Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 24:69 (Autumn 2020)
Article: The Day Of The Lord In The Book Of Joel
Author: Henry Vosburgh

JODT 24:69 (Autumn 2020) p. 161

The Day Of The Lord In The Book Of Joel

Henry Vosburgh

* Henry Vosburgh, M.B.S., D.Min, executive director, Midwest Church Extension, Remington, Indiana

The book of Joel is the second book of the Minor Prophets as organized in the English canon of the Old Testament. The three-chapter prophecy is focused on the doctrinal concept known as the Day of the Lord. The phrase itself is used five times in the book (1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; 3:14), with two additional verses noting “days” and “day” respectively as being additional references to the same (3:1, 18). The remainder of the book contains material that explains and amplifies this prophetic theme.

Concerning the Day of the Lord, Joel’s contribution to a right understanding of this major reality within biblical eschatology is significant. Joel is the earliest of the many canonical writers to speak of this day, a fact which by default merits one’s thorough study of his book as a source to begin one’s understanding of this end-times truth. Joel “alone introduces the truth concerning the many features of the day of the Lord.”1 Therefore, to understand Joel is to understand the foundation upon which the Day of the Lord is built as vital eschatological doctrine within the Scriptures.

The article herein exegetically processes the information found in Joel about the Day of the Lord by moving through four perspectives. First is the narrowest perspective in which the term as Joel identifies it is defined. The second perspective analyzes the syntactical descriptions within Joel’s text that immediately accompany the term. Thirdly, the contexts in which the term is used for additional explanation provided by the prophet are examined. Fourthly, it observes Joel’s uses of the Day of the Lord which establish it as the overall theme of the book. The conclusion of this exegetical process will demonstrate that the Day of the Lord is a future period of time when the Lord will be supremely exalted as God over all creation, as the Divine Judge who vanquishes every wicked enemy, and as the loving, merciful, faithful God who makes good on his promises to

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