You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of Joel. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following is a series through Joel in six sermons. As with other books, you can preach it in greater or fewer units. You can even preach it in a one-sermon overview, especially given its brevity. But word count does not make words count. These 73 verses are inspired and profitable, and nothing about them is minor. Consider taking a measured pace through Joel, allowing its themes to dictate the preaching units. The sermons in the following outline represent movements that look like this: 1) a reflection on a recent devastation, 2) a warning of a coming, greater day of gloom, 3) a detailed explanation of what to do about it, 4) the real reason there is even anything to do about it, 5) what we should do while we await the Lord\u2019s day, and finally, 6) an overview of God\u2019s purposes in judgment for proper perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Title: <\/strong>Joel: The Great and Awesome Day of the Lord<\/p>\n\n\n\n Big Idea: <\/strong>Judgment Day should prompt us to be partakers and ministers of God\u2019s great mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Outline:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I. Large-scale disasters should remind us of the coming day of judgement (1:1-2:11).<\/p>\n\n\n\n II. Because of God\u2019s merciful nature, we have the opportunity to repent of sin (2:12-27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n III. When we repent, God\u2019s Spirit empowers us to invite others into God\u2019s mercy (2:28-32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n IV. This ministry will be persecuted, but we take solace in God\u2019s justice in the end (3:1-21).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Preaching Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 The title in this example is taken from Joel 2:31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 These main points follow the same flow as the sermon series. However you articulate your mains and make sure they cohere logically. Read them by themselves, without sub-points, to make sure they make sense, one leading to the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You will likely not be able to read every verse; identify key verses that represent sections well. Practice summarizing the rest succinctly, accurately, and interestingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Among the themes and application points listed below, decide which are most prominent as you meditate on Joel, and allow your preaching context to inform which ones you might address some other time and which should demand more attention for this particular preaching occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Some of the prominent motifs that you will be challenged to grapple with throughout this series include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Judgment<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When preaching through the Prophets, it would be an expositional crime to simply avoid their harsh themes portraying God\u2019s stance against rebellion. When we succumb to the temptation to sanitize these portions of the Bible, we not only fail to honor the text but we also rob our listeners of important truths. If we present a God who only loves through blessing but never lifts a finger to stop wickedness, we skew what it means that \u201cGod is love.\u201d Love does not let evil triumph, nor does it let its own languish in perpetual oppression. It is precisely because God is holy that he must act against the wicked, and it is precisely because he is love that he must vindicate his people from the wicked. Further, we must understand that it is due to the goodness of God as a Father that he sometimes uses stiff hardships to train his own children (Heb. 12:3-11). Finally, it is the fact that we are rightly subject to judgment ourselves that positions us to appreciate the absolute mercy of our gracious God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jealousy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oprah Winfrey famously rejected the Christian view of God when she heard a preacher talk about God as \u201cjealous.\u201d[1]<\/a> When we have a poor understanding of what the Bible means here, we will stumble over ourselves when it appears in our sermon passages. One advantage of preaching through entire books of the Bible is closing the escape hatch that would allow us to dodge verses like Joel 2:18. But this verse teaches us that God\u2019s jealousy actually incites his demonstration of pity. Surely that\u2019s a good thing! God desires to protect his covenant people and their relationship with him. To call a spouse \u201cjealous\u201d is only pejorative if the danger to the relationship is imaginary. If there is an actual threat, a lack of jealousy would betray a calloused or indifferent heart toward the marriage. God is jealous because he knows what is rightfully his, because he is a covenant protector and because he is faithful to his bride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Day of the Lord<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not easy to discern the precise nature of what is happening in Joel. The plague of locusts described at the outset seems to refer to an actual locust infestation of apocalyptic proportions that devasted the land. Some able interpreters, however, have argued for a figurative plague that poetically describes a human invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Further, as the text looks ahead to a later invasion, you will need to decide if Joel is speaking literally of more locusts, or if he is using literal locusts to prefigure (whether again or for the first time) a national invasion by a human army or if Joel is referring to the final judgment of the Lord and his army against all the nations that rage against him and his own (matching perhaps Rev. 19:14). With regard to the invasion that is future to Joel, we might do well to consider whether these options are mutually exclusive, or if Joel\u2019s prophecy stretches to encompass more than one iteration of fulfillment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However you determine to handle it hermeneutically, your listeners will rightly be disappointed if you simply throw your hands up without even trying, or worse yet, skip over it as if it is not there. Handle the options with humility and charity. In the end, allow the banner theme to remain central: Yahweh is God over his people, and he will demonstrate it in both judgment and deliverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to the tricky discipline of application, there are some issues to be aware of when preaching Joel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Catastrophes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With regard to the plague we should be cautious. Where Joel is aware of specific sin that has brought about specific judgment, we should really pause before drawing such direct lines today between suffering and sin. In a broad sense, however, wars, illnesses, and natural disasters are not unrelated to sinfulness. It is still appropriate to call upon the Lord (1:19), to examine our own homes, churches, and other spheres, and repent where appropriate. Devastating circumstances of all kinds should still prompt lament\u2014possibly even a sense of shame, where it fits\u2014and a drive toward dependence upon our sovereign Lord. We can use this series as an opportunity to teach our congregations that disasters are not disconnected from God\u2019s oversight and they do not negate his shepherding the covenant community. But