The second chapter of Joel launches into a full-blown description of the Day of the Lord. The text appears to show the fulfillment in terms of the autumn feast days as well.

It begins with the feast of Trumpets (Joel 2:1), followed by consecrating a fast (Joel 2:15), which is the Day of Atonement, followed by the promise of the Spirit (Joel 2:28), which, in this case is not Pentecost but the feast of Tabernacles.

Pentecost saw a partial fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, but the greater fulfillment comes at Tabernacles. This sequence of feasts, when fulfilled at the end of the age, shows us how to overcome the negative side of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord thus has both a positive and a negative connotation. It is a time of tribulation, but its real purpose is to cause the people to repent and come into full alignment with the Kingdom of God.

The Feast of Trumpets

Joel 2:1 begins,

¹ Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near.

A trumpet in Scripture signifies speaking the word of God, especially prophetically. It can be a call from God to assemble before Him or to take heed to His will and change one’s path in life.

The feast of Trumpets on the first day of the seventh month marked the start of the new year. This was the original New Year’s Day on the Hebrew calendar before God changed it to the Spring in the leadup to Passover.

Traditionally, Trumpets marked the start of creation. It prophesied also of the birth of Christ, “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). On still another level, it will mark the day of resurrection when the overcomers are raised (Rev. 20:5, 6). In each case the day marks a new creation.

The blowing of trumpets also marked a ten-day cycle known as the ten Days of Awe, culminating on the Day of Atonement. These ten days were also the last ten days of a 40-day cycle, observed by those who were more religious.

This 40-day cycle corresponded to the time in which the 12 spies spied out the land in the days of Joshua. Recall that the 12 spies returned with their report on the 50^th Jubilee from Adam, but because the people believed the evil report of the ten spies, they turned the Jubilee of Jubilees into a Day of Atonement. Hence, instead of rejoicing at the promise of God being fulfilled, the people turned it into a day of mourning and fasting for their lack of faith. The story is written in Numbers 13 and 14.

So we see that Joel provides us a commentary on the Autumn feast days, showing us how we are to interpret the prophecies of the second set of feasts. The first set from Passover to Pentecost prophesied of Christ’s first work, while the second set from Trumpets to Tabernacles prophesies of Christ’s second coming and the work that He will do when those feasts are fulfilled.

The Silver Trumpets

On the feast of Trumpets, the priests were instructed to blow a silver trumpet, not a shofar. Under inspiration, Moses was said to be the inventor of the bell-shaped silver trumpet that is described in Num. 10:2-4,

² Make for yourselves two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for having the camps set out. ³ When both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the doorway of tent of meeting. ⁴ Yet if only one is blown, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel, shall assemble before you.

The distinction between one trumpet and two is what prophesies of the first and second resurrection in Rev. 20. The first is for those who are to reign with Christ as leaders, and so they will gather at “the last trumpet” (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16). It is a single trumpet because it gathers the leaders and raises them from the dead.

Though we are not told specifically, we may presume that both trumpets will be blown when all of the dead are raised (Rev. 20:12). This will include both believers and unbelievers (John 5:28, 29), whose rewards will be different but yet distributed on the same occasion.

One can only imagine the dismay and panic that will ensue on this day, especially in the church at large. The church is the congregation as a whole, and many of them have been told that they will be raptured at the time of this resurrection. But a single trumpet does not gather the entire congregation, so it is likely that their expectations will be dashed to the ground when they find themselves “left behind.”

How much better would it be if the church were taught the meaning of the two trumpets in Num. 11:2-4, so that they do not find themselves in a state of panic! It appears that the resurrection of the overcomers will cause the church to repent during the days of Awe, culminating on the Day of Atonement. They will have to repent for their lack of faith in God’s promises and for refusing to enter the Kingdom.

All of this is suggested in the ten days of Awe, wherein the church as a whole will have learned the truth, so that they may know that they are not going to hell.

The Ten Days of Awe

There seems to be a major connection between the days of Awe and the Day of the Lord. We have yet to see how this will be fulfilled, but it seems clear that at the least, this will be a time of introspection and repentance. In a way it can be said that the Day of Atonement is actually a ten-day period, because the people will need time to figure out what is happening and to understand their need for repentance.

