Joel 2

Joel 2:1-11

In this chapter we have, 1. A further description of that terrible defoliation which should be made, ver. 1—11. 2. A fœtion call to the people, to return and report, to fight and pray, and find unto God for mercy, with directions how to do this aright, ver. 12—17. 3. A promise that, upon their repentance, God would remove the judgment, and restore unto them plenty of all good things, ver. 18—27. 4. A prediction of the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah to the world, by the pouring use of the Spirit in the latter days, ver. 28—32.

1 B LOW ye the + trumpet in Zion, and found 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; 2. ‘A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: ‘A great people and a throng, ’there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3. ‘A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as ’the garden of Eden before them, ‘and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4. ‘The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5. ‘Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the bubble, as a throng people set in battle array. 6. Before their face the people shall be much pained: ‘all faces shall gather £ blackness. 7. They shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. 8. Neither shall one shroud another, they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9. They shall run to and fro in the city: they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses: they shall enter in at the windows like a thief, 10. The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble, ’the sin and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 11. And ’the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for ‘he is strong that executed his word, for ’the day of the LORD is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?

The heavy judgment coming upon the people of Israel is here set forth.

1. The alarm is spread. Illeu ye the trumpet in Zion, and found an alarm in my holy mountain, to give notice of the invading foe, and to prepare them for the approaching danger. This was

Baker-Chart Box. Or count. Chap. ii. 14. Chap. ii. 14. Am. v. 18. Ver. 11. Re. v. 14. 1. 15th. Of circulation not generation. Ver. 1. 3. Chap. ii. 16. Chap. ii. 16. Am. v. 18. Ver. 11. Re. v. 14. 1. 15th. Of circulation not generation. Ver. 1. 3. Chap. ii. 16. Chap. ii. 16. Am. v. 18. Ver. 11. 1. 15th. Of circulation not generation. Ver. 1. 3. Chap. ii. 16. Chap. ii. 16. Am. v. 18. Ver. 11. Chap. ii. 16. Am. v. 18. Ver. 11. Chap. ii. 16. 1. 15th. Of circulation not generation. Ver. 1. 3. Chap. ii. 16.

The priest’s office, who, as the watchman upon Zion’s walls, must warn sinners of the wrath of God ready to light upon them, and urge them, whilst there is hope, to die from it. The judgments at the door should make the people tremble, and the fatal day is nigh, hand in the divine decree, to punish the transgressors, a day of darkness, &c. when the very sun should be obscured with clouds of locusts; or, as these phrases may signify, the deepest calamities would overtake them; as the morning spread upon the mountains, coming suddenly, and spreading universally and irresistibly; or the air should be so darkened with the swarms of infidels, that at mid-day the light should not exceed the dawning of the morning.

2. The army is marshalled in battle array, v. 2. A great people and a strong, supplying by multitude what they singly want in might; nor were there ever before, nor shall there be hereafter, such ravages committed by them in Judea. As they advanced they swept the land as with the bosom of destruction, and behind them the country looked black and barren as if fire had devoured it; so that what was as the garden of Eden before them quickly appeared as a delicate wilderness, nothing changing their devouring laws. Swift and bold as horses, they ruffed on; and, as rattling chariots over the rugged mountains, the sound was heard afar off, leaping as they advanced, and invisible as the roaring of devouring fire, that spreads resistless on every side; marching firm, embodied in small battalions, as soldiers keep their ranks, v. 7, 8. In vain against them the sword is drawn, they elude the stroke, or those that fall are not found wanting, to call is their multitude. Not only the country is devoured by them, but the cities are covered, the houses are filled with them, v. 9. and these were the forerunners and emblems of the Chaldean armies, that should in like manner spread desolations on every side, destroy the country, lack the cities, plunder and captivate the inhabitants, and leave Judea a wildsmith, without man or beall. Note, (1.) There is no hence against God’s judgments. (2.) The found of them in other lands should be to us loud calls to repentance.

3. Great would be the terror spread through the land by these invaders. The people, forars with pangs as a woman in travel, would be in the deepest confederation, and every face gather blackouts, lived as the corps from which the spirit is fled. The very earth shall quote before them, the loament tremble, and the luminaries thereof be darkened, v. 10. obscured by the locusts; or, figuratively, it bepeaks the deep districts of the inhabitants, from the king upon the throne to the lowest of the people. And well may they indeed tremble who see thus the wrath of God revealed against them. For,

4. This is his doing. It is his army, that marches under his direction, and animated by his voice, who, as their captain, leads them on to victory. Too numerous to be opposed, too strong to be resisted, since they are sent to execute his word. For the day of the Lord is great, and very terrible, and who can abide it? Note, The impenitent finner must need perish, unable to oppose the arm of Omnipotence, or bear up under the strokes of his fierce anger.

