Blow a trumpet in Zion;
sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the LORD is coming;

Joel 2:1

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been listening to a series of sermons by Chuck Swindoll on the topic of what Joel refers to in the verse above – the day of the Lord.

It’s not exactly a popular topic because most of us don’t want to think about judgment in general, yet Joel begins the second chapter by moving his focus toward the still yet-to-come judgment and the return of the LORD.

Joel’s prophecy includes a set of details found in Isaiah 13:10 and Revelation 6:12 regarding those days –

The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.

Joel 2:10

In Matthew, Jesus describes those last days like this –

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 24:29-31

What Joel describes is a kind of landmark of end-time prophecy and it is a message we should both heed and anticipate.