God’s Army in Joel Chapter Two
Part 22 of the Two Witnesses Series
The prophet Joel, while prophesying about the day of the Lord, saw this army of 200 million horsemen in chapter two.
1 Blow a trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of the Lord is coming;
Surely it is near,
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
A day of clouds and thick darkness.
As the dawn is spread over the mountains,
So there is a great and mighty people;
There has never been anything like it,
Nor will there be again after it
To the years of many generations.
3 A fire consumes before them
And behind them a flame burns.
The land is like the garden of Eden before them
But a desolate wilderness behind them,
And nothing at all escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses;
And like war horses, so they run.
5 With a noise as of chariots
They leap on the tops of the mountains,
Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble,
Like a mighty people arranged for battle.
6 Before them the people are in anguish;
All faces turn pale.
7 They run like mighty men,
They climb the wall like soldiers;
And they each march in line,
Nor do they deviate from their paths.
8 They do not crowd each other,
They march everyone in his path;
When they burst through the defenses,
They do not break ranks.
9 They rush on the city,
They run on the wall;
They climb into the houses,
They enter through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
11 The Lord utters His voice before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?
This is a description of the Day of the Lord. Verse two says there is a great and mighty people, the likes of which has never been seen before in the history of the world. This army is like the dawn spread over the mountains. I live in the plains of Colorado that lie just before the Rocky Mountains. I have seen the dawn spread over these 14,000-foot mountain peaks many times. It is majestic and heavenly and will take your breath away. There has never been anything like this overcomer army of 200 million horsemen that has been granted overwhelming authority and power.
Verse three says a fire consumes before them. The land is like the garden of Eden before them but a desolate wilderness behind them and nothing escapes. The description of the second woe in Revelation chapters 9 and 11 both say that fire comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies. The two witnesses do this in spiritual Babylon, all the cities of the nations, all over the world. The cities look like the garden of Eden before them but afterward, a desolate wilderness.
Verse four and five describe the army as war horses, like a mighty people arranged for battle. Again, we see this same description in Revelation.
Joel continues to describe this well trained and disciplined army. They climb the wall like soldiers, they march in line, they do not deviate from their paths, they do not crowd each other, they do not break ranks.
They rush on the city, they run on the wall, they climb into houses, they enter through windows like a thief. Again, the city is spiritual Babylon, all the cities of nations.
Verse eleven says the Lord utters His voice before His army. Surely His camp is very great. For strong is he who carries out His word.
Most people say this army is a demonic army. The beast’s army. Joel says the Lord utters His voice before His army. Joel says it is the Lord’s camp. Joel says this army carries out His word.
This army is the Lord’s overcomer army. It is those who worship in the sanctuary. It is the two witness company that has been granted authority and power. It is the child who is caught up to God and to His throne. It is the 200 million horsemen who kill a third of mankind. It is those who carry out His word. No wonder the people before them are in anguish!
A Prophetic Vision
Some time ago, I was in a prayer meeting. There was a tongue given and then a pause for an interpretation. The Lord showed me a vision of a large group of white horses. The horses were exceptionally large and intimidating. They were stomping their hooves and throwing their heads up and down and back and forth. They were snorting and making all kinds of noise. They looked like they were prepared for battle. An angel was before them. He was trying to keep them in formation, in a straight line. One of the horses in front of him rose up on his back legs and looked as though he might trample the angel. The angel backed up a little and the horse came down. The horse seemed to shout at the angel, “How much longer?” The angel tried to keep the horses as calm as possible but there was no way. The vision ended with the angel wondering how much longer he could keep these war horses in check. The Lord told me to tell everyone in the prayer meeting that there is one of these war horses reserved for each one of us. The time to ride into battle is close.
The horses are ready. Are we?
