A message the Lord God
revealed to Joel the prophet:
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; 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 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 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 and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.-Joel 2:15-32***Joel the prophet was an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, and Isaac and Rebekah's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel). The Israelite king who reigned and the political atmosphere of Joel's lifetime is not described in the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible. However, based upon the prophecies Joel proclaimed, Joel was apparently not alive during the reign of King Saul, the 1st king to reign over the Israelites in the Promised Land. Moreover, Joel was not alive during the reign of King David, the 2nd king to reign over all of the Israelites, and Joel was not alive during the reign of David's son and successor King Solomon, the 3rd king to reign. The messages spoken by Joel involved Judah, the southern nation in the Promised Land. Judah was a kingdom that did not exist until after Solomon's son and successor King Rehoboam gave a specific answer and the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city, and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city, and Jeroboam was the 1st king to reign. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites to Assyria. During the 9th year of the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern kingdom, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. The wickedness throughout Judah became worse than the wickedness that had occurred in the northern nation. The Assyrians tried to conquer Judah. Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Hezekiah was the 12th king to rule Judah, and Hezekiah paid King Sennacherib and his Assyrian army to leave. Sennacherib later sent an envoy with threats and a threatening letter to Jerusalem. Thus, Hezekiah sent a group of officials and priests to Isaiah the prophet with a message and a request that Isaiah pray to the Lord God. Moreover, Hezekiah went to the temple of the Lord and prayed to the Lord God. The Lord God sent an angel, and the angel put 185,000 Assyrians to death. In Nineveh, Assyria, Sennacherib was killed by 2 his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer. Joel wanted the Israelites to join together, take sacred action and repent. Hezekiah's great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, incluiding Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. During the 11th year of the reign of Jehoiakim's brother King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Jacob's 4th born son Judah, the tribe of David, Solomon and all of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 8:1-40, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah 1:1-31, 36:1-39:8, Joel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26