Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Joel 2

• About the title: The deeds of the Antichrist could be translated as either “Marvelous” or “Monstrous” … or perhaps … both?
• Joel 2 is a continuation of Joel 1. The Day of the Lord continues.
  See Isaiah 21

The Day of the Lord

Joel 2:¹ Blow the trumpet (ram’s horn) in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) is coming,
For it is at hand:

• The Day of the Lord is Jesus’ Return. He comes with wrath and vengeance. It is also called the Day of Wrath, the Day of the Lord’s Wrath, and the Day of Vengeance.

Joel 2:² A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,

• See Topic: Day of Darkness and Gloominess

Joel 2:² Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.

• The Battle of Gog and MaGog which continues up to and includes Armageddon.

Joel 2:³ A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.

• The middle east is the original Garden of Eden.

Joel 2:⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like swift steeds (Or horsemen), so they run.

Joel 2:⁵ With a noise like chariots
Over mountaintops they leap,

• swarming locusts…helicopters, drones, planes (military)

Joel 2:⁵ Like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble,
Like a strong people set in battle array.

Joel 2:⁶ Before them the people writhe in pain;
All faces are drained of color (gather blackness).

Joel 2:⁷ They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like men of war;
Every one marches in formation,
And they do not break ranks.

• The marching locusts (army)

Joel 2:⁸ They do not push one another;
Every one marches in his own column (Lit. highway).
Though they lunge between the weapons,
They are not cut down (Halted by losses).

Joel 2:⁹ They run to and fro in the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter at the windows like a thief.

• Chewing, swarming, crawling, consuming…locusts.

Joel 2:¹⁰ The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.

Joel 2:¹¹ The Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) gives voice before His army,
For His camp (saints and angels) is very great;
For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the day of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) is great and very terrible;
Who can endure it?

• Isaiah 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring (eternal) fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings (Hell)?” (The Return of Jesus)

A Call to Repentance

Joel 2:¹² “Now, therefore,” says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

Joel 2:¹³ So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm),
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.

Joel 2:¹⁴ Who knows if He will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind Him—
A grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm)?

Joel 2:¹⁵ Blow the trumpet (ram’s horn) in Zion,
Consecrate a fast,
Call a sacred assembly;

Joel 2:¹⁶ Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.

Joel 2:¹⁷ Let the priests, who minister to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord (Yᵊhōvâ),
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them (Or speak a proverb against them).
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God (‘ĕlōhîm)?’ ”

The Land Refreshed

Joel 2:¹⁸ Then the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) will be zealous for His land,
And pity His people.

Joel 2:¹⁹ The Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) will answer and say to His people,
“Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil,
And you will be satisfied by them;
I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

Joel 2:²⁰ “But I will remove far from you the northern army (Syria-Daniel’s King of the North),
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done monstrous (Lit. great) things.”

• great things: h1431 gāḏal become great or important, promote, make powerful

Joel 2:²¹ Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice,
For the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) has done marvelous (Lit. great) things!

• great things: h1431 gāḏal become great or important, promote, make powerful

• How can one Hebrew word have such opposite meanings: being either monstrous or marvelous. Note: root meaning of “gadal” is to twist or twine (threads twisted together), to make high or lift up. To contend.

• The essence is such that there are two ways of becoming great: one is to do it the wrong way and the other is to do it the right way. The wrong way is a broad road while the right way is the narrow way. One is monstrously evil and the other is Magnificently Righteous.

• When cords are twisted together they are stronger in strength. The Antichrist is twisted together with Satan while the Son is twisted together with the Father. It all depends on who your source of power is.

• See Topic: Demons and Angels, Evil and Sin, God and Man, Entanglement

Joel 2:²² Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field;
For the open pastures are springing up,
And the tree bears its fruit;
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.

• The field is symbolic of the world. The fig tree is symbolic of Israel. The vine is symbolic of the Gentiles. The tree and the vine represent spiritual fruit and life, ie above the ground. 

Joel 2:²³ Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the Lord your God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm);
For He has given you the former rain (môrê) faithfully (Or teacher of righteousness),
And He will cause the rain (gešem) to come down (from the heavens) for you—
The former rain (môrê),
And the latter rain (malqôš) in the first month (first resurrections?).

See Topic: Understanding the Relationship between Jewish Feasts, the Harvests, Resurrections, Rain for the Harvests, and Prophecy.

See Topic: Biblical Symbolic and Literal Understandings of Water

• On the Jewish Calendar the New Year is in the spring (Nissan 1). But Rosh Hashana (The Feast of Trumpets) is called The Head of the Year which falls on Tishri 1 in the Autumn.
• The former rain is the Autumn Rain, the Latter Rain is the Spring Rain, beginning in the Autumn.
  

• There are two rains around the harvest; The harvest is used in parables of resurrections. The harvest occurs in stages, or orders.
  
• Rain literally means “Teacher” The faithful rain is literally the teacher of righteousness, the Messiah.

• The word “month” was included probably because Jesus was crucified and resurrected in the first month of Nisan. However it makes more sense to be the first resurrection in each one’s order: which is the resurrection of believers. These resurrections for the righteous in their order are First fruits when Jesus rose, Wave Offering when the tombs of the Saints were opened, the main harvest of the bride of Christ and the gleanings of the tribulation. Whether literal or symbolic they fit the week of Jesus’ crucifixion (1st advent) and the High Holy Days (2nd advent). Since the seven year tribulation is Daniel’s 70th week speaking of Jewish matters, it makes sense it would include Old Testament Saints.
• SPRING FEASTS:

NOTE: Scripture indicates there is an order for the resurrections of the faithful (and connected the the Jewish Feasts) Above: The order of the harvests/resurrections: Jesus was the First Fruit, then the Wave Offering when certain tombs of the saints opened.

THE AUTUMN FEASTS:

On the Feast of Trumpets: there are four different types of shofar notes: tekiah, a 3 second sustained note; shevarim, three 1-second notes rising in tone, teruah, a series of short, staccato notes extending over a period of about 3 seconds; and tekiah gedolah (literally, “big tekiah”), the final blast in a set.

Below: Following the same pattern The Feast of Trumpets indicate the resurrection and rapture of the Main Harvest as given in I Thessalonians 4:17. The Main Harvest is the Bride of Christ. In question is the timing for the resurrections of the Old Testaments saints, including Daniel. Finally, the Day of Atonement matches the description given for the Return of Jesus, the Gleanings of the Tribulation Saints and Martyrs.

• This pattern seems to be prophetic of the Rapture occurring on the Feast of Trumpets. However; A believer should be prepared for the rapture at any imminent moment simply because prophecy is still prophecy until it proves itself.

• One argument against comparing the Feast of Trumpets with the Rapture is that nobody knows the day or the hour: Paul writes these two verses that are worth consideration:
  • I Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord (the return!) so comes as a thief in the night.
  • I Thessalonians 5:4
    BUT YOU, brethren, are NOT in darkness, so that this Day (rapture and return) should overtake you as a thief.

• Regardless, each person should be exhorted to live as though they will face their Lord in the blink of an eye (whether by rapture, death, or return)

Joel 2:²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,

• Wheat is harvested in the autumn. The High Holy Days are celebrated in the autumn.

Joel 2:²⁴ And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

• The new wine is the New Covenant. The oil is for anointing.

Joel 2:²⁵ “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you (the locusts are an ARMY).

• See Revelation Chapter 9 The Locusts from the Pit
  
• The Greek Septuagint identifies this army as “Gog”, same word as “Agag”, King of the Amalekites during King Saul’s reign. Gog and Agag are interchangeable.

• Gog is the king of the locusts. Gog is called “The King of the Locusts” in the Greek Septuagint (Amos 7:1 LXX: Septuagint among other translations)
  The locusts are a marching/flying army which destroys and leaves devastation in the same way locusts completely clean and destroy the fruit of the field where nothing is left.

• In the Septuagint the name Gog appears in two other places where it is not mentioned in the Hebrew text. In Numbers 24:7, Gog appears instead of Agag, and in Amos 7:1, the reading is “Gog,” instead of gizei (“the mowings”). These variants indicate the antiquity of the connection between the war of Gog and the advent of the Messiah.
  https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/philosophy-and-religion/biblical-proper-names-biographies/gog

Jesus Rules

Joel 2:²⁶ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm),
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people (the Jews) shall never (again) be put to shame.

Joel 2:²⁷ Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I am the Lord your God (Yᵊhōvâ ‘ĕlōhîm)
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame (It is repeated!).

• Jesus will rule in Jerusalem, in the midst of Israel.

THE STORY REVERTS FROM JESUS’ REIGN BACK TO HIS RETURN

God’s Spirit Poured Out

Joel 2:²⁸ “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.

Joel 2:²⁹ And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

Joel 2:³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

Joel 2:³¹ The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ).

• Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

• Revelation 6:12 Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances – I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

Joel 2:³² And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ)
Shall be saved (Or delivered).

• Hosea 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”

For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance (Or salvation),
As the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) has said,
Among the remnant whom the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) calls.

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