Joel was a Hebrew prophet whose book begins with a devastating locust plague, calls the people to rend their hearts and return to God, and foretells the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh.
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Joel, whose name יוֹאֵל means "Yahweh is God," ministered during the prophetic era, though the precise date of his work is debated, with traditions placing him among the earlier or later prophets. His message opens with an unprecedented locust plague—an invading swarm described as God's army that strips the land bare, serving as a vivid emblem of divine judgment. Using this catastrophe as a wake-up call, Joel urged the people to lament, fast, and gather the elders and all inhabitants at the house of the LORD for weeping. In response to the devastation, Joel issued a piercing summons: do not merely tear garments as outward show, but rend your hearts and truly turn to the LORD. He grounded this call in the very character of God—gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindess, one who relents from sending the calamity He threatened. This confession of God's merciful nature echoes the self-revelation at Sinai in Exodus 34 and the Psalms of David. After proclaiming judgment and calling for repentance, Joel's horizon expands to "afterward," when God promises to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh—so that sons and daughters prophesy, old men dream dreams, and young men see visions. The apostle Peter quoted this prophecy at Pentecost as the fulfillment of the Spirit's outpouring in the messianic era. Joel's lasting legacy lies in elevating a local locust invasion into a universal theological lesson: true repentance is the breaking of the heart rather than the tearing of clothing, and God's ultimate purpose is to pour out His Spirit upon all humanity.