“Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15).
“The day of the LORD,” a phrase used more in Joel than in any other book of the Hebrew Bible, is the central theme of this book (Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11; 2:31; 3:14). The magnitude of this day is, for the prophet, difficult to describe (Joel 2:2, 5, 11). By analogy, he compares the destruction left by the innumerable locusts in Egypt (Exod 10:4, 12-14, 19) to the destruction of the day of the LORD, which the invading armies will bring upon the land of Israel (Joel 1:4, 15).
And because Yeshua is the fullness of God in the flesh, salvation can be found only when we turn to him and call upon his name.
By removing historical markers that would tie the day of the LORD to Israel’s past, the apostles correctly understood Joel’s words as a prophecy of a future day still to come (compare Rev 6:17 with Joel 2:11; Rev 9:3, 7 with Joel 1:4; 2:4).
Because this day is “close” at hand (Joel 1:15; 2:1; 3:14; Rev 1:3; 22:10), Joel and the apostles urge us to prepare. But how does someone prepare for such an awesome and terrible day? According to Joel and the apostles, we must turn back to the LORD in repentance (Joel 2:13; Acts 2:26-38) and call upon his name (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21). And because Yeshua is the fullness of God in the flesh, salvation can be found only when we turn to him and call upon his name.
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED’” (Rom 10:12-13).
