15Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
16Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go out of his room, and the bride out of her room.
17Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly.
16 Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go out of his room, and the bride out of her room.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
KJVKing James Version
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck 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?
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
15 Blow the horn in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly;
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her pavilion.
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 Thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should make them a byword: wherefore should they say among the peoples: Where is their God?'
Psalms 115:2(v17)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”
Psalms 79:10(v17)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let it be known among the nations, before our eyes, that vengeance for your servants’…
Ezekiel 8:16(v17)He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were…
Joel 1:14(vv15–16)Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry…
2 Chronicles 20:13(v16)All Judah stood before Yahweh, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Show all 62 cross-references
2 Chronicles 29:5(v16)and said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify Yahweh, the God of your fathers’ house, and carry the…
Exodus 34:9(v17)He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon…
1 Kings 6:3(v17)The porch in front of the temple of the house had a length of twenty cubits, which was along the width of the house. Ten cubits was its…
Daniel 9:18-19(v17)My God, turn your ear, and hear. Open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present…
Hosea 14:2(v17)Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls.
Joel 1:9(v17)The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house. The priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn.
Joel 2:1(v15)Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes,…
Amos 7:2(v17)When they finished eating the grass of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”
Matthew 23:35(v17)that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of…
1 Corinthians 7:5(v16)Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together…
Exodus 19:10(v16)Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments,
Exodus 19:22(v16)Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break out on them.”
Exodus 32:11-13(v17)Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of…
Numbers 10:3(v15)When they blow them, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 14:14-16(v17)They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you Yahweh are among this people; for you Yahweh are seen face to…
Deuteronomy 32:27(v17)were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is…
1 Samuel 16:5(v16)He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and…
1 Kings 21:12(v15)They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
2 Chronicles 8:12(v17)Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on Yahweh’s altar, which he had built before the porch,
Psalms 42:10(v17)As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
Psalms 44:10-14(v17)You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves. You have made us like sheep for food, and have…
Psalms 74:10(v17)How long, God, shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
Psalms 74:18-23(v17)Remember this, that the enemy has mocked you, Yahweh. Foolish people have blasphemed your name. Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild…
Psalms 79:4(v17)We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and derision to those who are around us.
Psalms 89:41(v17)All who pass by the way rob him. He has become a reproach to his neighbors.
Psalms 89:51(v17)With which your enemies have mocked, Yahweh, with which they have mocked the footsteps of your anointed one.
Isaiah 37:20(v17)Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.”
Isaiah 63:17-19(v17)O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your…
Isaiah 64:9-12(v17)Don’t be furious, Yahweh. Don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a…
Ezekiel 20:9(v17)But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made…
Ezekiel 36:4-7(v17)therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the…
Amos 7:5(v17)Then I said, “Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”
Micah 7:10(v17)Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, where is Yahweh your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover her…
Malachi 1:9(v17)“Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies.
Matthew 27:43(v17)He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Exodus 19:15(v16)He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.”
Deuteronomy 29:10-11(v16)All of you stand today in the presence of Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of…
Joshua 7:13(v16)Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, “There is a devoted thing…
1 Kings 21:9(v15)She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
2 Kings 10:20(v15)Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal!” So they proclaimed it.
2 Chronicles 29:23-24(v16)They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them. Then the priests…
2 Chronicles 30:17(v16)For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites were in charge of killing the Passovers for…
2 Chronicles 30:19(v16)who sets his heart to seek God, Yahweh, the God of his fathers, even if they aren’t clean according to the purification of the sanctuary.”
2 Chronicles 35:6(v16)Kill the Passover, sanctify yourselves, and prepare for your brothers, to do according to Yahweh’s word by Moses.”
Nehemiah 9:36(v17)“Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in…
Job 1:5(v16)It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and…
Psalms 19:5(v16)which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
Jeremiah 36:9(v15)Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem, and all the people…
Jonah 3:7-8(v16)He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd…
Zechariah 12:11-14(v16)In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. The land will mourn,…
Deuteronomy 9:16-29(v17)I looked, and behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molded calf. You had quickly turned away from the…
Deuteronomy 28:37(v17)You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
1 Kings 9:7(v17)then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of…
2 Chronicles 7:20(v17)then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will…
Psalms 42:3(v17)My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
Joel 1:13(v17)Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for…
Matthew 9:15(v16)Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the…
62 distinct cross-references across this passage (63 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Here again the Prophet reminds them that there was…
Here again the Prophet reminds them that there was need of deep repentance; for not only individuals had transgressed, but the whole people had become guilty before God; and we also know how many and grievous their sins had been. There is no wonder then that the Prophet requires a public profession of repentance.
He bids them first to sound the trumpet in Zion. This custom, as we have seen at the beginning of the chapter, was in common use under the Law; they summoned their meetings by the sound of trumpets. There is then no doubt but that the Prophet here refers to an extraordinary meeting. They sounded the trumpets whenever they called the people to the festivals. But it must have been unusual for the Jews to proclaim a fast on account of God’s heavy judgment, which was to come on them unless it was prevented. He then shows the purpose of this, bidding them to sanctify a fast By this word קדש kodesh, he means a proclamation for a holy purpose. Sanctify, then a fast, that is, Proclaim a fast in the name of God.
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We slightly touched on the subject of fasting in the first chapter, but deferred a fuller discussion to this place. Fasting, we know, is not of itself a meritorious work, as the Papists imagine it to be: there is, indeed, strictly speaking, no work meritorious. But the Papists dream that fasting, in addition to its merit and worth, is also by itself of much avail in the worship of God; and yet fasting, when regarded in itself is an indifferent work. It is not then approved by God, except for its end; it must be connected with something else, otherwise it is a vain thing. Men, by private fastings prepare themselves for the exercise of prayer, or they mortify their own flesh, or seek a remedy for some hidden vices. Now I do not call fasting temperance; for the children of God, we know, ought through their whole life to be sober and temperate in their habits; but fasting, I regard that to be, when something is abstracted from our moderate allowance: and such a fast, when practiced privately, is, as I have said, either a preparation for the exercise of prayer, or a means to mortify the flesh, or a remedy for some vices.
But as to a public fast, it is a solemn confession of guilt, when men suppliantly approach the throne of God, acknowledge themselves worthy of death, and yet ask pardon for their sins. Fasting then, with regard to God, is similar to black and mean garments and a long beard before earthly judges. The criminal goes not before the judge in a splendid dress, with all his fine things, but casts away every thing that was before elegant in his appearance, and by his uncombed hair and long beard he tries to excite the compassion of his judge. There is, at the same time, another reason for fasting; for when we have to do with men, we wish to please their eyes and conciliate their favor; and he who fasts, not only testifies openly that he is guilty, but he also reminds himself of his guilt; for as we are not sufficiently touched by the sense of God’s wrath, those aids are useful which help to excite and affect us. He then who fasts, excites himself the more to penitence.
We now perceive the right use of fasting. But it is of public fasting that the Prophet speaks here. For what purpose? That the Jews, whom he had before summoned, might present themselves before God’s tribunal, and that they might come there, not with vain excuses, but with humble prayer. This is the design of fasting. We now see how foolishly the Papists have abused fasting; for they think it to be a meritorious work; they imagine that God is honored by abstinence from meat; they also mention those benefits of fasting to which I have referred; but they join fasts with festivals, as if there was some religion in abstaining from flesh or certain meats. We now then perceive by what gross puerilities the Papists trifle with God. We must then carefully notice the end in view, whenever the Scripture speaks of fasting; for all things will be confounded, except we lay hold on the principle which I have stated — that fasting ought ever to be connected with its end. We shall now proceed.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v16That as all have sinned, so all may show…
That as all have sinned, so all may show forth signs of their repentance, that men seeing the children which are not free from God’s wrath, might be the more lively touched with the consideration of their own sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Joe 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a…
Joe 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Ver. 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion] That all may hear and convene, those of Jerusalem in the temple, and the rest in their several synagogues, Lev 23:31, for that yearly fast was a standard to the rest, kept upon extraordinary and emergent occasions, as here, for the preventing of the forethreatened judgment. Papists appoint set fasting days, as Lent, and Friday in every week, eves of holidays, &c., whether the times be clear or cloudy. A. Lapide, also, the Jesuit, keeps a coil against Luther and the Centurists, for decrying their Popish processions and public litanies, which he thinks to be here and elsewhere authorized. A discourse he giveth us here, too, about the use and origin of bells among Christians, answerable to trumpets among the Jews. A symmist of his, Cenalis, Bishop of Auranches, to prove their Pope-holy Church the true Church, maketh no mention at all either of preaching or sacraments, but produceth bells for a sufficient mark of the Catholic true Church. "We have bells," saith he, "whereby our assemblies are ordinarily called together, but the Lutherans have claps of harquebuses and pistolets for signs whereby they congregate," between which and bells he maketh a long anti-thesis, and from hence inferreth that the Church of Rome is the true Church. A proper argument, and yet the man pleaseth himself as much in it as the second Council of Nice did in their profound proofs for idolatry, which, as one well saith of them, were such as that the images themselves, if they were sensible, would blush to hear repeated.
