18It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim.
19Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.”
18 It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.”
KJVKing James Version
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
Show all 3 translations
JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
18 (4-18) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 (4-19) Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 (4-20) But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 (4-21) And I will hold as innocent their blood that I have not held as innocent; and the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
Isaiah 4:4(v21)when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by…
Ezekiel 36:25(v21)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols.
Ezekiel 37:25(v20)They will dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived. They will dwell therein, they, and their…
Revelation 21:3(v21)I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his…
Isaiah 35:6(v18)Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in…
Show all 38 cross-references
Ezekiel 36:29(v21)I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
Ezekiel 47:1-12(v18)He brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, waters flowed out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the front of…
Zechariah 14:8(v18)It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem: half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the…
Revelation 22:1-2(v18)He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street.…
Isaiah 19:1-15(v19)The burden of Egypt. “Behold, Yahweh rides on a swift cloud, and comes to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence; and the…
Isaiah 33:20(v20)Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its…
Ezekiel 48:35(v21)“It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’
Joel 3:17(v21)“So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass…
Amos 9:13-14(v18)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the one treading grapes him who sows seed; and sweet…
Amos 9:15(v20)I will plant them on their land, and they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,” says Yahweh your God.
Numbers 25:1(v18)Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;
Isaiah 30:25(v18)There will be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers…
Jeremiah 51:35(v19)May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!” the inhabitant of Zion will say; and, “May my blood be on the inhabitants of…
Zechariah 14:18-19(v19)If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up, and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike…
Psalms 46:4(v18)There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
Psalms 137:7(v19)Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem, who said, “Raze it! Raze it even to its foundation!”
Isaiah 11:15(v19)Yahweh will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind he will wave his hand over the River, and will…
Isaiah 34:1-17(v19)Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear, the world, and everything that comes from it.…
Isaiah 41:17-18(v18)The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
Isaiah 63:1-6(v19)Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who is this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of…
Jeremiah 49:17(v19)“Edom will become an astonishment. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished, and will hiss at all its plagues.
Lamentations 4:21(v19)Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, that dwells in the land of Uz. The cup will pass through to you also. You will be drunken, and will…
Ezekiel 25:1-17(v19)Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the children of Ammon, and prophesy against them. Tell the children of…
Ezekiel 35:1-15(v19)Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, and tell it, ‘The Lord…
Amos 1:11-12(v19)Yahweh says: “For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he pursued his brother with the…
Obadiah 1:1(v19)The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the…
Obadiah 1:10-16(v19)For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever. In the day that you stood on the other…
Zechariah 10:10(v19)I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and…
Malachi 1:3-4(v19)but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.” Whereas Edom says, “We are…
2 Thessalonians 1:6(v19)Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
Exodus 3:8(v18)I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a…
Job 29:6(v18)when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out streams of oil for me,
Isaiah 55:12-13(v18)For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (20 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv18–21The Prophet here declares that God will be so…
The Prophet here declares that God will be so bountiful to his people, that no good things will be wanting to them either in abundance or variety. When God then shall restore his Church, it will abound, he says, in every kind of blessing: for this is the meaning of this language, Distill new wine shall the mountains, and the hills shall make milk to run down; and all rivers also shall have abundant waters, and a fountain shall arise from the house of Judah to irrigate the valley of Shittim. We now perceive the design of Joel. But we must remember that when the Prophets so splendidly extol the blessings of God, they intend not to fill the minds of the godly with thoughts about eating and drinking; but profane men lay hold on such passages as though the Lord intended to gratify their appetite. We know, indeed, that God’s children differ much from swine: hence God fills not the faithful with earthly things, for this would not be useful for their salvation. At the same time, he thus enlarges on his blessings, that we may know that no happiness shall in any way be wanting to us, when God shall be propitious to us. We hence see that our Prophet so speaks of God’s earthly blessings, that he fills not the minds of the godly with these things but desires to raise them above, as though he said, that the Israelites would in every way be happy, after having in the first place been reconciled to God. For whence came their miseries and distresses of every kind, but from their sins? Since, then, all troubles, all evils, are signs of God’s wrath and alienation, it is no wonder that the Lord, when he declares that he will be propitious to them, adds also the proofs of his paternal love, as he does here: and we know that it was necessary for that rude people, while under the elements of the Law, to be thus instructed; for they could not as yet take solid food, as we know that the ancients under the Law were like children. But it is enough for us to understand the design of the Holy Spirit, namely, that God will satisfy his people with the abundance of all good things, as far as it will be for their benefit. Since God now calls us directly to heaven, and raises our minds to the spiritual life, what Paul says ought to be sufficient, — that to godliness is given the hope, not only of future life, but also of that which is present, (1 Timothy 4;) for God will bless us on the earth, but it will be, as we have already observed, according to the measure of our infirmity.
The valley of Shittim was nigh the borders of the Moabites, as we learn from Numbers 25:1, and Joshua 2:1. Now when the Prophet says, that waters, flowing from the holy fountains would irrigate the valley of Shittim, it is the same as though he said, that the blessing of God in Judea would be so abundant, as to diffuse itself far and wide, even to desert valleys.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv18, 19, 21He promiseth to his Church abundance of graces, read…
He promiseth to his Church abundance of graces, read Ezek. 47:1, which should water and comfort the most barren places, Amos 9:13.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv18–21Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in…
Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Ver. 18. The mountains shall drop down new wine] By these hyperbolic expressions is promised plenty of all things pertaining to life and godliness, such a golden age as the poet describeth (Ovid. Metam.),
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“ Flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant,
Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella. ”
Where it must be observed that spiritualy good things are promised under the notion of temporal, as of must, milk, &c., ob populi infantiam, by reason of the infancy of that people, of that time. The mountains, i.e. the most barren places, shall drop down απονητι, without our labour shall yield plentifully new wine, strong consolations, and Scripture comforts, for strong Christians; and the hills shall flow with milk, that unadulterated sincere milk of God’s word for his babes, 1Co 2:2 1Pe 2:2.
And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters] Sanctuary waters, wholesome doctrines, such as have a healing, cooling, quenching, quickening property in them, Isa 44:3.
And a fountain shall come forth] viz. Baptism, that laver of regeneration, Tit 3:5; that fountain opened, Zec 13:1; that pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, that washeth away sin, Rev 22:1 Act 22:16.
