Questions about Joel 2:1-11

  1. What is the common name applied to the event that is described in Joel 2?
    1. The end of the World.
      • It will seem like the end of the world, but this is not the end. This is the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord, the day that the Lord officially comes to liberate Israel from her enemies.
    2. The Great Judgment Day.
      • No, this is not the great judgment day. Please see (a.) above.
    3. Right Answer!The battle of Armageddon.
      • This is the best answer. While the name "the battle of Armageddon", strictly speaking is not correct, it is nonetheless the best answer here. Joel two is a partial revelation of the destruction of all of the world's army that are poised to destroy Israel. It is evident from Scripture that the world's armies will use Armageddon as a staging area just prior to battle. From Armageddon the army will then go into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the final battle with actually take place.
      • Revelation 16:14-16
        They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
        15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
        16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. (NIV)
      • Joel 3:2
        I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. (NIV)
    4. None of the above.
      • No, (c.) is the best answer

     

     

  2. What great sign will signal that this day has arrived?
    1. Right Answer!The sun, moon, and stars will be darkened.
      • Yes, this is right.
      • Joel 2:10-11
        Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? (NIV)
    2. Lightening will flash across the whole world.
      • No, this is not correct.
    3. Jesus will appear to many people in may places.
      • No, in fact Jesus warns very strongly not to believe the reports of Christ here and there. There will be many such reports, we must not believe them. Jesus said his official Coming will be unmistakable.
    4. The sun will stop in the sky for twenty three hours.
      • No, the sun did stop for maybe this long for Israel at the time that Joshua was Israel's judge.

     

     

  3. Who leads the army described in Joel 2:2?
    1. Jesus.
      • No, this might seem to be the correct answer, but it is not. Jesus is the King of kings and everything ultimately happens through him, but from the perspective of the world Jesus is not the leader of the army, the beast is along with his false prophet.
    2. Gabriel, God's Warrior.
      • No.
    3. Michael.
      • This is not the battle that Michael leads in Revelation chapter twelve.
    4. Right Answer!The beast and his false prophet.
      • Yes, the beast and the false prophet are leading this assault against Israel.

     

     

  4. What is meant by saying, "They have the APPEARANCE of horses; they gallop along LIKE cavalry."?
    1. Right Answer!This is symbolic language that describes the essence of what will occur, but not exactly what will occur.
      • Yes. Understanding how to determine figurative language from literal can some times be confusing. When words like "appearance of horses", or "like" are used then it is usually figurative or symbolic. If a passage can be reasonably taken as literal then it should. In this example from Joel we see figurative language being used, so we can understand that the army will not actually be riding horses, but rather the modern equivalent.
      • Joel 2:4-5
        They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry. 5 With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. (NIV)
      • Now contrast this with the following account of the attack of God and Magog from Ezekiel.
      • Ezekiel 38:15
        You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. (NIV)
      • In this example there is not the appearance of horses, but they are RIDING ON HORSES. This is nonfigurative; this is literal.
    2. The army will be riding actual horses and attack in cavalry charges.
      • No, see (a.) above.
    3. None of this is going to happen, God just wants to frighten us into submission.
      • Matthew 5:17-18
        "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. (NIV)
      • Everything that is written will come to pass at the appointed time. There are no spare parts in the Bible. Nothing is there that is not true. Many people today deny the existence of Hell, saying that a loving and compassionate God would not make such a place. You must be very careful saying that God will not do what he said he will do. Your understanding of God may not be what you think it is. It is better to read the Scriptures and accept that what you see will happen, and then be afraid to oppose such an awesome God.
    4. This even is a historical event, and will never happen again.
      • No, this is not historical. I have had many people tell me that all of these passages were fulfilled in Israel's past, but this is not true. All of these accounts from the Old Testament prophets must blend with the accounts in the New Testament.
      • Joel 3:14-17
        Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. 17 "Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her. (NIV)
      • This account from Joel cannot possibly have been fulfilled in the past, for it says that the result of the destruction of the armies arrayed against Israel will be that Israel will know that God, and that he will live with them. Then it says that never again will foreigners invade her. Well has this happened yet? No. Israel has been invaded many times even up to modern times. But after the events in Revelation Israel will never again fall away.