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Sanctify a fast] {See Trapp on "Joe 1:14"} Proclaim a religious abstinence from all kind of sustenance, {2Sa 12:17 Jon 3:5} for a season, either from morning till evening, as Jdg 20:26 2Sa 3:35, or from evening till evening, Lev 23:32, or longer, as Est 4:16 Act 9:9, as the hand and wrath of God is more or less felt or feared; but the least time that may be is a whole day. There is an old canon that our fasts should continue usque dum stellae in coelo appareant, till the stars appear in the sky. The very Turks in their solemn fasts eat nothing all the day till night; yea, so precise they are, that upon their fasting days they will not so much as wash their mouths in water till the stars appear; which maketh their fasts (especially in the summer, when the days be long and hot) to be unto them very tedious. Christians hold and teach that nature is by fasting to be chastised, and not disabled for service; and that such as cannot fast so long but they shall either endanger health or be unfitted for the spiritual duties of the day, may eat; provided that they abuse not this liberty to the satisfying of the flesh, Col 2:23 1Ti 5:23.
Call a solemn assembly] See Joe 1:14. {See Trapp on "Joe 1:14"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Blow the trumpet in Zion: see Joe 2:1.
Blow the trumpet in Zion: see Joe 2:1.
Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: see Joe 1:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Blow the trumpet in Zion,.... For the calling of…
Blow the trumpet in Zion,.... For the calling of the people together to religious duties, which was one use of the silver trumpets made for and blows by the priests, Num 10:2;
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; See Gill on Joe 1:14.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv16–17The children - Though they understand little what is…
The children - Though they understand little what is done, yet their cities ascend, and God with pity looks on their tears. These that suck - Their cries and tears may perhaps move the congregation to more earnest supplication to God for mercy. So the Ninevites, Jonah iii, 7, 8. The bridegroom - Let the new married man leave the mirth of the nuptials and afflict himself with the rest.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Verse 15. Blow the trumpet] Let no time be…
Verse 15. Blow the trumpet] Let no time be lost, let the alarm be sounded.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv15, 17Joe 2:15-16. Blow the trumpet in Zion — This…
Joe 2:15-16. Blow the trumpet in Zion — This was a signal for assembling the people at the solemn times of public worship. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly — Or, appoint ye a fast, proclaim a solemn day: so Archbishop Newcome. Sanctify the congregation — Let the people prepare themselves for this solemn time of humiliation, not only by washing themselves and their clothes, and cleansing themselves from all legal impurities, as is required Exo 19:10-15, but by true contrition of heart, godly sorrow for, and forsaking all known sin, as also by abstaining from all sensual pleasures, however innocent and allowable at other times. Absolute self-denial is but a reasonable preparation for keeping a day of solemn humiliation before God, on account of national sins or calamities. This kind of abstinence was recommended among the heathen as a necessary preparation for solemn worship. Assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts — Let both young and old join in this duty, for all ages joining in it will add much to the solemnity of it, and is very proper to work in men’s minds that sincere contrition, which may avert those judgments which threaten the whole nation, and in which their posterity may suffer. Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet — Even on the day of their marriage, or during the marriage-feast. Let newly-married persons disregard the concerns and enjoyments peculiar to their situation, and afflict themselves with the rest of the people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Before, he had, in these same words Joe 2:1;…
Before, he had, in these same words Joe 2:1; Joe 1:14, called to repentance, because the Day of the Lord was coming, was near, “a day of darkness,” etc. Now , because God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and plenteous in goodness,” he agains exhorts, “Blow ye the trumpet;” only the call is more detailed, that every sex and age should form one band of suppliants to the mercy of God. : “Most full abolition of sins is then obtained, when one prayer and one confession issueth from the whole Church. For since the Lord promiseth to the pious agreement of two or three, that He will grant whatever is so asked, what shall be denied to a people of many thousands, fulfilling together one observance, and supplicating in harmony through One Spirit?” “We come together,” says Tertullian of Christian worship, “in a meeting and congregation as before God, as though we would in one body sue Him by our prayers. This violence is pleasing to God.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Trumpet. Thus were festivals announced, Numbers x. 7.
Trumpet. Thus were festivals announced, Numbers x. 7.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Blow the trumpet--to convene the people (Num 10:3). Compare…
Blow the trumpet--to convene the people (Num 10:3). Compare Joe 1:14. The nation was guilty, and therefore there must be a national humiliation. Compare Hezekiah's proceedings before Sennacherib's invasion (2Ch. 30:1-27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn v15Joe_2:15-17 are an emphatic re-iteration of the exhortation in…
Joe_2:15-17 are an emphatic re-iteration of the exhortation in Joe_1:14. Joe_2:15 takes us back to Joe_2:1, where the priests are exhorted to blow the trumpet. There it was intended to be chiefly a signal of danger, here a call to a religious gathering. 15b is a repetition of Joe_1:14 a. No one is to be excluded or excused from the proposed service; all are to take part. Even the smallest children are to join. Joe_2:16 is an expansion of Joe_1:14 b.
Gather the people — In Joe_1:14, “all the inhabitants of the land.” The purpose of the gathering is indicated in the following expression: Sanctify the congregation [“assembly”] — Call a holy meeting of the congregation and consecrate the thus gathered people so that they can approach God properly (Exo_19:10; 1Sa_16:5). The act of consecration was external, but it signified an inner spiritual preparation (13). In order that none might consider themselves exempt, the people are precisely defined as old men, children, and sucklings. No one is free from sin, no one can escape the judgment, therefore no one can afford to stay away from the service of prayer.
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Elders — Better, R.V., “old men.” Persons of old age (Joe_1:2), not elder in an official sense (Joe_1:14).
Those that suck the breasts — “Nothing could evidence the deep and universal guilt of the entire nation more than the fact that on the great day of penitence and prayer even the newborn babes were to be brought together in the arms of their parents” (Umbreit).
Bridegroom… bride — Even the newly wedded, who are least inclined to mourning, and who might possibly claim exemption (Deu_24:5), are to come forth and participate in the solemn worship. Chamber (Hebrews hedher)… closet (Hebrews huppah) — The two words are to be understood as synonyms; the bride and groom are thought to be together in the bridal chamber or nuptial pavilion (Psa_19:5). A common Arabic phrase for the consummation of marriage is “he built a tent over his wife,” and even to-day a special tent or hut is built for the bride on the night of marriage (W.R. Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, 167ff.).
It is the duty of the priests, who are the mediators between the community and God, to convey the petition to the throne of Jehovah; in Joe_2:17 they are exhorted to discharge their duty in the religious gathering.
Weep — In sorrow and repentance.
Between the porch and the altar — As in Eze_8:16. The porch is the fore court on the east side of the temple, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide (1Ki_6:3), which separates the inner court, or court of the priests (1Ki_6:36; 2Ch_4:9), from the great court (2Ch_4:9) intended for the laity. In the court of the priests was the great altar of burnt offering, perhaps near the fore court and thus in sight of the people in the outer court (1Ki_8:64; 2Ch_8:12). Here, with their faces turned toward the temple, they are to entreat Jehovah with tears. The prayer is prescribed by the prophet.
