Wikipedia.org: The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible – Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets or simply as The Twelve; the *distinction ‘minor’ indicates the short length of the text in relation to the larger prophetic texts [Isaiah, Jeremiah, The Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel] known as the “Major Prophets” – As there are no explicit references in the book [of Joel] to datable persons or events, scholars have assigned a wide range of dates to the book – The main positions are: during the early-period Prophets around the reign of King Joash – the middle-period prophets with the Prophets Jeremiah and Habakkuk – the late-period of prophets with the Prophets Zechariah and Haggai] – c.520-500 B.C., [Joel a] contemporary with the return of the exiles and the careers of Zechariah and Haggai [or most probably (450 B.C.) a generation after Zechariah and Haggai (520-500 B.C.) and a generation before the last Prophet Malachi (400 B.C.)

Content: After a superscription ascribing the prophecy to Joel son of Pethuel, the book may be broken down into the following sections: Lament over a great locust plague and a severe drought (1:1-2:17) The effects of these events on agriculture, farmers, and on the supply of agricultural offerings for the (Jerusalem) sanctuary, interspersed with a call to national lament.(1:1-20) A more apocalyptic passage comparing the locusts to an army, and revealing that they are God's army. (2:1-11) A call to national repentance in the face of God's judgment. (2:12-17) Promise of future blessings (2:18-32) Banishment of the locusts and restoration of agricultural productivity as a divine response to national penitence. (2:18-27) Future prophetic gifts to all God's people, and the safety of God's people in the face of cosmic cataclysm. (2:28-32) Coming judgment on God's (Israel's) enemies and the vindication of Israel. (3:1-21) Prominent in Joel is the theme of the day of the Lord/Yahweh (1:15, 2;1, 2:11, 2;31, 3:14), which is applied to Joel's contemporary situation as well as to future blessing and judgment. -- Historical context: The Prophet Joel as imagined by Michelangelo (Fresco, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-1512) As there are no explicit references in the book to datable persons or events, scholars have assigned a wide range of dates to the book. The main positions are: Ninth century BC, particularly in the reign of Joash - a position especially popular among nineteenth-century scholars (making Joel one of the earliest writing prophets) c.630-587 BC, in the last decades of the kingdom of Judah (contemporary with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk) c.520-500 BC, contemporary with the return of the exiles and the careers of Zechariah and Haggai. The decades around 400 BC, during the Persian period (making him one of the latest writing prophets) Evidence produced for these positions are allusions in the book to the wider world, similarities with other prophets, and linguistic details. Other commentators, such as John Calvin, attach no great importance to the precise dating. [link]

Book of Joel – The Book of Joel, a prophetic book of the Old Testament of the Bible, derives its name from the prophet Joel. Nothing other than his name is known about the prophet. The date of composition was probably between 400 and 350 BC, although some scholars place it much earlier 9th-7th century BC – Promises the gift of the [Holy] Spirit of the Lord for the entire [world] population and declares final judgment on all nations – The passage on the outpouring of God’s Spirit (Joel 2:28-32) is cited in Saint Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:17-21

General Information: The Book of Joel, a prophetic book of the Old Testament of the Bible, derives its name from the prophet Joel. Nothing other than his name is known about the prophet. The date of composition was probably between 400 and 350 BC, although some scholars place it much earlier (9th - 7th century BC). The book falls into two sections. The first (1:1 - 2:17) gives an account of a plague of locusts and a drought that ravaged Judah as a symbol of divine judgment. The second (2:18 - 3:21) promises the gift of the spirit of the Lord for the entire population and declares final judgment on all nations, with protection and fertility for Judah and Jerusalem. The passage on the outpouring of God's Spirit (2:28 - 32) is cited in Saint Peter's Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:17-21. -- Advanced Information: Joel was probably a resident in Judah, as his commission was to that people. He makes frequent mention of Judah and Jerusalem (1:14; 2:1, 15, 32; 3:1, 12, 17, 20, 21). He probably flourished in the reign of Uzziah (about B.C. 800), and was contemporary with Amos and Isaiah. The contents of this book are, 1. A prophecy of a great public calamity then impending over the land, consisting of a want of water and an extraordinary plague of locusts (1:1-2:11). 2. The prophet then calls on his countrymen to repent and to turn to God, assuring them of his readiness to forgive (2:12-17), and foretelling the restoration of the land to its accustomed fruitfulness (18-26). 3. Then follows a Messianic prophecy, quoted by Peter (Acts 2:39). 4. Finally, the prophet foretells portents and judgments as destined to fall on the enemies of God (ch. 3, but in the Hebrew text 4). [link]

