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Typology in the Book of Joel I wrote this years ago, but I believe it is prophetic, and full of hope for today. I think considering typology can be encouraging, can broaden our understanding, and cause us to look for important questions asked in Scripture. I believe the Scripture asks important questions and riddles to cause us to think, and that these questions are being largely ignored. We have to be very careful to stick to what the Scripture spells out (and not give the same emphasis to our insights on types and shadows). Will I get some things wrong, and someone be able to point out a difference using Scripture -- yes. Chapter 1 The word of the Lord comes to the prophet Joel, and he is asked a question. Has this been, or in the days of your fathers? [Has this ever happened before. Some amazing event has occurred, something that never happened to the Jews. Could this mean that the church is gone? Solomon said 'there is no new thing under the sun,' Ecclesiastes 1:9. I think this event has happened before in the rapture of Enoch, and of Elijah, but this event could be the harvesting by God of souls worldwide. Peter refers to Joel 2 in Acts.] Tell the children of it on and on. [This is an extremely important event. Will this be told of even during the millenium?] Desolation by worms and locusts. [Could it be that the Jews realize that they've been left behind, deluded, erred in not recognizing their Messiah?] Awake. Wail because no new wine. [Could this indicate that communion with God and the sacrifices to Him are gone with the church?] A strong nation, lion-like, has come upon God's land and ruined God's vine and tree. [This indicates that their spiritual enemy has kept Israel from bearing fruit for the Lord, caused them to be a wasted vine and a barkless fig tree.] Lament like a virgin in sackcloth who loses the husband of her youth. [This sounds like a bride whose husband dies or is killed.] The meat and drink offerings are gone from God's house. [The Jews are told they have no offerings being made to God, and they may realize that is because the church, who accepted the Messiah Jesus, is supernaturally taken from the earth.] The priests mourn. [The priests realize what has happened. These might be compared to those Jews who seek Him, pray to Him, and long for Him.] Be ashamed farmers, vinedressers. [This is referring to those who were to care for God's people of His fields and vineyard and did not.] The harvest is perished. [These Jews haven't been included in the harvest of souls. A silent harvest of the world has been accomplished, but the fields of Jewish souls without Jesus stand desolate, out in the open. This brings to mind the Scripture, "The summer is past, the harvest is over and we are not saved."] Dead vine. [Israel is rejected, they realize that they are the vine that is dead without their rejected Messiah.] Fig tree wilted. [Perhaps they realize they are as a fruitless fig tree and withered as Jesus has passed by and they were not ready when He came? Here is a Scripture I just saw last week, 2017: Luke 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. ] Pomegranite, palm, apple all withered. Joy is withered away. [When they realize all of this, they are full of grief. The pomegranite and mention of joy brings to my mind the pomegranite fruit and bells on the hem of the priests' garments.] Dress, lament, priests. [They decide to grieve and wail and seek the Lord. The Lord speaks to the seekers, tells them what to do.] Wail ministers of the altar. Lie all night in sackcloth. Meal and drink offering withheld from the house of your God. [They realize fully that they are left, rejected, and that they have made no offering for sin.] Call a fast. [They still look to the Lord God and hope in Him even as old Job did.] Call an assembly. Gather elders. Cry to the Lord. [They cry to God for help.] Alas for the day. For the day of the Lord is at hand. [The day of the Lord refers to the time of His wrath. They are distressed.] Destruction from the Almighty. [They know His wrath and judgments are terrible, and are before them.] Food, joy and gladness cut off from the house of God. [Famine, Israel feels rejected and left.] Seeds rot. Beasts groan and are perplexed. [Even the animals are suffering and troubled.] Flocks desolate. [They know they are the sheep of His pasture, but realize that their shepherds have scattered.] O Lord to Thee will I cry. [They still cry to the true God, and hope in Him.] Chapter 2: Blow the trumpet. [The trumpet was blown to gather the people, and also it was blown to order them to march.] Sound an alarm in My holy mountain. [The trumpet warns the people.] Let all in Israel/land tremble. For the day of the Lord comes. [They know Armageddon is coming.] Dark day. Thick darkness. Great people and a strong, none ever like them. Fire before. Flame behind, desolate behind. [This army has left desolation behind it.] Like horses, like horsemen. Noisy as chariots. Like flame, devouring. [These sound like the evil beings in the Book of Revelation.] Before their face, people will be pained, all faces shall gather blackness. [This army that is leaving desolation behind it causes God's people to suffer and people's faces to be darkened because of either burns or perhaps dark emotions of distress and fear.] Run like mighty men. Shall climb wall. Shall march not break rank. Shall stay in formation. Not thrust each other, fall on sword not injured. [This seems to indicate that these are spirit beings. They could be the demon possessed army of the Antichrist who will be in control of the earth.] Run to and fro in city. [Would this city be Jerusalem?] On wall.... on houses.... in windows.... Earth shall quake before them. Sun, moon dark, stars withdrawn. [Much of this echoes Jesus's descriptions, and the words in the Book of Revelation, which should cause us to compare the two books.] The Lord shall utter His voice before His army. Day of the Lord, who