THE BOOK OF JOEL

The Prophet Joel, whose name in Hebrew means “The Lord (or Yahwey) is God”, was one of the 12 minor Old Testament prophets. However, the designation as minor prophet does not mean that his message was of less importance than that of any of the major prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah or Daniel. The term “minor” in this instance refers to the length of his writings, which amounted to 3 short chapters. However, as we shall see, the details in those three chapters are of immense importance in God’s message concerning Israel and Judah and importantly, for us today, right now in this 21st century.

Background and Purpose

The son of Pethuel (Joel 1:1), Joel was commissioned as a prophet primarily serving the Southern House of Judah, and writing from Jerusalem between 835 BC and 796 BC.  He was a contemporary of the minor prophets Hosea and Amos, who were assigned by God to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

The time of writing was between 55 and 100 years prior to the commencement of the invasions of the Northern House of Israel by the Assyrians.