Written by Paul J Bucknell on June, 06, 2026

The Book of Joel,  Study 3: Joel 1:1-20 Bible Study Questions

Joel begins with a crisis so severe that it must be remembered by future generations. Locusts, drought, ruined fields, withered joy, mourning priests, and suffering animals all testify that life has been stripped bare. Yet the chapter does more than describe disaster; it summons elders, farmers, priests, and all inhabitants of the land to wake up, wail, fast, gather, and cry to the Lord. This study presses readers to consider how calamity exposes spiritual need and calls a people back to God.

Book of Joel: Importance of Joel

Study Questions: Intro1-Purpose | Intro2-Design | 1:1-20 | 2:1-11 | 2:12-17 | 2:18-27 | 2:28-32 | 3:1-21

Commentary and Reflections: 1🔢11 | 2:12-27 | 2:28-32 | 3:1-21

Joel 1:1-20 Bible Study Questions

Read Joel 1:1-20 and write down all the commands to the recipients. You might prefer to copy or print out a copy of the verses, highlight the verbs used, and underline the commands instead.
Return to your original paragraph breaks and titles (see Study #2). Review and adjust them as necessary or create a new set based on these verses if needed. Explain why you might make any changes.
From Joel 1:1-3, what do you know about the author and recipients of Joel’s message?
Joel lists a number of judgments in 1:4-20. List (or highlight on a copy) each of them.
Which judgments have already come upon them and which are yet to come? Explain your answer.
How many times is ‘wail’ or similar words used in these verses?
Who does he address each time? How do the groups he addresses differ? Do you notice any progression?
Reflect on any scenes of wailing or devastation described here in chapter one that you have seen or heard about in your personal life. What stands out most to you?
Their sins are not mentioned. Do you believe the challenges they face are connected or not connected to their sins? Please explain. Include 1:15 as part of your answer. (c.f. Amos 4:6-10, three deliberate links between their sins and His purpose in their return.)
None of their sins are listed here, making this chapter (and book) aimed at societies everywhere. What destruction do you see around you? Do you think they just happen, or are they connected to the sins of your society?
Make sure to end this time with a prayer that includes mourning for the sins and evils you see and hear around you. Seek the Lord so He can help your people connect these judgments with their sins, prompting them to repent.
Remember Jesus’ warning from Luke 13:1-5 about how we understand calamities. Read the passage carefully and answer the Two follow-up questions.

Did Jesus state that those calamities were due to their sins?
Did the lack of such calamities in other situations mean there were no subsequent sins to be judged?

Describe what you consider the most significant point of this study and pray about it.

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days Or in your fathers’ days? 3 Tell your sons about it, And let your sons tell their sons, And their sons the next generation. 4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten. 5 Awake, drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you wine drinkers, On account of the sweet wine that is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has invaded my land, Mighty and without number; Its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness. 7 It has made my vine a waste, and my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; Their branches have become white.

8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth. 9 The grain offering and the libation are cut off From the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, The ministers of the LORD. 10 The field is ruined, The land mourns, For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails. 11 Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed. 12 The vine dries up, And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves with sackcloth, And lament, O priests; Wail, O ministers of the altar! Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, For the grain offering and the libation Are withheld from the house of your God. 14 Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty. 16 Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God? 17 The seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up. 18 How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer. 19 To Thee, O LORD, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. (NASB) 20 Even the beasts of the field pant for you because the water brooks are dried up, and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. (1:20 ESV)

Category OT