And shall water the valley of Shittim] That dry valley in the borders of Moab, near to Jordan, and not far from the Dead Sea, Num 25:1 Jos 2:1. Here it was that the Israelites defiled themselves with the daughters of Moab, as Jarchi noteth, but shall be purified and sanctified with the washing of water by the word, Eph 5:26. Tarnovius renders the text, Qui irrigabit vallem cedrorum, which shall water the valley of cedars, those choicest trees planted in the paradise of God, Psa 92:13; for, saith he, as the Tabernacle was built and garnished of old with shittim wood for the most part, Exo 25:5; Exo 26:15; Exo 27:1; Exo 30:1, so is the spiritual temple with these spiritual cedars.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv18–21In that day; when afflictions, amidst which they were…
In that day; when afflictions, amidst which they were preserved, from which delivered, and by which they were purified.
The mountains; the vines planted upon the mountains, which were dried up, Joe 1:12, shall now be full of juice and fruit.
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Shall drop down, shall come down as the showers or dew, sweetly and plentifully, new wine; sweet and delicious.
The hills shall flow with milk; so fruitful shall the hills be, and keep so many cows, sheep, and goats, that milk shall abound every where, as it were a current that ever runs down.
All the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters: in the great drought rivers dried up, now the rivers shall be full of water and ever flow.
A fountain: the prophet alludes to those waters which were conveyed from some spring through conduit pipes towards the altar, of which Eze 47:1-5, for the use of the temple, in which water the priests washed what was to be washed. This no doubt is a shadow of the purifying blood of Christ, and his sanctifying Spirit and word. And in that it is said to
come from the house of the Lord, it intimateth that these glad tidings, this saving grace, shall be first preached from Jerusalem, and by the church, which is the house of God, shall be published to others.
Shall water, refresh, purge, and make fruitful in all holy works,
the valley of Shittim; it was a place in the plains of Moab, on the borders of Israel towards the south-east, Num 33:49; Jos 3:1, not far from the Dead Sea. These spiritual waters shall flow down to the dry and thirsty, the barren and fruitless Gentiles, and make them fruitful.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v18These promises with which this prophecy concludes have their…
These promises with which this prophecy concludes have their accomplishments in part in the kingdom of grace, and the comforts and graces of all the faithful subjects of that kingdom, but will have their full accomplishment in the kingdom of glory; for, as to the Jewish church, we know not of any event concerning that which answers to the extent of these promises, and what instances of peace and prosperity they were blessed with, which they may be supposed to be a hyperbolical description of, they were but figures of better things reserved for us, that they in their best estate without us might not be made perfect.
I. It is promised that the enemies of the church shall be vanquished and brought down, Joe 3:19. Egypt, that old enemy of Israel, and Edom, which had an inveterate enmity to Israel, derived from Esau, these shall be a desolation, a desolate wilderness, no more to be inhabited; they have become the people of God's curse; so the Idumeans were, Isa 34:5. No strength nor wealth of a nation is a defence against the judgment of God. But what is the quarrel God has with these potent kingdoms? It is for their violence against the children of Judah, and the injuries they had done them; see Eze 25:3, Eze 25:8, Eze 25:12, Eze 25:15; Eze 26:2. They had shed the innocent blood of the Jews that fled to them for shelter or were making their escape through their country. Note, The innocent blood of God's people is very precious to him, and not a drop of it shall be shed but it shall be reckoned for. In the last day this earth, which has been filled with violence against the people of God, shall be made a desolation, when it and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up. And, sooner or later, the oppressors and persecutors of God's Israel shall be brought down and laid in the dust, nay, they will at length be brought down and laid in the flames.
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II. It is promised that the church shall be very happy; and truly happy it is in spiritual privileges, even during its militant state, but much more when it comes to be triumphant. Three things are here promised it: -
1. Purity. This is put last here, as a reason for the rest (Joe 3:21); but we may consider it first, as the ground and foundation of the rest: I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, that is, their bloody heinous sins, especially shedding innocent blood; that filth and guilt they had contracted by sin, which rendered them unfit for communion with God, and made them odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice; this they shall be washed from in the fountain opened, Zac 13:1. That shall be cleansed by the blood of Christ which could not be cleansed by the sacrifices and purifications of the ceremonial law. Or, if we apply it to the happiness of a future state, it intimates the cleansing of the saints from all these corruptions from which they were not cleansed either by ordinances or providences in the world; there shall not be the least remains of sin in them there. Here, though they are washing daily, there is still something that is not cleansed; but in heaven, even that also shall be done away. Ands the reason is because the Lord dwells in Zion, dwells with his church, and much more gloriously with that in heaven, and holiness becomes his house for ever, for which reason, where he dwells there must be, there shall be, a perfection of holiness. Note, Though the refining and reforming of the church is work that goes on slowly, and still there is something we complain of that is not cleansed, yet there is a day coming when every thing that is amiss shall be amended, and the church shall be all fair, and no spot, no stain in her; and we must wait for that day.