5. Heb. Magnificat Deuteronomy 4a.

6. ¶ Therefore also now, faith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. 13. And rent your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, flow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14. ¶ Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, now a meat-offering, and a drink-offering unto the LORD your God? 15. ¶ Blow the trumpet in Zion, fancy a fall, call a solemn assembly. 16. Gather the people: sanctify the congregation: assemble the elders; gather the children, and those that flock the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach; that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 18. ¶ There will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19. Yes, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will feed you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen. 20. But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east-sea, and his hinder part towards the utmost sea; and his stink shall come up, and his ill heart shall come up, because he hath done great things.

Joel 2:12-20

To oppose these desolating judgments, when they come, were vain; to avert them, before they arrived, was yet possible: and the way is here prescribed.

1. By a penitent return to God.

[1.] Let a solemn fall be proclaimed, for chap. i. 14. and all summoned to appear before God, from the highest to the lowest, from the hoary head to the babe that fucks the breast; the universal judgment called for deep and universal abasement: nor must the bridegroom so bride be absent. In public calamities all private joys must be furaïlowed up.

[2.] Let the priests, with deepest mourning and most fervent supplications, pour forth their complaints to God, and, standing between the porch and the altar, on which now no sacrifices smoked, with tears of heartfelt woe cry unto God, if mercy yet is to be found, Spare thy people, O Lord: they plead that relation which, though an aggravation of their sin, yet ministers a ground for hope, that yet the Lord would not utterly call them off; and give not thine heritage to reproach, by driving them into strange countries to lock for God, or suffering them, thus impoverished, to fall an easy prey into the hands of their enemies, that the heathen should rule over them: Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Not only their lives and characters but God’s glory was concerned, and for his own great name’s take, though they deferred no favour, they must plead for his interposition. Note, (1.) The ministers of God must themselves be deeply abdiced, if they would affect the hearts of their people. (2.) Mercy is all a miserable sinner can ask at God’s hand. (3.) One must powerful pleas in prayer are to be drawn from God’s own glory, as interred in our salvation.

[3.] Let the people join their ministers with prayers and tears, and heartfelt humiliation, v. 12, 13. and, without which every outward expression of distress is but hypocrisy, turn unto the Lord their God in simplicity and truth, deeply convinced of the evil of their sins, and truly abhorring themselves in the view of them; putting away the accused thing, and clearing to the Lord with full purpose of heart, through his grace, to approve henceforward their unshaken history to him. In this way, sinners as we are, a door of hope still yet be opened for us.

2. The most powerful arguments are suggested to engage them hereunto. He is called the Lord your God, who hath not disclaimed yet his relation to them, for he is gracious and merciful; and though highly provoked, he is not irreparable; he delights not in the death of a future; flow to anger, unwilling, even after repeated offences, to destroy the guilty; waiting with astonishing patience; and of great kindness, ready to receive him the moment he relents and returns; and repenteth him of the evil, changing the addictive dispositions his providence towards the penitent, and, instead of wrath, thinketh upon mercy. And surely nothing can break the obdurate heart, if such tender pity and undeferved compulsion lead us not to repentance. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, averting the heavy temporal calamities threatened, of which they might entertain good hope if they truly turned to him, and leave a trifling behind him, not as departing from them, but as coming to their rescue, and staying the ravages of the locusts; care a meat-offering and a drink-offering for the Lord our God; for their defies were more intent on having God’s altar supplied than their own trifles covered; and this was a gracious evidence of the truth of their repentance.

3. God gives them the strongest assurances he will hear their prayer, and will both help them and glorify himself. He will be jealous for the land, for his great name’s take, and will pity his people in their deep distress. Their plenty shall be restored, their reproach be removed, v. 18. and their devourers destroyed, and cast in hope unto the sea, filling the air with the throch of their putrid carcasses, because he hath done great things, because of the mischief they have occasioned; or, for he will do great things, God will make bare his arm for their rescue, and do for his people the great things promised in this and the following verses. Some apply this to the destruction of Sennacherib’s army; and probably these locusts, both in their invasion and destruction, were a figure of the Affyrians. Note, God will assuredly hear when his people cry, and their enemies and his shall know the heroineils of his wrath.

4. ¶ Fear not, O land, be glad, and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 22. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength. 23. Be glad then ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. 24. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fast shall overflow with wine and oil. 25. And I will restore to you the ears that the locust hath eaten, the canker.