can abide. The Lord says, turn to Me, fasting, weeping and mourning. [The Lord responds to their seeking and orders His army.] Tear your heart not garments. [They are told to repent.] Turn to the Lord. He is graceful, merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth Him of the evil. [The Lord wants His people to look to Him, He loves them and encourages them.] Who knows if He will leave a blessing, meal and drink offering unto the Lord. [They begin to have hope.] Gather the people. [The earlier trumpet was to alarm. Now all the people are to gather.] Sanctify a fast.... assemble.... gather children and sucklings.... bridegroom and bride. [Everyone is to weep before God, even infants and newlyweds.] Let priests weep between the porch and altar. [The priests are told to pray in a specified area which is on the temple mount, not down at the bottom of the wall.] And let them say: spare Thy people, give not Thine heritage to reproach. [The Lord continues to prescribe to His people, urging them to pray, fast, weep.] Let not nations rule over them, why should nations say where is their God. [They are to ask for help from being conquered by the nations. The Lord will come to Israel and defeat all others.] Then the Lord was jealous for His land and pitied the people. [The Lord is moved to help them.] I'll send you grain, wine, oil, you will be satisfied. [Note again the wine and bread, spiritual food I think, as well as a promise of food during their time of trouble.] God will no more make Israel a reproach among nations. [God will vindicate them publicly.] But I will remove far off from you the northern army. [This may match Joel up with the time of Ezekiel 39. God will fix the armies of the north. If I am correct that the earlier verses of Joel are a lament about being left behind when the believers in Jesus are taken up, then this might put the attack from the northern army after the believers are gone and the Jews are aware of what has happened.] Drive him into a barren land.... face to east.... rear to west. [Not toward Israel.] His stench shall come up. [The enemy turns, and this again seems to compare to Ezekiel's prophecy about when the enemies fight each other and die from the outpouring from the Lord.] His ill savor. [The odor of death I think. See Ezekiel 39. This is a third witness in the Scripture which may tie this to Ezekiel's prophecy about the great number of bodies.] Fear not, O land, be glad, rejoice, the Lord will do great things. [Now that the Jews have started to tear their hearts, fast, and seek the Lord, He does a tremendous thing and protects them from the army from the north. They will indeed rejoice.] Be not afraid ye beasts, pastures do spring, the tree beareth her fruit, the vine do yield their strength. [His fig tree comes alive and bears fruit. Both tree and vine are alive in Him. Even the troubled animals are gently spoken to by the Lord.] Be glad ye children of Zion. [Could this indicate that the Jews living within Israel are particularly to be glad, that as He has told them to gather and they have done so they will have special protection as in no other place?] Rejoice in the Lord your God. [The Jews are to rejoice for they are restored to God at this point.] For He hath given former rain. [The former rain is the autumn rains.] And the latter rain in the first month. [The rain in the month of Nisan which is March of April. Exodus 12:2, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." The Romans made the Jews shift their New Year to the fall so it would fit with the Roman New Year. Tishri, September/October, is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar.] The floors will be full of wheat, vats overflow with wine and oil. [This is the promise of God that they too will have a harvest of souls and a blessing. Also, the wine and oil are gathered by the Feast of Tabernacles, which commences on the full moon in late September/October.] And I will restore to you the years the canker has eaten, locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, palmer worm. [God promises He will restore all they've lost. Only God can truly restore that which has been destroyed. The worm, the devil, has eaten their understanding of the meaning out of their Scriptures, and he has stolen all of the New Testament from them. God can do this restoration quickly.] My great army which I sent among you. [This follows the verse which specifies the armies of locusts, worms, caterpillars that God has permitted. "Shall there be evil in the city and the Lord has not done it?"] Ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. Your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. [He has done wonderful things, allowing the difficulties, bringing Israel to blessing.] And My people shall never be ashamed. [He promises to do more for them. If I am correct and this describes the seven year tribulation, then they are aware He is with them and that He won't leave them ashamed, will keep all of His promises to them, revealing to the world.] And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. [Could this mean after the great event in Joel 1:2, or after He has smashed the northern armies? He will turn to His own, pour out His Spirit on them all. These and the following verses would be a marvelous encouragement and blessing to the Jews during the tribulation.] And your sons ans your daughters shall prophesy.... old men shall dream dreams. [Revelations in the night, and these will encourage them greatly as awful things are occuring in the world.] Young men see visions. [Just like Daniel did, and they will get more understanding and information.] And also upon the servants and handmaids. [This could point to those who are not of the family of the Jews, and that they shall also receive if they will listen to the Jews. The Jews were to take care of their servants, permit them to keep the Sabbath, and also to proseletize strangers and teach about the Lord.] In those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens, fire