The world of unbelievers, too, will be affected by this, although it should be said that they have no expectations to be dashed to the ground. They will have to repent on a greater scale for having no faith at all in Christ. But their repentance and conversion will be spread out over a longer period of time, because they will need a longer period of time to learn the New Covenant promise of God and to know the divine plan for creation.

They will be happy to learn that there is hope for all mankind and that there will be a restoration of all things. This will give them a reason to rejoice, even if many in the church are disgruntled over this. Perhaps most of these (former) unbelievers will have to learn it from overcomers. The church will have to repent of its “elder brother syndrome.” Recall how the Prodigal Son’s elder brother grumbled when his brother was welcomed home.

Rev. 2:10 speaks of “ten days of tribulation” in the Spirit’s message to the angel of the church of Smyrna. Those who overcome will not have to experience that time of tribulation. In my commentary on Revelation, I connected this to the actual tribulation from 303-313 A.D. during the time of Diocletian. However, this pattern appears to apply also to the church during the ten days of Awe.

If so, this could also describe the Day of the Lord, at least relative to the non-overcoming church. At any rate, Joel seems to connect the Day of the Lord with the feast of Trumpets and, by extension, the ten days of Awe leading to the Day of Atonement. In other words, the “tribulation” may be escaped only by becoming an overcomer—not by merely becoming a believer.

Perhaps too, Jesus’ words in Matt. 24:29-31 apply to the days of Awe, “But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky…”

If this correlation is to be made, then the signs in the sun, moon, and stars should appear on the Day of Atonement. This is a possibility to watch.

We already saw a measure of fulfillment when Jesus was crucified. The sun went dark at noon (Luke 23:44), and history tells us that at 5:10 pm the moon rose over Jerusalem already eclipsed. On the same day the sun was darkened and the moon did not give its light.

Joel suggests that we might see another fulfillment of this on the Day of Atonement following the resurrection of the overcomers.

Joel’s Description of the Day of the Lord

Joel 2:2 says,

² A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, as the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; there has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.

The “darkness and gloom” is probably an allusion to the sun being darkened. The “day of clouds and thick darkness” seems to point back to the original Pentecost at Mount Sinai, as we read in Exodus 20:21,

²¹ So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud [arafel, “thick cloud” or “darkness”] where God was.

The Hebrew word arafel can refer either to darkness or to a thick cloud that makes things dark. Either way, it describes a day of darkness and gloom. Obviously, this is more than a weather report. It symbolizes a time when people are gloomy or depressed. And this well describes the ten days of Awe as the believers in particular recognize that they should have done more to be an overcomer and not settle for being a mere believer.

Joel says that this gloom will be unprecedented. If this were a description of war and chaos, it is quite certain that there would have been greater precedents in history. But if this is referring to the inner turmoil and depression at the failure to receive immortality and reign with Christ in the Age to come, then it makes perfect sense. The second resurrection will come after the thousand years are finished, so there will never again be another opportunity to reign with Christ prior to the White Throne judgment.

Devastation of the Locusts

Joel 2:3 abruptly returns to the locust theme (1:4), saying,

³ A fire consumes before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them.

During locust swarms, everything green is eaten by these voracious creatures. The prophet likens the landscape to a fire which leaves in its path desolation and destruction. What starts out as “the garden of Eden” ends up as “a desolate wilderness.” Just as Adam’s sin destroyed the garden of Eden, so also did Israel’s sin destroy the idyllic condition and prosperity of God’s Kingdom blessings.

Many Bible teachers and even prophets have taught that this army of locusts represent God’s spiritual warriors. That teaching has some truth to it but only in the same sense that God’s army was the Assyrian army that He sent to judge Israel, or the Babylonian army that He sent to judge Judah, or the Roman army that He sent to judge Judah in 70 A.D. (Matt. 22:7).

The faithful ones among them were involved in this devastation only in that they were in agreement with God, knowing that His judgments were righteous. They also may have been called to bear witness to those judgments by proclaiming such judgment in the earth. Yet they have not been called to do the actual fighting and killing. This is the low-level job of those foreign armies that God leads and uses to accomplish His purposes.

