Joel 1:1

Letters to the Faithful - Joel 1:1

Berean Standard Bible

This is the word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel:

King James Bible

The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I write to you today with sobriety of spirit and with the trembling of a heart that has felt the nearness of God’s Word—a Word not bound to the past, but alive and speaking still. It is with reverence that I draw your attention to the opening line of the prophet Joel: “The word of the Lord that came to Joel son of Pethuel.” A brief sentence to our natural eyes, yet packed with the full weight of divine purpose, human frailty, and the mysterious partnership between heaven and earth.

The verse introduces us to a prophet and a moment. It does not begin with a sermon or a vision or a miracle. It begins with a Word. Not a word spoken by Joel, but a Word that came to him. That is where all true ministry begins—not with our talents, our agendas, or our cleverness—but with the Word of the Lord coming to us. This is not merely poetic language. It is the very foundation of authority. When God speaks, life is formed. When His Word comes, it demands response. When it is received, it becomes both a burden and a blessing, a call and a commission.

And the Word came to Joel—not to a king, not to a scribe, not to a crowd, but to one man. A man of unknown reputation, unrecorded history, and seemingly obscure lineage. We know nothing of his upbringing except that he was the son of Pethuel, whose name means “vision of God.” And in this we find a striking truth: God does not require prominence to release His Word, only availability. He does not select based on human renown, but divine readiness. Joel may not have been known to many, but he was known in heaven. And when the time came for a holy message to be released into a devastated land, God sent His Word to Joel.

Beloved, do not despise small beginnings or hidden seasons. You may feel unknown, unseen, or unqualified—but if your heart is open, God’s Word can come to you. If your life is yielded, God can entrust you with the weight of His voice. In every generation, God searches for those who will host His Word with reverence. Will you be such a one? Will you make room for the Word to come—not as a mere religious thought or Sunday tradition, but as a living encounter that transforms your entire life?

Joel received the Word during a national crisis. The land was ravaged. Locusts had consumed everything green. What the first swarm left, the next swarm devoured. The economy collapsed. The land groaned. The people mourned. There was no food for man or beast. The joy of the land had withered away. And yet, in the midst of devastation, the Word came. Let this truth settle in you: God does not stop speaking when times are hard. In fact, He often speaks because the times are hard. His Word comes not only to explain suffering but to redeem it. His Word does not ignore crisis—it confronts it with eternal clarity.

The world today mirrors Joel’s world in more ways than we realize. Our spiritual landscape is scorched by compromise. Our cultural fields are eaten by consumerism and confusion. What one wave of destruction leaves behind, the next one seems to finish. Joy has withered from many places. Families are fractured. Truth is mocked. Reverence has dried up. And yet, even now—the Word of the Lord can come. Even now, God is still speaking. He is looking for modern-day Joels—those willing to listen deeply, to cry aloud boldly, and to call the people back to the God they’ve forgotten.

This Word that came to Joel was not his own invention. He was not a man who speculated. He was a man who echoed. There is a great difference. Today, many speak in God’s name, but not all speak God’s Word. There is a famine—not of food, but of hearing the authentic voice of the Lord. We must learn again to distinguish between words that entertain and words that awaken. Joel did not soothe the people with pleasantries; he summoned them to repentance. He did not hide the reality of judgment; he declared it with soberness and urgency. Yet within the same breath, he pointed them to the mercy of God, to the promise of restoration, and to the outpouring of the Spirit to come.

Such is the nature of the Word that truly comes from the Lord—it wounds to heal, it tears down to rebuild, it awakens so that it may restore. This is not the word of men. This is the Word of the Lord. And when it comes, it carries with it both fire and oil, both rebuke and renewal. Have we made room in our churches, in our pulpits, and in our personal lives for such a Word? Or have we grown accustomed to gentle platitudes that leave us unmoved and unchanged?

The Word came to Joel in a specific hour, for a specific people, but it still speaks across the ages. That same Word now calls to us. It calls us to awake from our slumber. It calls us to mourn what has been lost. It calls us to fast, to pray, and to rend our hearts instead of our garments. It calls us to remember that though judgment is real, mercy is near. It calls us to return to the Lord, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

And this is where the practical power of the verse lies. When the Word of the Lord comes to you, it is not only for you. It is meant to be shared, declared, and embodied. Joel did not keep the Word to himself. He carried it to the priests, to the elders, to the drunkards, to the farmers, to the children—even to the bride and bridegroom in their chamber. When God gives a Word, it demands distribution. Do not hoard the revelation you’ve been given. Speak it. Live it. Proclaim it. Embody it. Let it overflow from your life into every circle you influence.

This is not a day for spiritual passivity. It is a day for prophetic clarity. It is a day to recognize that the Word of the Lord is not silent, even if we have not been listening. It is a day to ask—not just what has been lost in the locust storm, but what might still be restored by the rain of His presence. God’s Word came to Joel to prepare the people—not only for repentance, but for revival. For even in the midst of devastation, God promised to pour out His Spirit on all flesh. That promise still stands, but it will come first to those who are postured like Joel—those who hear the Word, tremble at it, and release it with purity and urgency.

So I exhort you, dear brothers and sisters: make room for the Word of the Lord in your heart. Clear away the noise. Lay down your own agendas. Ask the Lord to speak—not for your comfort, but for His glory. And when His Word comes, receive it without delay, obey it without compromise, and release it without fear.

May the same Spirit who brought the Word to Joel breathe upon us today. May the fire of holy conviction fall afresh. May the rains of divine mercy water what has withered. And may we be found faithful in this hour—not merely to know the Word, but to carry it as those who have heard from heaven.