2. Plenty, Joe 3:18. This is put first, because it is the reverse of the judgment threatened in the foregoing chapters. (1.) The streams of this plenty overflow the land and enrich it: The mountains shall drop new wine and the hills shall flow with milk, such great abundance shall they have of suitable provision, both for babes and for strong men. It intimates the abundance of vineyards, and all fruitful; and the abundance of cattle in the pastures that fill them with milk. And, to make the corn-land fruitful, the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, so that the country shall be like the garden of Eden, well-watered every where and greatly enriched, Psa 65:9. But this seems to be meant spiritually; the graces and comforts of the new covenant are compared to wine and milk (Isa 55:1), and the Spirit to rivers of living water, Joh 7:38. And these gifts abound much more under the New Testament than they did under the Old; when believers receive grace for grace from Christ's fulness, when they are enriched with everlasting consolations, and filled with joy and peace in believing, then the mountains drop new wine, and the hills flow with milk. Drink you, drink abundantly, O beloved! When there is plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace, then the rivers of Judah flow with water, and make glad, not only the city of our God (Psa 46:4), but the whole land. (2.) The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take their rise, as those waters of the sanctuary (Eze 47:1) from under the threshold of the house, and the river of life out of the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev 22:1. The psalmist, speaking of Zion, says, All my springs are in thee, Psa 87:7. Those that take temporal blessings to be meant in the former part of the verse, yet by this fountain out of the house of the Lord understand the grace of God, which, if we abound in temporal blessings, we have so much more need of, that we may not abuse them. Christ himself is the fountain; his merit and grace cleanse us, refresh us, and make us fruitful. This is said to water the valley of Shittim, which lay a great way off from the temple at Jerusalem, on the other side of Jordan, and was a dry and barren valley, which intimates that gospel-grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach far, even to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions of it, and shall make those to abound in the fruits of righteousness who had long lain as the barren wilderness. This grace is a fountain overflowing, ever-flowing, from which we may be continually drawing, and yet need not fear its being drawn dry. This fountain comes out of the house of the Lord above, from his temple in heaven, flows all that good which here we are daily tasting the streams of, but hope to be shortly, hope to be eternally, drinking at the fountain-head of.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns all the rest (Joe 3:20): Judah shall dwell for ever (when Egypt and Edom are made a desolation), and Jerusalem shall continue from generation to generation. This is a promise, and a precious promise it is, (1.) That the church of Christ shall continue in the world to the end of time. As one generation of professing Christians passes away, another shall come, in whom the throne of Christ shall endure for ever, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (2.) That all the living members of that church (Judah and Jerusalem are put for the inhabitants of that city and country, Mat 3:5) shall be established in their happiness to the utmost ages of eternity. This new Jerusalem shall be from generation to generation, for it is a city that has foundations, not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv18–21And it shall come to pass in that day,....…
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When antichrist shall be destroyed; the Jews converted; the power of godliness revived, and the presence of God among his people enjoyed. Vitringa, in his Commentary on Isaiah, frequently applies this, and such like prophecies, to the times of the Maccabees; though, he owns, they were but an emblem of better times under the Gospel dispensation; nor does he deny the mystical and spiritual sense of them;
that the mountains shall drop down new wine; which, and the following expressions, are to be understood not in a strict literal sense, as Lactantius (t) seems to have understood them; who says, that, in the Millennium, God will cause a rain of blessing to descend morning and evening; the earth shall bring forth all kind of fruit without the labour of man; honey shall drop from the rocks, and the fountains of milk and wine shall overflow: but hyperbolically, just as the land of Canaan is said to flow with milk and honey; not that it really did, but the phrase is used to denote the fertility of it, and the abundance of temporal blessings in it. The literal sense is this, that the mountains shall be covered with vines, on which they are often planted; these vines shall be full of large clusters of grape; and these grapes, being pressed, shall yield a large quantity of new wine; and so, by a metonymy, the mountains are said to drop it down (u), that is, abound with it, or produce an abundance of it: but the spiritual or mystical sense is, that the churches of Christ in those times, comparable to mountains, and so to hills in the next clause, for their exalted and visible glorious state in which they now will be; and for the rich gifts and graces of the Spirit within them; and for the pasture upon them, and the trees of righteousness that grow thereon; and also for their firmness and stability, their immovableness and perpetual duration; these shall abound with fresh and large discoveries of the love of God and Christ, which is better than wine, Sol 1:2; like wine, cheering and refreshing; like new wine, though old as to its original, yet new in the manifestations of it; and which are usually made in the church, and the ordinances of it, to the making glad the hearts of the Lord's people; also they shall abound with the blessings of grace, the fruits of love, such as pardon, peace, justification, &c. which, like wine, fill with joy, revive and comfort; and though they are ancient blessings, provided long ago, they are exhibited under the Gospel dispensation in a new covenant way; and the application of them is made in the churches, in Zion, where the Lord commands the blessing, even life for evermore. This may also take in the Gospel, which brings the good news of these blessings, and so is very reviving and cheering; and, though ordained and preached of old, is newly revealed under the present dispensation; and will be more clearly in later times, when all the mountains or churches will abound with it, and even the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of it, Isa 11:9; likewise the ordinance of the Lord's supper, that feast of fat things, of wines on the lees well refined, made in the mountain of the Lord, for all his people may be included; and both in that, and in the ministry of the word, the Lord is sometimes pleased, as he may more abundantly hereafter, to give his saints some foretaste of that new wine, which Christ and they shall partake of in his Father's kingdom; see Sol 7:9 Mat 26:29;
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and the hills shall flow with milk: that is, there shall be much pasturage upon them, and a great number of cattle feeding thereon, which shall yield large quantities of milk; and so, by the same figure as before, the hills may be said to flow with it (w). The spiritual meaning is, that the churches of Christ, comparable to hills, for the reasons before given, shall abound with the means of grace, with the sincere milk of the word; to which the Gospel is compared for its whiteness and purity, for every word of God is pure and purifying; for assuaging the wrath the law produces; it being easy of digestion, even to newborn babes; and its salutary nourishing virtue and efficacy; and of this there will be great abundance in the latter day; see Sol 4:11 Pe1 2:2;
and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters; that is, the channels in which the rivers run; these, in a time of drought, are sometimes empty, and the bottoms of them to be seen, but now full of water, and flow with it: grace is often in Scripture compared to "water" because of its refreshing, cleansing, and fructifying nature; and "rivers" denote, an abundance of it; and the "channels", through which it is conveyed to men, out of the fulness of Christ, are the ordinances; see Zac 4:12; and the prophecy suggests, that these should not be dry and empty, but that large measures of grace shall be communicated by means of them to the souls of men, to their great comfort and edification, and for the supply of their wants; see Eze 36:25;
