Post by mary on Oct 22, 2017 21:21:30 GMT
I posted a very long version (wrote it 1988) of this under the Contributions from Members/Articles forum. I think Joel chapter 1 points to the Rapture, the harvest of Christians, and chapter 2 may point to the Battle of Gog and Magog afterwards.
Brief notes, Book of Joel:
I think typology can be encouraging, broadening and can cause us to look for important questions asked in Scripture which are often ignored. We do have to be very careful to stick to what the Scripture spells out, and not put too much emphasis to any insights we gain from studies in typology.
Joel 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
The Word of the Lord comes to the prophet Joel, and the question is asked "Hath this been, or in the days of your fathers?" Something has happened that never happened before. [This could indicate that the Rapture has occurred.]
Wail because there is no new wine. [This could point to the church being gone, no communion, no joy.]A nation, lion-like, has ruined God's vine and tree. [This indicates that Israel has been harmed by the enemy. The enemy has stripped God's fig tree of its bark.]
The meat and drink offerings are gone from God's house. [There is no offering in God's house.]
The harvest is perished, the vine dead, the fig tree wilted. [This brings to mind the Scripture, Jer. 8:20 'The summer is ended and we are not saved.']
Joel 1:11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
Joel 1:12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
Joel 11:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. [The priests are blamed by God for the ruined harvests, not the military watchmen. I think the Rapture has occurred, the harvest of souls, the spring barley harvest. All who remain on earth have no joy.]
Blow the trumpet, sound the alarm, dark day, strong people like none before them will march, flame devouring, and the earth will quake before them.
The Lord utters His voice before His army, His camp is very great and who can stand [This seems to be a different army than the devouring army.]
It is the day of the Lord, weep, gather, fast.... let the priests weep between the porch and the altar and let them say: spare Thy people,... let not nations rule over them.
The Lord will remove the northern army driving them far off; His people are not to fear, God will restore all to them, they will praise Him and know He is in their midst and will show wonders in the heavens. [This might be the invasion of Gog and Magog which would place it after the Rapture. The armies of the north are set to endanger Israel. God tells His people of His love and what He will do to their enemies.]
Whoever calls upon the Lord will be delivered. [Many gracious promises are in this prophetic book.]God will gather all nations and judge them for scattering His heritage, and parting His land, and taking His precious things and the children of Jerusalem, and He will recompense for what the enemy has done to them. [These words are another good reason to consider Joel to be a book of prophecy about the future.]
God tells the nations to proclaim this, prepare war, wake up the mighty men, assemble, gather.
God will harvest evil, roar out of Zion, the heavens and earth will shake, His people will know Him, and He will avenge their blood that He has not avenged.
**********Isaiah 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
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