We’re reading all three chapters of Joel today. As I read through this book this morning, a few points stood out to me, but I couldn’t grasp the thread between them. Research helped me pull it together. After expanding beyond the prophet’s words, I came back to one thing: what I’ll call the Joel Cycle.
Devastation and the Locusts
Joel opens with a devastating event — locusts like Israel had never seen (Joel 1:2–4). This is the same nation God brought out of Egypt with signs and wonders, including a plague of locusts (Exod. 10:12–15). But this time, the destruction wasn’t just symbolic — it wiped out their food supply and crushed their economy.

A similar event, minus the insects, occurred in the 1930s in America during the Dust Bowl (1). Like Israel, we had seen God’s favor. But instead of gratitude and obedience, we turned to sin and decadence. The Roaring Twenties gave us speakeasies, bootleggers, and mobsters. The result? Economic collapse, disease, warfare, and moral decay(2).
Revival and Innocence
Then came the revival. The 1940s and 50s brought a return to faith, family, and moral clarity. We look back on the 1950s with nostalgia — the wholesome family focus, the church on every corner. But underneath the Ozzy and Harriet lifestyle, racism, oppression, and the Cold War loomed.

This is the Joel Cycle:

Devastation leads to despair
Despair leads to repentance
Repentance leads to revival
Revival fades into complacency
Complacency leads to sin
Sin leads to judgment

The Trumpet and the Warning
Joel 2:1–2 describes a trumpet sounding — a warning to repent. God says, “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12–13). And they do — but only for a short while. When the threat is gone, we revert to our old ways. The cycle repeats.

Joel 2:4–5 describes the locusts as an invading army. This could place Joel in the days leading up to the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib (701 BCE), or the Babylonian conquest under Nebuchadnezzar (586 BCE). But Joel 3:6 mentions the Greeks, suggesting a later date — during or after Alexander the Great’s campaigns (336–323 BCE), which included Tyre and much of the known world. (3)
Revival and Repetition
In all these situations — biblical and modern — revival sweeps through the land. In the 1940s, it was preachers like Billy Graham, whose crusades called millions to repentance. But then the cycle repeated.

After the 1950s came the moral decay of the 1960s, which now seems tame compared to today. Tensions rose between nations and within them — reminiscent of the days leading to the American Civil War, and the collapse of the Weimar Republic in Germany after WWI, which saw hyperinflation, unemployment, and political extremism(4).
The Pattern Never Changes
Joel 2:18–27 shows God’s mercy after repentance. But it’s short-lived. Joel 3 returns to judgment. God is slow to anger and abounding in love (Joel 2:13), but His patience wears thin. We’ve had the Bible for over four millennia. The Bible plainly presents the pattern. Yet we never learn.

People mock those who warn of impending doom, such as the person carrying “The End Is Near” sign on the sidewalk. Because the end hasn’t come yet, we ignore the warning until it’s too late.
Personal and Communal Cycles
We do this globally, nationally, locally — and personally. After trials, we turn to God. He sees us through. We worship, praise, and maybe even share our testimony. People hear it and say, “That’s amazing.” They share their own stories. But when asked if they still go to church, they admit they don’t. Even those who serve do so with less reverence.

Joel paints this cycle:

We suffer
God offers mercy
We repent
We fall away

Break the Cycle
You don’t have to return to the valley after reaching the peak. The only valley we should enter is the Valley of Decision (Joel 3:14). God has already sown the seed. I believe we’re about to see a new revival — and it may be the last. We must pick up our sickles and be ready to reap the harvest (Joel 3:13).
Tomorrow, we will read Amos 1-5.
Footnotes:

History.com Editors. “Dust Bowl.” History, last modified October 27, 2009. https://www.history.com/articles/dust-bowl.

“Dust Bowl.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified August 30, 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl.

Freeman, Damien. “The Date of the Book of Joel.” DamienFreeman.com, November 2014. https://damienfreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/PDF37-The-Date-of-the-Book-of-Joel.pdf.

“Weimar Republic.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Accessed September 7, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/place/Weimar-Republic.