PROPHET JOEL
(Image: the Prophet Joel by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, 1508-1512)
He is the second of the 12 minor Old Testament prophets. According to the Douay-Rheims Bible, Joel received his first vision c. 800 BC.
Chapter 1 points to plagues and famines striking the earth in punishment, then the 'sacrifice and libation' shall FAIL. This seem not only prophecy the end of the Jewish religion, but also a time when the 'sacrifice' will be removed for a time, perhaps the abomination of desolation spoekn about by Daniel and Our Lord when the 'sacrifice shall cease' - equals an attack / supression of the Mass?
Chapter 1 points to plagues and famines striking the earth in punishment, then the 'sacrifice and libation' shall FAIL. This seem not only prophecy the end of the Jewish religion, but also a time when the 'sacrifice' will be removed for a time, perhaps the abomination of desolation spoekn about by Daniel and Our Lord when the 'sacrifice shall cease' - equals an attack / supression of the Mass?
Of interest, Chapter 2 of his prophecies also point to a terrible day of destruction of the Lord when armies of the Lord will come and seem to possess great skills, which sound like the armies of the Great Monarch? While this a prophecy of the End Times and Last Day, we are told in the prophecies of the mystics that before the Great Monarch comes the times that will resemble those foretold about the Last Day.
The people will be in 'grevious pains' and their faces shall 'be made like a kettle' -a kettle was set over a fire in those days, so, faces will be burnt like a kettle. This sounds like the ravaging wars that will occur just when the 'burning face plague' will strike just before the arrival of the Great Monarch and the Renewal according to the prophecies of Bl. Saluzzo and Marie-Julie Jahenny. The Prophet Isaiah also mentions a 'burning face' chastisement during the 'Day of the Lord'.
Joel mentions the sun and the moon will be darkened, and the stars will not give their light. Again, sounds very similar to the Three Days of Darkness prophecies made by Church-approved mystics, but Joel's prophecy also mentions there will be a time of plenty for the people of God with corn, wine, oil and wheat after this dreadful time, this could be a prophecy of the Age of Peace that will come after all these tribulations during the reign of the Great Monarch.
There is also repeated in Chapter 3 of his prophecies.
::::::::::::::
Joel, Chapter 1
[1] The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Phatuel. [2] Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land: did this ever happen in your days, or in the days of your fathers? [3] Tell ye of this to your children, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. [4] That which the palmerworm hath left, the locust hath eaten: and that which the locust hath left, the bruchus hath eaten: and that which the bruchus hath left, the mildew hath destroyed. [5] Awake, ye that are drunk, and weep, and mourn all ye that take delight in drinking sweet wine: for it is cut off from your mouth.
[6]
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong and without number: his
teeth are like the teeth of a lion: and his cheek teeth as of a lion's
whelp.
[7]
He hath laid my vineyard waste, and hath pilled off the bark of my fig
tree: he hath stripped it bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof
are made white.
[8] Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
[9] Sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of the Lord: the priests, the Lord's ministers, have mourned:
[10] The country is destroyed, the ground hath mourned: for the corn is wasted, the wine is confounded, the oil hath languished.
[11] The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished. [12] The vineyard is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished: the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withdrawn from the children of men. [13] Gird yourselves, and lament, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God. [14] Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly; gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord: [15] Ah, ah, ah, for the day: because the day of the Lord is at hand, and it shall come like destruction from the mighty.
[16] Is not your food cut off before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? [17] The beasts have rotted in their dung, the barns are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the corn is confounded. [18] Why did the beast groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished. [19] To thee, O Lord, will I cry: because fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the country. [20] Yea and the beasts of the field have looked up to thee, as a garden bed that thirsteth after rain, for the springs of waters are dried up, and fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness.
[11] The husbandmen are ashamed, the vinedressers have howled for the wheat, and for the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished. [12] The vineyard is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished: the pomegranate tree, and the palm tree, and the apple tree, and all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withdrawn from the children of men. [13] Gird yourselves, and lament, O ye priests, howl, ye ministers of the altars: go in, lie in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: because sacrifice and libation is cut off from the house of your God. [14] Sanctify ye a fast, call an assembly; gather together the ancients, all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God: and cry ye to the Lord: [15] Ah, ah, ah, for the day: because the day of the Lord is at hand, and it shall come like destruction from the mighty.
[16] Is not your food cut off before your eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God? [17] The beasts have rotted in their dung, the barns are destroyed, the storehouses are broken down: because the corn is confounded. [18] Why did the beast groan, why did the herds of cattle low? because there is no pasture for them: yea, and the flocks of sheep are perished. [19] To thee, O Lord, will I cry: because fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and the flame hath burnt all the trees of the country. [20] Yea and the beasts of the field have looked up to thee, as a garden bed that thirsteth after rain, for the springs of waters are dried up, and fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness.