Spare — Have mercy, and withhold further judgment.
Thy people… thine heritage — The fact that Israel is the people, the heritage, of Jehovah is made the basis of appeal (Deu_9:26; Deu_9:29); he should be intensely interested in their welfare.
Give not… to reproach — To be an object of reproach and mockery. Again and again Jehovah is reminded that, should he forsake Israel and permit it to be destroyed, his own power would be called in question.
That the heathen [“nations”] should rule over them — The greatest disgrace in the thoughts of the Jews was the fact of being governed by heathen nations, as is shown at a later period by their frequent revolts against the Roman power. The severity of the plague of locusts has exhausted their resources; in case of hostility the Jews would fall an easy prey to their enemies, and thus become an object of reproach. The above meaning is reproduced in the ancient versions and is adopted by some moderns; it is supported by Psa_106:41; Deu_15:6; Lam_5:8, and is in perfect accord with the context. For its bearing upon the allegorical interpretation see above p. 145. Most commentators, however, favor the marginal reading, “use a byword against them.” Mashal be means ordinarily “to rule over,” but the other translation is possible, and the last clause of the verse rather favors it. (The claim of Merx, Nowack, and others, that the same construction is found in Eze_12:23; Eze_18:3, is not well founded; the preposition be is used there in a sense entirely different from that required here.) The country having been so severely afflicted, the surrounding nations might be tempted to mock the Jews, and declare that they were forsaken by their God, or that he had no power to help them (Exo_32:12; Num_14:13-16).
Where is their God? — A sneer at the covenant relation between Jehovah and his people to which Jehovah could not be indifferent. The ancients traced every extraordinary event directly to the deity. The prosperity of a people was evidence of the power of its God, and even surrounding nations would look up to such a deity with a feeling of respect. On the other hand, disaster was proof of the weakness of the deity, and he would be mocked (Isa_10:10-11; Isa_36:18; Isa_36:20). The only way to avoid such mockery is for Jehovah to avert the calamity (Exo_32:12; Psa_79:10).
With this appeal, presenting the strongest reason why God should avert the judgment, the first division of the book closes. The prayer was not in vain; Jehovah heard it, and turned in mercy and loving-kindness toward his penitent people.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv15–1715. Blow ye the horn in Zion] Repeated verbatim…
15. Blow ye the horn in Zion] Repeated verbatim from Joe_2:1, though in a different sense, as a call, namely, to a religious gathering, not as a signal of the approach of judgment (cf. on Amo_2:2).
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly] as Joe_1:14 a (first two clauses).
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15–17. With the view of making the preceding exhortation (Joe_2:12 f.) more practically effective, the prophet here repeats more emphatically the command of Joe_1:14 : he bids all ranks and classes assemble in the Temple for a solemn religious service, and prescribes at the same time the words in which the priests may intercede on behalf of the nation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv15, 17(15, 16) Sanctify a fast.—The prophet renews, therefore, his…
(15, 16) Sanctify a fast.—The prophet renews, therefore, his summons to the priests to proclaim a day of humiliation, on which all, without distinction of age or circumstances, are to be required to present themselves before the Lord. There was no room for the plea, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv15–17Vers. 15-17. harsh blast of the consecrated ram"s horn…
Vers. 15-17. harsh blast of the consecrated ram"s horn called an assembly for an extraordinary fast. Not a soul was to be absent. Like the fiery cross, it convened old and young, men and women, mothers with infants at their breasts, the bridegroom and the bride on their bridal day. All were there stretched in front of the altar. The altar itself presented the dreariest of all sights a hearth without its sacred fire, a table spread without its sacred feast. The priestly caste, instead of gathering as usual upon its steps and its platform, were driven, as it were, to the further space; they turned their backs to the dead altar, and lay prostrate, gazing towards the Invisible Presence within the sanctuary. Instead of the hymns and music which, since the time of David, had entered into their prayers, there was nothing heard but the passionate sobs and the loud dissonant howls such as only an Eastern hierarchy could utter. Instead of the mass of white mantles which they usually presented, they were wrapt in black goat"s-hair sackcloth, twisted round them, not with the brilliant sashes of the priestly attire, but with a rough girdle of the same texture, which they never unbound night or day. What they wore of their common dress was rent asunder or cast off. With bare breasts they waved their black drapery towards the temple, and shrieked aloud, "Spare thy people, O Lord! Such is Dean Stanley"s vivid picture of the circumstances and scene described by the prophet in the above verses. A scene exceedingly similar occurs in the commencement of the "OEdipus Tyrannus" of Sophocles"Why sit ye here, my children, younger brood Of Cadmus famed of old, in solemn state, Your bands thus wreathed with the suppliants" boughs? And all the city reeks with incense, And all re-echoes with your hymns and groans; And I, my children, counting it unmeet To hear report from others, I have come Myself, whom all name OEdipus the Great.
Vers. 15-17. An urgently demanded meeting.
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"Blow the trumpet in Zion," etc. Men are constantly assembling themselves together for one purpose or another political, commercial, scientific, entertaining. But of all the meetings, none are so urgent as the one indicated in the text.
I IT IS A MEETING CALLED ON ACCOUNT OF COMMON SIN. All the people of Judah had sinned grievously, and they were now summoned together on that account. No subject is of such urgent importance as this. Sin, this was the root of all the miseries of their country. It behoved them to meet together in order to deliberate how best to tear up this up as, how best to dry up this pestiferous fountain of all their calamities.
II IT IS A MEETING COMPOSED OF ALL CLASSES. The young and the old were there; the sad and the jubilant; even the bridal pair; the priests and the people. The subject concerned them all; all were vitally interested in it. Sin is no class subject. It concerns the man in imperial purple as well as the man in pauper"s rags.
III IT IS A MEETING FOR HUMILIATION AND PRAYER. "Let the priests and the ministers weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord!" It was not a meeting for debate or discussion, for mere social intercourse and entertainment; but for profound humiliation before God.
CONCLUSION. No meeting in England is more urgently demanded today than such a one as this. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v15Sanctify a fast.
Joe_2:15-17
Sanctify a fast.
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A penitential assembly
I. It must be an assembly which shall be solemn in the spirit in which it meets. Call a solemn assembly. In all probability these words refer to the legal purifications which were enjoined upon the people prior to their entering upon the worship of the temple. They are also indicative of the moral purity and earnestness which should especially characterise a penitential assembly. All who attended this meeting were to be washed from the defilement of their past sin, and were to come and bow before the Lord in a renewed condition of soul. This was not an assembly to inaugurate social reform, to advance scientific research, or to determine a political policy; but to manifest a deep sorrow for national apostasy, and to turn aside the peril which had been awakened thereby. This meeting was not to vaunt the prowess of the nation, hut to confess sin before God; and surely only a solemn mood would avail at such a time. How beneficial would be the effect of such an assembly.
II. It must be an assembly in which every conceivable aid to repentance shall be regarded. Assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
1. There was the pathos of sorrowful old age. Here is old age in tears because of the sin of the nation, and because of the evil of which it is guilty before God. The elders were present. They have known the nation long. They are concerned for its welfare. They are deeply moved by the judgments with which it is visited.
2. There was the pathos of imperilled childhood. The children of the nation were present at this meeting; not even infants were exempt from attendance. And would not the thought of the danger to which these innocent babes were liable, and their piteous cries, lead their parents to humiliation before God?
3. There was the abandonment of domestic festivities. The bridegroom went forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet, in order that they might attend the meeting thus imperatively called. The newly-married were not to be exempt from this penitential assembly. The most innocent festivities of life were to yield their joy to the refreshing and saving tears of repentance.
III. It must be an assembly in which the moral leaders of the people shall sustain their appropriate relation. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar. The priests are to utter in public before God the inward feeling of the nation. This was a Divine arrangement. It was conducive to order. It was promotive of repentance. And so in the penitential assembly the moral leaders of the people must intercede on their behalf before God.
IV. It must be an assembly in which the mercy of God shall be earnestly supplicated. 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? The priests were not only to weep; they were also to pray. Tears without prayers are vain.
1. The prayer of the priest is for mercy. They ask God to spare their undeserving but repentant people. They make no excuse.
