Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people.
Yahweh answered his people, “Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things.
Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things.
Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.
“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the early rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the early rain and the latter rain, as before.
The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv18–26 The Prophet here again repeats, that prayers would not…
The Prophet here again repeats, that prayers would not be in vain, provided the Jews truly humbled themselves before God. Then God, he says, will be jealous for his land and spare his people. He confirms what I have already said that God would deal mercifully with his people, because they were his heritage, that is because he had chosen them for himself. For the title of heritage, whence does it proceed except from the gratuitous covenant of God? for the Jews were not more excellent than others, but election was the only fountain from which the Jews had to draw any hope. We now then see why these words, God will be jealous for his land, are added; as though he said “Though this land has been polluted by the wickedness of men, yet God has consecrated it to himself: He will, therefore, regard his own covenant, and thus turn away his face from looking on their sins.” He will spare, he says, his people, that is, his chosen people: for, as I have said, the Prophet no doubt ascribes here the safety of the people, and the hope of their safety, to the gratuitous election of God; for the jealousy of God is nothing else but the vehemence and ardor of his paternal love. God could not, indeed, express how ardently he loves those whom he has chosen without borrowing, as it were, what belongs to men. For we know that passions appertain not to him; but he is set forth as a father, who burns with jealousy when he sees his son ill-treated; he acknowledges his own blood, his bowels are excited, — or, as a husband, who, on seeing dishonor done to his wife, is moved; and though he had been a hundred times offended, he yet forgets every offense; for he regards that sacred union between himself and his wife. Such a character, then, does God assume, that he might the better express how much and how intensely he loves his own elect. Hence he says, God will be jealous for his land. As he has hitherto been inflamed with just wrath, so now a contrary feeling will overcome the former; not that God is agitated by various passions, as I have already said, but this mode of speaking transferred from men, is adopted on account of our ignorance.
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 vv18, 20, 23 If they repent he showeth that God will preserve…
If they repent he showeth that God will preserve and defend them with a most ardent affection.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–26 Joe 2:18 Then will the LORD be jealous for…
Joe 2:18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
Ver. 18. Then will the Lord be jealous (or, zealous) for his land] Then dicto citius straight upon it: no sooner shall you repent (as is prescribed) but the Lord will be jealous, &c. Of God’s jealousy for his people, {See Trapp on "Zec 1:14; Zec 8:2"} And of the happy effect of fasting turned to feasting, {See Trapp on "Zec 8:19"} see also Jdg 20:23 Ezr 9:6 Dan 9:20 2Ch 20:3; 2Ch 20:24-25 Bacah turned into Berachah; besides the constant experience of these and former times, of the happy success and unmiscarrying returns of holy fasting and prayer; no instance to the contrary. God usually answers his humbling people, as here, according to the desire of their hearts: neither so only, but according to the request of their lips also, Psa 21:2, he fits his mercy ad cardinem desiderii; and lets it be to his, even as they will. They say, "Spare thy people," and accordingly he will pity or "spare his people," saith the prophet. They would not have God to give "his heritage to reproach" by inflicting famine upon them, as if they served a hard master that would affamish them. To this God gives a full answer in the next verse, "Behold, I will send you corn," &c. Again, they desire God to take care of his own great name, and to vindicate it. I will, saith God, by doing greatest things for you, Joe 2:20, and by causing the blasphemers to return and discern that "their rock is not as your Rock, themselves being judges," Deu 32:31; and that to ask, "Where is now their God?" is as great folly as if one should say, between the space of the new and old moon, Where is now the moon? when as it is never nearer the sun than at that time. There are some interpreters of good note, that read this verse not in the future, but in the preter tense, thus, Then was the Lord zealous for his land, and pitied his people; sc. when once he saw them seriously to repent he did all this that followeth for them. Neither maketh it anything against this interpretation, that the repentance of this people, their assembling and fasting, &c., is not recorded. For no more is it that Moses went to Pharaoh according to God’s command, to threaten those swarms of flies, Exo 8:20, or that Isaiah took his son Shearjashub, and went to Ahaz to confirm and comfort him, as God had commanded, Isa 7:3, which yet we doubt not but the prophet did. This is an ordinary aposiopesis.
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And pity his people] Or, spare them, pardon them. The word signifies to show mercy to him whom by all right thou mayest justly destroy, Eze 5:11 1Sa 15:3. Oh the Divine rhetoric and omnipotent efficacy of repentance! This is the rainbow, which if God seeth shining in our hearts, he will never drown our souls. Dat poenitentiam et postea indulgentiam (Fulgent.). He gives his people to repent, and then spareth them "as a man spareth his own son that serveth him," Mal 3:17. But it is otherwise with those that partake not of the Divine nature: they are fierce, and implacable, as is the devil, who works effectually in them, as a smith doth in his forge. Henry IV, Emperor of Germany, came in the midst of a sore winter, upon his bare feet, to the gates of the castle of Canusium, and stood there fasting from morning to night for three days together, waiting for the judicial sentence of the pope, and craving pardon of him; which yet he could not obtain by his own or others’ tears, or by the intercession of any saint, save only of a certain harlot, with whom the pope was then taking his filthy pleasure. The emperor mistook, who thought that the pope could be pacified by fasting and prayer. This god required another kind sacrifice than these.
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 vv18–26 Then, when you follow my advice, saith Joel. and…
Then, when you follow my advice, saith Joel. and heartily you of your sins, and turn to God, &c.,
will the Lord be jealous, will show his love and zeal, for the credit of his land, the land of Canaan,
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and pity his people; consider their prayers, their arguments, and tears, and upon the whole will deal so with them that they shall know I do own them for my people, and that I will do them good.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v18 See how ready God is to succour and relieve…
See how ready God is to succour and relieve his people, how he waits to be gracious; as soon as ever they humble themselves under this hand, and pray, and seek his face, he immediately meets them with his favours. They prayed that God would spare them, and see here with what good words and comfortable words he answered them; for God's promises are real answers to the prayers of faith, because with him saying and doing are not two things. Now observe,
I. Whence this mercy promised shall take rise (Joe 2:18): God will be jealous for his land and pity his people. He will have an eye, 1. To his own honour, and the reputation of his covenant with Israel, by which he had conveyed to them that good land and had given in the value of it very high; now he will not suffer it to be despised nor disparaged, but will be jealous for the credit of his land, and the inhabitants of it, who had been praised as a happy people and therefore must not lie open to reproach as a miserable people. 2. To their distress: He will pity his people, and, in pity to them, he will restore them their forfeited comforts. God's compassion is a great encouragement to those that come humbly to him as penitents and as petitioners.
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II. What his mercy shall be, in several instances: - 1. The destroying army shall be dispersed and defeated (Joe 2:20): "I will remove far off from you the northern army, that army of locusts and caterpillars that invaded you from the north, brought in upon the wings of a north wind, an army which you could put no stop to the progress of; but, when you have made your peace with God, he will ease you of these soldiers that are quartered upon you and will drive them into a land barren and desolate, into that vast howling wilderness that Israel wandered in, where, after having surfeited upon the plenty of Canaan, they shall perish for want of sustenance. Those that have their face to the east sea (the Dead Sea, which lay east of Judea) shall perish in that, and the rear of the army shall be lost in the Great Sea," called here the utmost sea. They had made the land barren and desolate, and now God will cast them into a land barren and desolate. Thus those whom God employs for the correction of his people come afterwards to be themselves reckoned with; and the rod is thrown into the fire. Nothing shall remain of these swarms of insects but the ill savour of them. When Egypt was eased of the plague of locusts they were carried away to the Red Sea, Exo 10:19. Note, When an affliction has done its work it shall be removed in mercy, as the locusts of Canaan were from a penitent people, not as the locusts of Egypt were removed, in wrath, from an impenitent prince, only to make room for another plague. Many interpreters, by this northern army, understand that of Sennacherib, which was dispersed when God by it had accomplished his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Jerusalem, Isa 10:12. This enemy shall be driven away, because he has done great things, has done a great deal of mischief, and has magnified to do it, has done it in the pride of his heart; therefore it follows (Joe 2:21), The Lord will do great things for his people, as the enemy has done great things against them, to convince them that wherein they deal proudly he is, and will be, above them, that, what great things soever they did, they did no more than God commissioned them to do; and as, when he said to them, Go, they went, so, when he said to them, Come, they came, to show that they were soldiers under him. 2. The destroyed land shall be watered and made fruitful. When the army is scattered, yet what shall we do if the desolation they have made continue? It is therefore promised (Joe 2:22) that the pastures of the wilderness, the pastures which the locusts had left as bare as the wilderness, shall again spring and the trees shall again bear their fruit, particularly the fig-tree and the vine. But, when we see how the country is wasted, we are tempted to say, Can these dry bones live? If the Lord should make windows in heaven, it cannot be; but it shall be, for (Joe 2:23) the Lord has given and will give you the former rain and the latter rain, and, if he give them in mercy, he will give them moderately, so that the rain shall not turn into a judgment, and he will give them in due season, the latter rain in the first month, when it was wanted and expected. It would make it comfortable to them to see it coming from the hand of God, and ordered by his wisdom, for then we are sure it is well ordered. He has given you a teacher of righteousness, (so the margin reads it, for the same word that signifies the rain signifies a teacher. and that which we translate moderately is according to righteousness), and this teacher of righteousness, says one of the rabbin, is the King Messias, and of him many others understand this; for he is a teacher come from God, and he shows us the way of righteousness. But others understand it of any prophet that instructs unto righteousness, and some of Hezekiah particularly, others of Isaiah. Note, It is a good sign that God has mercy in store for a people when he sends them teachers of righteousness, pastors after his own heart. 3. All their losses shall be repaired (Joe 2:25): "I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten; you shall be comforted according to the time that you have been afflicted, and shall have years of plenty to balance the years of famine." Thus does it repent the Lord concerning his servants, when they repent, and, to show how perfectly he is reconciled to them, he makes good the damage they have sustained by his judgments, and, like the jailer, washes their stripes. Though, in justice, he distrained upon them, and did them no wrong, yet, in compassion, he makes restitution; as the father of the prodigal, upon his return, made up all he had lost by his sin and folly, and took him into his family, as in his former estate. The locusts and caterpillars are here called God's great army which he sent among them, and he will repair what they had devoured because they were his army. 4. They shall have great abundance of all good things. The earth shall yield her increase, and they shall enjoy it. Look into the stores where they lay up, and you shall find the floors full of wheat, and the fats overflowing with wine and oil (Joe 2:24), whereas, in the day of their distress, the wine and oil languished and the barns were broken down, Joe 1:10, Joe 1:17. Look upon their tables, where they lay out what they have laid up, and you shall find that they eat in plenty and are satisfied, Joe 2:26. They do not eat to excess, nor are surfeited; we hope the drunkards are cured by the late affliction of their inordinate love of wine and strong drink, for, though they were brought in howling for their scarcity (Joe 1:5), they are now brought in again here singing for the plenty of it; but now all shall have enough, and shall known when they have enough, for God will make their food nourishing and give them to be content with it.