     

     

  5. What is a common biblical name for this day.
    1. Right Answer!The Day of the Lord.
      • Yes, this is the most common biblical name for the destruction of the earth's armies at this time.
    2. The day of vengeance of our God.
      • This name is correct, but it is not the most common name.
    3. Judgment day.
      • This is not about the great judgment day.
    4. None of the above.
      • No, (a.) above is the best answer.

     

     

    Questions about Isaiah 13:4-13

  6. What is this day called?
    1. Right Answer!The day of the Lord.
      • Yes, this is the best answer.
    2. The last day.
      • No, this is not the last day. The last day is another name for the great judgment day. The great judgment day will occur on the last day of this earth, then the Lord will do away with the earth and the physical heavens and create a new place for us to live with him forever.
    3. The day of redemption.
      • No, the best day for that name would be the day Jesus rose from death in his new glorified body.
    4. Judgment Day
      • No, see (b.) above. I ask this question because many people seem to think that the events that will soon take place from the book of Revelation spell out the end of the world. This is not true. The end will come, but not for at least a thousand years.

     

     

  7. What sign from Joel 2:1-11 do we see also here?
    1. The sing of the Woman fleeing into the desert.
      • No, this sign is not here or in Joel.
    2. The sign of the sword coming out of the mouth of the Lord.
      • No, this sign is not here or in Joel.
    3. Right Answer!The sign of the sun, moon and stars darkening.
      • Yes, and this tells us that they are both speaking of the same day. This sign occurs many times in Scripture and it always points to the same day. By examining all of the references we can understand more about what will take place on that day and why.
    4. None of these signs are here.
      • No, please read (c.) above.

     

     

  8. What will happen to the army that is mustered for destruction?
    1. Right Answer!They will be killed.
      • Yes, they will be killed.
      • Revelation 19:19-21
        Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (NIV)
    2. They will repent and be saved.
      • No, they will not repent. See (a.) above.

     

     

  9. What is the purpose of this day?
    1. To punish the world for its evil.
      • Isaiah 13:11
        I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. (NIV)
    2. To put an end to the arrogance of the haughty.
      • Isaiah 13:11
        I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty To humble the pride of the ruthless. (NIV)
    3. To destroy the sinners within the land.
      • Isaiah 13:9
        See, the day of the LORD is coming -- a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger -- to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. (NIV)
    4. Right Answer!All of the above.
      • This is the best answer.

     

     

  10. How may people will be killed before that day is finished.
    1. 200,000,000.
      • No, this number is much too low.
    2. Right Answer!God will make men scarcer that pure gold.
      • This is the best answer. The coming destruction will be greater that anything that the world has ever seen before. The world's ecology will be so devastated that if God did not use his power to restore it then every single person would die.
      • Matthew 24:21-22
        For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now -- and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. (NIV)
      • Isaiah 66:22-24
        "As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me," declares the LORD, "so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me," says the LORD. 24 "And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." (NIV)
      • The new heavens and the new earth spoke of here are not the eternal heaven. Notice that there will be dead bodies of the rebels on the ground. This will not be the case in heaven. This is a new restored earth. This is for Israel.
    3. 144,000.
      • No.
    4. Not too many.
      • This is totally not true. Billions of people will die in the coming destruction. This will be like Noah's flood only much much worse.

     

     

  11. This prophecy says that it concerns Babylon, does it concern ancient Babylon, or the Babylon referred to in Revelation?
    1. Ancient Babylon only.
      • No, the destruction spoken of in Revelation is the destruction of the Harlot of Babylon. Babylon is symbolic of man's attempt to rule himself without God. This attempt by man is the reason for the coming destruction. The historical things concerning Babylon happened only to illustrate for us what will happen in the coming judgment. Everything in the Bible is pointing to this coming destruction by fire.
    2. Babylon in Revelation only.
      • No, they both work together.
    3. Right Answer!Both ancient Babylon and the Babylon of Revelation.
      • This is the best answer. It can get confusing at first trying to understand what is historical and what is foretelling the coming destruction. When the Old Testament prophecies start speaking of the whole world and such then we know that it is the future destruction that is talked about. Also when Israel is promised to be restored to a splendor that they have never experienced then we can know that it is talking of the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel yet in our future.
    4. Neither Babylon.
      • No, they are talking of both.

 

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