2. The prayer of the priest remembers the covenant of God with His people. They plead that God will save His people and His heritage. In our prayer of repentance we may plead the Divine Ownership of us and the Divine interest in us. Each soul is the heritage of God.
3. The prayer of the priests desires the glory of God. The Jews were the people of God. Thus the priests plead that national salvation may take away from their wicked enemies the opportunity of reproaching the Divine name.
Lessons--
1. That national assemblies should be frequently called to confess sin before God.
2. That they should combine all classes of individuals.
3. That they should be arranged by the ministers of the Gospel.
4. That they should prayerfully seek the glory of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A fast
When God visits mankind in judgment, there are three calamities which He sends upon them, the sword, the famine, and pestilence. How are we to sanctify a fast, or make a holy thing of it, by a due and proper celebration? This is to be done--
I. By a confession of sin. When we confess, we should begin with confessing that sinfulness of our nature which is the root of all the sins of the world. We should proceed to confess the sins of our time, the first and greatest of which is the want of faith, or the neglect of Christianity. This want of faith is naturally followed by a neglect of Divine worship; for who will worship as a Christian, that does not believe as a Christian? When we are considering the sins of the age, it is hard to know where to begin, or where to end.
II. A resolution of amendment. Not by the devotion of a single day, but by a continued sense of the terrors of the Lord upon our lives and actions. While we have the light of the Gospel, let us value it, and walk by it.
III. A dependence upon the goodness and mercy of God. Penitents in the worst of times have everything to hope. What obligations then lie upon you at this moment, to be serious, to be sorrowful for past sin, devout and humble, constant in the worship of God, and sincerely devoted to His service for the time to come. (W. Jones, M. A.)
An urgently demanded meeting
Men are constantly assembling themselves together for one purpose or another,--political, commercial, scientific, entertaining. But of all the meetings none are so urgent as the one indicated in the text.
I. It is a meeting called on account of common sin. All the people of Judah had sinned grievously, and they were now summoned together on that account. No subject is of such urgent importance as this. Sin, this was the root of all the miseries of their country. It behoved them to meet together in order to deliberate how best to tear up this upas-tree, how best to dry up this pestiferous fountain of all their calamities.
II. It is a meeting composed of all classes. The young and the old were there; the sad and the jubilant; even the bridal pair; the priests and the people. The subject concerned them all. All were vitally interested in it. Sin is no class subject. It concerns the man in imperial purple, as well as the man in paupers rags.
III. It is a meeting for humiliation and prayer. It was not a meeting for debate or discussion, for mere social intercourse and entertainment, but for profound humiliation before God. Conclusion. No meeting is more urgently demanded to-day than such an one as this. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v15Joe_2:15. Blow] Convene the people.
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Joe_2:15. Blow] Convene the people.
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Joe_2:16-17.] No age and condition exempted, for all deserve punishment; the joy of the bride and bridegroom even must give place to penitential mourning.
Joe_2:17.] The priests must take their position, and pray to God on behalf of his covenant people.
HOMILETICS
A CALL TO PUBLIC REPENTANCE.—Joe_2:15-17
Once more a day must be set apart for public fasting and humiliation. Personal repentance when genuine will lead to public confession. A sense of sin in the hearts of individuals will produce fruit and find expression in the actions of the community. Hence all the nation are summoned to solemn assembly. “Blow the trumpet in Zion.”
I. Great national danger urged them to public assembly. The nation is endangered by sin, sorrow has fallen upon all ranks, and sympathy unites them into one. Assemblies are called for scientific and political purposes; but no assembly so solemn as that called by natural calamity. Affliction cements the hearts and binds the hopes of nations. It is in vain to sound an alarm for war, to blow the trumpet and muster our armies, without the favour of God. The most effectual call is that of a Church or a nation to repentance. The most powerful defence is universal penitence and prayer to God. By this alone can we overcome our enemies and avert the judgment of God. “Let tyrants fear,” cried Queen Elizabeth when threatened with the Spanish invasion; “I put my trust in God, and in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects.” “For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.”
II. None of the nation were exempt from the call to public assembly. “Gather the people.”
1. The aged must assemble. “Assemble the elders.” Men of understanding and ripe in years must be active and eminent examples in times of fasting and humiliation. Wisdom and experience belong to them, advice and help are expected from them.
2. Children must not be exempt. “Gather the children and those that suck the breasts.” The youngest and most helpless were involved in parental danger, and must touch parental hearts. The sight would be very affecting, and if God spared Nineveh for the sake of the children, he might spare Israel. The prayers of the aged and the cries of the young may not avail with men, but they are power with God. “All Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children” (2Ch_20:13).
3. The newly married must obey the call. “Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet.” Marriage joy must give place to national fasts, and feasting must be turned into mourning. There is a time for all things, and private interests must give place to public duties. The raptures of love must be forgotten in the guilt of the nation. It is mockery to spend time in making merry which ought to be consecrated to God in sorrow. All unfit for battle and all exempt from war (Deu_24:5); all classes of the community, the aged and the young, the mirthful and the mournful, the priests and the people, were required to attend. “In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth” (Isa_22:12)
III. National confession was the object of public assembly. It was not an assembly for social entertainment and mirth. Not mere attendance and cessation from toil were required. It was “a solemn assembly,” a meeting for deep humiliation before God.
1. Confession was made through their public representatives. The priests, “the ministers of the Lord” in dignity and office, must set the example, lead the assembly in weeping and prayer. In front of the Holy Place, in which Jehovah was enshrined, they must bend and plead for the people. Ministers should ever be intercessors for the nation, feel the condition of men, and urge them by precept and example to devote themselves to God.
2. Confession was made on national grounds. Prayer is based on grounds which should never be forgotten by God’s people in like circumstances. It is a special liturgy for the solemn occasion. And God who reads the heart in the words will surely hear the words which he himself breathes in the heart. Mercy is the common cry. Punishment is deserved, but all were earnest in praying for deliverance from famine and reproach. “Spare thy people, O Lord.” (l) God’s covenant relation is pleaded. Spare us, not because we weep and fast, not because we deserve mercy, but because we are thine heritage, though unworthy of the name. Thou hast chosen us for thyself, remember and keep thy word with us and our fathers. The covenant of God is not to be renounced and forgotten by the penitent, but pleaded to secure a perpetual interest in God.
(2) God’s honour among the heathen is concerned. “Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?” If God does not fulfil his word and protect us, if we are utterly ruined by judgments, and insulted by idolaters, the enemies would rejoice and blasphemously inquire what God could do for his people? The penitent is humbled for his own sin; but when God is reproached, and his love called in question because he appears severe, this is an addition to his sorrow, a sword in his bones (Psa_42:10). He therefore pleads that God would defend his own glory, and not permit men to be confirmed in their error and folly (Eze_20:5; Eze_36:21; Eze_36:23). “Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed” (Psa_79:10).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joe_2:15. Sanctify a fast. Care should be taken both by ministers and people in their stations, that every duty be not profanely gone about, nor external performances rested in; but that it may be done in a spiritual and sanctified manner, that there should be due preparation for it, and that the congregation come purified (as the word signifieth), according to the law, and fast in a sanctified manner [Hutcheson].
Joe_2:16. Gather the people.
1. In times of calamity fasting may be appropriate.
2. In times of national calamity the nation, all the people, should join.
3. Men of superior rank should use their influence and stimulate others to attend God’s house and regard God’s word. By penitence and prayer an entire community may be saved from distress.
Gather the children. Anniversary Sermon. I. Many gatherings for children. Exeter Hall meetings; the Great Exhibition; children in Peel Park; Manchester; annual sermons and festivities. II. Many purposes for which children are gathered.
1. School education.
2. Social enjoyment.
3. Christian worship.
4. Solemn fasting and humiliation, in the text. III. Many advantages result from gatherings of children.
1. It is the fulfilment of Scripture.
2. Necessary for children themselves.
3. Beneficial in many ways to parents.
Joe_2:17. Weeping priests and guilty people. The sins of the people and the sufferings consequent upon them should weigh upon the hearts of ministers. If God frowns upon a people, if error and evils abound in a community, are not the shepherds to blame? Of all members of a stricken Church, ministers have the greatest cause to mourn.
