2:18–32 Review · The Lord’s Response to Judah’s Appeal:God responds to the cries of his people by delivering them from the clutches of the enemy and exercising his divine anger on the nations that persecuted them. In many ways, Joel 2 resembles the structure of Psalm 79, a lament that traces the destruction of Jerusalem by the enemy, recalls the pleas of the captives, recounts the Lord’s deliverance, and describes his subsequent victorious battle over the evil nations.

2:18–27 · The jealousy of God provokes his desire for vengeance against the nations who have tormented his people. Deuteronomy describes the Lord’s jealousy as his demand for exclusivity among the Israelites, depicting his wrathful response to the infidelity manifested in idolatry (Deut. 32:16, 21). God’s jealousy and prot…