Joel 2:11

My Notes

What Does Joel 2:11 Mean?

Joel describes the day of the LORD with military imagery: God utters His voice before His army. The Hebrew natan qolo — He gives His voice — is the language of a commander's battle cry. The army that follows is His camp (machaneh), and it is "very great" — rav m'od, exceedingly vast. The force executing His word is strong — atsam, mighty, formidable. And whoever executes His word is simply doing what He spoke.

The declaration "the day of the LORD is great and very terrible" — gadol yom Adonai v'nora m'od — places two adjectives side by side: great (gadol, large, significant, momentous) and terrible (nora, fear-inducing, awe-inspiring). The day is not small. It's not manageable. It's not an event you observe from a distance. It arrives with a magnitude that fills the horizon.

The final question — "who can abide it?" — mi y'khilenu — literally, who can contain it, endure it, hold up under it? The question expects the answer: no one. No one can stand in the face of God's army executing God's word on God's day. The question isn't asking for information. It's forcing a reckoning: if this is what's coming, what posture should you adopt? Joel's next verse provides the answer: repent. Now.

Reflection Questions

• 1.Does the question 'who can abide it?' produce fear or surrender in you — and what's the difference?
• 2.Where have you been approaching God's power casually, as if His patience means His judgment is theoretical?
• 3.Joel's answer to the terrifying day is repentance, not preparation. How does that challenge your instinct to fortify rather than surrender?
• 4.If the day of the LORD is both great and terrible, how do you hold awe and dread together in your understanding of God?

Devotional

"Who can abide it?" Joel asks the question and lets the silence answer. Nobody. Nobody can endure the day of the LORD by their own strength. Nobody can stand when the God of armies raises His voice and His camp — exceedingly vast, terrifyingly strong — moves forward to execute His word. The question isn't hypothetical. It's designed to break you open.

We live in a culture that celebrates resilience, self-sufficiency, and the ability to handle whatever comes. Joel says: there is something coming that you cannot handle. A day that is great and terrible simultaneously — great in its significance, terrible in its power. And the appropriate response isn't to steel yourself. It's to surrender. The very next verse says "turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." The only preparation for the day of the LORD is repentance. Not strategy. Not fortification. Repentance.

If you've been approaching God casually — as though His patience means His power is modest, as though His kindness means His judgment is theoretical — Joel's question is aimed at your assumptions. Who can abide it? You can't. I can't. Nobody standing in their own strength can endure the day when God raises His voice. The only safe position is the one Joel prescribes: face down, heart open, returning to God before the army moves. The day is coming. The question is whether you'll meet it standing in defiance or kneeling in surrender.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture