As indicated by 1:1, the author is “Joel,” which means “Yahweh is God.” We know nothing else about him other than the name of his father who is Pethuel (1:1).
Since the date is not specified within the book by any time references, we have to determine the date as much as possible from the internal evidences we find in the book, such as references to various na-tions, events, etc. People have suggested dates from 835-400 B.C., but determining the date is difficult. The difficulties with determining the date are clear from Chisholm's discussion of three common views of the dating of Joel.
Those who support an early date (ninth century B.C.) for Joel point to its position in the Hebrew Old Testament (between Hosea and Amos) and its ref-erences to Tyre, Sidon, Philistia, Egypt, and Edom as enemies (Joel 3:4, 19). Hobart Freeman writes, “The very naming of these particular nations is strong evidence for a pre-exilic date for the book, inasmuch as they were the early pre-exilic enemies of Judah, not the later nations of Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia” (An Introduction to the Old Tes-tament Prophets. Chicago: Moody Press, 1968, p. 148; see also Gleason L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody Press, 1974, p. 305).
Both of these arguments lack weight. The canonical position of the book is inconclusive, especially when one notes that the Septuagint places it differently in the canon. Even the Old Testament prophets in the Babylonian period delivered oracles against the nations mentioned (cf. Jer. 46-47; 49:7- 22; Ezek. 27-30; Zeph. 2:4-7). One who contends for a late pre-exilic date could argue that Joel 2 pictures the Babylonians vividly enough to make formal identification unnecessary to a contemporary audience well aware of their ominous presence on the horizon.
Some seek to support an early date for Joel by appealing to the type of government re-flected in the prophecy (elders, 1:2; 2:16; and priests ruling, 1:9, 13; 2:17, in view of Joash’s crowning at age seven) and to verbal parallels in other prophetic books (Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, pp. 304-5). The inconclusive nature of these ar-guments is apparent as they are also used by proponents of a late date.
Several details of the text (cf. esp. 3:2, 6) seem to militate against an early date (in Joash’s reign) for the prophecy (cf. S.R. Driver, The Books of Joel and Amos, pp. 14-15).
The view that the book comes from the late preexilic period has much to commend it. If one dates the prophecy between 597 and 587 B.C. (with Wilhelm Rudolph, Joel-Amos-Obadja-Jona. Verlagshaus Gerd Mohn, 1971, pp. 24-8), Joel 3:2b (with its reference to scattering God’s people and dividing the land) would refer to the Babylonian invasion of 597 B.C. when 10,000 of Ju-dah’s finest men were deported (cf. 2 Kings 24:10-16). This would also account for Joel’s references to the temple (Joel 1:9, 13; 2:17), for it was not destroyed until 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 25:9). At that same time such a dating would mean that Joel 1:15 and 2:1-11 antic-ipated the final destruction of Jerusalem (which indeed came in 586 B.C.; cf. 2 Kings 25:1-21).
Joel’s prophecy would then fit nicely with several other passages which relate the “day of the L ORD” (or “day of the LORD’s wrath” or “day of the LORD’s anger”) to that event (cf. Lam. 1:12; 2:1, 21-22; Ezek. 7:19; 13:5; Zeph. 2:2-3) . Joel’s description (Joel 2:1-11) would also coincide with Jeremiah’s description of the Babylonians (cf. Jer. 5:17). The reference in Joel 3:6 to slave trade between the Phoenicians and Greeks (or Ionians) harmonizes well with the late preexilic period. Ezekiel also referred to this economic ar-rangement (Ezek. 27:13). Arvid S. Kapelrud shows that Ionian trade flourished in the se-venth and early sixth centuries B.C. (Joel Studies, pp. 154-8).
Despite the attractiveness of this view, problems arise in relation to Joel 2:18 -19. This passage seems to record God’s mercy to Joel’s generation, implying they truly repented (see comments on those verses). If so, such a sequence of events is difficult to harmon-ize with the historical record of Judah’s final days. Second Kings 23:26-27 indicates that even Josiah’s revival did not cause the Lord to relent.
In conclusion, it is impossible to be dogmatic about the date of the writing of Joel. The language of Joel 3:2b seems to favor a postexilic date. This verse suggests that nations in the future will be judged for having continued the policies of ancient Babylon in scatter-ing the Israelites and dividing their land. Such a view is consistent with (but not proved by) several other observations (such as the reference to Phoenician-Ionian slave trade, the form of government implied in the book, and the literary parallels with other prophets). If one accepts a postexilic date, the references to the temple necessitate a date some time after 516 B.C . However, all this must remain tentative. Understandably, conservative scholars differ on the date of Joel.74
The Hebrew for Joel is Yoáel, which, as stated above, means Yahweh is God. This name is extreme-ly appropriate in view of the message of Joel, which lays stress on God as the Sovereign One who has all creation and the nations under His power and control as the God of History.
Joel uses a recent drought and locust plague that strikes Judah without warning as an object lesson to warn of a future invasion of Israel in the Day of Yahweh. In just a very short time, a matter of hours, every piece of vegetation is stripped bare. If the nation will repent and return to the Lord, God will restore His relationship with her and bless her. This was true in the historical situation in which Joel was writing and will be true any time in the future.
For the ultimate blessings and restoration promised by Joel to occur, Israel will have to experience the judgments of the Tribulation and the outpouring of the Spirit of God. It is this combination that will cause them to return to the Lord.
The key word or words, in keeping with the warnings of the book, is the Day of Yahweh.
❝ 2:11. And the LORD utters His voice before His army; Surely His camp is very great, For strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?
❝ 2:28-32. “And it will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. “And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke. “The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Je-rusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survi-vors whom the LORD calls.
Chapter 2 is the key chapter in that it promises that God will relent of the judgment to be poured out on Israel if she will only return to the Lord (vss. 13-14). This is then followed by the promise of the future deliverance of the nation through the outpouring of the Spirit of God, the display of wonders in the sky and on the earth, the coming of the day of the Lord, and the calling on the name of the Lord (vss. 28-32).
In Joel, Christ is presented as the one who will give the Holy Spirit (cf. 2:28 with John 16:7-15; Acts 1:8), who judges the nations (3:2, 12), and who is the refuge and stronghold of Israel (3:16).