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Joel 2

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Review (Joel 1)

Author: Joel son of Pethuel (verse 1)
Date: Probably between 850-500 BC
Chapter 1:

Locusts are destroying everything, it’s really bad, and everyone needs to repent
What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten. - Joel 1:4 (ESV)
Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord. - Joel 1:14 (ESV)

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Reading

Joel 2:1-11

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Discussion Question (Joel 2:1-11)

What is going on in this section based on all the imagery?

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This first section uses a lot of imagery, which I personally find can be a bit hard to understand. So before we ask any deeper questions, let’s first try and get a grasp on the basics of what is even going on in this section.

Note that there is some debate about whether this section is referring to the past/current locust plague from chapter 1, or if this is referring to a potential future event. There’s also some debate about whether the events in this section refer to another actual locust plaque or toward an actual human army.

Regardless of the answers to those particular questions, I don’t think it really changes the big-picture meaning of this section. Remember from last week that the “snapshots” that Joel may be writing about here aren’t necessarily in a strictly chronological order.

What we see here is some kind of army (some translations use the word “army” more often; others leave this conclusion more up to reading the warlike imagery throughout this section) coming from the LORD. And it’s clearly a strong army - one that leaves much devastation in its wake (verse 3). The army appears to be well-trained and disciplined, focused on their mission (verses 7-9).

This section ends with some statements that I think emphasize God’s presence behind this army. If the previous statements could potentially be seen as something even a “normal” human army could do, verse 10 at least includes some deviations from what might be considered the “natural order” of things (i.e. things only God could do). And this section ends with an important rhetorical question - Who can endure the day of the Lord?

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Discussion Question (Joel 2:1-11)

Why is this the “day of the LORD”?

(what does “day of the LORD” mean and why is this applicable

to the situation described in these verses?)

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Taking all the references to “day of the LORD” together (see below), I think it would be reasonable to summarize the meaning as “a time when God manifests His authority, often involving judgment”. Judgment is a natural outcome that flows out of God manifesting authority as Creator, Owner, and Lord over a world filled with sinful humans (given that God is holy, perfect, righteous, and just).

The following are all of the similar references to “day of the LORD” in the Bible (using the ESV). Note that this shouldn’t be considered a fully exhaustive list of places the Bible discusses this same thing - in particular, there are very likely other more generic references (“the day”, “that day”, etc.) that refer to the same thing. The references listed below are mostly confined just to the phrase “day of the LORD” for simplicity and conciseness for today’s discussion:

Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes. - Joel 1:15 (ESV)
The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it? - Joel 2:10-11 (ESV)
The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. - Joel 2:31 (ESV)
Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. - Joel 3:14-17 (ESV)
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it...The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low...And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. And the idols shall utterly pass away. And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. - Isaiah 2:2-19 (ESV)
They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!...Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless...Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger. - Isaiah 13:5-13 (ESV)
That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. - Jeremiah 46:10 (ESV)
You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. - Ezekiel 13:5 (ESV)
For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Cush, when the slain fall in Egypt, and her wealth is carried away, and her foundations are torn down...“On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt's doom; for, behold, it comes! - Ezekiel 30:3-9 (ESV)
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? - Amos 5:18-20 (ESV)
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. - Obadiah 1:15 (ESV)
Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice—“I will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud. “On that day,” declares the Lord, “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’ Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements. I will bring distress on mankind, so that they shall walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth. - Zephaniah 1:7-18 (ESV)
Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one...And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other...Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths...And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day. - Zechariah 14:1-21 (ESV)
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” - Malachi 4:1-5 (ESV)
But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ - Acts 2:16-21 (ESV)
you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. - 1 Corinthians 5:5 (ESV)
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 (ESV)
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 (ESV)
knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. - 2 Peter 3:3-10 (ESV)

Also of interest here, some of the imagery here in reminiscent of God’s coming on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 (clouds, mountains, trumpets, etc.) - On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. - Exodus 19:16 (ESV). There isn’t necessarily a direct relation between all of those details, but it would not be surprising to see prophets to the Israelites call back to well-known “physical” kinds of phenomenon already associated with God coming to visit - it would be almost immediately recognizable as God to a people who effectively got their national identity from Him from similar events.

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Reading

Joel 2:12-17

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Discussion Question (Joel 2:12-17)

What is the expected response of the people to

“the day of the LORD” and why?

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The expected response as outlined in this section is to repent - this is described in many ways throughout this section. A few specific notes:

Verse 13 mentions to “rend your hearts, not your garments”. Rending (tearing) garments was a common way to show anguish and remorse. However, what’s more important than the outward act here is that they truly feel this way and repent in their hearts - their innermost being.
No one is exempt from participating in this solemn assembly of repentance (verses 16-17). The description of a bride and groom (verse 16) is to emphasize the greater importance of this repentance - enough to draw them out of their normal places of preparation before their wedding.

Why is this the response expected from the people that God is communicating through Joel? I think there are a few key reasons mentioned in this section:

First, verses 13-14 mentions that God might relent from this judgment just being warned of. A lot of the description just given earlier in this chapter serves to emphasize that no one can endure God’s power should He unleash it. So one reason to respond this way is that the people might be spared from God’s judgment on this day. There’s not necessarily a guarantee of that from these verses, but the people would at least have a better shot.

Note that one potential outcome of God’s relenting here is that He might give them a blessing - specifically valuable offerings with which to serve/worship Him (verse 14). Just because God relents doesn’t mean we’re free to go off and do whatever we want - we’re expected to still worship Him. Romans 3-6 discusses similar ideas in how we should not sin but instead do good.
Note how this possibility for relenting is rooted in God’s character - “for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (verse 13). The fact that similar statements are repeated many times throughout the Old Testament (see https://biblehub.com/psalms/86-15.htm for a few examples) is no accident. Because of these characteristics of God, He gives people plenty of time and opportunity to repent and turn to Him (Romans 2:4). We should not be surprised if we see God delay or be slow in judgment (from our perspective) for we recognize His working during these times to bring people to repentance (2 Peter 3:4-9).

