Joel 2:1

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain,.... This is spoken to the priests, whose business it was to blow the trumpets for calling solemn assemblies to meet in Zion, the

Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A more terrific judgment than

JOEL CHAPTER 2 The prophet describeth the locusts as a mighty ar led by God to destroy the land, . He exhorteth to repentance, ; prescribeth a general fast and humiliation, ; and promiseth mercy from God, . He comforteth Zion with present blessings, ; and prophesieth the effusion of the Holy Spirit, and other blessings of the gospel, . Blow ye the trumpet: the prophet continueth his advice or exhortation to the priests, who were by office appointed to summon the solemn assemblies, and to call them together by sound of trumpet or cornet; and so would he have the priests to gather the people together to fast, and weep, and pray. In Zion; which taken largely is the same with Jerusalem, though strictly taken it is the hill on which the city of David, or his royal palace, did stand. Sound an alarm; give notice that all may be prepared against the enemy, let it be known that the enemy is coining, what danger attends his coming, and what provision should be made. In my holy mountain; in Jerusalem, in Moriah, on which the temple did stand. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; stand in awe of God’ s majesty, fear his displeasure, and do this with a penitent heart, all you that dwell in the land of Canaan, the parched and burnt land. For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: see .

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand;Ver. 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion] Idem aliis verbis repetit, saith Mercer here. The prophet repeats the same as in the former chapter, only in other words, more at large, and after another manner; pressing the people further to the practice of repentance by many sweet promises of the blessings of this and a better life. Our prophet may seem to be of the same mind with Tertullian, who said that he was nulli rei natus nisi poenitentiae, born for no other end but to repent, and to call upon others so to do. Tot autem verbis et figuris utitur, saith Luther, he useth so many words and figures, because he had to do with a people that were harder than rocks, Jeremiah 5:8; as also, because there is an absolute necessity of repentance. Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum, as our Saviour tells his disciples twice in a breath, Luke 13:2; Luke 13:5. The prophet had urged them hereunto from the evils they felt or feared, Joe 1:1-20. Pain and penitence are words of one derivation. God plagueth men that he may make them cry peccavi; I have sinned, not peril only, I am undone, as Cain; but peccavi, I have done very foolishly, as David. The first seventeen verses of this chapter are hortatory, the rest consolatory. The day of the Lord cometh, therefore repent. This is the sum of the exhortation. It cometh, and that instantly: give warning therefore. God loveth to foresignify, saith the heathen historian, and to admonish before he punish, Fιλειο Yεοςπροσημαινειν (Herod.). He dealt so with Cain, to whom he read the first lecture of repentance, Genesis 4:9-15, as he had done of faith to his father Adam, in the chapter before. He dealt so with the old world, with the Sodomites, Ninevites. Sound an alarm in my holy mountain] Ring the bells backwards (as among us they do), the house is on fire, the enemy is at hand. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble] And take course to prevent or mitigate the ensuing mischief, to cut the cart ropes of sin that pull down wrath upon the land. For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand] "An end is come, is come, is come," as Ezekiel hath it, Ezekiel 7:6-7 "I will overturn, overturn, overturn," as the same prophet hath it elsewhere, Ezekiel 21:27, "Should we then make mirth?" as it is in the same chapter, Ezekiel 21:10; should we sleep upon a mast pole, dance upon a weather cock, go hallooing and whooping to the place of execution?

II. (1) Blow ye the trumpet.—The preaching of the prophet increases in its intensity. Behind the locusts, exemplified by them, there is a still more terrible visitation. He sees on the horizon a mustering of the nations hostile to his people, bent on destroying them. Let the priests stir up the people for a fast, and for the defence of their land by the trumpet. The locusts have done their symbolical work, they have left their mark on the country. Now the day of Jehovah, the manifestation of His power, is approaching—it is imminent.

CHAPTER II The prophet sounds the alarm of a dreadful calamity, the description of which is most terribly worked up, 1-11. Exhortation to repentance, fasting, and prayer, that the Divine judgments may be averted, 12-17. God will in due time take vengeance on all the enemies of pure and undefiled religion, 18-20. Great prosperity of the Jews subsequent to their return from the Babylonish captivity, 21-27. Joel then makes an elegant transition to the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, 28-30; for so these verses are explained by one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. See Acts 2:16-21. Prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, which was shortly to follow the opening of the Gospel dispensation, 31. Promises of safety to the faithful and penitent; promises afterwards remarkably fulfilled to the Christians in their escape to Pella from the desolating sword of the Roman army, 32. NOTES ON CHAP. II Verse 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion] This verse also shows that the temple was still standing. All assemblies of the people were collected by the sound of the trumpet. The day of the Lord cometh] This phrase generally means a day of judgment or punishment.

1. Blow ye the horn in Zion] see, in justification of this rendering of shτphβr, on Amos 2:2. The horn is to be sounded, in order to give notice of impending danger, and arouse the people to meet it (cp. on Amos 3:6). sound an alarm] The word, though it often has the sense of shouting, is used also to denote the long, continuous blast of the horn, which, in contradistinction to a succession of short, sharp notes, was the signal of danger (Numbers 10:9, though the reference there is not to the shτphβr, but to the ḥ ?atzτtzerβh). tremble] aroused viz., by the ‘alarm,’ from their security. for the day of Jehovah cometh, for it is at hand (or near)] Repeated, with some variation, from Joe 1:15. at hand (or near), exactly as Joe 1:15, Joe 3:14.

Blow ye the trumpet - The trumpet was accustomed to sound in Zion, only for religious uses; to call together the congregations for holy meetings, to usher in the beginnings of their months and their

1. By the blowing of the horn the priests are to warn the people (Amos 3:6) of the near approach of the day of Jehovah and to gather them into the temple to pray. The latter thought is not expanded until Joe 2:15.