The Book of Joel: Chapter 1

This chapter describes the prophets warning voice of imenent judgements but also a sincere desire for Judah to repenet.

Verse 4

Joel used the following imagery of a famine to describe Judah's future. The following terms are used to describe the different stages of development in the life of a locust.

• Palmerworm in Hebrew for gazam, which means "gnawer"
  
• Locust in Hebrew is arbeth, which means "many"
  
• Cankerworm in Hebrew is yeleq, which means "licker"
  
• Caterpillar in Hebrew is chasil, which means "consumer"

The LDS Institute Old Testament Manual says...

"Many scholars believe that the palmerworm was a metaphor for the Assyrian-Babylonian invasions. What these two empires left, the Medes and Persians "ate" during their invasions (Locust)...Then the cankerworm would represent the invasion and suppression by Greece (Macedonia) under Alexander the Great, which leaves the caterpillar to represent the invasion and destruction of Judah by Rome. These references seem also to apply to the coming battle of Armageddon."

Verses 5-6

The Israelites were referred to as "drunkards". In fact, being drunken is the only sin mentioned in the book of Joel. However, in it's use, drunken means sin and drunkard means sinner. Or in other words, they were drunken with their own iniquities, which were many. This includes all forms of self indulgence. Telling them to "weep" and "howl" was Joel's way of telling them to show remorse, repent and cry unto the Lord for forgiveness. Joel also told them that a strong nation, without number (many people), will come upon them. He told them that their "teeth are the teeth of a lion" which means they were vicious and fearsome.

Verses 7-8

Vines and fig trees were considered symbols of goodness and choiceness. This verse says that this great nation will lay his vines waste (or lay his people waste). When the bark is pulled off of a tree, the tree usually dies. Saying the nation had "barked my fig tree" is saying it will kill many in Israel and verse 8 describes the lament because of the death, destruction and desolation.

Verse 10

Saying the "field is wasted" means that Israel is no longer fruitful, or at least fruitful to anything that is satisfactory to God.

Verse 11

The husbandmen and vinedressers are those who care for the fields. He is saying they should be ashamed for not taking care of them properly. This can apply to us when we are stewards over offices or people. How well are we taking care of the things and people the Lord puts in our charge.

Verse 14

Joel tries to convince them to not only repent and pray for forgiveness, but also to fast. Not just prayer and fasting, but a time of national prayer and fasting.

Verse 16

This verse describes the loss of temple worship. This is a loss of "meat", which is spiritual sustenance and a loss of "joy" and "gladness".

Introduction to Joel

Similar to Hosea, a main theme of Joel is that the house of Israel had become full of wickedness and would receive terrible judgements. This message is similar to that of some other prophets like Isaiah, Jonah and Amos. Wickedness brings about destruction and righteous and repentance will bring about joy and happiness. Joel was one of many prophets whose prophecies were dual prophesies. They had immediate relevance and they would have relevance at a later date, in many instances this later date is the latter days, or last days.

If you read Joseph Smith-History 1:41 you'll see that the angel Moroni quoted from Joel the night he visited Joseph in his room. He said that the prophecies would shortly be fulfilled. Many have already begun to be fulfilled.

The Book of Joel also gives some great insights into the Battle of Armageddon. The book is literally packed with all sorts of good stuff. 

It is widely believed that Joel's ministry took place during the reign of King Joash in Judah. Unlike Hosea, Joel was sending a warning voice to the people of Judah in the Southern Kingdom. 

Along with the wickedness condemned and judgements foretold, Joel also preached about repentance and salvation. Like all prophets, Joel called upon everyone to repent and come unto the Lord.

We also see that Joel does not refer to the Northern Kingdom at all. It's possible that at this time it technically does not exist anymore, meaning they've been invaded and taken captive.

At this time it also appears that Jerusalem still had walls and that temple worship was still being carried out, so it seems to have taken place either before the siege or after it has been restored.

Book of Hosea: Chapter 5

Chapter 5 continues with the Lord pointing out Israel's sins and what the consequences would be for those sins.

Verses 1-2

The priests are compared to nets and snares used for hunting, and the mountains named (Mizpah and Tabor) were famous for for hunting. A "revolter" was someone who drove an animal into a camouflaged pit to catch it. All of these scenarios describe hunter and prey situations and the Lord is putting the priests in this same category. The priests were spiritually killing their prey.

Verse 6

This is a very sad verse that shows the consequences of ignoring the Lord. If we've done something (like Israel) to cause the Lord to withdraw Himself from us, we may have a situation where we will seek Him and not find Him. Only through a mighty change of heart and true repentance would we be able to find Him again.

Verse 7

The "strange" children in this verse refer to those ungodly children born of wicked Israel. They do not know the Lord and He does not know them. Obviously He knows them but the scripture means that they arw wicked and not His people.

Verses 10-11 (Landmark example pictured above)

The princes (or rulers) of Judah were likened to "them that remove the bound". For the explanation of this phrase see Deuteronomy 27:17.  During that time in Israel, property boundaries were marked by using landmarks. These could either be natural landmarks or man made landmarks. An evil practice in the day was called removing the bound. This would be the equivalent of moving the fence that separates you and your neighbor closer to them, making your own property bigger. This was considered the same as stealing. The Lord was saying that the princes and rulers of Judah were altering the spiritual boundaries involving the worship of Himself. The rulers were condoning and encouraging the worship of baal and other false gods and goddesses, making it confusing for many to know what was right and what was wrong. Just like a moved boundary would be confusing for some to know what belongs to who. However, the Northern Kingdom of Ephraim is specifically pointed out in verse 11 because they willingly walked after these false commandments, making their punishment more severe.

Verse 13

The Lord gave the reminder that at one point Ephraim tried to pay tribute to the Assyrians (Tiglath-Pileser III) but it only worsened the problem. The Lord says "yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound". When the root of the problem is sin (sometimes we may think the problem is something else) the only person to go to is the Lord.

The Book of Hosea: Chapter 4

Chapter 4 is a series of consequences foretold by the Lord for Israel. We should understand that these are consequences brought upon Israel by themselves, just as we sin and bring upon us those consequences. The Savior will be as merciful to us all as He possibly can be, but justice will also need to be served.

Special Note: Often when Judah and Ephraim are the only two tribes mentioned, the reference is to the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim or Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). Though all of the tribes are involved they are often referred to as two groups because the line was naturally drawn this way when each tribe took sides.

Verse 3

Hosea tells Israel because of their wickedness "the land shall mourn and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish". We can also see this when we read Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapter 28. The Israelites were told that their wickedness would come back to haunt them in the form of spiritual and temporal hardships. This is also the case for us. It doesn't mean that bad things won't happen to good people, and vice versa, but generally speaking there is a relationship between sin and consequences. Consequences not felt in this life, whether good or bad, will be had in the next life.

Verse 8

In this verse the Lord says that the priests "eat up the sin of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity". This means that the priests delighted in the iniquities of the people and hoped they would do more sinning. They did this because in Leviticus 6:26 we see that the priests were commanded to eat the flesh of the sacrifice to wipe away the sins of the people. The priests delighted in the sin of the people because they hoped to be continually fed by the good sacrificial meat.

Verse 12

Stocks and Staffs: The Lord points out that the people ask council of the stocks and staffs. Stocks were small wooden idols used in idolatrous worship and staffs were diving rods used to see the future. They did not pray for guidance. They did not search the scriptures. They did not fast to get themselves more in tune with the spirit. Instead, they sought these other methods and other gods for counsel.

Verse 13

The sacrifices "upon the mountaintops" is describing pagan alters.

Verse 16

Hosea first calls Israel a backsliding heifer. This is easy enough to understand since it is literally like a stubborn heifer that refuses to follow when led. The heifer pulls back and digs in her feet to make pulling her difficult. Israel was doing this with the Lord by resisting His gospel and His righteousness. "A lamb in a large place" is symbolic of Israel. A lamb in a large place is unprotected and prone to predators. Israel would be left alone and also prone to conquering armies because of her transgressions.

Introduction to Hosea

In the KJV of the Bible Hosea is the first minor prophet. The name 'Hosea' means "help", "deliverance" or "salvation". He lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel (Ephraim) and most likely ministered there between the years of 755 BC to 725 BC. Since I like to compare times in the Bible to Book of Mormon times, this would be about 125 to 155 years before Lehi left Jerusalem. He was a prophet "in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, Kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel". Hosea was a contemporary of Isaiah, Amos and Micah. During this time the Israelites were greatly influenced by the ways the Canaanites were worshipping their gods and goddesses. Many of the rites and rituals were lewd and immoral, and all were forms of idolatry. Some were involving fertility rituals. Israel covenanted with God on Sinai to become a righteous people so His anger is understandable as Israel was seeking after other gods and goddesses. All throughout the scriptures the Lord uses a marriage to describe His relationship with Israel. He is the bridegroom and Israel is the bride. Just as an unfaithful bride commits adultery with a person other than her husband, Israel committed adultery by choosing other gods. 

Bruce R. McConkie said "In a spiritual sense, to emphasize how serious it is, the damning sin of idolatry is called adultery. When the Lord's people forsake Him and worship false gods, their infidelity to Jehovah is described as whoredoms and adultery. By forsaking the Lord, His people are unfaithful to their covenant vows, vows made to Him who symbolically is their Husband" (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 25). 

Israel was in this wicked state during the life of Hosea. Baal was worshipped more than Jehovah and the religious rites and rituals were immoral and sometimes even murderous. Hosea delivered his message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Ironically, it wasn't until after the fall of Samaria (the Northern Capital) that Hosea's prophesies were transcribed to scrolls and considered prophecy.