and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord; not meaning baptism, as some; nor Christ, the fountain of grace, life, and salvation; but the Gospel, the word of the Lord, that fountain full of excellent truths and doctrines; of the blessings of grace; of exceeding great and precious promises; and of much spiritual peace, joy, and comfort: this is the law or doctrine of the Lord, that should come out of Zion, or the church, Isa 2:3; the living waters that shall come out of Jerusalem, Zac 14:8; and the same with the waters in Ezekiel's vision, that came from under the threshold of the house, Eze 47:1; it seems to denote the small beginnings of the Gospel, and the great increase and overflow of it in the world, as it does in all the above passages: this is referred by the ancient Jews (x) to the times of the Messiah;
and shall water the valley of Shittim; a plain or valley near Jordan, upon the borders of Moab, at the farther end of Canaan that way, Num 33:49. Benjamin of Tudela (y) says, that from the mount of Olives may be seen the plain and brook of Shittim, unto or near Mount Nebo, which was in the land of Moab. This valley or plain, as the Targum, was so called, either from the "shittah" tree, Isa 41:19; of which was the wood "shittim", so much used for various things in the tabernacle and temple, that grew there; and which Jerom on this place says was a kind of tree that grew in the wilderness, like a white thorn in colour and leaves, though not in size, for otherwise it was a very large tree, out of which the broadest planks might be cut, and its wood very strong, and of incredible, smoothness and beauty; and which grew not in cultivated places, nor in the Roman soil, but in the desert of Arabia; and therefore one would think did not grow in this plain near Jordan, and so could not be denominated from hence: but Dr. Shaw (z) observes, that the Acacia is by much the largest and the most common tree of these deserts (that is, of Arabia), as it might likewise have been of the plains of Shittim, over against Jericho, from whence it took its name; and adds, we have some reason to conjecture that the shittim wood, whereof the various utensils, &c. of the tabernacle, &c. Exo 25:10, &c. were made, was the wood of the acacia. Or it may be this place had its name from the rushes which grew on the banks of Jordan, near to which it was; for so, is the word interpreted by some (a): and Saadiah Gaon says, this valley is Jordan; so called, because Jordan was near to a place called Shittim: however, be it as it will, this can never be understood in a literal sense, that any fountain should arise out of the temple, and flow as far as beyond Jordan, and water any tract of land there; but must be understood spiritually, of the same waters of the sanctuary as in Ezekiel's vision, Eze 47:1; at most, the literal sense could only be, that the whole land should be well watered from one end to the other, and, become very fertile and fruitful, by the order and direction of the Lord, that dwells in his temple. The mystical sense is best. Jarchi makes mention of a Midrash, that interprets it of the expiation of the sins of the Israelites, in the affair of Baalpeor at Shittim, Num 25:1; but the true spiritual sense is, that the Gospel shall be carried to the further parts of the earth; that the whole world shall be filled and watered with it, and become fruitful, which before was like a desert; these living waters shall flow, both toward the former and the hinder seas, the eastern and west: era, as in Zac 14:8; see Isa 11:9. Some render it, "shall water the valley of cedars" (b); the shittim wood being a kind of cedar, of which many things belonging to the tabernacle, a type of the church, was made, being firm, sound, incorruptible, and durable; see Exo 25:10; saints are compared to cedars for their height in Christ, their strength in him, and in his grace; their large and spreading leaves, branches, and roots, or growth in grace; and for their duration and incorruption; see Num 24:5; a valley may signify the low estate of God's people; or be an emblem of lowly, meek, and humble souls, to whom the Gospel is preached, and who are watered and revived by it, and to whom more grace is given; see Isa 40:4. It is by Symmachus rendered "the valley of thorns"; and so Quinquarboreus (c) says the word signifies and designs such who are barren in good works.
(t) Epitome Divin. Institut. c. 11. Vid. Institut. l. 7. c. 24. (u) "Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella". Virgil. Eclog. 4. l. 29, 30. (w) "Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant, Flavaque de viridi stillabant ibice mella". Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. (x) Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2. (y) Itineranium, p. 44. (z) Travels, c. 3. p. 444, 459. Ed. 2. (a) Vid. Relaud. Palestina Illustrata, l. 1. c. 54, p. 351, 352. (b) "vallem cedrorum lectissimorum", Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius. (c) Scholia in Targum in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv18–21The mountains - The vines planted upon the mountains.…
The mountains - The vines planted upon the mountains. Shall flow - So fruitful shall the hills be, that milk shall abound everywhere. A fountain - The prophet alludes to those waters which were conveyed from some spring through conduit pipes towards the altar. This no doubt is a shadow of the purifying blood of Christ, and his sanctifying spirit and word. And in that it is said to come from the house of the Lord, it intimates that this saving grace shall be first preached from Jerusalem, and by the church, which is the house of God, shall be published to others. Shittim - Was a place in the plains of Moab. These spiritual waters shall flow down to the dry and thirsty, the barren and fruitless Gentiles, and make them fruitful.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv18–21Verse 18. In that day] After their return from…
Verse 18. In that day] After their return from their captivities.
The mountains shall drop down new wine] A poetic expression for great fertility. Happy times: peace and plenty. The vines shall grow luxuriantly on the sides of the mountains; and the hills shall produce such rich pastures that the flocks shall yield abundance of milk.
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And all the rivers of Judah] Far from being generally dry in the summer, shall have their channels always full of water.
And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord] See the account of the typical waters in Ezekiel, Eze 47:1-23, to which this seems to have a reference; at least the subject is the same, and seems to point out the grace of the Gospel, the waters of salvation, that shall flow from Jerusalem, and water the valley of Shittim. Shittim was in the plains of Moab beyond Jordan; Nu 33:49; Jos 3:1; but as no stream of water could flow from the temple, pass across Jordan, or reach this plain, the valley of Shittim must be considered symbolical, as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But as Shittim may signify thorns, it may figuratively represent the most uncultivated and ferocious inhabitants of the earth receiving the Gospel of Christ, and being civilized and saved by it. We know that briers and thorns are emblems of bad men; see Eze 2:6. Thus all the figures in this verse will point out the happy times of the Gospel: the mountains shall drop down new wine; the hills flow with milk; the thorny valleys become fertile, c. Similar to those almost parallel words of the prince of poets: -
Mistaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.--
Ipsae lacte domum referent destenta capellae
Ubera: nec magnos metuent armenta leones.--
Molli paullatim flavescet campus arista,
Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva:
Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.
VIRG Ecl. iv. 20.
Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy bring,
And fragrant herbs the promises of spring.
The goats with streaming dugs shall homeward speed
And lowing herds, secure from lions, feed.
Unlabour'd harvests shall the fields adorn,
And cluster'd grapes shall grow on every thorn:
The knotted oaks shall showers of honey weep.
