Name: ____________________
Date: _____________________
Guided Notes for Presentation on the Book of Joel
Who is the author? What is the prophet's background? When did they live and why is that
significant?
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The author of the book of Joel is ____________
____________.
Joel was originally from ___________/___________ and
preached to the people from there. The book of Joel does
not give much background information of the prophet,
except that his father was Pethuel, and was only
mentioned once in the Hebrew Bible (Joel 1:1)
Joel was one of the ____________ writing prophets and a
contemporary of the prophet Elisha.
Joel means: “One to whom Yahweh is God” or “a
worshiper of ___________”
It is believed that Joel lived sometime around the ____th century BC. Joel lived
during the period of the ___________ table, which gives us an idea of when he lived.
This is significant because his book reflects on the liturgy in use during this time
period.
What was happening during the prophet’s life? Why are they prophesying and who are
they prophesying to?
★ What is happening during the prophet’s life: The book of Joel was written around
835-796 BC. This was the period of the ________________ Kingdom, with King
Joash as the King of Judah.
★ Why are they prophesying and who are they prophesying to: Joel’s message was
important to be prophesied because it helped the people’s understanding of
_____________, repentance, God’s mercy, and future hope that will soon come. Joel
was a prophet to the Kingdom of ________________.
What is the main message of the book? What is the ACCUSATION, THE CALL TO
CHANGE, AND THE CONSEQUENCE OR WARNING? When the people first
heard/read it, what impression did the words of the prophet/words of God intend to make?
★ The main message of the book of Joel is that _______________________ will come
to Judah and Jerusalem only when the people turn to Yahweh. When they turn to
Yahweh their land will become fertile.
★ Accusation: Joel is accusing people of just sitting by in a time of adversity. He says
“Wake up, you drunkards and weep.” He wants the people to realize that there is a
problem, the wine has been snatched from their lips and a nation has invaded the
land. (Joel 1:5-7). Joel is also accusing the people of not trusting in
_______________.
★ Call to Change: Joel is calling on the people to repent for their sins, turn back to God,
and call out to God for their deliverance. (Joel 1:12-15)
★ Consequence/ Warning: Joel then says that when the Day of the ______________
(God’s judgment) is, destruction will come from the Almighty. (Joel 1:15) God’s
judgment will destroy all crops, livestock, and the wellbeing of the land. (Joel 1:8-10)
★ The prophet was trying to make the impression on the people that if they didn’t act
and place their trust in God then they would face the __________________________.
He wanted to make the impression of urgency, so that they would understand the
severity of the situation.
What are the key features (literary or otherwise) of the book? What makes this book
unique in the TaNaK?
★ Key Features: The book of Joel is _____________________ in nature, it describes
the coming Day of the Lord. The themes of this book are similar to those of the preexilic (referring to before the exile of the Jews) prophets.
★ One unique feature of the book of Joel is that there is no clear indication of when it
was written. Another unique thing about this book is that Joel uses
_____________________ from the natural world. The book of Joel has many
references to other Scriptural books (Isaiah, Amos, Zephaniah, Nahum, Obadiah,
Malachi, Ezekiel, and Exodus).
Is there a message from this book relevant for today? What is it? Why did God see fit to
preserve this book for us to read? How does it reveal the nature of God, Christ, the Spirit,
the Church, the faithful, the unfaithful, etc...?
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Joel calls on the people not just to repent on the basis of ____________, but for their
actions to show their repentance. This is a very important message for us to
remember today because it is very easy to turn back from our sin through our words,
but it is even harder to demonstrate this repentance through our ______________.
(Joel 2:10-13)
God saw this book fit to be preserved because the book of Joel teaches about the
______________ of the combined prayers and fasting of God's people during a time
of great difficulty in Israel's history.
This reveals the _____________ of God that He shows people love and mercy even
though they don’t deserve it and are sinful. This also reveals that the faithful are still
sinful, yet when they repent for their sins they will receive less harsh judgment. Also,
the unfaithful will receive harsh ______________________ on the Day of the Lord.
Hebrew Words
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Granary/Granaries (‫מַ ְּמגֻרֹות‬-mam.me.gu.rot)- storehouse
Vestibule (‫אּולָם‬-u.lam)- in Solomon's temple or in temple of Ezekiel's vision
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Vanguard (‫ ָפנֶה‬-pa.neh)- a face, person, or presence
Locusts (‫( )אַ ְּרבֶ ה‬ar.beh)- locusts
War (‫ ִמלְּ חָ מָ ה‬mil.cha.mah)- battle