Revised Edition: LukivPress (Victoria, BC), 2022.

Introduction

What do we know about "Joel the son of Pethuel"? (Joel 1:1) So little that we can only estimate that he wrote his prophecies in 820 BCE. Why do the scriptures hold back from filling in details about this prophet's life? Possibly, to emphasize what he said rather than who he was.

What did he say? In visions, he saw invasions of caterpillars, locusts, and cockroaches. Note that no Biblical record describes such a devastating insect invasion in which "what was left by the devouring locust, the swarming locust has eaten; and what was left by the swarming locust, the unwinged locust has eaten; and what the unwinged locust has left, the voracious locust has eaten." (Joel 1:4) Note, too, that he referred to these creatures as "a people numerous and mighty." (Joel 2:2)

What allegorical, prophetic relevance, then, do we see here? First century Christians, "a people numerous and mighty," enraged, and, in a sense, tormented many religious leaders of the day by the message they taught (Romans 10:13, 14). Does the allegory hold weight today, as Christians, who refuse to give up like caterpillars, locusts, and cockroaches, continue with a similar message?

Yes-and within the message we find a warning about the "day of Jehovah." (Joel 1:15). That day arrived for Babylon in 539 BCE, when Jehovah allowed the Medo-Persians to conquer the apparently impenetrable, double-walled city. Thousands of years later, a similar day will arrive for Babylon the Great, the empire of false religion, as explained in Revelation 18:1-4, 21.

An excerpt

3.

Hiram, King of Tyre,
That place of gold and
Royal cloth, of apes
And peacocks, brought
By ships and dusty
Caravans, sent Hiram,
Master of earthly forms
Melted, pounded, and sewn
Together. How deftly he
Engraved gold and silver,
And dyed cloth that kings
Yearned for like barren
Women imploring Baal.
Two Hirams, friends
Of Jacob, before inward
Eyes turned Tyre, seller
Of Israel's sons, into
A short-lived god,
A fallen angel,
A stone tower that
Toppled into the sea.

The author

Dan Lukiv, published in 19 countries, is a poet, novelist, columnist, short story and article writer, and independent education researcher (hermeneutic phenomenology). As a creative writer, he apprenticed with Canada's Professor Robert Harlow (recipient of the George Woodcock Achievement award for an outstanding literary career), the USA's Paul Bagdon (Spur Award finalist for Best Original Paperback), and England's D. M. Thomas (recipient of the Cheltenham Prize for Literature, Orwell Prize [biography], Los Angeles Fiction Prize, and Cholmondeley award for poetry). He attended The University of British Columbia (creative writing department), the acclaimed Humber School for Writers (poetry writing program), and Writer's Digest University (novel writing program).