DRYDEN.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv18, 19, 21Joe 3:18. The mountains shall drop down new wine…
Joe 3:18. The mountains shall drop down new wine — Namely, the vines planted upon the mountains. The hills shall flow with milk — So fruitful shall the hills be, that milk shall abound everywhere. And all the rivers, &c. — These expressions are all figurative, and highly poetical, and, according to Calmet, symbolical of the doctrine of the gospel; which, accompanied by the Spirit of grace, was to flow forth from Jerusalem, and to water the Gentile world, which had been as a barren and uncultivated land.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv18–21And it shall come to pass in that Day…
And it shall come to pass in that Day - After the destruction of antichrist, there will, it seems, still be a period of probation, in which the grace of God will abound and extend more and more widely. The prophet Zechariah, who continues on the image, of the “living waters going out from Jerusalem” Zec 14:8, places this gift after God had gathered all nations against Jerusalem, and had visibly and miraculously overthrown them Zec 14:2-4. But in that the blessings which he speaks of, are regenerating, they belong to time; the fullness of the blessing is completed only in eternity; the dawn is on earth, the everlasting brightness is in heaven. But though the prophecy belongs eminently to one time, the imagery describes the fulness of spiritual blessings which God at all times diffuses in and through the Church; and these blessings, he says, shall continue on in her for ever; her enemies shall be cut off for ever. It may be, that Joel would mark a fresh beginning and summary by his words, “It shall be in that Day.” The prophets do often begin, again and again, their descriptions. Union with God, which is their theme, is one. Every gift of God to His elect, except the beatific vision, is begun in time, union with Himself, indwelling, His Spirit flowing forth from Him into His creatures, His love, knowledge of Him, although here through a glass darkly.
The promise cannot relate to exuberance of temporal blessings, even as tokens of God’s favor. For he says, “a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” But “the valley of Shittim” is on the other side Jordan, beyond the Dead Sea, so that by nature the waters could not flow there. The valley of Shittim or acacia trees is a dry valley, for in such the Easten Acacia, i. e., the sant or sandal wood grows. “It is,” says Jerome (on Isa 12:1-6 :19), “a tree which grows in the desert, like a white thorn in color and leaves, not in size. For they are of such size, that very large planks , are cut out of them. The wood is very strong, and of incredible lightness and beauty. They do not grow in cultivated places, or in the Roman soil, save only in the desert of Arabia.” It does not decay ; and when old becomes like ebony . Of it the ark of God was made, its staves, the table of showbread, the tabernacle and its pillars, the altar for burnt-offerings, and of incense Exo 25:5, Exo 25:10, Exo 25:13, Exo 25:23, Exo 25:28; Exo 26:15, Exo 26:26, Exo 26:32, Exo 26:37; Exo 27:1, Exo 27:6; Exo 30:1; Exo 35:7, Exo 35:24; Exo 36:20, Exo 36:31, Exo 36:36; Exo 37:1, Exo 37:4, Exo 37:10, Exo 37:15, Exo 37:25, Exo 37:28; Exo 38:1, Exo 38:6; Deu 10:3. The valley is about six miles from Livias , seven and a half beyond the Dead Sea . It was the last station of Israel, before entering the land of promise Num 33:49, from where Joshua sent out the spies Jos 2:1; where God turned the curse of Balaam into a blessling Num. 23; 24; Mic 6:5; and he prophesied of the Star which should arise out of Israel, even Christ Num 24:17; where Israel sinned in Baal Peor, and Phineas turned aside His displeasure Num 25:1, Num 25:7, Num 25:11.
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The existence of a large supply of water under the temple is beyond all question. While the temple was still standing, mention is made up of “a fountain of ever-flowing water under the temple,” as well as pools and cisterns for preserving rain-water. One evidently well acquainted with the localities says , “The pavement has slopes at befitting places, for the sake of a flush of water which takes place in order to cleanse away the blood from the victims. For on festivals many myriads of animals are sacrificed. But of water there is an unfailing supply, a copious and natural fountain within gushing over, and there being moreover wonderful underground-receptacles in a circuit of five furlongs, in the substructure of the temple, and each of these having numerous pipes, the several streams inter-communicating, and all these closed up below and on the sides - There are also many mouths toward the base, invisible to all except those to whom the service of the temple belongs. So that the manifold blood of the sacrifices being brought together are cleansed by the gush (of water down) the slope.”
This same writer relates that, more than half a mile from the city, he was told to stoop down and heard the sound of gushing waters underground. The natural fountain, then, beneath the temple was doubtless augmented by waters brought from a distance, as required for the “divers washings” both of the priests and other things, and to carry off the blood of the victims. Pools near the temple are mentioned by writers of the third and fourth century ; and Omar, on the surrender of Jerusalem, 634 a.d., was guided to the site of the ancient temple (whereon he built his Mosk) by the stream of water which issued through a water-channel from it . Whencesoever this water was derived, whether from a perennial spring beneath the temple itself, or whether brought there from some unfailing source without, it afforded Jerusalem an abundant supply of water.
Much as Jerusalem suffered in sieges by famine, and its besiegers by thirst, thirst was never any part of the sufferings of those within . The superfluous water was and still is carried off underground, to what is now “the fountain of the Virgin” , and thence again, through the rock, to the pool of Siloam . Thence it carried fertility to the gardens of Siloam, in Joel’s time doubtless “the king’s gardens” , still “a verdant spot, refreshing to the eye in the heat of summer, while all around is parched and dun.” The blood of the victims flowed into the same brook Kidron, and was a known source of fertility, before the land was given to desolation. The waters of Kidron, as well as all the waters of Palestine, must have been more abundant formerly.
Isaiah speaks of it as “flowing softly” Isa 8:6; Josephus , of the “abundant fountain;” an official report , of the “fountain gushing forth with abundance of water.” Still its fertilizing powers formed but one little oasis, where all around was arid. It fertilized those gardens live miles from the city, but the mid-space was waterless , thirsty, mournful . Lower down, the rivulet threaded its way to the Dead Sea, through a narrow ravine which became more and more wild, where Saba planted his monastery. “A howling wilderness, stern desolation. stupendous perpendicular cliffs, terrific chasms, oppressive solitude” are the terms by which one endeavors to characterize “the heart of this stern desert of Judaea” .
Such continues to be its character, in the remaining half of its course, until it is lost in the Dead Sea, and is transmuted into its saltness. Its valley bears the name of desolation, Wady en Nar , “valley of fire.” No human path lies along it. The Kidron flows along “a deep and almost impenetrable ravine” Psa 46:4, “in a narrow channel between perpendicular walls of rock, as if worn away by the rushing waters between those desolate chalky hills.” That little oasis of verdure was fit emblem of the Jewish people, itself bedewed by the stream which issued from the Temple of God, but, like Gideon’s fleece, leaving all around dry. It made no sensible impression out of, or beyond itself. Hereafter, “the stream”, the Siloah, whose “streamlets,” i. e., the artificial fertilizing divisions, “made glad the city of God” Eze 47:1-12, should make the wildest, driest spots of our mortality “like the garden of the Lord.” Desolation should become bright and happy; the parched earth should shoot up fresh with life; what was by nature barren and unfruitful should bring forth good fruit; places heretofore stained by sin should be purified; nature should be renewed by grace; and that, beyond the borders of the promised land, in that world which they had left, when Joshua brought them in there.