Second, verse 17 poses a question. If God did have to destroy His people, that would result in other nations denigrating God’s name. Thus, the people should repent because they love the LORD their God and don’t want to see His name smeared by other nations.

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Reading

Joel 2:18-27

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Discussion Questions (Joel 2:18-27)

What is God’s response to the previously

described repentance?

How should the people respond to God’s response?

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We see that God becomes jealous/zealous (https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7065.htm) for His land and spares His people. Furthermore, He blesses them with restoration of crops (verses 18, 24-26).

We also see God’s power and authority on display in removal of the northerner (verse 20). Regardless of whether this is an army of locusts or a human army, God’s power and authority are on display (remember how powerful a locust army was from last week - but God has control of them).

I’m reminded of the contrast described in Exodus 20:

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. - Exodus 20:5-6 (ESV)

God takes sin seriously - it needs to be properly dealt with. But He’s also abundantly loving, gracious, and generous to those who love Him.

The people are told to fear not but to rejoice and be glad (verses 21-23). This is supposed to be rooted in God and result in praise of Him (verse 26) - furthermore, they are supposed to come to a better knowledge of God (verse 27).

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Reading

Joel 2:28-32

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Discussion Question (Joel 2:28-32)

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. - Joel 2:28-29 (ESV)

Particularly for an Israelite, what’s special about this pouring out of the Spirit?

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If you look throughout the Old Testament, you’ll see that God’s Spirit was typically only given to about 1 person at a time (at least that we have recorded) - the fact that God would pour out His Spirit upon all people, regardless of status, is quite an incredible, spectacular, and wonderful thing to be welcomed.

Back in Numbers 11, God has Moses bring 70 elders to anoint them with some of His Spirit:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone...So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” - Numbers 11:16-29 (ESV)

What we see here is probably one of the largest givings of the Spirit recorded in the Old Testament, and it’s given to specific people - elders. But note the statement that Moses makes at the end - how He wishes that God would put His Spirit on all His people. So the statement that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh could be seen as a wonderful consummation of what Moses wished for all the way back in Numbers 11.

When we see God give His Spirit elsewhere in the Old Testament, it’s generally recorded as being only to a single person or very small number of people at once, which makes the pouring out of the Spirit on such a large number of people even more spectacular (note some of these references are more tentative than others - i.e. they might not be strictly a giving of God’s Spirit; hard to say in some circumstances; I’ve also only generally covered through the time of David due to the uncertainty about exactly when Joel was written):

And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” - Genesis 41:38 (ESV)
“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, - Exodus 31:2-3 (ESV)
Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, - Exodus 35:30-31 (ESV)
And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him, - Number 24:2 (ESV)
So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. - Number 27:18 (ESV)
But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. - Judges 3:9-10 (ESV)
But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. - Judges 6:34 (ESV)
Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. - Judges 11:29 (ESV)
And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol. - Judges 13:24-25 (ESV)
Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. - Judges 14:5-6 (ESV)
And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house. - Judges 14:19 (ESV)
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his arms became as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. - Judges 15:14 (ESV)
Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. - 1 Samuel 10:6 (ESV)
When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. - 1 Samuel 10:10 (ESV)
And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. - 1 Samuel 11:6 (ESV)
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. - 1 Samuel 16:13-14 (ESV)
Then Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. - 1 Samuel 19:20 (ESV)
And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. - 1 Samuel 19:23 (ESV)
Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. - 2 Samuel 23:1-2 (ESV)

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Reference in Acts 2

Peter references Joel 2:28-32 in Acts 2 (“But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel…”)
Peter then relates what’s just happened to Jesus:

this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men...Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. - Acts 2:23-34 (ESV)

People ask Peter & apostles what they should do:

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” - Acts 2:38-39 (ESV)

Paul references this in connection of salvation to all by faith - Jew and Gentile:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:13 (ESV)

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I want to close by taking a brief look at how this ending of Joel (Joel 2:28-32) is referenced in the New Testament - specifically how Peter references this in Acts 2.

The context here is that the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, and Jews visiting Jerusalem hear the apostles speaking in other languages. Peter specifically mentions that outpouring of the Holy Spirit is what God spoke through the prophet Joel. He then moves on to relate this to Jesus.

After talking about this, the people ask what they should do in response to this. Peter gives a response - repent and be baptized, and you will receive the Holy Spirit. Later in his letter to the Romans, Paul also loosely references this part of Joel in connection to everyone - both Jew and Gentile - being able to be saved by faith in Christ.

I conclude with this because it presents application that is still very much applicable to us today. The final, ultimate “day of the LORD” has not yet arrived yet - but it is still coming. We’ve seen in Joel 2 how God has relented from some destruction and saved those who have truly repented and called to Him. So the application for us is that it’s still important for us to spread the message of the Gospel, calling people to repent and turn to God through Christ. For God has offered salvation to those who believe. But for those who don’t, His wrath still remains.

We’re not really going to get into the details on the sun being darkened, moon being turned to blood, etc. today. There’s a lot I don’t think we know about the details of this (I certainly don’t). But these ideas aren’t isolated to this section of Joel. You can do your own research to learn more about them. Some related passages to this include:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. - Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV) (also see Mark 13, Luke 21)
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. - Revelation 6:12-13 (ESV)
Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. - Isaiah 13:9-10 (ESV)

For more related verses, see https://biblehub.com/joel/2-31.htm