Reproach of Israel.
1. Departure from God.
2. Exposure to Divine judgment.
3. Enslaved by the heathen. Christians should maintain their credit and character, and especially deprecate reproach cast on the character and conduct of God.
Where is their God?—
1. The spirit of the question. A question often put—
1. In ignorance.
2. In atheism.
3. In ridicule. Carnal men ignorant of the character of God, the mysteries of his providence, and regardless of his people. II. The substance of the question.
1. This question reflects upon God. God’s presence, God’s providence, and God’s word.
2. This question reflects upon God’s people. They are considered worthless, forsaken, and despised. It is the most bitter of all taunts.
Spare thy people. I. The prayer. Spare, deliver from trouble, pardon sin and help in future. II. The plea.
1. Thy people, words of interest, submission and affection.
2. Thy people in danger, “that the heathen should not rule over them.” God alone has the sole right to the homage and service of his people. We may always plead the interest which God takes in our spiritual welfare, as the reason for averting judgments from the Church and the nation which our sins have merited.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Joe_2:15-17. In this assembly kings and priests lead the way; nobles and common people promptly join. The whole multitude bow like one man, and fall prostrate at the footstool of mercy. All acknowledge their guilt and are sensible of their danger. All repent and pray that God would spare his people. Though repentance is now put in the inward dispositions of the soul, yet on occasion of national humiliation, and peculiar religious solemnity, it may be suitable to testify by our deportment and dress, the seriousness and sadness of our minds. Splendour and gaiety of apparel, if ever becoming Christians, should be laid aside at such seasons. It is well when the government of a nation, in its spiritual and political authorities, takes the lead in the promotion of piety and regard to the doctrines and duties of religion. It is most touching and instructive to see all classes of the community lift up their hearts in prayer for mercy and deliverance.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv15, 17bridal chambers
bridal chambers
rooms, usually in the parents' houses, where brides would wait for their wedding ceremonies
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Here again the Prophet reminds them that there was…
Here again the Prophet reminds them that there was need of deep repentance; for not only individuals had transgressed, but the whole people had become guilty before God; and we also know how many and grievous their sins had been. There is no wonder then that the Prophet requires a public profession of repentance.
He bids them first to sound the trumpet in Zion. This custom, as we have seen at the beginning of the chapter, was in common use under the Law; they summoned their meetings by the sound of trumpets. There is then no doubt but that the Prophet here refers to an extraordinary meeting. They sounded the trumpets whenever they called the people to the festivals. But it must have been unusual for the Jews to proclaim a fast on account of God’s heavy judgment, which was to come on them unless it was prevented. He then shows the purpose of this, bidding them to sanctify a fast By this word קדש kodesh, he means a proclamation for a holy purpose. Sanctify, then a fast, that is, Proclaim a fast in the name of God.
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We slightly touched on the subject of fasting in the first chapter, but deferred a fuller discussion to this place. Fasting, we know, is not of itself a meritorious work, as the Papists imagine it to be: there is, indeed, strictly speaking, no work meritorious. But the Papists dream that fasting, in addition to its merit and worth, is also by itself of much avail in the worship of God; and yet fasting, when regarded in itself is an indifferent work. It is not then approved by God, except for its end; it must be connected with something else, otherwise it is a vain thing. Men, by private fastings prepare themselves for the exercise of prayer, or they mortify their own flesh, or seek a remedy for some hidden vices. Now I do not call fasting temperance; for the children of God, we know, ought through their whole life to be sober and temperate in their habits; but fasting, I regard that to be, when something is abstracted from our moderate allowance: and such a fast, when practiced privately, is, as I have said, either a preparation for the exercise of prayer, or a means to mortify the flesh, or a remedy for some vices.
But as to a public fast, it is a solemn confession of guilt, when men suppliantly approach the throne of God, acknowledge themselves worthy of death, and yet ask pardon for their sins. Fasting then, with regard to God, is similar to black and mean garments and a long beard before earthly judges. The criminal goes not before the judge in a splendid dress, with all his fine things, but casts away every thing that was before elegant in his appearance, and by his uncombed hair and long beard he tries to excite the compassion of his judge. There is, at the same time, another reason for fasting; for when we have to do with men, we wish to please their eyes and conciliate their favor; and he who fasts, not only testifies openly that he is guilty, but he also reminds himself of his guilt; for as we are not sufficiently touched by the sense of God’s wrath, those aids are useful which help to excite and affect us. He then who fasts, excites himself the more to penitence.
We now perceive the right use of fasting. But it is of public fasting that the Prophet speaks here. For what purpose? That the Jews, whom he had before summoned, might present themselves before God’s tribunal, and that they might come there, not with vain excuses, but with humble prayer. This is the design of fasting. We now see how foolishly the Papists have abused fasting; for they think it to be a meritorious work; they imagine that God is honored by abstinence from meat; they also mention those benefits of fasting to which I have referred; but they join fasts with festivals, as if there was some religion in abstaining from flesh or certain meats. We now then perceive by what gross puerilities the Papists trifle with God. We must then carefully notice the end in view, whenever the Scripture speaks of fasting; for all things will be confounded, except we lay hold on the principle which I have stated — that fasting ought ever to be connected with its end. We shall now proceed.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v16 That as all have sinned, so all may show…
That as all have sinned, so all may show forth signs of their repentance, that men seeing the children which are not free from God’s wrath, might be the more lively touched with the consideration of their own sins.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Joe 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a…
Joe 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Ver. 15. Blow the trumpet in Zion] That all may hear and convene, those of Jerusalem in the temple, and the rest in their several synagogues, Lev 23:31, for that yearly fast was a standard to the rest, kept upon extraordinary and emergent occasions, as here, for the preventing of the forethreatened judgment. Papists appoint set fasting days, as Lent, and Friday in every week, eves of holidays, &c., whether the times be clear or cloudy. A. Lapide, also, the Jesuit, keeps a coil against Luther and the Centurists, for decrying their Popish processions and public litanies, which he thinks to be here and elsewhere authorized. A discourse he giveth us here, too, about the use and origin of bells among Christians, answerable to trumpets among the Jews. A symmist of his, Cenalis, Bishop of Auranches, to prove their Pope-holy Church the true Church, maketh no mention at all either of preaching or sacraments, but produceth bells for a sufficient mark of the Catholic true Church. "We have bells," saith he, "whereby our assemblies are ordinarily called together, but the Lutherans have claps of harquebuses and pistolets for signs whereby they congregate," between which and bells he maketh a long anti-thesis, and from hence inferreth that the Church of Rome is the true Church. A proper argument, and yet the man pleaseth himself as much in it as the second Council of Nice did in their profound proofs for idolatry, which, as one well saith of them, were such as that the images themselves, if they were sensible, would blush to hear repeated.
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Sanctify a fast] {See Trapp on "Joe 1:14"} Proclaim a religious abstinence from all kind of sustenance, {2Sa 12:17 Jon 3:5} for a season, either from morning till evening, as Jdg 20:26 2Sa 3:35, or from evening till evening, Lev 23:32, or longer, as Est 4:16 Act 9:9, as the hand and wrath of God is more or less felt or feared; but the least time that may be is a whole day. There is an old canon that our fasts should continue usque dum stellae in coelo appareant, till the stars appear in the sky. The very Turks in their solemn fasts eat nothing all the day till night; yea, so precise they are, that upon their fasting days they will not so much as wash their mouths in water till the stars appear; which maketh their fasts (especially in the summer, when the days be long and hot) to be unto them very tedious. Christians hold and teach that nature is by fasting to be chastised, and not disabled for service; and that such as cannot fast so long but they shall either endanger health or be unfitted for the spiritual duties of the day, may eat; provided that they abuse not this liberty to the satisfying of the flesh, Col 2:23 1Ti 5:23.
Call a solemn assembly] See Joe 1:14. {See Trapp on "Joe 1:14"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Blow the trumpet in Zion: see Joe 2:1.
Blow the trumpet in Zion: see Joe 2:1.
Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: see Joe 1:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Blow the trumpet in Zion,.... For the calling of…
Blow the trumpet in Zion,.... For the calling of the people together to religious duties, which was one use of the silver trumpets made for and blows by the priests, Num 10:2;
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; See Gill on Joe 1:14.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–17 The children - Though they understand little what is…
The children - Though they understand little what is done, yet their cities ascend, and God with pity looks on their tears. These that suck - Their cries and tears may perhaps move the congregation to more earnest supplication to God for mercy. So the Ninevites, Jonah iii, 7, 8. The bridegroom - Let the new married man leave the mirth of the nuptials and afflict himself with the rest.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Verse 15. Blow the trumpet] Let no time be…
Verse 15. Blow the trumpet] Let no time be lost, let the alarm be sounded.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Joe 2:15-16. Blow the trumpet in Zion — This…
Joe 2:15-16. Blow the trumpet in Zion — This was a signal for assembling the people at the solemn times of public worship. Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly — Or, appoint ye a fast, proclaim a solemn day: so Archbishop Newcome. Sanctify the congregation — Let the people prepare themselves for this solemn time of humiliation, not only by washing themselves and their clothes, and cleansing themselves from all legal impurities, as is required Exo 19:10-15, but by true contrition of heart, godly sorrow for, and forsaking all known sin, as also by abstaining from all sensual pleasures, however innocent and allowable at other times. Absolute self-denial is but a reasonable preparation for keeping a day of solemn humiliation before God, on account of national sins or calamities. This kind of abstinence was recommended among the heathen as a necessary preparation for solemn worship. Assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts — Let both young and old join in this duty, for all ages joining in it will add much to the solemnity of it, and is very proper to work in men’s minds that sincere contrition, which may avert those judgments which threaten the whole nation, and in which their posterity may suffer. Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet — Even on the day of their marriage, or during the marriage-feast. Let newly-married persons disregard the concerns and enjoyments peculiar to their situation, and afflict themselves with the rest of the people.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Before, he had, in these same words Joe 2:1;…
Before, he had, in these same words Joe 2:1; Joe 1:14, called to repentance, because the Day of the Lord was coming, was near, “a day of darkness,” etc. Now , because God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and plenteous in goodness,” he agains exhorts, “Blow ye the trumpet;” only the call is more detailed, that every sex and age should form one band of suppliants to the mercy of God. : “Most full abolition of sins is then obtained, when one prayer and one confession issueth from the whole Church. For since the Lord promiseth to the pious agreement of two or three, that He will grant whatever is so asked, what shall be denied to a people of many thousands, fulfilling together one observance, and supplicating in harmony through One Spirit?” “We come together,” says Tertullian of Christian worship, “in a meeting and congregation as before God, as though we would in one body sue Him by our prayers. This violence is pleasing to God.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Trumpet. Thus were festivals announced, Numbers x. 7.
Trumpet. Thus were festivals announced, Numbers x. 7.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Blow the trumpet--to convene the people (Num 10:3). Compare…
Blow the trumpet--to convene the people (Num 10:3). Compare Joe 1:14. The nation was guilty, and therefore there must be a national humiliation. Compare Hezekiah's proceedings before Sennacherib's invasion (2Ch. 30:1-27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v15 Joe_2:15-17 are an emphatic re-iteration of the exhortation in…
Joe_2:15-17 are an emphatic re-iteration of the exhortation in Joe_1:14. Joe_2:15 takes us back to Joe_2:1, where the priests are exhorted to blow the trumpet. There it was intended to be chiefly a signal of danger, here a call to a religious gathering. 15b is a repetition of Joe_1:14 a. No one is to be excluded or excused from the proposed service; all are to take part. Even the smallest children are to join. Joe_2:16 is an expansion of Joe_1:14 b.
Gather the people — In Joe_1:14, “all the inhabitants of the land.” The purpose of the gathering is indicated in the following expression: Sanctify the congregation [“assembly”] — Call a holy meeting of the congregation and consecrate the thus gathered people so that they can approach God properly (Exo_19:10; 1Sa_16:5). The act of consecration was external, but it signified an inner spiritual preparation (13). In order that none might consider themselves exempt, the people are precisely defined as old men, children, and sucklings. No one is free from sin, no one can escape the judgment, therefore no one can afford to stay away from the service of prayer.
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Elders — Better, R.V., “old men.” Persons of old age (Joe_1:2), not elder in an official sense (Joe_1:14).
Those that suck the breasts — “Nothing could evidence the deep and universal guilt of the entire nation more than the fact that on the great day of penitence and prayer even the newborn babes were to be brought together in the arms of their parents” (Umbreit).
Bridegroom… bride — Even the newly wedded, who are least inclined to mourning, and who might possibly claim exemption (Deu_24:5), are to come forth and participate in the solemn worship. Chamber (Hebrews hedher)… closet (Hebrews huppah) — The two words are to be understood as synonyms; the bride and groom are thought to be together in the bridal chamber or nuptial pavilion (Psa_19:5). A common Arabic phrase for the consummation of marriage is “he built a tent over his wife,” and even to-day a special tent or hut is built for the bride on the night of marriage (W.R. Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, 167ff.).
It is the duty of the priests, who are the mediators between the community and God, to convey the petition to the throne of Jehovah; in Joe_2:17 they are exhorted to discharge their duty in the religious gathering.
Weep — In sorrow and repentance.
Between the porch and the altar — As in Eze_8:16. The porch is the fore court on the east side of the temple, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide (1Ki_6:3), which separates the inner court, or court of the priests (1Ki_6:36; 2Ch_4:9), from the great court (2Ch_4:9) intended for the laity. In the court of the priests was the great altar of burnt offering, perhaps near the fore court and thus in sight of the people in the outer court (1Ki_8:64; 2Ch_8:12). Here, with their faces turned toward the temple, they are to entreat Jehovah with tears. The prayer is prescribed by the prophet.
Spare — Have mercy, and withhold further judgment.
Thy people… thine heritage — The fact that Israel is the people, the heritage, of Jehovah is made the basis of appeal (Deu_9:26; Deu_9:29); he should be intensely interested in their welfare.
Give not… to reproach — To be an object of reproach and mockery. Again and again Jehovah is reminded that, should he forsake Israel and permit it to be destroyed, his own power would be called in question.
That the heathen [“nations”] should rule over them — The greatest disgrace in the thoughts of the Jews was the fact of being governed by heathen nations, as is shown at a later period by their frequent revolts against the Roman power. The severity of the plague of locusts has exhausted their resources; in case of hostility the Jews would fall an easy prey to their enemies, and thus become an object of reproach. The above meaning is reproduced in the ancient versions and is adopted by some moderns; it is supported by Psa_106:41; Deu_15:6; Lam_5:8, and is in perfect accord with the context. For its bearing upon the allegorical interpretation see above p. 145. Most commentators, however, favor the marginal reading, “use a byword against them.” Mashal be means ordinarily “to rule over,” but the other translation is possible, and the last clause of the verse rather favors it. (The claim of Merx, Nowack, and others, that the same construction is found in Eze_12:23; Eze_18:3, is not well founded; the preposition be is used there in a sense entirely different from that required here.) The country having been so severely afflicted, the surrounding nations might be tempted to mock the Jews, and declare that they were forsaken by their God, or that he had no power to help them (Exo_32:12; Num_14:13-16).
Where is their God? — A sneer at the covenant relation between Jehovah and his people to which Jehovah could not be indifferent. The ancients traced every extraordinary event directly to the deity. The prosperity of a people was evidence of the power of its God, and even surrounding nations would look up to such a deity with a feeling of respect. On the other hand, disaster was proof of the weakness of the deity, and he would be mocked (Isa_10:10-11; Isa_36:18; Isa_36:20). The only way to avoid such mockery is for Jehovah to avert the calamity (Exo_32:12; Psa_79:10).
With this appeal, presenting the strongest reason why God should avert the judgment, the first division of the book closes. The prayer was not in vain; Jehovah heard it, and turned in mercy and loving-kindness toward his penitent people.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 15. Blow ye the horn in Zion] Repeated verbatim…
15. Blow ye the horn in Zion] Repeated verbatim from Joe_2:1, though in a different sense, as a call, namely, to a religious gathering, not as a signal of the approach of judgment (cf. on Amo_2:2).
sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly] as Joe_1:14 a (first two clauses).