This, which it needs many words to explain, was vivid to those to whom Joel spoke. They had that spot of emerald green before their eyes, over which the stream which they then knew to issue from the temple trickled in transparent brightness, conducted by those channels formed by man’s diligence. The eyes of the citizens of Jerusalem must have rested with pleasure on it amid the parched surface around. Fresher than the gladliest freshness of nature, brighter than its most kindled glow, is the renewing freshness of grace; and this, issuing from mount Zion, was to be the portion not of Judea only, but of the world.
The vision of Ezekiel Eze 47:1-12, which is a comment on the prophecy of Joel, clearly belongs primarily to this life. For in this life only is there need for healing; in this life only is there a desert land to be made fruitful; death to be changed into life; death and life, the healed and unhealed, side by side; life, where the stream of God’s grace reacheth, and death and barrenness, where it reacheth not. The fishers who spread their nests amid “the fish, exceeding many,” are an emblem which waited for and received its explanation from the parables of our Lord.
In the Revelation, above all, the peace, glory, holiness, vision of God, can only be fulfilled in the sight of God. Yet here too the increase of the Church, and the healing of the nations Rev 21:24-26; Rev 22:21, belong to time and to a state of probation, not of full fruition.
But then neither can those other symbols relate to earthly things.
The mountains shall drop down new wine - Literally, “trodden” out. What is ordinarily obtained by toil, shall be poured forth spontaneously. “And the hills shall flow with milk,” literally, “flow milk,” as though they themselves, of their own accord, gushed forth into the good gifts which they yield. “Wine” ever new, and ever renewing, sweet and gladdening the heart; “milk,” the emblem of the spiritual food of childlike souls, of purest knowledge, holy devotion, angelic purity, heavenly pleasure. And these shall never cease. These gifts are spoken of, as the spontaneous, perpetual flow of the mountains and hills; and as the fountain gushes forth from the hill or mountain-side in one ceaseless flow, day and night, streaming out from the hidden recesses to which the waters are supplied by God from His treasure-house of the rain, so day and night, in sorrow or in joy, in prosperity or adversity, God pours out, in the Church and in the souls of His elect, the riches of His grace. “All the rivers,” literally “channels, of Judah shall flow with water.” Every “channel,” however narrow and easily drying up, shall “flow with water,” gushing forth unto everlasting life; the love of God shall stream through every heart; each shall he full according to its capacity and none the less full, because a larger tide pours through others. How much more , “in those everlasting hills of heaven, “the heavenly Jerusalem,” resting on the eternity and Godhead of the Holy Trinity, shall that long promise be fulfilled of the land flowing with milk and honey, where God, through the beatific vision of Himself, shall pour into the blessed “the torrent of pleasure,” the unutterable sweetness of joy and gladness unspeakable in Himself; and “all the rivers of Judah,” i. e., all the powers, capacities, senses, speech of the saints who “confess” God, shall flow with a perennial stream of joy, thanksgiving, and jubilee, as of all pleasure and bliss.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv18–21Sweetness; oil and honey. (Calmet) --- Fountain, &c., viz.,…
Sweetness; oil and honey. (Calmet) --- Fountain, &c., viz., the fountain of grace in the Church militant, and of glory in the Church triumphant; which shall water the torrent or valley of thorns, that is, the souls that before, like barren ground, brought forth nothing but thorns, or that were afflicted with the thorns of crosses and tribulations. (Challoner) --- Septuagint have, "bands." Hebrew shittim. (Haydock) --- Abundance shall ensue after the death of Cambyses, as a figure of the graces which shall be granted to Christians, Ezechiel xlvii. 2.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv18–21mountains . . . drop . . . wine--figurative…
mountains . . . drop . . . wine--figurative for abundance of vines, which were cultivated in terraces of earth between the rocks on the sides of the hills of Palestine (Amo 9:13).
hills . . . flow with milk--that is, they shall abound in flocks and herds yielding milk plentifully, through the richness of the pastures.
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waters--the great desideratum for fertility in the parched East (Isa 30:25).
fountain . . . of . . . house of . . . Lord . . . water . . . valley of Shittim--The blessings, temporal and spiritual, issuing from Jehovah's house at Jerusalem, shall extend even to Shittim, on the border between Moab and Israel, beyond Jordan (Num 25:1; Num 33:49; Jos 2:1; Mic 6:5). "Shittim" means "acacias," which grow only in arid regions: implying that even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the blessing from Jerusalem. So Eze 47:1-12 describes the waters issuing from the threshold of the house as flowing into the Dead Sea, and purifying it. Also in Zac 14:8 the waters flow on one side into the Mediterranean, on the other side into the Dead Sea, near which latter Shittim was situated (compare Psa 46:4; Rev 22:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv18–2118-21. After the judgment upon the nations, Judah, under…
18-21. After the judgment upon the nations, Judah, under the care and protection of Jehovah, will enjoy the fullness of the divine blessing. The seat of the former world powers will become a barren waste, while in Judah there will be fertility and peace. 18.
In that day — The day of judgment upon the enemies and of deliverance for the Jews, and so the beginning of the Messianic age. Now follows a hyperbolical description of extreme fertility.
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Mountains… hills — The territory of Judah was “strewn with limestone rocks. The little soil between yielded only a meager subsistence in return for the most wearisome labor.” But the fertility in the new age will be so great that it will seem as if the mountains and hills themselves were giving forth the wine and milk.
New [“sweet”] wine — See on Joe_1:5 (compare Amo_9:13).
Milk — Canaan is called a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exo_3:8). The prophet, on the whole adopting the language of Amos, takes the liberty to make the change in accord with the rest of the description.
Rivers (Joe_1:20) shall flow with waters — Water was doled out but sparingly in Judah, most of the brooks dried up entirely during the dry season. That will happen no more; water will be plentiful for man and beast.
