Bible 101: Lesson 27

Joel

Joel means “Yahweh is God” and is named as the son of Pethuel. Because nothing is known about the man, who is not mentioned elsewhere in the scriptures, it is impossible to date the book with certainty. It was probably written around 900 years before the coming of Christ, because the enemies mentioned, the Philistines, Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Edomites, were the enemies of an earlier period as contrast to the Assyrians and Babylonians who defeated the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

Joel is divided into two parts. In 1:1 – 2:17 Joel addresses a condition of locust-plague and drought to call the people to repentance. In 2:18 – 3:21 God’s mercy heals the land and brings blessing to his people and punishment to their enemies. A major theme of the book is “the Day of the Lord” – a prophetic picture of God’s judgment coming upon the earth. Jesus made many references to the day of God’s judging, and other references to the “day of the Lord” are scattered throughout the epistles of Paul and Peter. Peter also refers to the verse cited below to explain what had happened on the day of Pentecost. Note that all people are included in the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Messianic prophecies in Joel

Promise of the Spirit
OT References: Joel 2:28-32
NT Fulfillment: Acts 2:17-21

Bible 101: Lesson 26

Hosea

Hosea was the last prophet God raised up in Israel to try to get the people to repent. He warned them of the disastrous consequences of their sins, and lived to see the fulfillment of his warnings in the exile to Assyria.

God used Hosea’s life as a parable to show Israel that he was like a loving husband who longed to have a faithful wife. He directed Hosea to marry a prostitute and have children with her. Gomer proved to be an unfaithful wife, and out of three children born in their marriage, only one was Hosea’s. After she had left Hosea and gotten into trouble, he purchased her back again a second time. All of this was an object lesson to Israel, who had been just as faithless to God, but who longed to show them His love and compassion despite their treatment of Him.

Messianic prophecies in Hosea

Israel restored
OT References: Hos 3:5
NT Fulfillment: Rom 11:25-27

Flight into Egypt
OT References: Hos 11:1
NT Fulfillment: Matt 2:15