You're generally fairly solid on your futurist interpretations of end-time prophecy, so I'm surprised you would not want to retain the words "before" and "after" in making more exacting determinations on the order of end-times events.
But let me break down your #1-7 and tell you where I think you are missing it. For starters (as you also stated), this book is set prior to the invasion of Israel by the Assyrians. This is clear from the prediction that an invading nation would divide the land, and only Israel was taken into captivity where as Judah was left. This is when the division between Israel and Judah began. It also evident from the fact that this invading nation comes from the North (Joel 2:20), which was the direction the Assyrian armies came from.
That having been said:
The Day of the Lord is always depicted as a judgment on the unbelieving nations. Always. It is never discussed in reference to a judgment upon Israel, but rather in defense of Israel and as a judgment against her enemies (Joel 2:17). The plagues in Chapter 1, however, are the effects of having been conquered by the Assyrians. As you can see, this invading nation is what will make the land a waste (Joel 1:7). So the Day of the Lord upon the nations and the plagues He was predicting would come upon the land of Israel are two different things, and the Lord was imploring His people to cry to Him for the Day of vengeance to come upon their enemies.
Correct (essentially).
Correct.
Here is where you make your big boo boo. I know you are trying to say there is no chronological order, but there actually is here. This whole passage is set before Joel 2:28, which means Peter believed v.18-27 had already been fulfilled in some sense, and likely that the passage referred to the angels of God driving the Assyrians back supernaturally. (Note: Peter apparently also believed that these events preceded the Day of the Lord since it hadn't come yet, and was therefore not contingent with them). Then comes V.28, which starts with "And it will come about after this...," i.e. after God's army comes to deliver them from enemy oppression.
I still have a hard time believing you devalue the words "before" and "after" as not having meaning. They are signposts telling us the order of events. I do agree with you, however, that the passages have more than one fulfillment. The greater fulfillment of 2:28 is set to happen in the future, as verses like 2:31 have not yet occurred in any sense. And regarding the end-times, the passage on the army of God in Chapter 2 is actually in reference to an army of believers that will be anointed by God during the end-times to perform signs, miracles and wonders, and deliver His church during a time of incredible spiritual oppression. But you don't have to believe that if you wish. What is certain is that this outpouring (in it's fullest sense) is set to occur in a time that precedes the sun being turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, which will both precede the Day of the Lord.
Correct.
Correct.
Almost. I believe it does indeed have a double application, but that the second outpouring will come upon the church, not Israel. But again, this goes back to my believing in the chronologies implied in other prophetic texts, like Matthew 24.