Baker Chill ban. C. Chap. ii. 17. c. 21-27. Many great and precious promises are here added for the comfort and joy of the people of God. 1. Their fears shall be all removed. The Lord will do great things for them; refusing them wonderfully from the hands of every enemy, whether the locusts or Chaldeans; as he will also save the souls of his people in Christ Jesus from every spiritual foe, and deliver them from the fears of guilt, and the powers of corruption. 9. 21-27. Many great and precious promises are here added for the comfort and joy of the people of God. and the powers of corruption. 2. Their joys shall be restored. Their temporal comforts shall abound; the devastations of the locusts shall be repaired, v. 25. The pastures which had been devoured shall spring afresh, watered with the dew of heaven, v. 22. The rain, moderately deferencing in its season, shall fertilize the soil, and cause their mort, their vineyards, their olive and fig-ure, to those vigorously, and bring forth fruit abundantly, v. 22. 25. So that their gravers should be filled, and their fars overflow, v. 24. And what is far better than even their restored plenty, he will give them spiritual confidence, and the fancized enjoyment of their comforts. They shall rejoice in the Lord their God, ascribing to him the praise of all their mercies, and happy in a sense of his love and favour, v. 26. By experience now they shall be honight to know God’s gracious presence in the midst of them, and that he alone is God, even their God, and some else; all idols being utterly rejected by them, and his great name alone adored and exalted; and this will be most eminently the case, when that anchor of righteousness, (as the words, v. 23) may be rendered, instead of the former rain moderately, which God would send, even the divine Messiah, should come, and by his own whatever upon death work out, and in his gospel direct us to, that one divine and everlasting righteousness, which is the grand source of every believer’s joy, and will be to all eternity. 3. They shall never be ashamed; never have cause to be so, through want of food, as before; or rather, the Lord their confidence will never disappoint their hope; he will be their rock and refuge in every time of need; they shall experience his comstant and uninterrupted favour in time, and in the day of his appearing and glory, stand forth before him with great boldness, abused of his everlasting love. 4. The very health that groaned and cried to God, shall have the cause of their fears and cries removed. The pastures of the wilderness do spring; even to them hath God respect, for his mercies are over all his works, Jonah iv. 11. 25. ¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29. And also upon the servants, and upon the handmaids in those days, will I pour out my spirit. 30. And I will shew wonders in the heavens, and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31. The son shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32. And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Joel 2:28-32

The promises here evidently look forward to the times of the gospel; and in all the former troubles of the people of God, the prospect of these blessed days was a great support under their adictions. 1. There shall be a most plenteous effusion of the Spirit, as on the apostles at the day of Pentecost, to which this prophecy is expressly applied, Acts ii. 16, 17. and afterwards upon all faith, Gentiles as well as Jews, who should be made partakers of the Holy Ghost, both of his miraculous powers, as well as the ordinary gifts and graces he bestows; the latter of which still continues, though the former have ceased, yet perhaps not for ever. Old and young, persons of both sexes, should alike partake of this blessing; and even the meanest servants and handmaidens not be excluded from this unbreakable gift. Thus they should be enabled to prophesy; either to forget things to come, as Agabus, the daughters of Philip, and others, Acts xi. 28. xiii. 1. xxi. 9, 10. or to speak the truths of God to the edification of others; or to join in his praises with Vol. II. enlarged hearts; in all which senses the word prophecy is used. 2. A scene of dreadful prodigies shall follow, v. 30, 31. which had their primary accomplishment in the dreadful ravages of the Roman army in Judea, and the strange sights and appearances in the air, which uttered in the destruction of Jerusalem, and will also precede the final coming of the eternal judge, and utter in that great and terrible day of the Lord. Happy would it be for the sinner, if the tremendous views of that awful day’s approach might alarm his conscience, and awaken his concern, to fly to the bosom of Jesus for shelter from the wrazh to come, that he may be hid there in the day of the Lord’s fierce anger. 3. The faithful in that great day are secured from fear of evil. It shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered, as those were who believed in Jesus, and fled to Polls on the approaching frogs of Jerusalem. And more generally this must be extended to all Christ’s redeemed people, who in him are free to find prelates and everlasting falvation from all the great enemies of their souls; and waiting upon him by faith in ceaseless prayers, obtain from him help in every time of need. For in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, in the gospel church, shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, who is faithful to all his promises, and neither can nor will ever leave or hesitate his people; and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call, not one of whom shall ever perish; for whom he hath effectually called, he will powerfully keep, and none shall ever pluck them out of his hands. Blessed and happy are they who have a part in this salvation; may my lot be with them!