::::::
Joel, Chapter 2
(1) Blow ye the trumpet in Sion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: because the day of the Lord cometh, because it is nigh at hand,
[2] A day of darkness, and of gloominess, a day of clouds and whirlwinds: a numerous and strong people
as the morning spread upon the mountains: the like to it hath not been
from the beginning, nor shall be after it even to the years of
generation and generation.
[3]
Before the face thereof a devouring fire, and behind it a burning
flame: the land is like a garden of pleasure before it, and behind it a
desolate wilderness, neither is there any one that can escape it.
[4] The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and they shall run like horsemen.
[5]
They shall leap like the noise of chariots upon the tops of mountains,
like the noise of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, as a strong
people prepared to battle. [6] At their presence the people shall be in grievous pains: all faces shall be made like a kettle.
[7]
They shall run like valiant men: like men of war they shall scale the
wall: the men shall march every one on his way, and they shall not turn
aside from their ranks.
[8]
No one shall press upon his brother: they shall walk every one in his
path: yea, and they shall fall through the windows, and shall take no
harm.
[9]
They shall enter into the city: they shall run upon the wall, they
shall climb up the houses, they shall come in at the windows as a thief.
[10] At
their presence the earth hath trembled, the heavens are moved: the sun
and moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. [11]
And the Lord hath uttered his voice before the face of His army: for His armies are exceeding great, for they are strong and execute his
word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible: and who can
stand it?
(NOTE: the LORD's ARMY -- could this be the army of the Great Catholic Monarch?)
[12] Now therefore saith the Lord: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning.
[13]
And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your
God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and
ready to repent of the evil.
[14] Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God?
[15] Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,
[16]
Gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients,
gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let
the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bride
chamber.
[17]
Between the porch and the altar the priests the Lord's ministers shall
weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people: and give not thy
inheritance to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. Why
should they say among the nations: Where is their God?
[18] The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people.
[19]
And the Lord answered and said to his people: Behold I will send you
corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be filled with them: and I will
no more make you a reproach among the nations.
[20] And I will remove far off from you the northern enemy:
and I will drive him into a land unpassable, and desert, with his face
towards the east sea, and his hinder part towards the utmost sea: and
his stench shall ascend, and his rottenness shall go up, because he hath
done proudly. [21] Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord hath done great things.
[22]
Fear not, ye beasts of the fields: for the beautiful places of the
wilderness are sprung, for the tree hath brought forth its fruit, the
fig tree, and the vine have yielded their strength.
[23]
And you, O children of Sion, rejoice, and be joyful in the Lord your
God: because he hath given you a teacher of justice, and he will make
the early and the latter rain to come down to you as in the beginning.
[24] And the floors shall be filled with wheat, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil.
[25] And I will restore to you the ears which the locust, and the bruchus,
and the mildew, and the palmerworm have eaten; my great host which I
sent upon you.
[26]
And you shall eat in plenty, and shall be filled: and you shall praise
the name of the Lord your God, who hath done wonders with you, and my
people shall not be confounded for ever.
[27]
And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: and I am the Lord
your God, and there is none besides: and my people shall not be
confounded for ever.
[28]
And it shall come to pass after this, that I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy: your
old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
[29] Moreover upon my servants and handmaids in those days I will pour forth my spirit.
[30] And I will shew wonders in heaven; and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.[31] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come.
[32]
And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved: for in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem shall
be salvation, as the Lord hath said, and in the residue (i.e the remnant) whom the Lord
shall call.
:::::::::::::
Joel - Chapter 3
A prophecy of war, the sun and moon darkening, then, a promise of peace with mountains dropping down sweetness and the hills flowing with milk.
[9] Proclaim ye this among the nations: prepare war, rouse up the strong: let them come, let all the men of war come up.
[10] Cut your ploughshares into swords, and your spades into spears. Let the weak say: I am strong. [11]
Break forth, and come, all ye nations, from round about, and gather
yourselves together: there will the Lord cause all thy strong ones to
fall down.
[12]
Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the valley of
Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about.
[13]
Put ye in the sickles, for the harvest is ripe: come and go down, for
the press is full, the fats run over: for their wickedness is
multiplied.
[14] Nations, nations in the valley of destruction: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of destruction.
[15] The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining. [16]
And the Lord shall roar out of Sion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem: and the heavens and the earth shall be moved, and the Lord
shall be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of
Israel.
[17]
And you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Sion my
holy mountain: and Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall pass
through it no more.
[18]
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop
down sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk: and waters shall
flow through all the rivers of Juda: and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the torrent of thorns.
[19]
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a wilderness destroyed: because
they have done unjustly against the children of Juda, and have shed
innocent blood in their land.
[20] And Judea shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to generation and generation.