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15–17. With the view of making the preceding exhortation (Joe_2:12 f.) more practically effective, the prophet here repeats more emphatically the command of Joe_1:14 : he bids all ranks and classes assemble in the Temple for a solemn religious service, and prescribes at the same time the words in which the priests may intercede on behalf of the nation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 (15, 16) Sanctify a fast.—The prophet renews, therefore, his…
(15, 16) Sanctify a fast.—The prophet renews, therefore, his summons to the priests to proclaim a day of humiliation, on which all, without distinction of age or circumstances, are to be required to present themselves before the Lord. There was no room for the plea, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Vers. 15-17. harsh blast of the consecrated ram"s horn…
Vers. 15-17. harsh blast of the consecrated ram"s horn called an assembly for an extraordinary fast. Not a soul was to be absent. Like the fiery cross, it convened old and young, men and women, mothers with infants at their breasts, the bridegroom and the bride on their bridal day. All were there stretched in front of the altar. The altar itself presented the dreariest of all sights a hearth without its sacred fire, a table spread without its sacred feast. The priestly caste, instead of gathering as usual upon its steps and its platform, were driven, as it were, to the further space; they turned their backs to the dead altar, and lay prostrate, gazing towards the Invisible Presence within the sanctuary. Instead of the hymns and music which, since the time of David, had entered into their prayers, there was nothing heard but the passionate sobs and the loud dissonant howls such as only an Eastern hierarchy could utter. Instead of the mass of white mantles which they usually presented, they were wrapt in black goat"s-hair sackcloth, twisted round them, not with the brilliant sashes of the priestly attire, but with a rough girdle of the same texture, which they never unbound night or day. What they wore of their common dress was rent asunder or cast off. With bare breasts they waved their black drapery towards the temple, and shrieked aloud, "Spare thy people, O Lord! Such is Dean Stanley"s vivid picture of the circumstances and scene described by the prophet in the above verses. A scene exceedingly similar occurs in the commencement of the "OEdipus Tyrannus" of Sophocles"Why sit ye here, my children, younger brood Of Cadmus famed of old, in solemn state, Your bands thus wreathed with the suppliants" boughs? And all the city reeks with incense, And all re-echoes with your hymns and groans; And I, my children, counting it unmeet To hear report from others, I have come Myself, whom all name OEdipus the Great.
Vers. 15-17. An urgently demanded meeting.
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"Blow the trumpet in Zion," etc. Men are constantly assembling themselves together for one purpose or another political, commercial, scientific, entertaining. But of all the meetings, none are so urgent as the one indicated in the text.
I IT IS A MEETING CALLED ON ACCOUNT OF COMMON SIN. All the people of Judah had sinned grievously, and they were now summoned together on that account. No subject is of such urgent importance as this. Sin, this was the root of all the miseries of their country. It behoved them to meet together in order to deliberate how best to tear up this up as, how best to dry up this pestiferous fountain of all their calamities.
II IT IS A MEETING COMPOSED OF ALL CLASSES. The young and the old were there; the sad and the jubilant; even the bridal pair; the priests and the people. The subject concerned them all; all were vitally interested in it. Sin is no class subject. It concerns the man in imperial purple as well as the man in pauper"s rags.
III IT IS A MEETING FOR HUMILIATION AND PRAYER. "Let the priests and the ministers weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord!" It was not a meeting for debate or discussion, for mere social intercourse and entertainment; but for profound humiliation before God.
CONCLUSION. No meeting in England is more urgently demanded today than such a one as this. D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v15 Sanctify a fast.
Joe_2:15-17
Sanctify a fast.
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A penitential assembly
I. It must be an assembly which shall be solemn in the spirit in which it meets. Call a solemn assembly. In all probability these words refer to the legal purifications which were enjoined upon the people prior to their entering upon the worship of the temple. They are also indicative of the moral purity and earnestness which should especially characterise a penitential assembly. All who attended this meeting were to be washed from the defilement of their past sin, and were to come and bow before the Lord in a renewed condition of soul. This was not an assembly to inaugurate social reform, to advance scientific research, or to determine a political policy; but to manifest a deep sorrow for national apostasy, and to turn aside the peril which had been awakened thereby. This meeting was not to vaunt the prowess of the nation, hut to confess sin before God; and surely only a solemn mood would avail at such a time. How beneficial would be the effect of such an assembly.
II. It must be an assembly in which every conceivable aid to repentance shall be regarded. Assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
1. There was the pathos of sorrowful old age. Here is old age in tears because of the sin of the nation, and because of the evil of which it is guilty before God. The elders were present. They have known the nation long. They are concerned for its welfare. They are deeply moved by the judgments with which it is visited.
2. There was the pathos of imperilled childhood. The children of the nation were present at this meeting; not even infants were exempt from attendance. And would not the thought of the danger to which these innocent babes were liable, and their piteous cries, lead their parents to humiliation before God?
3. There was the abandonment of domestic festivities. The bridegroom went forth from his chamber, and the bride out of her closet, in order that they might attend the meeting thus imperatively called. The newly-married were not to be exempt from this penitential assembly. The most innocent festivities of life were to yield their joy to the refreshing and saving tears of repentance.
III. It must be an assembly in which the moral leaders of the people shall sustain their appropriate relation. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar. The priests are to utter in public before God the inward feeling of the nation. This was a Divine arrangement. It was conducive to order. It was promotive of repentance. And so in the penitential assembly the moral leaders of the people must intercede on their behalf before God.
IV. It must be an assembly in which the mercy of God shall be earnestly supplicated. 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? The priests were not only to weep; they were also to pray. Tears without prayers are vain.
1. The prayer of the priest is for mercy. They ask God to spare their undeserving but repentant people. They make no excuse.
2. The prayer of the priest remembers the covenant of God with His people. They plead that God will save His people and His heritage. In our prayer of repentance we may plead the Divine Ownership of us and the Divine interest in us. Each soul is the heritage of God.
3. The prayer of the priests desires the glory of God. The Jews were the people of God. Thus the priests plead that national salvation may take away from their wicked enemies the opportunity of reproaching the Divine name.
Lessons--
1. That national assemblies should be frequently called to confess sin before God.
2. That they should combine all classes of individuals.
3. That they should be arranged by the ministers of the Gospel.
4. That they should prayerfully seek the glory of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A fast
When God visits mankind in judgment, there are three calamities which He sends upon them, the sword, the famine, and pestilence. How are we to sanctify a fast, or make a holy thing of it, by a due and proper celebration? This is to be done--
I. By a confession of sin. When we confess, we should begin with confessing that sinfulness of our nature which is the root of all the sins of the world. We should proceed to confess the sins of our time, the first and greatest of which is the want of faith, or the neglect of Christianity. This want of faith is naturally followed by a neglect of Divine worship; for who will worship as a Christian, that does not believe as a Christian? When we are considering the sins of the age, it is hard to know where to begin, or where to end.
II. A resolution of amendment. Not by the devotion of a single day, but by a continued sense of the terrors of the Lord upon our lives and actions. While we have the light of the Gospel, let us value it, and walk by it.
III. A dependence upon the goodness and mercy of God. Penitents in the worst of times have everything to hope. What obligations then lie upon you at this moment, to be serious, to be sorrowful for past sin, devout and humble, constant in the worship of God, and sincerely devoted to His service for the time to come. (W. Jones, M. A.)
An urgently demanded meeting
Men are constantly assembling themselves together for one purpose or another,--political, commercial, scientific, entertaining. But of all the meetings none are so urgent as the one indicated in the text.
I. It is a meeting called on account of common sin. All the people of Judah had sinned grievously, and they were now summoned together on that account. No subject is of such urgent importance as this. Sin, this was the root of all the miseries of their country. It behoved them to meet together in order to deliberate how best to tear up this upas-tree, how best to dry up this pestiferous fountain of all their calamities.