and smoke, and in the earth, blood and pillars of smoke. [Jesus spoke of signs in the sky, and I believe the Book of Joel indicates when this will be happening. This would be encouraging to the Jews, and frightening to the people of the Antichrist.] The sun shall be turned into darkness. [Before a star "novas," it darkens, then becomes far brighter and hotter briefly. Some scientists think our sun may be getting close to novaing.] The moon into blood. Before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. [He will give signs to the whole world before the latter half of the tribulation I believe.] And it shall come to pass that whosoever will call upon the Lord shall be delivered. [All who call on Yeshua! This shall be a time of revival, when God is ready to save.] For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. [Many will realize that the Lord is God, and they will be delivered from the wrath of God.] As the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Chapter 3: I will gather all nations and will bring them down to the Valley of Jehosaphat. [All nations gather to Armageddon in the land of Israel.] And will judge them there for My people. [He promises to protect His own, and will war against the nations north of Jerusalem.] And for My heritage Israel. Whom they have scattered among the nations. [The nations will be judged there.] And parted My land. [The nations won't be able to scatter the Jews from the land this time! God has been angry about the way His land has been partitioned and His people treated and He will express His wrath. The royal land grant given to Abraham was from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates river, and much bigger than it is now.] And they have cast lots for My people and given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine that they might drink. [The Lord begins to state His reasons for His anger.] Yea and what have ye to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon and all the coasts of Philistia. [He speaks to the nations, seeming to say, You can't get near Me. Tyre means "to distress," and Sidon means "hunting."] Will ye render Me a recompense? [The nations can do nothing against Him.] And if ye recompense Me, swiftly speedily will I return your recompense on your own head. [God warns His enemies that He will speedily recompense them.] Because ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My precious things. The children also of Judah, and the children of Jerusalem, have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. [He states that He is angry about the things His enemies have stolen and taken away. Jerusalem means "dual peace shall be taught, lay ye double peace" and Grecia means "unstable, the miry one."] Behold I will raise them out of the place to which ye have sold them and will return your recompense upon your own head. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah. And they shall sell them to the men of Sheba to a people far off.... for the Lord hath spoken it. [He will have angels take the children from those who took the children of Jews and believers away from them.] Proclaim this among the nations. [These nations are to be told of this.] Prepare war. [They will do so.] Wake up the mighty men. [Could these refer to the demon princes who preside over all the nations?] Let all the men of war draw near.... let them come up. [God tells the nations to come on.] Beat your plowshares into swords.... and your pruninghooks into spears. [Use every scrap of metal and make weapons to fight God -- it will do no good.] Let the weak say I am strong. [Could the Lord be indicating 'go on and kid yourselves, you're nothing compared to Me.'] Let the nations be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehosaphat. [Come to Israel, where I am, the Lord says.] For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. [Come to where I sit and I'll judge you there.] Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe.... come get down for the press is full the vats overflow for their wickedness is great. [There are several Scriptures about God's good Vine, and the Husbandman. In this Scripture, these are evil grapes in the press and vats. Compare Revelation 14:18, 19 "Thrust in thy sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."] Multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the Valley of decision. The moon and the stars shall be darkened.... and the stars shall withdraw their shining. [He gives heavenly signs.] The Lord also shall roar out of Zion. [Jesus the Lord will roar from out of Mount Zion, in the midst of His people, as the Lion of Judah. This roar will terrify the enemies of God.] And utter His voice from Jerusalem.... and the heavens and the earth shall shake.... but the Lord will be the hope of His people. [During this time God's people will have hope in God.] And the strength of the children of Israel. [Once young David was the strength of his people and killed the mighty one of the enemy. Now Jesus will do so.] So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My Holy Mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. [Only His people who know Him will live in God's land.] And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine. [The joy of communion with God.] And the hills flow with milk. [Cattle no longer confounded, but contented.] And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters.... And a fountain shall come forth from the House of the Lord. [The fresh water will flow out of Jerusalem. The Temple mount has never had a source of water, and one million gallons of water per day had to be piped in through a six foot round tunnel cut through rock, but in the mid-eighties it was discovered that there is dampness and dripping under the Temple area.] And shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will avenge their blood that I have not avenged; for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. **********