Locusts are called a nation, a people, and an army. Their teeth are like those of lions, their appearance like horses, and their sound like chariots of an army drawn up for battle. The Interpreter’s Bible quotes an authority on locust control as saying: “Joel’s description of a locust invasion has never been surpassed for its dramatic accuracy of detail.”a Listen now as Joel prophesies of the fear-inspiring day of Jehovah.

CONTENTS OF JOEL

6. What terrible vision does Joel first see?

⁶ Insect invasion strips the land; day of Jehovah near (1:1–2:11). What a terrible vision of calamity Joel sees! A devastating onslaught by the caterpillar, the locust, the creeping unwinged locust, and the cockroach. Vines and fig trees have been stripped bare, and starvation stalks the land. There are no grain or drink offerings for the house of Jehovah. Joel warns the priests and ministers of God to repent. “Alas for the day,” he cries out, “because the day of Jehovah is near, and like a despoiling from the Almighty One it will come!” (1:15) Animals wander in confusion. Flames have scorched the pastureland and trees, and the wilderness has been seared by fire.

7. How is Jehovah’s invading military force described?

⁷ Sound the alert! “Blow a horn in Zion, O men, and shout a war cry in my holy mountain.” (2:1) The day of Jehovah is near, a day of darkness and thick gloom. Look! A people numerous and mighty. They turn the Edenlike land into a desolate wilderness. Nothing escapes. Like horses and with a sound like chariots on the mountaintops they run. Like a people in battle order they rush into the city, climbing on walls and houses and through windows. The land is agitated and the heavens rock. Jehovah is in command of this numerous military force. “The day of Jehovah is great and very fear-inspiring, and who can hold up under it?”​—2:11.

13. (a) What striking similarities can be seen between Joel and Revelation? (b) What parallels to Joel are to be found with other prophecies?

¹³ Striking similarities can be seen between the locust plague described by Joel and the plague prophesied in Revelation chapter 9. Again the sun is darkened. The locusts resemble horses prepared for battle, they make a sound like that of chariots, and they have teeth like those of lions. (Joel 2:4, 5, 10; 1:6; Rev. 9:2, 7-9)