Joel 1 – The Prophet Joel begins to prophesy though the exact timing is unknown although no King is mentioned meaning that it was probably after the return from Babylon though it could have been much earlier during the reign of King Joash when he was but a child – Joel preaches with examples from very far in the past and prophesies out very far into the future including the 70 A.D. destruction of the 2nd Temple and speaks about their future return to Israel Statehood on May 14, 1948 — ‘Joel 1:1-5 The Word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men [elders, leaders of Israel], and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. That which the palmerworm hath left hath [another plague] the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath [yet another plague] the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath [even more plague] the caterpillar eaten. **Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine [worldly influences], because of the New Wine [New Testament]; for it is cut off from your mouth.’

Joel seems to be prophesying of the Roman occupation in Israel and of the destruction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. -- Joel 1:6-16 For a Nation [Rome: 63 B.C.~640 A.D. -- Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. then an Islamic invasion captured Jerusalem in 638 A.D. and the rest of Israel by 642 A.D. - Wiki.com] is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the House [2nd Temple] of our God?

Joel 2 – Joel prophesies the verse that the Apostle Peter declared (Acts 2:16) is being fulfilled beginning on Pentecost — ‘Joel 2:28-29 And it shall come to pass afterward [after Messiah’s redemption (cross) and salvation (resurrection)], that I will pour out My [Holy] Spirit **upon *all *flesh [globally all mankind]; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.’ – Note: This is a global outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh – since Pentecost all mankind has the direct witness of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:15, 1 John 5:6) leading, encouraging and teaching people to accept Jesus Christ .

Joel 2:28-32 And it shall come to pass afterward [after Messiah's redemption (cross) and salvation (resurrection)], that I will pour out My [Holy] Spirit **upon *all *flesh [globally all mankind]; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will shew wonders [Book of Revelation] in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. **And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the LORD **shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion [crucifixion and resurrection site] and in Jerusalem [2nd Coming site] shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. - Note: The giving of the Holy Spirit "upon" all mankind starting at Pentecost (in every language - to all Nations) will remain throughout the End Times, Tribulation and Great Tribulation events in the Book of Revelation. The giving of the Spirit (baptism) "indwelling" of the Spirit by Jesus beginning on Resurrection Sunday [John 20:22]the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will cease with the Rapture of the Christian Church.

Joel 3 – Like Isaiah (Isaiah 11:11) Joel also Prophesies of the 1948 re-gathering and Statehood of the modern End Time Nation of Israel — ‘Joel 3:1-2 For, behold, in those days [diaspora after 70 A.D.], and in that time [May 14, 1948 Israel, Statehood], when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all Nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people [Jews] and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the Nations, and parted [divided] my land.’ [with the politics of Middle-East peace accords and conferences – Paris Peace Conference, 1919 – Oslo Accord, 1993 – etc.]

The Bibles book of Joel concludes with the Prophet Joel's famous "Valley of Decision" Prophesy on of the most famous prophesies in the Old Testament and one of the Most startling Prophesies: Joel 3:9-21 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. ***Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the Children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, My Holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down New Wine [New Testament], and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the House of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah [Praise] shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. **For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.