Joel
Memory Verse: “Turn to me with all your
heart” Joel 2:12
Key Facts
Author: Joel, a prophet of
Purpose: National repentance and its
blessings.
Date: Uncertain
Key
phrase: “The Day
of the Lord”
Lesson #1: A Time of Judgments:
plague of locusts. Joel 1:4-9
“What the locust swarm has left the great
locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have
eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because
of the new wine for it has been snatched from your lips. A nation has invaded my land, powerful and
without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness. It ha laid waste my vines and ruined my fig
trees. It has stripped off their bark
and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.
Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving
for the husband of her youth. Grain
offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests are in mourning, those who
minister before the Lord.”
1.
What
insects ate their crops? (vs.4 all sizes of locusts)
2.
How
did the people get their food back in the Old Testament times? (talk about
grocery stores of today; discuss how storing food was different before
refrigeration; food was gathered from the fields and sold in open markets)
3.
Would
you eat food that had been eaten by insects? Have you ever eaten a piece of
fruit that had a worm in it? (let the children think about that)
4.
If
we had no grocery stores, how would we get food? (grow it in a garden, fields,
or farms)
5.
What
would happen if the locusts/bugs ate all of the foods from the fields? What
would we have left to eat? (that would take care of all of the fruits and
vegetables; vitamins and minerals would be gone)
6.
What
does “judgment” mean and how is it used in the bible? (Judgment was a means of
getting the people’s attention that had turned their back on God. The judgments brought the people to their
knees in repentance).
Summary: In the Old Testament, God
brought prophets to his people to call his people to repentance by issuing
warnings of plagues. If his people would
repent and turn their hearts back to God, God would forgive them. We can do the same today. God will forgive us any time when we repent
and turn our hearts back to God.
Lesson #2: A Time of Judgment:
The severe drought. Joel 1:10-18
‘The
fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine
is dried up, the oil fails. Despair, you
farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because
the harvest of the field is destroyed.
The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the
palm and the apple tree – all the trees of the field – are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.
Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn;
wail, you who minister before the altar.
Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for
the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your
God. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred
assembly. Summon the elders and all who
live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.
Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come
like destruction from the Almighty.
Has not the food been cut off before our
very eyes – joy and gladness from the house of our God? The seeds are shriveled beneath the
clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the
granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up. How the cattle moan! The herds mill about
because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.”
1.
What
is a drought? (An extended period of time when there is no rain causing the
lakes and rivers to dry up.)
2.
How
can a drought affect the food supplies? (crops would dry up and die; fish in
the rivers would die; animals would perish without water or food)
3.
Do
you think that a drought would get the sinful people’s attention? (yes – there
is nothing like fear to bring people to prayer)
4.
Is
there anything that you are afraid of? (ask the children to talk about what
scares them in today’s world).
5.
Do
you think that God can allow bad things to happen in your life to get your
attention? (talk about your own personal story when God had to get your
attention).
6.
Why
do you think bad things happen to good people? (God develops your character
through difficult situations. Do not ask
“why me”, ask “what can I learn from this?)
Summary: Sometimes God uses situations
to get our attention. He can utilize
difficult times to teach us and to draw us close to him.
Lesson #3: Repentance. Joel 2:
12-19
“‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to
me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is
gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents
from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a
blessing – grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord you God.
Blow
the trumpet in
Then the Lord will be jealous for his land
and take pity on his people. The Lord
will reply to them: ‘I am sending you
grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make
you an object of scorn to the nations.’”
1.
How
did the people repent? (turn to God with all your heart, with fasting, and with
weeping and mourning. Discuss what each of these terms means.)
2.
When
we repent, how does God respond? (vs.13 he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger
and of great kindness).
3.
What
does it mean to be “slow to anger”?
4.
Are
you someone who is slow to anger or are you quick to anger?
5.
How
can anger hurt relationships? (people will avoid you, anger can cause pain)
6.
How
should you deal with your anger? (count to 10; breathe a few deep breathes;
give your anger to the Lord).
7.
What
did God do for his people? (vs. 19 I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and
you shall be satisfied).
Summary: God can see a truly repentant
heart. He can also see a heart that is
not repentant. True repentance brings
God’s love and mercy. It will do the
same for your family and friends. Learn
how to say that you are sorry from your heart.
Lesson #4: The Lord will do great
things. Joel 2:21-27
“Surely he has done great things. Be not afraid, O Land; be glad and
rejoice. Surely the Lord has done great
things. Be not afraid, O wild animals,
for the open pastures are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their
riches. Be glad, O people of
The threshing floors will be filled with
grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
‘I will repay you for the years the
locusts have eaten – the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts
and the locust swarm – my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are
full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders
for you; never again will my people be shamed.
Then you will know that I am in
1.
The
people had faced the judgments of locusts, drought, and great armies. However, if they would turn their hearts back
to God, what are some of things that he promised them? (v. 22 trees would bear
fruit, v. 23 rains, v.24 brings back the wheat, wine, and oil, vs. 25 restores
the food).
2.
Verse
26 states that “ye shall eat plenty and be satisfied”. What does it take to
satisfy you? (this should be an interesting response from the kids – try to get
them to think about the basics: food, shelter, clothing, and family love).
3.
Our
world tries to convince us that we need “stuff” to be happy. What are some examples of “stuff” that you
think you need to be happy? (one more pair of shoes, one more outfit, one more
CD, one more ice cream, one more….)
4.
What
does God want us to be satisfied with? (The bible says that he will provide for
our needs – not our wants – but our needs.
The bible says to be content in all situations).
5.
What
is God’s provision for you? (have the kids think about all that God has
provided for them – family, home, clothes, brothers/sisters, teachers, a
church)
Summary: We need to rejoice and be glad
for what the Lord provides for us. Let’s try to be happy with what we have and
not keep looking for more to satisfy our wants.
Lesson #5: Miracles promised.
Joel 2:28-32
“And afterward, I
will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions. Even on
my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the
earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the
Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be
deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
1.
Who
is the Holy Spirit? (Trinity: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit).
2.
What
is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? (God will pour out his Holy Spirit upon
those who ask; the Holy Spirit can live within us and provide guidance and
peace).
3.
What
does v. 28 say that the Holy Spirit can do when the spirit falls upon people?
(prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions)
4.
What
else does vs. 30 state? (God will show wonders in the heavens and the earth).
5.
What
does vs. 32 say can happen when we call on the name of the Lord? (people shall
be delivered – talk about what that means in today’s world).
6.
We
can call on the Lord at any time of the day for help. Is there something that you would like to
pray about that you need God’s help with today?
Summary: God provides his Holy Spirit to
dwell among us and with us. The Holy
Spirit is an extension of God here on earth.
When Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit descended to be God’s presence here
with us.
*The scriptures used for this study were
taken from the “Young Women of Faith Bible New International Version” published
in 2001 by the Zondervan Corporation.