they do now, as they did then, occasion a time of reflection and trust in our merciful God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Calls to Repentance<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Concerning repentance, there are at least three applicational aspects to it in Joel\u2019s prophecy. First, repentance is a radically interior thing (2:13). Perfunctory prayers or other hollow actions will not get us anywhere with God. But, second, this does not mean that exterior signs of repentance necessarily betray phoniness. Weeping is appropriate when the heart is truly broken over sin (2:12). Worldly sorrow can produce tears, but so can godly sorrow. True mourning over sin begins in the heart and flows out through expression. Third, repentance is not merely an enterprise of the individual. There is something to corporate confession and even fasting (1:13-14) that churches sometimes miss. Often, fasting is overly privatized due to perhaps a strained interpretation of Matthew 6:16-18. There is still a place for fasting in unison especially with regard to longing for our Bridegroom (Matt. 9:15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devouring Fire<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding the judgment of God from a theological perspective is one thing, but applying it in a sermon can also be a particular challenge. And Joel is thick with it. Here you can not only help your listeners understand God\u2019s commitment to judge the wicked for their perversity and antagonism, but you can also help them to see the practical value of this truth. Any person who has ever felt the betrayal of a teacher who looked the other way rather than confronting a bully senses the need for justice. Abusers who gaslight their victims, political leaders who rob their people, sex traffickers and substance abusers who exploit their children to fund their habits (3:3!) will not get away with it!<\/em> God does not leave loose ends (3:21). This fiery doctrine can actually serve as a salve for many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pretending that the gross and violent sins of the world do not surround us or downplaying God\u2019s promises to heap repayment upon them is to leave your listeners wondering if God really cares. The judgment of God is highly valuable for application because our congregations are full of the hurting and the abused and their perpetrators see minimal consequence in many cases. We don\u2019t want to encourage hatred of our abusers or persecutors, but we do want to find solace in God\u2019s justice in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Redemption<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, as a Christian preacher, you want to contextualize Old Testament prophecy to the contemporary New Covenant congregation. We don\u2019t do this by skipping past the original context. Rather, after visiting the original situation carefully, we build a bridge from there to today\u2019s Christian. Graeme Goldsworthy helpfully urges preachers to consider the following redemptive framework when preaching the Prophets [2]<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. They address the covenant breaking of the people in oracles of stinging indictment and accusation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. They warn of the consequences of this folly as they speak of the judgment that has come and will yet come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. They remind people of the covenant faithfulness of God, who will yet act in some conclusive way to bring about his purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those common ingredients in the Prophets\u2019 messages relate to both the original situation as well as today\u2019s believer since we are also in covenant relationship with God. That makes the sharp rebukes relevant, as well as warnings of a future judgment and the current opportunity to repent. Sidney Greidanus reminds us of an enduring truth concerning the Prophets: \u201cGod\u2019s judgments of the past are a sobering reminder to people today that God is utterly serious about destroying the wicked, and his promises of a glorious future are as much a beacon of hope and encouragement for contemporary Christians as they were for ancient Israelites.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The series will both upbraid as well as uplift\u2014Joel sure does that for me. I think of how Joel invites me to take hold of God\u2019s mercy in Christ, continually. I am convicted to take account of my life, to help my congregation take stock of our attitudes and behaviors, and to think about areas that we may need to make right before the Lord. And no matter how much I grow, Joel will always take me into deeper waters of theology. The doctrine of God\u2019s judgment and its related themes are alarming, but I marvel in it. Joel helps me appreciate the rightness of God\u2019s justice and the surprise of God\u2019s mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I treasure how Joel, like the other Prophets, press theology into life. The coming Lord\u2019s Day informs my present every day. Evil continues to haunt our communities in continually shocking ways. Joel gives me a perspective to keep me from giving up on holiness and ministry. I\u2019m no different than many of my congregants who live with deep personal hurts inflicted by the rampant wickedness in this world. But God pours out his Spirit to broadcast himself through us to a world without hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflecting on Joel is a magnificent opportunity to stretch our minds as well as our hearts. Prophecy\u2014sharp edges and all\u2014is always relevant and God\u2019s actions are always in keeping with his holiness, love and splendor. And I believe any congregation will be shaped and matured in important ways sitting under a faithful preaching of Joel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Douglas Stuart, Hosea-Jonah<\/em> Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 31 (Thomas Nelson, 1987).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond Dillard, ed. Thomas E. McComiskey, The Minor Prophets<\/em> (Baker Academic, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Allen Hubbard, Joel & Amos<\/em> Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (IVP Academic, 2009).<\/p>\n\n\n\n [1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/oprah-a-jealous-god\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n [2]<\/a> Graeme Goldsworthy. Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), p. 171.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/chart-joel.jpg?w=640\")
<\/a><\/span>Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Series Title: Joel: Messenger of Warning & Hope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Text: Joel 1:1-20<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Joel 2:1-12a<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Joel 2:12b-17<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Joel 2:18-27<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Joel 2:28-32<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Text: Joel 3:1-21<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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If you decide to preach Joel in one sermon, here is one way you might handle it:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Theological Themes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Application<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
My Encounter with Joel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Commentaries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n