These are the mercies promised, and in these God does great things (Joe 2:21), He deals wondrously with his people, Joe 2:26. Herein he glorifies his power, and shows that he can relieve his people though their distress be ever so great, and glorifies his goodness, that he will do it upon their repentance though their provocations were ever so great. Note, When God deals graciously with poor sinners that return to him it must be acknowledged that he deals wondrously and does great things. Some expositors understand these promises figuratively, as pointing at gospel-grace, and having their accomplishment in the abundant comforts that are treasured up for believers in the covenant of grace and the satisfaction of soul they have therein. When God sends us his promises to be the matter of our comfort, his graces to be the grounds of it, and his Spirit to be the author of it, we may well own that he has sent us (according to his promise here, Joe 2:19) corn, and wine, and oil, or that which is unspeakably better, and we have reason to be satisfied therewith.
III. What use shall be made of these returns of God's mercy to them and the good account they shall turn to.
1. God shall have the glory thereof, for they shall rejoice in the Lord their God (Joe 2:23), and what is the matter of their rejoicing shall be the matter of their thanksgiving; they shall praise the name of the Lord their God (Joe 2:26) and not praise their idols, nor call their corn and wine the rewards that their lovers had given them. Note, The plenty of our creature-comforts is a mercy indeed to us when by them our hearts are enlarged in love and thankfulness to God, who gives us all things richly to enjoy, though we serve him but poorly. When God restores to us plenty after we have known scarcity, as it is doubly pleasant to us, so it should make us the more thankful to God. When Israel comes out of a wilderness into a Canaan, and there eats and is full, surely he will then bless the Lord, with a very sensible pleasure, for that good land which he has given him, Deu 8:10.
2. They shall have the credit, and comfort, and spiritual benefit, thereof. When God gives them plenty again, and gives them to be satisfied with it, (1.) Their reputation shall be retrieved; they and their God shall be no more reflected upon as unfaithful to one another when they have returned to him in a way of duty and he to them in a way of mercy (Joe 2:19): "I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen, that triumphed in your calamities and insulted over you;" and Joe 2:26, Joe 2:27, "My people shall never be ashamed, as they have been, of their good land which they used to boast of, but shall again and ever have the same occasion to boast of it." Note, It redounds much to the honour of God when he does that which saves the honour of his people; and those that are his people indeed, though they may be for a time, shall not be always, a reproach among the heathens; if we be rightly ashamed of our sins against God, we shall never be ashamed of our glorying in God. (2.) Their joys shall be revived (Joe 2:23): Be glad and rejoice, O land! and all the inhabitants of it. Times of plenty are commonly times of joy; yet the favour of God puts gladness into the heart more than those who have corn, and wine, and oil increase. But especially be glad them, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, Joe 2:23. They mourned in Zion (Joe 2:15), and therefore there in a particular manner they shall rejoice; for those that sow in penitential tears shall certainly reap in thankful joys. The children of Zion, who led the rest in fasting, must lead the rest in rejoicing. But observe, They shall rejoice in the Lord their God, not so much in the good themselves that are given them as in the good hand that gives them and in the return of his favour to them, as theirs in covenant, which these good things are the tokens and pledges of. The joy of harvest and the joy of a feast must both terminate in God, whose love we should taste in all the gifts of his bounty, that we may make him our chief joy, as he is our chief good, and the fountain of all good to us. (3.) Their faith in God shall be confirmed and increased. When temporal mercies are made by the grace of God to be of spiritual advantage to us, and plenty for the body is so far from being an enemy (as with many it proves) that it becomes a friend to the prosperity of the soul, then they are mercies indeed to us. This is promised here (Joe 2:27): You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, the Holy One in the midst of thee (Hos 11:9), and that I am the Lord your God, and none else. As it proves that the Lord is God, and there is none other, because he wounds and he heals, he forms light and darkness, he does good and evil (Isa 45:7; Deu 32:39), so it proves him to be God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people and a father to them, that as a father he both corrects them when they offend and comforts them when they repent. It was the burden of the threatenings in Ezekiel's prophecy, Such and such evils I will bring upon you, and you shall know that I am the Lord; and the same is here made the crown of the promises: You shall eat, and be satisfied, and rejoice, and thus you shall know that I am the Lord. Note, We should labour to grow in our acquaintance with God by all providences, both merciful and afflictive. When God gives to his people plenty, and peace, and joy, upon their return to him, he thereby gives them to understand that he is pleased with their repentance, that he has pardoned their sins, and that he is theirs as much as ever - that they are taken into the same covenant with him, for he is the Lord their God, and into the same communion, for he is in the midst of them, nigh unto them in all that they call upon him for, and, as the sun in the centre of the worlds, so in the midst of them as to diffuse his benign influences to all the parts of his land.
3. Even the inferior creatures shall share therein and be made easy thereby: Fear not, O land! Joe 2:21. Be not afraid, you beasts of the field, Joe 2:22. They had suffered for the sin of man, and for God's quarrel with him; and now they shall fare the better for man's repentance and God's reconciliation to him. Nay, the beasts were said to cry unto God (Joe 1:20); and now that cry is answered, and they are directed not to be afraid, for they shall have plenty of all that which their nature craves. God, in sparing Nineveh, had an eye to the cattle (Jon 4:11), for the cattle had fasted, Joe 3:8. This may lead us to think of the restitution of all things, when the creature, that is now made subject to vanity and groans under it, shall be brought, though not into the glorious joy, yet into the glorious liberty, of the children of God, Rom 8:21.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–26 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land,....…
Then will the Lord be jealous for his land,.... Or "zealous" for it; for the honour of it, and the good of its inhabitants, and for the glory of his own name, it being the chief place in the world for his worship and service; and his indignation will be moved against those who have brought desolation on it:
and pity his people; as a father his children, who had suffered much, and had been reduced to great distress by the locusts, or by their enemies: this the prophet foretells would be done upon their repentance, fasting, prayers, and tears; or, as some think, this is a narrative of what had been done, and the prophet was a witness of; that the people meeting together with their princess and priests, and humbling themselves before the Lord, and crying to him, he expressed a zeal and compassion for them, and delivered them out of their troubles; for though their humiliation is not expressed, it may be understood and supposed, as doubtless, it was fact.
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 vv20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 The northern army - That part of the locusts…
The northern army - That part of the locusts which are toward the north. With his face - The van of this army shall be driven into the dead sea, east of Jerusalem. The hinder part - The rear of this army shall be driven into the west sea. His stink - The stench of these locusts destroying and lying putrified on the face of the earth, or the corpses of the Assyrians slain and unburied.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26 Verse 19. Yea, the Lord will answer] It is…
Verse 19. Yea, the Lord will answer] It is not a peradventure; it will surely be done; if ye seek God as commanded, ye will find him as promised.