A fountain… of the house of Jehovah — There are two other passages speaking of a fountain that shall come forth from Jerusalem or from the temple of Jehovah (Zec_14:8; Eze_47:1-12). All three passages may have been suggested by the fact that there was a spring which came forth from beneath the temple in a perennial stream (Isa_8:6; compare Psa_46:4; Joh_9:7). “The idea which the three prophets share in common is that these waters should be increased in volume to such an extent as to be capable of fertilizing effectually the barren parts of Judah.”
Valley of Shittim — R.V. margin, “That is, the valley of acacias.”
Valley — Hebrews nahal. Not the same word as in Joe_3:12; Joe_3:14; it corresponds to the Arabic wady, a gorge between hills, through which runs a water course which in the rainy season becomes a rushing torrent, while in the dry season it dries up partly or entirely.
Shittim — Literally, acacias — The name of the last encampment of the Israelites before their entrance into Canaan (Num_25:1; Jos_3:1); but this does not seem to be the place in the mind of Joel, for “it is hardly likely that the prophet would picture the stream as crossing the Jordan and fertilizing the opposite side.” There is to-day a depression southwest of Jerusalem, Wady-es-Sunt (Sant), probably identical with the vale of Elah (1Sa_17:2), through which runs the road to Ashkelon. Sunt, the modern name of this wady, is identical with Shittim, and a few scholars (Wellhausen, Nowack) identify the valley mentioned by Joel with this depression. The great majority of scholars, however, think that the prophet uses the name to designate the Kidron valley, or at least a part of the same, now called Wady-en-Nar. It begins northwest of Jerusalem, runs along the east side of the city, separating it from the Mount of Olives, then continues in a southeasterly direction, and finally reaches the Dead Sea about ten miles from its northern end. Acacias still grow on the west shore of the Dead Sea (Tristram, Land of Israel, 280, 295). That Ezekiel has this depression in mind is beyond doubt. Whether it or the Wady-es-Sunt is referred to here cannot be determined. Wherever located, the term was chosen to designate a barren valley, as the acacia grows in dry soil; even the dry, barren soil will, in the new age, become fertile and productive. That fertility and material prosperity are an essential element of the divine blessing in the Messianic age is frequently taught by the prophets (Hos_2:21-22; Amo_9:13; Isa_4:2).
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv18–2118. in that day] In the era beginning immediately…
18. in that day] In the era beginning immediately after the judgement on the nations. Cf. on Amo_9:11.
the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk] A hyperbolical description of the fertility of the soil (cf. Job_29:6). The words are evidently based upon Amo_9:13 “The mountains shall cause sweet wine to drop down, and all the hills shall melt.” On “sweet wine,” see on Amo_9:13.
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rivers] channels, as Joe_1:20. The streams will then no more dry up through a drought, as they had done recently (Joe_1:20).
and a fountain, &c.] A stream issuing forth from the Temple will water the “Wâdy of the Acacias,” which (from the context, as well as probably from the name) must have been some particularly dry and unfruitful Wâdy in Judah. The two parallel passages which ought in particular to be compared are Zec_14:8, where it is promised that ‘living’ (i.e. running) waters, flowing alike in summer and winter, shall come forth from Jerusalem in two streams, one going down into the Dead Sea, and the other into the Mediterranean Sea; and Eze_47:1-12, where, in his vision of the territory of the restored people, the prophet sees waters issuing forth from under the Eastern threshold of the Temple, which gradually swelled into a deep stream descending into the Arábah, fertilizing the soil along its banks, and entering finally the Dead Sea, the waters of which it sweetened, enabling fish to live in them. Probably the thought of these passages was suggested by the “waters of Shiloah” (Isa_8:6 : cf. Psa_46:4; Joh_9:7), which actually gushed out beneath the Temple hill in a perennial stream, fertilizing (as they do still) the parts of the Wâdy of the Kidron in their immediate neighbourhood, though not abundant enough to flow further; and the idea which the three prophets share in common is that these waters should be increased in volume to such an extent as to be capable of fertilizing effectually the barren parts of Judah, especially the Wâdy of the Kidron, the deep and rocky gorge which runs down from Jerusalem into the Dead Sea (see the next note).
the valley of Shittim] the Wâdy of Shittim (or of the Acacias). The word is quite a different one from that rendered ‘valley’ in Joe_3:2; Joe_3:12; Joe_3:14, and means a gorge between hills containing a watercourse, with or without water, as the case might be (see on Amo_5:24). What Wâdy is meant, is however uncertain. According to many, the reference is to the ‘Meadow of Shittim (or of the Acacias)’—part of the broad plain into which the Jordan-valley expands immediately before the river enters the Dead Sea, and now identified generally with the Ghôr es-Seisebân—which was the last camping-ground of the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan (Num_33:49; also called simply The Shittim, or The Acacias, ib. Num_25:1; Jos_2:1 al.). But the depression through which the Jordan flows has a special name, the Arábah, and is never called a Wâdy (naḥal); and it is hardly likely that Joel would picture the stream as crossing the Jordan, and fertilizing the soil on the opposite side. Others, therefore (as Credner, Hitzig), prefer to think that the “Wâdy of the Acacias” was the Kidron-Wâdy itself, which starting (under the name Wâdy el-Jôz) a little N.W. of Jerusalem, bends round so as to run along the E. of the city, separating it from the Mount of Olives (cf. above on Joe_3:2), and then, as a deep, rocky gorge (now called, perhaps from the “furnace-like” heat of its lower stretches, the Wâdy en-Nâr or “the Wâdy of Fire”) runs down in a S.E. direction towards the Dead Sea, which it joins at about 10 miles from its N. end (see Plate iv. in G. A. Smith, Geogr.): though in winter-time there is sometimes water in the bed of this naḥal, it is in general quite dry, the soil is rocky, and it runs through the arid and desolate region known as the “wilderness of Judah” (cf. Smith, l.c. p. 511 f.). There is little doubt that this was the naḥal through which Ezekiel pictured the fertilizing waters as flowing, in his vision, ch. 47. For Acacias on the W. shore of the Dead Sea, see Tristram, Land of Isr., pp. 280, 295. Wellhausen thinks of the Wâdy on the S.W. of Jerusalem—usually identified with the Wâdy of Elah of 1Sa_17:2—which still bears the corresponding name, Wâdy es-Sunṭ (or Sanṭ): this forms part of the direct route from Jerusalem to Tell eṣ-Ṣâfiyeh (probably Gath), and Ashkelon (cf. G. A. Smith, Plate iv., and pp. 226 f.). The reason why Joel specifies the Wâdy of the Acacias is to be found, no doubt, in the fact that the Acacia (as Jerome, on Isa_41:17, already observes) grows in dry soil—it is abundant, for instance, in the peninsula of Sinai; and hence the name might well be given to an arid Wâdy, such as needed fertilizing. Comp. Rev_22:1-2.
