Joel 3:21

God’s final promise through Joel was that He would avenge the blood shed by these enemies of Israel, which He had not yet avenged in the prophet’s day. He promised to do this because He dwelt in Zion, that is, He had a special covenant relationship with Israel (cf. Ezekiel 43:1-12; Zechariah 2:10-13).

"Joel 3:1-21 [Joel 4:1-21] became the classic passage for the rest of the OT on God’s final judgment on all nations. It also became the classic statement for the blessed result for the people of God." [Note: Kaiser, p. 190. The reference in brackets in this quotation appears in Kaiser’s book and represents the versification in the Hebrew text. In the Hebrew text, there are four chapters in Joel: Joel 1:1-20; Joel 2:1-27; Joel 3:1-5; and Joel 4:1-21.]

The prophecy of Joel unfolds in chronological sequence. It begins with reference to a severe locust invasion that had come as a judgment on the Judahites for their covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh (Joel 1:2-20). Even though it is impossible to date this plague, it happened in the fairly recent past from Joel’s perspective. The Lord used this severe judgment to call His people, through His prophet, to anticipate an even worse devastation coming in the near future, not from insects but from foreign invaders. He called on the Jews to repent and promised that if they did He would forgive them and save them from this invasion. This would be a day of deliverance in which they would learn that He was at work for them. This is what happened when the Assyrians under Sennacherib’s leadership attacked Jerusalem unsuccessfully in 701 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 18-19; Isaiah 36-37). If this is the near invasion that Joel predicted, he must have written in the early pre-exilic period (ninth century B.C.). Yet another similar day was coming farther in the future in which they would again experience an invasion by foreigners who hated them (in the Tribulation). Nevertheless Yahweh promised to deliver them in that day and to restore them to unprecedented blessing because He was their covenant-keeping God (in the Millennium).