I will send you corn and wine] He will either prevent the total ravaging of the land, or so bless it with extraordinary vegetable strength, that ye shall have plentiful crops.
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 vv18, 21, 23, 25 Joe 2:18-20. Then will the Lord be jealous for…
Joe 2:18-20. Then will the Lord be jealous for his land — If you do what I propose to you, if you sincerely humble yourselves before God, confess your sins, and truly repent of them, turning to God in newness of life, then will the Lord be concerned for the honour and welfare of that land which he has chosen to settle his worshippers in. Yea, the Lord will say, Behold, I will send you corn, &c. — I will restore your former plenty, and the nations about you shall have no more occasion to reproach your desolate condition. But I will remove far off from you the northern army — Or, enemy, nation, or people; that is, the locusts, which might enter Judea by the north, as Circassia and Mingrelia abound with them. Because Joel represents this army as coming from the north, some have been ready to imagine, that he was speaking not of real locusts, but of the Chaldeans, or some other desolating army of men that should come from that quarter. “But the Baron de Tott assures us, in a late publication of his, that he found locusts coming in great numbers from Tartary toward Constantinople, which lies to the south of that country. ‘I saw,’ says he,
‘no appearance of culture on my route, because the Noguais (the Tartars) avoid the cultivation of frequented places. Their harvest by the sides of roads would serve only as pasture to travellers’ horses. But if this precaution preserves them from such kind of depredation, nothing can protect their fields from a much more fatal scourge. Clouds of locusts frequently alight on their plains; and, giving the preference to their fields of millet, ravage them in an instant. Their approach darkens the horizon, and so enormous is their multitude, it hides the light of the sun. When the husbandmen happen to be sufficiently numerous, they sometimes divert the storm by their agitation and cries; but when they fail, the locusts alight on their fields, and there form a bed of six or seven inches thick. This plague, no doubt, would be more extensive in countries better cultivated; and Greece and Asia Minor would be more frequently exposed, did not the Black sea swallow up most of those swarms which attempt to pass that barrier. I have often seen the shores of the Pontus Euxinus, toward the Bosphorus of Thrace, covered with their dried remains, in such multitudes, that one could not walk along the strand without sinking half-leg deep into a bed of these skinny skeletons. Curious to know the true cause of their destruction, I sought the moment of observation, and was a witness of their ruin by a storm, which overtook them so near the shore, that their bodies were cast upon the land while yet entire. This produced an infection so great, that it was several days before they could be approached.’ — Memoirs, part 2. p. 58-60. They frequently then, according to this writer, in that part of the world, pass, or attempt to pass, from north to south. In Judea they have been supposed to go from the southeastward in a contrary direction. And if this is the common route they take there, it must have struck the Jews very much, when they found the prophet predicting the going of the locusts to the southward; and still more so when they found it exactly accomplished, as it was a demonstration of the perfect foreknowledge of Jehovah, perhaps of his guiding and directing those vast bodies of insects. The locusts, it is said, have no king, yet go they forth by bands, Pro 30:27. But if they have no king of their own species, they are undoubtedly under the direction of the God that made them: he is their king.” — Harmer, vol. 4. obs. 146.
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Some of the locusts, which here are the subject of Joel’s prophecy, were to be driven by the wind into the desert, or, as it is here styled, a land barren and desolate; some into the Dead sea, called here the east sea, lying eastward of Jerusalem; some into the Mediterranean, or western sea, called here the utmost sea. By his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, is described the extent of the body, or army of locusts; the face meaning the foremost of them, and the hinder part the hindmost of them. And his stink shall come up — “That a strong and pestilential smell,” says Newcome, “arises from putrefied heaps of locusts, whether driven upon land or cast up from the sea in which they have perished, appears from the testimony of many writers. Among various other authorities to the same effect, St. Jerome is quoted by Bochart as saying, that in his time those troops of locusts which covered Judea were cast by the wind in mare primum et novissimum; and that, when the waters threw them up, their smell caused a pestilence. Thevenot says of them, They live not above six months; and when dead, the stench of them so corrupts and infects the air, that it often occasions dreadful pestilences. — City Remem. 1:123. There came such a stench from those which appeared at Novogorod in 1646, as not only offended the nose, but the brain: it was not to be endured: men were forced to wash their noses with vinegar, and hold handkerchiefs dipped in it continually to their nostrils, Ibid. 125. In Ethiopia, when they die and rot, they raise a pestilence. — Mead, 1:36.” Because he hath done great things — That is, committed great devastation. Or rather, although he hath done great things: though this army of insects, by God’s appointment, has made such destruction in the land, yet it shall come to this shameful end.
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 vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26 Then will the Lord be jealous for His land…
Then will the Lord be jealous for His land - Upon repentance, all is changed. Before, God seemed set upon their destruction. It was His great army which was ready to destroy them; He was at its head, giving the word. Now He is full of tender love for them, which resents injury done to them, as done to Himself. The word might more strictly perhaps be rendered, “And the Lord is jealous” . He would show how instantaneous the mercy and love of God for His people is, restrained while they are impenitent, flowing forth upon the first tokens of repentance. The word, “jealous for,” when used of God, jealous for My holy Name Eze 39:25, jealous for Jerusalem, Zec 1:14; Zec 8:2, is used, when God resents evil which had been actually inflicted.
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 vv18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25 Zealous. Indignation is excited when a person perceives any…
Zealous. Indignation is excited when a person perceives any thing contemned which he loves. So God resented the injuries done maliciously by the Gentiles towards his people; though he often punished them for their correction or greater merit. (Worthington) --- He will resent the blasphemies uttered by infidels against his holy name, and will restore fertility to the land. (Calmet)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v18 Joe_2:18 to Joe_3:21
PART SECOND
THE PROMISE
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Joe_2:18 to Joe_3:21
_______
SECTION I
Annihilation of the Locust Army. Reparation of the Damage done by it, by a Rich Blessing
Joe_2:18-27
18 Then Jehovah will be jealous20 for his land.
And will pity his people.
19 And Jehovah will answer and say unto his people,
Behold I will send21 you the corn,22
The new wine, and the oil;
And ye shall be satisfied23 therewith,
And I will no longer make you
A reproach among the heathen.
20 And I will remove far from you the northern24 host,
And will drive him into a dry and desolate land;
His face (or his van) toward the east sea,
His rear towards the west sea.
And his stench shall arise,
And his ill savor shall ascend,
For He has done great things.25
21 Fear not, O Land,
Be glad and rejoice,
For Jehovah hath done great things.
22 Fear not, ye beasts of the field!26
For the pastures of the wilderness have sprung up,
The tree beareth her fruit,
The fig tree and the vine yield their strength.27
23 O ye children of Zion rejoice and be glad
In Jehovah your God;
For He gives you the former rain28 in just measure,
And sends you, in showers, the early and the latter rain, as aforetime.29
24 And the threshing floors shall be full of corn,
And the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
25 And I will restore30 (or replace) the years31
Which the locust, the cankerworm, the caterpillar and the palmerworm have devoured,
My great army which I sent against you.
26 Then ye shall eat in plenty32 and be satisfied,
And shall praise the name of Jehovah your God,
Who hath dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never be ashamed.
27 And33 ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And I Jehovah am your God, and none else.
And my people shall never be ashamed.
EXEGETICAL
The second part of this chapter is wholly occupied with promises to Judah. The first part, which is so full of menaces, had also revealed God’s mercy in case of repentance, but only in a general way, affording only a glimmering of hope. Now, however, the promises given by Jehovah Himself flow forth like a full, broad stream. This transition occurs suddenly in Joe_2:18. The promise, which takes the form of an answer of God, is grounded upon a seeming change in the Divine purpose. A declaration so positive as this, introduced by the imper. consec,. as an actual fact, of course implies that the condition on which the change in the Divine purpose was based, had been fulfilled, i. e., that the day of fasting and prayer had been duly observed, and that the promise is God’s answer to his people’s penitential prayer. Our book, therefore, is in point of time divided into two parts, an earlier and a later one.
Joe_2:18. Then will the Lord, etc. קָנַא with ל = to be jealous for some one, i. e., to be zealous for his welfare out of love for him.
Joe_2:19-20. Renewed fertility is promised by the removal of the cause of the desolation. Behold I send you. This carries us back to Joe_1:10-11. שָלַח; because the growth of grain depends upon the fertilizing rain.
Joe_2:20. הַצְּפוֹנִי, not the northern of the E. V. and other versions, for the locusts never invade Palestine from the North, but the destroyer. The word comes from צָפוֹן, the name of the well-known Egyptian god Typhon, from whence also comes the ὁ τυφωνικός (Act_27:14). [This is a fanciful and groundless rendering. The word occurs in one hundred and fifty other places in O. T., and in all of them its sense is clearly that given to it here by our E. V. The term הַצִּפוֹנִי, says Wünsche, according to the Masor. punctuation, can have no other sense than that of “northern,” or “northerner.” The allegorists use the word as a proof of their theory, that the Chaldœans, or Syrians are meant. But there is not either in what precedes or in what follows, the slightest trace of a hostile invasion of Judah by either of these nations. The word, therefore, must refer to the locusts. Nor is the designation of them as “northern” an arbitrary one, since their movements were wholly dependent on the wind.—F.] Into a land dry and desolate, one in which this army will find nothing to destroy, but will itself perish. The land referred to is the desert of Arabia, on the southern border of Judœa. The two ways in which the locusts would be destroyed are mentioned: they would be driven into the desert, and into the sea. Two seas are named, in which this army should perish, namely, the vanguard in the east or Dead Sea, the rear in the west or Mediterranean. We need not, however, suppose that the destruction of these two divisions of the locust army occurred at the same time.
[His stench. Jerome says of the locusts of Palestine, when the shores of both seas were filled with heaps of dead locusts which the waters had cast up, their stench and putrefaction were so noxious as to corrupt the air, so that a pestilence was produced among men and beasts. The same fact is attested by many modern travellers.—F.]
Joe_2:21-23. Fear not, O Land. As in Joel 1 the land and its inhabitants were called upon to mourn in view of coming judgments, so now they are called upon to rejoice over the destruction of the hosts that had laid waste the country. Here, the address is that of the prophet while in Joe_2:25 the Lord himself speaks. The subject and object of the joy are stated (Joe_2:21) in a general way. The latter is described in the words: Jehovah hath done great things. The perfect tense is here used like the German present, to denote an action, which being absolutely certain is thought of and presented as one already accomplished. What is here said of God’s doings is not to be limited to that special time or occasion, but expresses a universal truth.
Joe_2:22. Even the beasts of the field should no longer be afraid of wanting their supplies of food. The picture of blessing which begins with verdant pastures, ends with trees laden with fruit.
Joe_2:23. Men are called upon to rejoice. Children of Zion may be taken in a general sense for the inhabitants of Judah, since Zion represented Judah. The former or early rain. It fell after autumn, and seems to be so called from יָרָה, jecit, because its season was post jactam sementem. It was the chief need after the devastation and drought, and hence is named with special emphasis. The latter rain fell about harvest, towards the end of April. Hence its name from לָקַשׁ, collegit, בָרִאשׁוֹן corresponds to the אַחֲרֵי־כֵנ (Joe_3:1); the material blessings first, then the spiritual. Pusey: It may be, at the first, i. e., as soon as ever it is needed, or in contrast to the more extensive gifts afterwards; or, as at the first, i. e., all shall, upon their penitence, be restored as at the first. These lesser variations leave the sense of the whole the same, and all are supported by good authorities. It is still a reversal of the former sentence, that, whereas before the rivers of water were dried up, now the rains should come, each in his season.—F.] “The rain shall come down,” here specially opposed to the drought, but, perhaps also a symbol of blessing in general. [So far as this special act may be generalized, it may rather be said that it begets and keeps alive the consciousness that the Giver of all good is again in the midst of his people.—F.]
Joe_2:24-27. And the threshing floors,—my people shall never be ashamed.
The effects of the rain are first briefly, and then more fully described. The years,i. e., the product of the years which the locusts had devoured. The plural form of the word does not imply that the visitations of the locusts described in Joel 1 were in successive years; it only means that the results of a single visitation would be felt for several years, and that as long a time would be required to repair the mischief done by the locusts. The names of the four kinds of locusts given in Joel 1 are repeated here, only that the generic name אַרְבֶּה holds a prominent place.
Joe_2:26-27. A beautiful conclusion; it treats of the redemption of Israel from the heathen, and thereby of the vindication of God himself. This is the fundamental idea that repeatedly recurs. This conclusion forms the point of transition to the new and higher promises in Joel 3 which fully display the truth that “Jehovah is in the midst of Israel, that He is their God and none else,” and therefore that his people can never be put to shame. While this promise is in a negative form, it really includes much more than the literal sense of the words; it means that God’s people shall not only not be ashamed, but that they shall be glorified forever, and that all the powers of this world that have opposed them shall be utterly confounded.
THEOLOGICAL
The greatness of the promise shows the power and importance of repentance, and the magnitude of God s grace. It is a confirmation of what is said (Joe_2:12). The punishment God inflicts is converted into a blessing; his zeal against us is changed into zeal for us. God’s dispensing blessing is the proof that He is in the midst of Israel; that Jehovah and none else is their God. Jehovah is in the midst of Israel, the centre and source of spiritual life. It is solely through Him, that Israel is what he is. The proof that God dwells with Israel is his blessing him; for the very object of his communion With Israel, and the choice of him to be his people, is to bless him. In dispensing blessings, God manifests his name, his power, his bounty, and distinguishes Himself from all false gods, who being dead cannot do that; while Israel being thus blessed is distinguished from the heathen, standing far above them who have no such God. Hence, too, the punishments inflicted upon Israel are in strong contrast with those which overtake the heathen. If Israel is unfaithful so that his God disowns him, it is quite natural that if he repents, he should regain the blessing; the honor of God and of his people require this. Upon this fact, repentant Israel grounds his prayer for pardon, and the promise given corresponds to the prayer. When God sends blessings to his people, whom his judgments have brought to repentance, the right way is, to rejoice in and enjoy them, with humble gratitude indeed, but at the same time with the confession that they come wholly from Him. Then, the humiliation endured will have produced its proper fruits.
HOMILETICAL
Joe_2:18. And Jehovah was jealous for his people. Penitential and believing prayer secures a gracious answer; sometimes in the way of warding off the temporal evils with which God visits men. Before we call, God will answer, and while we are speaking, He will hear.
[Henry: God will have an eye (1.) To his own honor, and the reputation of his covenant with Israel, by which He had conveyed to them that good land; now He will not suffer it to be despised or disparaged, but will be jealous for the land and its inhabitants, who had been praised as a happy people, and therefore must not lie open to reproach as a miserable people. (2.) To their distress. He will pity his people, and will restore them their former comforts.
Pusey: Before, God seemed set upon their destruction. It was his great army which was ready to destroy them; He was at their head giving the word. Now, He is full of tender love for them, which resents injuries done to them, as done to Himself.—F.]
Joe_2:19. I will send—corn. It is God who averts the failure of crops, and scarcity of food. These evils neither come nor cease by accident. God gives us our daily bread. He opens his hand, and we are satisfied with food.
Joe_2:20. I will remove the northern. When God has alarmed his people and brought them to repentance, He often pours out his wrath upon those who were his instruments in the infliction of chastisement.
Joe_2:21. Fear not. How kindly God can speak to the heart! How powerfully can He console! It is easy for Him to do great things.
[Pusey: Before, they were bidden to tremble; now they are bidden fear not. The enemy had done great things; now, the cause of joy is, that God had done great things; the almightiness of God overwhelming and sweeping over the might put forth to destroy.—F.]
Joe_2:23. Rejoice in the Lord. Joy in God is the right kind of joy. From Him comes every blessing. Yet how often do we receive joyfully enough the gift, without rejoicing in the Giver? Certainly he who does not know God, cannot rejoice in Him.
[Scott: The sons of Zion can never have so great a cause to fear, but they must still have a greater to “rejoice in the Lord.” He gives us all our comforts, and enables us to use them with thankful hearts. The wisdom, truth, and love of his dispensations toward us deserve our highest admiration; and He will never leave his people to be ashamed of their confidence in Him.—F.]
Joe_2:25. I will restore. How great is the bounty of God! It seems as if He were anxious to repair some injury which his preceding judgments had caused.
Joe_2:26. Ye shall be satisfied. What a blessed result of humiliation when our being satisfied and praising the Lord become and remain so united in us, that we can never again misuse God’s gifts to feed vain conceit, luxury, tyranny, but shall maintain unmoved fear, love, and trust in God.
[Pusey: It is of the punishment of God when men eat and are not satisfied; it is man’s sin that they are satisfied and do not praise God, but the more forget Him. And so God’s blessings become a curse to him. God promises to restore his gifts, and to give grace withal, that they should own and thank Him.—F.]
Joe_2:27. I am in the midst of Israel. Blessed is the people in the midst of whom the Lord dwells. Every fresh blessing should be a proof to us that God is in the midst of us. But we must be God’s people, if we would hope to have Him dwelling in the midst of us. He is only in the midst of Israel. God’s people can never be put to shame; therefore let us see that we belong to them.
[Henry: We should labor to grow in our acquaintance with God by all providences, both merciful and afflictive. When God gives to his people plenty and peace, He thereby gives them to understand that He is pleased with their repentance, that He has pardoned their sins.—F.]
Footnotes:
[20]Joe_2:18.—קָנַא with ל or ב = to be jealous for some one out of love.
[21]Joe_2:19.—שָׁלַח, more lit., “am sending.”
[22]Joe_2:19.—הַדָּגָן: the article is used to give prominence to the products which the Lord promises to send.
[23]Joe_2:19.—שְׂבַעְתֶּם אֹתיֹ. The sing. אֹתיֹ is here used collectively.
[24]Joe_2:20.—“Northern.” Schmoller insists that הַצְפוֹנִי should be rendered “destroyer.” See Exeget. note on this ver.
[25]Joe_2:20.—הִגִדִּיל לַעַשׂוֹת, lit. “he has magnified to do.” Schmoller renders it: “er hat grossgethan.” The same phrase occurs in Joe_2:21, which shows that it cannot be taken in the sense of boasting. It is synonymous with the מַפְלִא לעָשׂות (Jdg_13:19), and עָשַׂה לְהַפְלִיא, Joe_2:26.
[26]Joe_2:22.—“Field.” שָׂדַי is not the plur. for שָׂדַים but the sing. = שָׂדֶה, according to the analogy of שָׂדַי, Psa_96:12.
[27]Joe_2:22.—נָתַן הִיל, “give strength,” like the Lat. edere fiuctum. The metaphor is one in which the cause is put for the effect. Only used here and in Psa_1:4.
[28]Joe_2:23.—הַמּוֹרֶה, “the early rain,” from יָרָה, jecit, perhaps because its season was post jactam sementem. Keil renders it “a teacher for righteousness.” But the word when so used is followed by ב, more rarely by אֶל, or מִן. Ewald and Umbreit take מוֹרֶה in the sense of “early rain,” but render the phrase “rain for righteousness,” i. e., as a sign of their being again received into the divine righteousness. But this is a strained sense; better, “according to right,” i. e., in just measure, as the ground requires.
[29]Joe_2:23.—“Aforetime.”: בָּרִאשׁוֹן. There seems to be an omission of כ. The Sept. render it καθώς ἐμπροσθεν; the Syr., ut antea; the Vulg., sicut in principio. The Chald. and Arab. have the reading “as in the month Nisan.”
[30]Joe_2:25.—The primary meaning of שָׁלַם is “to be whole,” but it is here used in the sense of “replace, or make good.”
[31]Joe_2:25.—“Years”, שָּׁנִים the plur. form used, perhaps, only in a poetic sense, as in Gen_21:7; Psa_45:9-10; 1Sa_17:43.
[32]Joe_2:26.—“Eat in plenty,” lit., “eat an eating, or eat to eat,” etc. Wünsche renders it: “Und ihr werdet essen, essen und saTt werden.” The Heb. often has the infin. absol. as the object complement of the finite verb, which sometimes follows and sometimes precedes it.
[33]Joe_2:27.—The ו here indicates the logical consequence from what precedes.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv18–26 Then--when God sees His people penitent.
Then--when God sees His people penitent.
be jealous for his land--as a husband jealous of any dishonor done to the wife whom he loves, as if done to himself. The Hebrew comes from an Arabic root, "to be flushed in face" through indignation.
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 vv18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 Blessings to be enjoyed in the immediate future, vv.18-27.
Blessings to be enjoyed in the immediate future, vv.18-27.
Joe_2:18 marks the transition to the promises. The future tenses of A.V. have been rightly changed into past tenses in R.V.
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Then — The time is not definitely stated but is implied, when the people turned to Jehovah in penitence of heart.
Jealous… pity — Jealousy is frequently ascribed to God in the Old Testament. The expression is probably adopted from the marriage relation, which is often used to describe the relation of Jehovah to the people of Israel (Isa_54:5; Isa_62:5; Hos_2:19). Though at present the word is used commonly in a bad sense, it was not always so. The jealousy of Jehovah is aroused when his power is doubted, or when he is robbed of his proper dues, or when proper treatment is refused to one who is the object of his peculiar care and love. In the last case Jehovah interferes not merely to secure what belongs to him, but he interposes in behalf of his loved one. The calamity that had befallen the people had caused the surrounding nations to ask mockingly, “Where is their God?” Now Jehovah must vindicate himself; but he was moved also by pity for his people. “Love, having been made jealous by misrepresentation or ill treatment on the part of a third person, undergoes a strong reaction against the latter in favor of the former” (Exo_20:5; Zec_1:14; Zec_8:2; Eze_36:5-6).
PROMISE OF JEHOVAH TO AVERT THE JUDGMENT AND TO BESTOW ABUNDANT BLESSINGS, Joe_2:18 to Joe_3:21.
Though not expressly stated, it is implied that the prophet’s exhortation was heeded; the solemn assembly was held, the people turned to Jehovah in penitence, and as a result Jehovah altered his purpose. Now he promises to remove the locusts and to restore prosperity, such as has not been known before, until all will know that Jehovah himself dwells in the midst of the people (Joe_2:18-27). The manifestation of his mercy will not stop there; to the temporal blessings he will add rich spiritual gifts (Joe_2:28-29). When the day of judgment finally comes, introduced by extraordinary phenomena (Joe_2:30-31), it will not strike the chosen people; they will be spared (Joe_2:32), and those who are still in exile will be brought back to Zion (Joe_3:1); but the enemies of the Jews will be annihilated in a terrible conflict in the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joe_2:2-16). Zion will continue in the enjoyment of highest felicity under the direct protection of Jehovah, while her enemies will be turned into desolation and ruin (Joe_2:17-21).
The promises, then, refer, on the one hand, to the immediate future (Joe_2:18-27); on the other, to times more remote (Joe_2:28 ff.).
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 vv18–26 18, 19. Then was Jehovah jealous for his land,…
18, 19. Then was Jehovah jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. And Jehovah answered and said, &c.] The future tenses of the A.V. are grammatically indefensible[42]. Though it is not expressly so stated, it is understood that the prophet’s exhortations had the intended effect; the people shewed themselves to be truly penitent; the priests interceded on their behalf; and the words quoted describe Jehovah’s gracious change of purpose, and the promises which He in consequence vouchsafed to His people.
[42] See the grounds for this statement in the writer’s Hebrew Tenses, § 82 Obs.
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jealous for his land] Zec_1:14; Zec_8:2. Jehovah is “jealous,” when His power is doubted, or the honour which is His due is given to another (see Exo_20:5; Deu_4:24; Deu_32:21; Isa_42:8; Zep_3:8, noticing in each case the context): this happens, however, when His people or His land suffer, and the heathen argue in consequence that He is unable to relieve them; accordingly the feeling of “jealousy” prompts Him then to interpose on their behalf (Eze_36:5-6; cf. Isa_9:7; Isa_37:32 [where zeal is a very inadequate rendering]).
Part II. Chap. Joe_2:18 to Joe_3:21
Jehovah’s answer to His people’s prayer of penitence. He will remove from them the plague of locusts, and bestow upon them an abundance of both material and spiritual gifts (Joe_2:18-32); His judgment will alight only upon the nations who are their foes; His own people will dwell for ever securely under the protection of His presence (ch. 3).
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 vv19, 20, 21, 23, 25 (19) I will no more make you.—The reply of…
(19) I will no more make you.—The reply of the Lord is directed to remove the fear that by reason of the destruction of the fruits of the land the people would be at the mercy of the invading nations.
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 vv18–25 Vers. 18-27 form the sequel of this chapter in…
Vers. 18-27 form the sequel of this chapter in the Hebrew, but five additional verses make up the chapter in the Authorized Version. These are divisible into two parts. In the first division the prophet assures his countrymen of the bestowal of temporal mercies, and in the second of the promise of spiritual blessings.
The futures of this verse with vav consec, are properly taken as perfects; nor is there any inconsistency, provided we understand, as following ver. 17 and preceding ver. 18, the fact that the priests had engaged in the penitence enjoined, and offered the supplication to which they had been summoned; neither is the omission of any express mention of the circumstance thus supposed to intervene between these verses any valid objection, especially as the grammar favours the view in question. Then follows a manifestation of God"s mercy in answer to the assumed penitence and prayer of his servants. God"s jealousy and pity are both engaged his jealousy for his land, and his compassion for his people. His jealousy is figurative, and the allusion is probably to that of a husband who is jealous on account of any dishonour done to his wife, and who resents it more keenly than a dishonour offered to himself. The pity is such as God ever manifests to his people when penitent; for "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
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Vers. 18-20. Pity and relenting.
The transitions of sentiment with which we meet in the Hebrew prophets are remarkable, but not unaccountable. Threats and promises on God"s part, rebellion and penitence on man"s part, succeed one another with great rapidity. Yet there is order and method in these changes, which are always dependent upon moral and spiritual relations, and are never arbitrary and capricious.
I THE OCCASION OF DIVINE RELENTING. The deep-seated cause is to be found in the character, the moral nature, of God himself. He is merciful, and delights in mercy. Yet this attribute can be exercised only upon certain conditions, only towards those in a certain attitude of heart. Penitence: humiliation, contrition, entreaty, on the part of Judah, account for the exercise of compassion on the part of God.
II DIVINE RELENTING LEADS TO THE REMOVAL OF GRIEVOUS EVILS. The northern army of locusts, and perhaps also a hostile force figured by it, should be driven away, and famine and pestilence averted. The penalties of sin, being intended mainly for the correction of offenders, are not retained when their purpose is accomplished. In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy.
III DIVINE RELENTING PROVES ITSELF BY AN ABUNDANT BENEFICENCE. The Jews were assured that, as a sign that the storm-cloud of wrath was overpast, they should again enjoy the fruits of the earth wine, and oil." Those whom God pardons he blesses too; he takes away the wrath to bestow the loving-kindness; the load of trouble is cast into the sea, and "he loadeth with benefits. T.
Vers. 18-24. Interaction of the Divine and human.
"Then will the Lord be jealous," etc. These verses refer to the removal both of the actual calamity under which the nation were suffering, namely, the plague of locusts, and also to the removal of that calamity which was to come upon them by the invasion of a foreign foe, namely, the Assyrians. The latter is evidently referred to in ver. 20: "I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things." Henderson implies that the passage in Zep_2:13, "He will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness," is sufficient to prove that the term "northern" here refers to the Assyrian power. However, for homiletical purposes, it scarcely matters whether the locusts, Assyrians, or any other destructive enemy are referred to. The grand question is What are the truths contained in the paragraph that are of universal importance and application? The following are clearly deducible.
I THAT THE MATERIAL CONDITION OF A PEOPLE DEPENDS UPON THE DIVINE OPERATIONS. Two things are referred to in the passage as the works of the Almighty towards the Jewish people at this time.
1. The withdrawal of calamities. "I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate." When terrible calamities come upon a people, such as hosts of destructive insects, or pestilence, famine, or war, who but the Almighty can remove them? Men may and ought to employ means; but futile for ever will be all human efforts without the co-operation of Almighty power. This fact should teach us ever to look to him and him only for deliverance from evil at all times, both material and moral.
2. The bestownent of blessings. "The Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen." The productions of the earth are dependent every moment upon Almighty power. At his bidding the most fertile regions of nature are struck into barrenness, and deserts and wildernesses become fertile and beautiful as Eden. The pseudo-scientist of this age traces the operations of nature to what he calls "laws," a term to cover his ignorance. But true philosophy as well as the Bible teaches that nature is absolutely in God"s hands. "He causes the sun to rise and to set." He poureth down the genial showers and sealeth the heavens. A practical recognition of him in all the phenomena of nature is what reason and religion demand. "Every good and perfect gift," etc.
II THAT THE DIVINE OPERATIONS ARE INFLUENCED BY THE MORAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. We are taught here, that the removal of the calamity and the bestowment of the blessing came upon the people in consequence of the moral humiliation for their sins, described in the preceding verses. The priests and the ministers of the Lord wept between the altar, and said, "Spare thy people, O Lord!" etc. "The porch before the temple was a hundred and twenty cubits high, twenty broad from north to south, and ten from east to west. The altar was that of burnt offering in the court of the priests. Here, with their backs toward the altar, on which they had nothing to offer, and their faces directed towards the residence of the Shechinah, they were to weep, and make supplication on behalf of the people." That the Divine conduct towards us depends upon our conduct towards Heaven, is inexplicable to us although clearly taught in the Word of God. Indeed, consciousness assures us that he is to us what we are to him. It is absurd to suppose that God will alter the laws of nature because of human prayers or human conduct, says the sceptic scientist. But what laws of nature are more manifest, more universal, settled and unalterable than the tendency of human souls to personal and intercessory prayer? From every human heart the world over, there goes up to the great Spirit in some form or other a prayer, either for self or others. Every aspiration is a prayer help me! God help thee!" "God help him!" "God help them!" Point out to me a human soul where the spirit of these is not being breathed out every day. Scripture abounds with examples too numerous here to write of God apparently altering his conduct on account of man"s supplications.
III THAT THE RIGHT MORAL CONDUCT OF A PEOPLE WILL ENSURE THEM DIVINE BENEDICTIONS. "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month." In these verses there is a beautiful gradation. First, the land which has been destroyed by the enemy is addressed in a prosopopoeia; then the irrational animals which had suffered from the famine; and lastly, the inhabitants themselves. All are called upon to cast off their fears, and rejoice in the happy change which God would effect. Desolation, barrenness, and famine would disappear, and times of prosperity and happiness return. It is too clear for either argument or illustration, that if you change the moral character of any country from ignorance to intelligence, from indolence to industry, from intemperance to self-discipline, from sensualness to spirituality, from enmity to love, that the whole material region in which they live may abound with plentifulness and beauty. Such a change throughout the whole human population to-day will give to all a new heaven and new earth. 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 vv18, 21, 25, 26 Then will the Lord be Jealous for His land,…
Joe_2:18-20
Then will the Lord be Jealous for His land, and pity His people.
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The Divine attitude towards repentant souls
I. Toward repentant souls God is strict in the manifestation of a jealous regard. Then will the Lord be jealous for His land, and pity His people. Thus we see the change which repentance makes in the circumstances and conditions of men. And God is jealous of the welfare and honour of the truly penitent soul. He will save it wisely from former enemies who have endangered it, and He will shield it kindly from all reproach which may threaten. The soul is His. He has redeemed it. He has given it the grace of repentance. He will be jealous for its good.
II. Toward repentant souls God is beneficent in the restoration of withdrawn mercies. Yea, the Lord will answer. etc. And happily true it is that while sin despoils life of many of its richest mercies, repentance with kind hand gives them back again. There is a glorious tendency in repentance to ameliorate and remove the loss and woe wrought by moral evil. Repentance does not always heal the pain of sin. It does not erase sad memories. It does not always restore a wasted bodily constitution. It does not always bring back the substance wasted in the far country. But its tendency is to do this The moral touches the material.
III. From the repentant soul God will turn aside the plagues which have previously afflicted it. But I will remove far off from you the northern army, etc. The repentant soul is beset by old enemies. They are in the hand of God. He can cover their plans with defeat. Lessons--
1. That God will protect the interests of repentant souls.
2. Let us see in the glad effect of repentance in this life a prophecy of the joy of the sinless life.
3. That the enemies of repentant souls will be brought to shame. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Divine favour the best alliance
These words are a Comfortable promise to Judah, upon a sincere humiliation and repentance, of the Divine kindness and favour; the earnest of all blessings, the fountain of all prosperity, success, and happiness that can attend a people, or they can reasonably wish or hope for.
I. In how exact a posture our affairs stand with those of Judah. Joel is supposed to point to the troubles of the reign of good King Hezekiah. We (1701) shall find that the coast from which we are alarmed and threatened, and the enemy from whom we apprehend our danger, has all the characteristics and marks of those enemies of the Hebrews described here by the prophet. They were powerful, cruel, and numerous. Neither is a foreign power the only evil we have reason to be apprehensive of and to provide against. We are a divided and dissatisfied people, maligning our governors, and murmuring at providence.
II. The necessity for seeking a suitable and seasonable remedy in these times of danger. It is the safest course for nations, when they are apprehensive of danger, to implore the Divine aid and assistance to their consultations and enterprises; to deprecate Gods wrath, and to engage His blessing. Self-preservation should engage us to cure a distemper in its beginnings and first approaches; lest, by indulging too long to it, it prove incurable and mortal. For when diseases are once deeply rooted, and become so mixed with the blood and humours as thoroughly to taint them, it costs the patient much more pain and time to bear the several courses and operations he is enjoined in order to a cure. To how near a crisis the malady of our sins has brought us; then how necessary it is to use the most effectual means for our recovery! There is great danger, if we dissolve our public peace, and do not timely cure our fatal divisions. It is not enough for us to think we have justice on our side, if we ourselves break Gods most holy laws. When people abuse mercies, and receive the grace of God in vain, it is the highest aggravation of guilt, and most apt to incense the goodness of God, thus abused and slighted. Hence He has often raised up wicked men, and wicked nations, as instruments to punish others, who were less such, but transgressed Gods laws against clearer light and plainer evidence. God, like a tender father, is jealous of, and resents deeply the transgressions of His children, whom gratitude and a stricter sense of duty ought to restrain and keep within due bounds.
III. Upon a due application of repentance we shall be safe. True repentance is a healing balm, like that of Gilead, that cures the wounds of our sins, and has a sovereign charm to render a nation invulnerable; having power enough to ward off the force of any stroke of Divine vengeance, though just ready to be given. Illustrate by pious Hezekiah and good Jehoshaphat. Repentance has such influence upon heaven as to reprieve from ruin some of the vilest people and most wicked princes, as in the cases of Nineveh and Ahab. Upon these considerations what should hinder us from speedily closing with God in a duty upon which our safety and happiness so much depend; and which, if we perform seriously and in earnest, we shall not fail of His powerful protection and succour? Every individual person ought to begin at home. Let us therefore acknowledge before God with the deepest sense of humility and contrition how unworthy we have rendered ourselves of the least of His mercies. Let us turn from our evil ways, and walk in those of true virtue, religion, and holiness, that so we may engage Him to be jealous for His land, and pity His people. (John King, D. D.)
The glorious issue of repentance
The prophet was successful. The people gathered at a great and solemn national fast. Verse 18 reads in R.V., Then was the Lord jealous for His land, and had pity on His people. Then the message of the prophet becomes one of joy and hope. The scarcity shall be replaced by abundance. God will give the pledge of His loving regard in the sweet rain upon the burnt up and thirsty soil. He gives this gift of rain at first, because an after gift and a better one is to follow. Thus we reach the re-establishment of confidence and love. But we have reached a higher plane than merely the repose which comes because a terror has departed, and nature is resuming her normal regularity of beneficence. The true ground of the reposeful and confident spirit is this, that the people know the Lord is in their midst, and that He is their God and none else. Repentance if it is to do nothing else must convince men of that. It must establish the eternal fact of Gods presence. It must lead us to feel that we are Gods, and that we owe ourselves to Him. This confidence in the Lord their God alone is the first resting-place of our prophecy after the day of humiliation. But it is only a first resting-place. He who gave the former and the latter rain for the harvest gave them as gifts to be followed by others. A gift was coming which would lift the people into a much higher plane of thought, and into much more spiritual conceptions of life. It is the gift of the Spirit: it is the gift of new power upon repentant souls. The thought of the prophet carries with it a principle which to the men of his day must have been lofty, and perchance strange in its loftiness. This highest gift of God, like all gifts, is to make us great with that greatness which is service. Baptized with the Spirit, the apostles were baptized into the spirit of service. Here we see the higher region of the prophets ambition. It is not the restoration of temporal blessings which exhausts his desires on their behalf. He desires for them a spirit of true insight into the meaning and significance of life. One method of raising and rousing others is by awaking aspirations, by painting the possibilities which may yet be achieved. It is the Divine method to inspire by placing high possibilities, yet higher ranges of life and duty before our eyes. No doubt there is always something above earth in all the higher gifts of the Spirit. The poetic gift is the power to see--not what is not--but what is. Imagination is the power to see things as they are. The gift of the Spirit enables men to see the real significance of the facts of life--the true meaning of what men are, where they are, and why. This is exactly what the prophet has been leading us up to. The most real of all presences is the spiritual presence of Christ. The most real aspects of life for all men must be their spiritual aspects. The gift of the Spirit was to reveal the tremendous gulf which existed between life as men lived it and the life which God sought to see lived by men. Among the knights of Malta, the cross given and worn was the eight-pointed Maltese cross. The eight points signified the beatitudes. The cross was to be carried in the remembrance of the blessing which belonged to the poor in spirit, the sorrowful, the meek, the hungerers after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted. The Cross of Christ was to be carried in the Spirit of Christ. It is thus that the victory of Christ in the world will be won. More than ever we need the simple, guileless, loving, pure spirit of Christ. (Bishop Boyd Carpenter.)
Interaction of the Divine and human
I. That the material condition of a people depends upon the Divine operations.
1. The withdrawal of calamities. I will remove far off from you the northern army, etc. Men may and ought to employ means; but futile for ever will be all human efforts without the co-operation of Almighty power. This fact should teach us ever to look to Him and Him only for deliverance from evil at all times, both material and moral.
2. The bestowment of blessings. The Lord will answer and say unto His people, Behold, I will send you corn, etc. The productions of the earth are dependent every moment upon Almighty power.
2. That the Divine operations are influenced by the moral condition of the people. The priests and the ministers of the Lord wept between the altar, and said, Spare Thy people, O Lord, etc. The porch before the temple was a hundred and twenty cubits high, twenty broad from north to south, and ten from east to west. The altar was that of burnt-offering in the court of the priests. Here, with their backs toward the altar, on which they had nothing to offer, and their faces directed towards the residence of the Shekina, they were to weep and make supplication on behalf of the people. That the Divine conduct towards us depends upon our conduct towards heaven, is inexplicable to us although clearly taught in the Word of God. Indeed consciousness assures us that He is to us what we are to Him. It is absurd to suppose that God will alter the laws of nature because of human prayers and human conduct, says the sceptic scientist. But what laws of nature are more manifest, more universal, settled, and unalterable than the tendency of human souls to personal and intercessory prayer? Every aspiration is a prayer. Scripture abounds with examples of God apparently altering His conduct on account of mans supplication.
III. That the right moral conduct of a people will ensure them Divine benediction. In these verses there is a beautiful gradation. First the destroyed land is addressed; then the irrational animals; then the inhabitants. All are called to cast off their fears and rejoice in the happy change which God would effect. It is too clear for either argument or illustration, that if you change the moral character of any country from ignorance to intelligence, from indolence to industry, from intemperance to self-discipline, the whole material region in which you live may abound with plentifulness and beauty. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv18–19 "THEN did Jehovah become jealous for His land, and…
PROSPERITY AND THE SPIRIT
Joe_2:18-32
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"THEN did Jehovah become jealous for His land, and took pity upon His people"-with these words Joel opens the second half of his book. Our Authorized Version renders them in the future tense, as the continuation of the prophets discourse, which had threatened the Day of the Lord, urged the people to penitence, and now promises that their penitence shall be followed by the Lords mercy. But such a rendering forces the grammar; and the Revised English Version is right in taking the verbs, as the vast majority of critics do, in the past. Joels call to repentance has closed, and has been successful. The fast has been hallowed, the prayers are heard. Probably an interval has elapsed between Joe_2:17 and Joe_2:18, but, in any case, the people having repented, nothing more is said of their need of doing so, and instead we have from God Himself a series of promises, Joe_2:19-27, in answer to their cry for mercy. These promises relate to the physical calamity which has been suffered. God will destroy the locusts, still impending on the land, and restore the years which His great army has eaten. There follows in Joe_2:28-32 the promise of a great outpouring of the Spirit on all Israel, amid terrible manifestations in heaven and earth.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv18, 21 Joe_2:18. Then] No longer threatenings, but promises. Jealous] of…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Joe_2:18. Then] No longer threatenings, but promises. Jealous] of dishonour to them, love and pity for their welfare.
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Joe_2:19-20.] Renewed fertility and removal of the cause of desolation; answer to prayer and bestowment of great things (Psa_126:2-3); expressive of a universal truth.
HOMILETICS
RESTORATION OF LOST BLESSINGS.—Joe_2:18-20
These verses form a transition from one part of the prophecy to the other When God’s people returned to him in penitence, “then” he would be jealous for that land in which the temple stood, and for that people whom he still loved. He would hear their prayer, remove the curse, and restore the blessings, material and spiritual. There is no contingency, no uncertainty in the promises. The predictions are absolute, the condition of repentance on which they rest being complied with. Israel was thus encouraged by Divine, not human, security for the fulfilment of God’s word. Chastisement leads to repentance, and restoration of lost blessings the result.
I. This restoration depends upon the sincere repentance of men. “Then will the Lord be jealous.” God’s promises indicate conditions, and are adapted to certain states of mind.
1. Blessings are restored through penitence. They pre-suppose repentance, the efforts and the faithfulness of men. The removal of judgments and restoration of blessings were the result of the penitence and return of Israel. God waits to be gracious, and when sinners humble themselves and seek Divine favours they will be given. “For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.”
2. Blessings are restored in prayer. “The Lord will answer and say.” Infidels object to prayer for daily food and propitious weather. Why should we pray for rain or sunshine, say they, when both depend upon laws of meteorology? The laws of nature are not incapable of modification. Every time we throw a stone or build a house, when we graft a tree, or restore a limb, laws are suspended and varied. If we can direct the hidden forces of creation, and make them subservient to useful purposes, shall the God of nature be powerless! But prayer itself is one of the most natural and prevalent laws of nature. We have proof in Scripture and in our own experience that in the history of men and the events of providence God has changed his proceedings in answer to fervent prayer. “The earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel.”
II. Restoration springs from Divine pity to men. The Lord will display his love, “and pity his people.” Before, God was set upon their destruction. He was at the head of a great army, giving the word and combining the strength of the enemy. Now he is full of tender compassion, which resents injury done to them as if done to himself. God spares a people whom he may justly destroy. Humble penitents are permitted and encouraged to plead an interest in him. Natural affection prompts parents to help their children in distress; so God gives his people room in his pity, and blessings in their trouble. Compassionate kindness to the suffering is a dictate of humanity and one of the first principles of religion (Jas_1:27; Mat_9:13). “To him that is afflicted, pity should be showed” (Job_6:14). That pity which we should display towards our neighbour God will show to us. He is ready to turn away his anger and have mercy on us. “Ye have seen that the Lord is very pitiful”
He hath a tear for pity, and a hand
Open as day for melting charity.
III. Restoration is in rich variety. Calamities were not simply removed, but abundance of temporal and spiritual favours were bestowed.
1. Material blessings were restored. “I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith.” The material condition of a nation and the outward prosperity of a people depend upon God. He can send famine, pestilence, and war. He alone can take them away. All human efforts are perfectly impotent without Divine co-operation. The husbandman may plough and sow, but God “causes the sun to rise and set” Parliament may legislate and the nation employ its resources, but God alone can remove oppression and restore fertility in the land. It is good for a people to hearken to God in distress, to recognize their dependence upon him in the seasons and operations of nature, and call upon him as the Giver of every good and perfect gift. “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me! He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat; and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.”
2. National reproach was removed. “I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen.” Reproach is a sad thing for the people of God. But in due time he will take away all visible signs of judgment. His people shall not suffer in reputation and on account of apparent unfaithfulness to them. They shall be free from insult and tyranny, and shall enjoy the credit and comforts of their religion. The best of men may have the bitterest foes, and be subject to the most cruel taunts. But the brutality of the enemy will move the pity of God. He will not long endure to see his children ill-entreated. His love will rouse his anger, and then it will be worse for the scorner and reviler.
3. The mighty enemy was destroyed. “I will remove far off from you the northern army.” Whether “the Northerner” (Heb.) means the pest of locusts or the Assyrian army, God promises deliverance from them. As locusts were driven with the wind, to perish in the Arabian Desert, in the Dead Sea, and in the Mediterranean, to breed pestilence by the stench from their putrifying bodies, so the enemy shall be driven every way but the one from which he came. The destroyer shall do no further mischief. (a) The destruction is entire. They shall perish for lack of sustenance. Nothing shall remain but their ill savour. (b) The destruction is deserved. “Because he hath done great things,” magnified himself against God. Pride and violence against God’s people have ever been the features and forerunners of destruction. (c) The destruction is fearful. The countless hosts, full of life and activity, were scattered by the word of God on the waves of the sea, and thrown upon the shore a putrifying mass. Human malice and pride shall be destroyed. God takes away their breath and they become a carcase. Sennacherib’s army in the evening inspired terror, “and before the morning he is not” (Isa_17:14). “And when they rose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses” (Isa_37:36).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
God’s favours towards penitent sinners.
1. Zeal against them turned into pity for them.
2. Their prayers answered in abundant blessings. Material and spiritual good.
3. Their condition reversed. (a) Freedom for oppression. (b) Honour for reproach. (c) Feasting for fasting. (d) The removal of everything sad, and the bestowment of everything joyful.
The excellent condition of restored sinners.
1. Enemies subdued.
2. Abundance enjoyed.
3. Blessings perpetuated.
Divine favours.
1. Their source—God’s pity.
2. Their subjects—God’s people.
3. Their result—“Ye shall be satisfied.”
Joe_2:19. I will send you corn. God averts the failure of crops and the scarcity of food. These evils neither come nor cease by accident. God gives us our daily bread. He opens his hand and we are satisfied with food [Lange].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 2
Joe_2:20. The south and east winds drive the clouds of locusts with violence into the Mediterranean, and drown them in such quantities that when their dead are cast on to the shore, they infect the air to a great distance [Volney]. Wonderful image of the instantaneousness, ease, completeness, of the destruction of God’s enemies; a mass of active life exchanged, in a moment, into a mass of death [Pusey].
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v18 God’s Promise of Temporal and Spiritual Blessings
God’s Promise of Temporal and Spiritual Blessings
v. 18. Then, when the Lord saw that His people were truly penitent, will the Lord be jealous for His land, be filled with the zeal of His love, rather, He was so filled and acted accordingly, and pity His people.
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v. 19. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto His people, actuated with the zeal of His love for them, Behold, I will send you corn and wine and oil, the richest temporal blessings made possible by the renewed fertility of the land, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen, of which their prayer had complained,
v. 20. but I will remove far off from you the northern army, the swarms of locusts which came from that direction, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, into the desert of Arabia, with his face toward the East Sea, that is, the Dead Sea, and his hinder part, his rearguard, toward the utmost sea, that is, the Mediterranean; and his stink shall come up, the terrible stench of the decaying insects, and his ill savor shall come up, because he hath done great things, the entire description picturing the rapid and total destruction of the great plague.
v. 21. Fear not, O land, the entire country being included in this new admonition, as before; be glad and rejoice, namely, over the hosts that laid waste the country; for the Lord will do great things, Jehovah is able to perform marvelous works in delivering His people.
v. 22. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field, which had been so sorely in need of food supplies; for the pastures of the wilderness, of the great prairies of the South, do spring, once more verdant with an abundance of grass; for the tree beareth her fruit, as before the terrible visitation, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength, so as to bring forth fruit as of old.
v. 23. Be glad, then, ye children of Zion, the inhabitants of Judah, the children of the Lord, and rejoice in the Lord, your God, the God of the covenant, the Lord of mercy; for He hath given you the former rain moderately, literally, "a teacher for righteousness," or "rain in just measure," the meaning of the Hebrew word being in dispute to some extent; and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month, the former rain being due right after seeding-time, in the fall, and the latter rain coming just before harvest, in the spring.
v. 24. And the floors, the threshing-floors, shall be full of wheat, the result of a new, rich harvest, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil, the receptacles of the vineyards being unable to hold the rich measure of blessings.
v. 25. And I will restore to you, make up, the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm and the caterpillar and the palmer-worm, My great army which I sent among you, the insects of 1:4 being named in the reverse order.
v. 26. And ye shall eat in plenty, having an abundance of the best food, and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you, making His wonders known through the manner in which He dealt with them; and My people shall never be ashamed, never be justly heaped with mockery and disgrace, since it would be so evident that the Lord was on their side. This would, moreover, be substantiated more than ever by the fullness of spiritual blessings which He intended to pour out upon His children after their restoration to His sonship.
v. 27. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, as His chosen people, and that I am the Lord, your God, the God of the covenant, and none else; and My people, the true spiritual Israel, shall never be ashamed.
v. 28. And it shall come to pass afterward, in the Messianic period, toward which this prophecy converged, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, upon men of every race and nation; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, openly proclaiming the great deeds of God, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, the great possibilities of the Lord’s work and the energy for carrying out the plans of the Lord coming to them and urging them forward with irresistible power, the barriers of both sex and age being removed, except as limited in other parts of the Scripture;
v. 29. and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids, upon the lowliest of the land, in those days will I pour out My Spirit, all social distinction being abandoned in the New Testament era as far as the work of the Church is concerned. This prophecy was fulfilled, so far as its beginning is concerned, on the great Day of Pentecost, as Peter also states in the introduction to his powerful sermon held before the astonished inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, Act 2:17-21. But this event by no means exhausted its wonderful promises; for the Spirit of the Lord is being poured out on the members of the Church of the New Testament today and will continue to be given to all true believers until the end of time. But this great and wonderful deed of the Lord is placed side by side with His judgment upon the nations.
v. 30. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, strange and terrifying portents, blood and fire and pillars of smoke, miracles in the sky above and signs of His majesty on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoky vapor.
v. 31. The sun shall be turned into darkness, being changed into a dark and cold mass, and the moon into blood, as bloody wars and devastations would occur on the earth, before the great and the terrible Day of the Lord come, namely, the day of the final Judgment. Cf 1Th 5:2; 1Co 1:8; 2Co 1:14; 2Th 2:8.
v. 32. And it shall come to pass, throughout this great period of the Lord’s preparation for the final Judgment, during the entire Messianic period, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, confessing Jehovah and accepting Him as the one Savior of mankind, shall be delivered, saved from the wrath to come; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, the Gospel-message proclaimed in and by the Church of God bringing redemption and the assurance of eternal life to all believers, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call, namely, the remainder according to the election of grace, the people whom the Lord has chosen from all nations of the earth. This glorious promise is held out to this day to all who turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, confessing His name as the only Savior and fervently calling upon Him for deliverance from all evil, especially that of the body of sin.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 20, 21, 24, 26 his land
his land
"the nation of Israel"
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his people
"the people of Israel"
Look
"Pay attention to what I am about to say"
You will be satisfied with them
"You will have all you need of them"
a disgrace
"unworthy of respect"
translationWords
Yahweh
zeal
people group
wine
oil
nation
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 vv18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26 2:18–3:21 Up to this point, the book of Joel…
2:18–3:21 Up to this point, the book of Joel has focused on God’s judgment upon Judah and Jerusalem, but from here on, it describes God’s promise of restoration. If the people sincerely repented, God would respond graciously.
2:18-27 God promised to restore his people’s material lives in the immediate future, replenishing their fields, orchards, vineyards, and flocks.
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2:18 Since both people and land suffered from God’s judgment, both would be the objects of his zealous compassion.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.