II. It is a meeting composed of all classes. The young and the old were there; the sad and the jubilant; even the bridal pair; the priests and the people. The subject concerned them all. All were vitally interested in it. Sin is no class subject. It concerns the man in imperial purple, as well as the man in paupers rags.
III. It is a meeting for humiliation and prayer. It was not a meeting for debate or discussion, for mere social intercourse and entertainment, but for profound humiliation before God. Conclusion. No meeting is more urgently demanded to-day than such an one as this. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v15 Joe_2:15. Blow] Convene the people.
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Joe_2:15. Blow] Convene the people.
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Joe_2:16-17.] No age and condition exempted, for all deserve punishment; the joy of the bride and bridegroom even must give place to penitential mourning.
Joe_2:17.] The priests must take their position, and pray to God on behalf of his covenant people.
HOMILETICS
A CALL TO PUBLIC REPENTANCE.—Joe_2:15-17
Once more a day must be set apart for public fasting and humiliation. Personal repentance when genuine will lead to public confession. A sense of sin in the hearts of individuals will produce fruit and find expression in the actions of the community. Hence all the nation are summoned to solemn assembly. “Blow the trumpet in Zion.”
I. Great national danger urged them to public assembly. The nation is endangered by sin, sorrow has fallen upon all ranks, and sympathy unites them into one. Assemblies are called for scientific and political purposes; but no assembly so solemn as that called by natural calamity. Affliction cements the hearts and binds the hopes of nations. It is in vain to sound an alarm for war, to blow the trumpet and muster our armies, without the favour of God. The most effectual call is that of a Church or a nation to repentance. The most powerful defence is universal penitence and prayer to God. By this alone can we overcome our enemies and avert the judgment of God. “Let tyrants fear,” cried Queen Elizabeth when threatened with the Spanish invasion; “I put my trust in God, and in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects.” “For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.”
II. None of the nation were exempt from the call to public assembly. “Gather the people.”
1. The aged must assemble. “Assemble the elders.” Men of understanding and ripe in years must be active and eminent examples in times of fasting and humiliation. Wisdom and experience belong to them, advice and help are expected from them.
2. Children must not be exempt. “Gather the children and those that suck the breasts.” The youngest and most helpless were involved in parental danger, and must touch parental hearts. The sight would be very affecting, and if God spared Nineveh for the sake of the children, he might spare Israel. The prayers of the aged and the cries of the young may not avail with men, but they are power with God. “All Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children” (2Ch_20:13).
3. The newly married must obey the call. “Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet.” Marriage joy must give place to national fasts, and feasting must be turned into mourning. There is a time for all things, and private interests must give place to public duties. The raptures of love must be forgotten in the guilt of the nation. It is mockery to spend time in making merry which ought to be consecrated to God in sorrow. All unfit for battle and all exempt from war (Deu_24:5); all classes of the community, the aged and the young, the mirthful and the mournful, the priests and the people, were required to attend. “In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth” (Isa_22:12)
III. National confession was the object of public assembly. It was not an assembly for social entertainment and mirth. Not mere attendance and cessation from toil were required. It was “a solemn assembly,” a meeting for deep humiliation before God.
1. Confession was made through their public representatives. The priests, “the ministers of the Lord” in dignity and office, must set the example, lead the assembly in weeping and prayer. In front of the Holy Place, in which Jehovah was enshrined, they must bend and plead for the people. Ministers should ever be intercessors for the nation, feel the condition of men, and urge them by precept and example to devote themselves to God.
2. Confession was made on national grounds. Prayer is based on grounds which should never be forgotten by God’s people in like circumstances. It is a special liturgy for the solemn occasion. And God who reads the heart in the words will surely hear the words which he himself breathes in the heart. Mercy is the common cry. Punishment is deserved, but all were earnest in praying for deliverance from famine and reproach. “Spare thy people, O Lord.” (l) God’s covenant relation is pleaded. Spare us, not because we weep and fast, not because we deserve mercy, but because we are thine heritage, though unworthy of the name. Thou hast chosen us for thyself, remember and keep thy word with us and our fathers. The covenant of God is not to be renounced and forgotten by the penitent, but pleaded to secure a perpetual interest in God.
(2) God’s honour among the heathen is concerned. “Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?” If God does not fulfil his word and protect us, if we are utterly ruined by judgments, and insulted by idolaters, the enemies would rejoice and blasphemously inquire what God could do for his people? The penitent is humbled for his own sin; but when God is reproached, and his love called in question because he appears severe, this is an addition to his sorrow, a sword in his bones (Psa_42:10). He therefore pleads that God would defend his own glory, and not permit men to be confirmed in their error and folly (Eze_20:5; Eze_36:21; Eze_36:23). “Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? Let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed” (Psa_79:10).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joe_2:15. Sanctify a fast. Care should be taken both by ministers and people in their stations, that every duty be not profanely gone about, nor external performances rested in; but that it may be done in a spiritual and sanctified manner, that there should be due preparation for it, and that the congregation come purified (as the word signifieth), according to the law, and fast in a sanctified manner [Hutcheson].
Joe_2:16. Gather the people.
1. In times of calamity fasting may be appropriate.
2. In times of national calamity the nation, all the people, should join.
3. Men of superior rank should use their influence and stimulate others to attend God’s house and regard God’s word. By penitence and prayer an entire community may be saved from distress.
Gather the children. Anniversary Sermon. I. Many gatherings for children. Exeter Hall meetings; the Great Exhibition; children in Peel Park; Manchester; annual sermons and festivities. II. Many purposes for which children are gathered.
1. School education.
2. Social enjoyment.
3. Christian worship.
4. Solemn fasting and humiliation, in the text. III. Many advantages result from gatherings of children.
1. It is the fulfilment of Scripture.
2. Necessary for children themselves.
3. Beneficial in many ways to parents.
Joe_2:17. Weeping priests and guilty people. The sins of the people and the sufferings consequent upon them should weigh upon the hearts of ministers. If God frowns upon a people, if error and evils abound in a community, are not the shepherds to blame? Of all members of a stricken Church, ministers have the greatest cause to mourn.
Reproach of Israel.
1. Departure from God.
2. Exposure to Divine judgment.
3. Enslaved by the heathen. Christians should maintain their credit and character, and especially deprecate reproach cast on the character and conduct of God.
Where is their God?—
1. The spirit of the question. A question often put—
1. In ignorance.
2. In atheism.
3. In ridicule. Carnal men ignorant of the character of God, the mysteries of his providence, and regardless of his people. II. The substance of the question.
1. This question reflects upon God. God’s presence, God’s providence, and God’s word.
2. This question reflects upon God’s people. They are considered worthless, forsaken, and despised. It is the most bitter of all taunts.
Spare thy people. I. The prayer. Spare, deliver from trouble, pardon sin and help in future. II. The plea.
1. Thy people, words of interest, submission and affection.
2. Thy people in danger, “that the heathen should not rule over them.” God alone has the sole right to the homage and service of his people. We may always plead the interest which God takes in our spiritual welfare, as the reason for averting judgments from the Church and the nation which our sins have merited.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Joe_2:15-17. In this assembly kings and priests lead the way; nobles and common people promptly join. The whole multitude bow like one man, and fall prostrate at the footstool of mercy. All acknowledge their guilt and are sensible of their danger. All repent and pray that God would spare his people. Though repentance is now put in the inward dispositions of the soul, yet on occasion of national humiliation, and peculiar religious solemnity, it may be suitable to testify by our deportment and dress, the seriousness and sadness of our minds. Splendour and gaiety of apparel, if ever becoming Christians, should be laid aside at such seasons. It is well when the government of a nation, in its spiritual and political authorities, takes the lead in the promotion of piety and regard to the doctrines and duties of religion. It is most touching and instructive to see all classes of the community lift up their hearts in prayer for mercy and deliverance.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17 bridal chambers
bridal chambers
rooms, usually in the parents' houses, where brides would wait for their wedding ceremonies
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translationWords
trumpet
Zion
holy
fast
assembly
elder
bridegroom
bride
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15–17 2:15 Joel called for a time of fasting and…
2:15 Joel called for a time of fasting and a solemn meeting for the purpose of seeking God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.