March 13

18 ¶ Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send 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 toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21 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 postures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bearch 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 fats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the

caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be ashamed.

27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else; and my people shall never be ashamed.

28 ¶ 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 sun 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 whosoever 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.

"I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh" (ver. 28).

The preceding part of the Book of Joel is taken up with a prediction relative to a great judgment that was to descend upon Judah in the shape of a large army of locusts. The desolation that it was to cause is vividly depicted in chapter i.; and in chapter ii. the coming of that host is set forth with wonderful power. It is well worth reading simply as a poetical gem. In view of this impending judgment, Joel urges the priests to call a solemn assembly, to gird themselves with sackcloth, to proclaim a solemn fast, to turn to the Lord with all their hearts, and to beseech Him to spare His heritage.

If this be sincerely done, then he assures them that their punishment shall be stayed; and further, that a greater blessing still is in store for them—a spiritual experience such as never had been known.

"And it shall come to pass afterwards." "To us," says Otto Schmoller, "the Afterward has become Now," and, he sadly adds, "To many it is only a Once, a Formerly!" We shall lose the main benefit of the study of prophecy unless we keep in mind the fact that what was to the prophets a mere vision is to us, in many instances, actual history. And this particular prediction was not exhausted by the outpouring upon the day of Pentecost, but is still manifest in gracious showers of divine grace wherever the people are ready to receive such copious manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit does not come except to those who long for His coming. "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground" (Isa. xliv. 3) This divine rain never comes upon any soul that is not parched with desire to receive it—and it never fails to come to him who cries out for it because of his spiritual drought. It is not a "Once," nor a "Formerly," but a "Now"—as any one can test for himself.

Closet Promise.—For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.—Matt. vi. 32.

Nobody else knows as God knows. He knows hundreds of things that nobody else can know. He knows many things that nobody else ought to know. He knows many experiences that you will not tell, and many that you do not understand. Naked and open are you before Him with whom you have to do. There is no sorrow so deep, there is no darkness so profound, there is no complication of circumstances so entangling, but that you may say, "There is nothing that affects me which my heavenly Father does not know."—H. W. Beecher.