"There are times in life when something happens to us which for us is like the end of the world. There came a time in Israel's history when there was a plague of locusts so terrible that it seemed to be the end of the world for Israel. It went on for several years. It ruined the agriculture of Israel. Food supplies sank to zero.

At this time God raised up a preacher called "Joel", who was led by God to make this plague of locusts the theme of his preaching. We do not know exactly when he did this preaching. Some think that it was in the reign of Joash at about 835 BC. We do not know for sure. What is more important for us is to note the circumstances in which Joel was preaching. Like all of the prophets, Joel was a preacher, and this book of the Bible is a record of his preaching. The nation of Israel was in a terrible situation. Joel sees the hand of God in what is happening and calls the nation to repentance. He sees this
locust plague as a foretaste of the end of the world. He is led by God to see that there is a special reason why God has let this plague of locusts come upon them. It is God's warning to them. An intervention into the normal course of life could come at any time. The Day of the Lord - God's judgement day - is always near. Joel urges the people to seek the Lord in a way they have never done before. Then Joel is led by the Spirit to widen his theme, and to talk of the Day of the Lord in a fuller way."

Please note that, exceptionally, most of these slices take three sides. This is because Michael has incorporated his own translation of the Hebrew text

The above completes Joel. It was originally published in a single volume with Amos which is available as Slices for the Nations and Slices for Sponsors.