Hence, I do not identify the overcomers as prophetic locusts in the book of Joel. I have participated in hundreds of prayer campaigns and spiritual warfare over more than 40 years, but not once were we ever led to implement the destruction. Our main purpose was to intercede for the church or for the nation and even for the world as a whole in order to limit the destruction to a finite time frame. This was in accordance with the overall purpose of God’s lawful judgments, which are corrective in nature (Isaiah 26:9).

Locusts Are Like War Horses

Joel 2:4, 5 continues the description, saying,

⁴ Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run. ⁵ With the noise as of chariots they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle.

This comparison appears to be the basis of John’s prophecy of the rise of “locusts” in Rev. 9:3, which God calls forth to bring judgment upon the church for its idolatry in the previous chapter. These “locusts” are described in Rev. 9:7-9,

⁷ The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns [stephanos, “wreaths”] like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸ They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horses rushing to battle.

I showed in my commentary on the book of Revelation that this prophesied the rise of Islam. God raised up Islam to judge the church shortly after the Roman bishop laid claim to the title of Universal Bishop. Prior to that time, there were about three equally prominent bishops. In fact, just a few years earlier, a Roman pope had decreed that if anyone tried to assume the title of Universal Bishop, he should be treated as Antichrist.

Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears. The claim was made in 606 A.D., and God then raised up Mohammed in 609 A.D. God’s purpose for Islam has always been to bring judgment upon the church. The Islamists became God’s “locusts” during the church age.

These “locusts” are not merely “like horses” but are also like their riders, having the faces of men. In past centuries, they conquered the Holy Land, Asia Minor (Turkey) and Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

They captured Constantinople in 1453 through the use of cannons and gunpowder, which they learned from the Mongols who had occupied the Mideast two centuries earlier. Their cannons, described in Rev. 9:10, were cast in the shape of lions. The “tails” were the fuses that were lit to fire the cannons from the mouths of those “lions.”

Below is a picture of one of those cannons that are on display in Great Britain. Those operating those cannons used to sit on them, as if they were horses. The “mouth,” of course, has been plugged.

More Descriptions of the Locusts

Joel 2:6-9 says,

⁶ Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale. ⁷ They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths. ⁸ They do not crowd each other, they march everyone in his path; when they burst through the defenses, they do not break ranks. ⁹ They rush on the city, they run on the wall; they climb into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief.

Joel remarks how swarms of locusts can fly through the air without jostling each other. Each seems to have its own flight plan and do not break ranks. They break through all defenses into the city, through windows, and into houses.

It is as if God Himself directs each locust. To fight the locusts is not the answer. The answer is for the church to repent from its religiosity, its traditions of men, and return to God. Unfortunately, the church chose to go on Crusades, considering the Islamists to be God’s enemies instead of God’s army. The church did what Israel and Judah did in earlier times—and so they suffered from God’s judgments.

Joel 2:10 continues,

¹⁰ Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness.

This literally happens during a locust swarm. The swarm darken the sky day and night. This also suggests that when the sun is darkened and the moon gives no light (an eclipse), a picture of divine judgment is set forth. So when this occurred on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, the darkness was not on account of God mourning the death of His Son, as many have claimed. Rather it shows that the sin of the world was being judged at the cross.

Joel 2:11 continues,

¹¹ 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.

Here we see first that the locusts are “His army.” As I stated earlier, this kind of terminology is used of Assyria, Babylon, and Rome as well, so it does not mean that these locusts believe in Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, God is sovereign, He has use for everyone, and all things will work toward the fulfillment of His divine plan.

Secondly, “the day of the Lord” is extended far beyond the ten days of Awe. The days of Awe are a short-term fulfillment, whereas the rise of the “locusts” are a long-term judgment covering many centuries.

The purpose of the Day of the Lord is to fulfill His purpose in the church, the nation, or the earth as a whole. Each has its own level of fulfillment, depending on the time in which people live. Hence, it is HIS day, the day in which His plan succeeds. When His plan succeeds, the plans of men fail. So when the overcomers see their declarations come to pass, they have reason to rejoice, but at the same time, those who see their own plans fail will mourn until such time as they understand and come to know God.

So we see that the Day of the Lord has two sides to it. Throughout the past ages, the overcomers have been persecuted and even overcome (Dan. 7:21), but their word of prophecy will not fail, even if they die without seeing their word fulfilled. We now live in the time of fulfillment, when “judgment was passed in favor of the saints” (Dan. 7:22). This has already been decreed from His throne.