This opening verse show that what Joel is about to say is not his word but the Lord's.

Joel can be described as one of those holy men of God who "spake as they were moved

by the Holy Ghost" (II Pet. 1: 21). This then fixes our attitude. What we have before us

is a message from the Lord and so we must treat it as such. Being respectful and

studious--and exercising humility over those parts which we cannot understand will be

far more profitable than dismissing such as `impossible' or `fantastic' or . . . . .

The Hebrew for `word' in Joel 1: 1 is dabar and does not necessarily mean a spoken

word. It can mean `matter' or `subject' in a more general sense. Thus although nearly all

translations open with the expression "The word of the Lord' Moffatt has "The message

of the Eternal" (Moffatt always has Eternal to translate Jehovah). Here Joel is stressing

that the source of his message, his revelation is not himself but the Lord and this is

reinforced in Joel 2: 12 with "saith the Lord" (A.V.); "declares the Lord" (N.1: 5:).

"The word of the Lord" is also the opening of other prophecies. See, for example, the

first verses of Hosea, Micah and Zephaniah. Their message, too, was also a message

from the Lord and expressions like "thus saith the Lord" must occur well over four

hundred times throughout the O.T. clearly indicating and emphasizing, time and time

again, that what is contained therein is "The word of the Lord", "The message of the

Joel, having received a revelation from the Lord, promptly tells others about it but he

does not stop there. He encourages and exhorts them not only to tell their children the

message but also wants them to ensure that their children will tell their children and that

they will, in their turn, tell their children.  Thus the importance of the message is

emphasized by telling the old to ensure that, as well as their children and grandchildren

knowing it, their great grandchildren should hear it also.

With an appeal to the old men and the past, "Has such a thing happened in your days,

or in the days of your father?" (R.S.V.). Joel now emphasizes the seriousness of the

events. This swarm of locusts, and its effect, may have brought into the minds of the

inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem the words of Exod. 10: 3-15 when the land of Egypt

had been infested by such a plague because Pharaoh would not allow Moses and the

people to worship the Lord. Then Pharaoh was sinning against the Lord, disobeying His

commands and so . . . . . judgment. Was this plague, the one which preceded this

message of Joel, the result of the people of Judah sinning against and disobeying the

Lord? Certainly if it is written in the days just prior to the Babylonian exile various

verses in II Kings 24: & 25: and II Chron. 36: record that the kings "did evil in

the sight of the Lord".