Joel and The Revelation: Sounding the Trumpet

ApollyonI have been teaching The Minor Prophets this semester and as we covered Joel I was struck by the use of Joel which John makes in the Revelation (particularly chapter 9) of the book of Joel. Here are some connections I noticed in my brief study (followed by a few random reflections):

  1. The sounding of trumpets (Joel 2.1; Rev.9.1, 13)
  2. An army of locusts (Joel 1.4; Rev.9.3)
  3. An innumerable army (Joel 1.6) and an army of 10,000 times 10,000 times 2 (Rev.9.16)
  4. “teeth like/of a lion” (Joel 1.6; Rev.9.7)
  5. Contrast between the utter destruction of plant life by the locusts (Joel 1.4-12) while the “locusts” in the Revelation are not allowed to do any harm to plant life (Rev.9.4)
  6. The locusts appear “like war horses” (Joel 2.4) or “like horses prepared for battle” (Rev.9.7)
  7. The armies of locusts each sound “like chariots” (Joel 2.5; Rev.9.9)
  8. Destruction by fire goes ahead and behind (Joel 2.3; Rev.9.18-19)
  9. Columns of smoke are directly connected to each (Joel 2.30; Rev.9.2-3)

In each, repentance should be the response. In Joel hope resounds by the end, but in the Revelation the people persist in their many idolatries (even as hope will be had by the overcomers by the end of that book).
Another preliminary thought concerning each: Joel 1 and 2 are often believed to be speaking about an “army” of locusts (1) and the armies of Babylon (2) though such a clear distinction cannot be made and likely (in my thinking) should not. If asked which is represented in chapter two I would answer, “Yes”. Both the “locusts” and the “Babylonians” seem intended. In regard to Revelation 9, it appears that perhaps the same issue is at stake where there is some distinction between each of these groups: the army of “locusts” and the demonic cavalry where the former only harms humans (but doesn’t kill) and the latter destroys everything and everyone before them up to a third of humankind. However, we have two armies represented that in some sense are reiterative of the movement between Joel 1 and 2 concerning the locusts and cavalry.

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