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Almighty and Everlasting God,

We come before You in the stillness of spirit, not with pretense or performance, but with hearts bowed low in holy reverence. You are the God who speaks—not as man speaks, in passing impulse or shifting opinion—but as the Eternal One, who utters what stands firm through all generations. You are the God who sends forth Your Word, and when it goes out, it does not return empty. You are the One who chooses, who calls, who appoints—not according to the stature of men, but according to the counsel of Your will. You raise up voices in every generation, and You send Your Word not only to kings and empires, but to humble, consecrated servants like Joel, son of Pethuel.

And so we lift our prayer to You now, O Lord, asking first that You would make our hearts worthy of receiving Your Word. Let our hearts be like fallow ground, ready to receive the seed of what You are saying. Let us not be hardened by the cares of this world, nor shallow in our response, nor choked by the thorns of distraction. Let the Word come to us—not only the comforting word, but the convicting one; not only the word of promise, but the word of warning. Speak to us as You spoke to Joel. Interrupt us as You interrupted him. Let us be found ready, even if we feel unremarkable or unknown, for it is not our name that qualifies us, but Your choosing.

We acknowledge that when Your Word came to Joel, it did not come in days of ease. It came in days of devastation. The land had been stripped by wave after wave of destruction. Joy had been taken from the fields, and the people stood in shock and silence, unsure of what would come next. And yet, in that moment, You spoke. You did not remain distant. You did not wait for the people to clean themselves up before sending Your voice. You came near. You sent Your Word into the midst of ruin—not to destroy, but to awaken. Not to condemn, but to call. And so we pray now, Lord, speak into the ruins of our day.

We are a people in need. Our lands may look green in some places, but beneath the surface there is deep drought. Our churches may be filled with activity, but many are empty of awe. Our cities are lit with the glow of technology, but darkened by confusion, rebellion, and despair. Like Joel’s generation, we have suffered the slow erosion of true worship, the silent gnawing of compromise, and the devastating silence of spiritual apathy. And yet we know—You have not changed. You still speak. You still call. You still raise up messengers when others are silent. And so we ask You, God of Joel, speak again.

Let Your Word come to the humble and the hidden. Let it come to young men in secret prayer. Let it come to older saints who still wait on Your promises. Let it come to women who groan in intercession. Let it come to pastors who have grown weary, and to prophets who have grown cautious. Let it come not with the polish of performance, but with the fire of Your burden. Let it come to those who do not seek a platform, but who long for Your presence. Let Your Word find us where we are—not where we pretend to be. Let it find us willing to tremble and obey.

O Lord, we do not ask for a Word that simply stirs emotions. We ask for a Word that pierces bone and marrow. A Word that cuts through our lukewarmness. A Word that reveals Your heart. A Word that calls us to mourn, to fast, to pray, and to return to You with all that we are. Send the kind of Word that does not just decorate our sermons but alters our lives. Send the kind of Word that disrupts our routines and arrests our wanderings. Send the kind of Word that carries the weight of eternity and the fragrance of heaven.

We pray also for the courage to steward Your Word well. It is not enough that the Word comes—it must be carried with integrity. Joel did not merely receive the Word; he released it with faithfulness. He called the elders. He summoned the people. He gathered the priests and awakened the bridegroom from his chamber. So too must we arise and declare what You speak, without dilution, without distortion, without delay. Give us boldness, Lord—not the boldness of arrogance, but the boldness of obedience. Let us not hide behind fear or comfort when You have called us to stand and speak.

And Lord, let Your Word not only come to us but come through us. Let it ripple outward to the places where devastation has settled like dust. Let it flow into homes filled with confusion, into cities marked by violence, into churches that have lost their compass. Let Your Word come with healing where there has been loss. Let it come with conviction where there has been compromise. Let it come with power where there has been passivity. Let it stir repentance, restore joy, and reignite holy fire in the hearts of Your people.

We also ask, Father, that You would give us the grace to recognize when You are speaking. So often, Your voice does not thunder, but whispers. It comes not in the spectacle, but in the stillness. Teach us to listen beyond the noise. Teach us to discern Your voice amid the multitude of messages that fill our world. Let Your Word be louder than the news, stronger than the trends, more real than the rhetoric. Let it be to us as a flame that cannot be quenched, as a seed that grows even in dry soil, as a sword that cuts away every lie we have believed.

We pray for the sons and daughters You are raising up in this hour. Let them hear Your voice early. Let them not be seduced by imitation fire. Let them hunger for truth more than attention. Let them speak not to be impressive, but to be faithful. Form them in the secret place. Break them of self-glory. Teach them to treasure Your Word more than silver and to carry it with the tears of those who know its cost. Let a new generation of Joels rise—not bound by performance, but compelled by purpose.

And we pray for the people to whom the Word must be delivered. Prepare their hearts. Till their soil. Make them ready to receive what You say. Let them not reject the Word because it comes through weak vessels. Let them not harden themselves to truth. Let them not be offended by correction. Instead, let the Word do its full work—plowing, planting, pruning, producing. Let revival come not through hype, but through holy obedience to the Word You send.

Finally, Lord, we thank You. Thank You that You still speak. Thank You that You do not abandon Your people to silence. Thank You that even in days of ruin, You are the God of restoration. Thank You that You are preparing to pour out Your Spirit once again, not on the proud, but on the broken. Thank You for the gift of Your Word—a treasure beyond measure. May we never treat it lightly. May we never handle it carelessly. May we carry it with awe, with devotion, and with readiness.

So here we are, Lord. Speak again. Speak to Your servants. Speak to Your sons and daughters. Speak to Your Church. Speak to the nations. And let Your Word come—not just once, but continually, until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of Your glory.

In the holy name of the Living God,

Amen.