemy is about to invade & attack our land, nor as a time for party or rejoicing).
I believe, because of several dreams the Lord has given me, that very difficult times are ahead of us before the rapture of the Church. The Lord is going to cleanse His House first (1 Pet.4:17, 1 Cor.3:11-19). God allows difficulties & suffering in the lives of His people, to purify them like gold & silver, but also He will equip His true followers with a refreshing outpouring or rain of His Holy Spirit, so we can serve others & be able to collect a last & great harvest, even in the midst of persecution & distressful times. (But be aware there will be also a false ecumenical ‘revival’ deceiving many). We need to return to our precious & merciful Lord with ALL our hearts. Please put everything aside and give priority to the Lord to seek His face in prayer.
See also The 4 horses of Revelation