Locusts strip a nation bare, and a promise arrives: the Spirit poured out on everyone.
A devastating locust plague has stripped the land bare—grain, wine, and oil are destroyed, leaving priests with nothing to offer and farmers in despair. Joel calls the elders and all inhabitants to recognize this as unprecedented disaster and to pass the memory to future generations. He summons the people to lament, fast, and cry out to God, for 'the day of the LORD is near.'
Joel's dating is debated; proposals range from the ninth to the fourth century BC. The absence of references to a king, the prominence of priests and elders, and the mention of Greeks (3:6) have led many scholars to favor a post-exilic setting, though the question remains open.
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