18–20. Israel’s final prosperity. After the judgement upon the nations, the land of Judah will be blessed with preternatural fertility, and will enjoy for ever undisturbed peace, while that of her foes will become a desolate waste.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv18, 19, 21(18) The mountains shall drop down new wine.—The material…
(18) The mountains shall drop down new wine.—The material prosperity depicted in these verses symbolises the glorious reign of Jehovah when the last enemy has been destroyed, and “God is all in all.”
A fountain shall come forth.—The spiritual fertilising power of the knowledge of the Lord is compared to the life-giving influence of a stream of water, which causes luxuriance to the trees on its banks. This imagery is exemplified by Ezekiel, who traces the course of the waters issuing from under the threshold of the house of the Lord (Ezekiel 47). (Comp. Zec_14:8; Rev_22:1.)
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The valley of Shittim.—Heb., acacias. Shittim, in the land of Moab, is symbolical of the barrenness and sterility of land where there is no water; of the dry places of the world, where there are trees lacking moisture: the heathen, to whom God is not known, shall yet become covered with the knowledge of the Lord.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv18–20Vers. 18-21. These verses picture Judah and Jerusalem as…
Vers. 18-21. These verses picture Judah and Jerusalem as scenes of most abundant blessings, while Egypt and Edom are doomed to irretrievable barrenness and desolation. But, as the language must be understood figuratively, the prosperity of the Lord"s laud is set in contrast with the countries of the world-powers; but the contrast includes, as we think, the allotments of eternity as well as the destinies of time.
In that day. These words express the state of things consequent on the judgment just executed. The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow (margin, go) with waters. Thus the mountains are represented as covered over with vines of richest growth and terraced to the top; the hills as affording most luxuriant pastures and clothed with flocks; the rivers, dried up in summer and reduced to dried-up river-beds, flowing unintermittingly and coursing along with full stream. To exuberance of wine and milk is added, what is no less valuable in a thirsty Eastern land, abundance of water. The source of this abundant supply is a fountain; the fountain-head is the house of the Lord; thence proceeds a broad deep stream, which makes its way to the Jordan valley and across the river to the dry trans-Jordanic valley of acacias, as it is added: A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim; from which statement we must conclude the figurative signification of the whole of this and the following verses. Parallels for some of the above expressions are not far to seek. Ovid"s description of the golden age, in which be speaks of rivers of milk and rivers of nectar and honey dropping from the green palm tree, is cited by Rosenmuller; while the "Speaker"s Commentary" quotes from the "Bacchae" of Euripides the lines about the plain flowing with milk, flowing with wine, and flowing with the nectar of the bees. Instead of the "hills flowing with milk," we should rather expect the milk to be spoken of as flowing; the hypallage, however, as we may consider it, makes the clause more symmetrical with those between which it stands. Thus Kimchi: "The meaning of "They shall flow (go) with milk," is from the abundance of the flowing and running: he applies the name of flowing (going) to the hills, even although that the milk is that which goes and flows." And in reference to the following clause he says, "He uses the name of going to the channels." That is one side of the picture. We are now invited to look on this
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Vers. 18-21. The promise of plenty.
These verses contain the concluding promises of the closing chapter of this book of Scripture.
I THERE IS THE PROMISE OF PLENTY. Some understand the whole of this verse as referring to spiritual blessings, especially in millennial times. "But though the prophecy belongs eminently to one time, the imagery describes the fulness of spiritual blessings which God at all times diffuses in and through the Church; and these blessings, he says, shall continue on in her for ever; her enemies shall be cut off for ever." Others, understanding these blessings as promised to the Jeers when restored and converted, understand the last clause of the verse as relating to spiritual, and the preceding to temporal, blessings. In either case the language is beautifully poetic, and conveys the idea of exuberant blessings. The mountains, covered with vineyards, shall yield abundance of wine, or, without human toil, shall spontaneously pour it forth; the hills shall be clothed with flocks, or, of their own accord, shall yield abundance of milk; the rivers, even the tiny channels, never again reduced to dry river-beds, shall gush perennially, or overflow their banks. Thus there shall be abundance of wine for refreshment, of milk for nourishment, and of water for allaying thirst or fertilizing what would otherwise be a dry, parched land. The last clause can only be referred to spiritual blessings, both because of its source the house of the Lord and its course, extending to the valley of acacias, seven and a half miles to the east of the Dead Sea. This is the stream, "the Siloah," whose streamlets, i.e. the artificial fertilizing divisions, which made glad the city of God, shall make the wildest, driest spots of our mortality like the garden of the Lord.
II THERE IS THE PROMISE OF PERPETUITY. While the enemies of God, like Egypt, the ancient oppressor of his people, and Edom, their constant enemy, are devoted to destruction, Judah the country and Jerusalem the city all the members of the Church of Christ shall enjoy a perpetuity of blessing in time, and an eternity of bliss when time shall be no more. "Egypt and Edom and all the enemies of God shall come to an end; but his people shall never come to an end." The Judah that truly praise God, the Israel that without ceasing pray to God, shall outlive all the machinations of the wicked; the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. "The enemy shall not destroy her; time shall not consume her; she shall never decay. The people of God shall abide before him and through him here, and shall dwell with him for ever.
III THERE IS THE PROMISE OF PURITY. This blessing contains the reason of all the rest. It is the cause of the plenty and perpetuity and all other privileges. If we accept the Authorized Version of the last verse, we conclude from it that all the guilt of sin, especially their blood-guiltiness, shall be purged away. The people of God, both Jew and Gentile, shall in the day of God"s gracious visitation be cleansed from sin and throughly washed from all iniquity; otherwise they could not be fit for full communion with God. As long as we are defiled by sin, we are odious to the holiness and obnoxious to the justice of God. It is only when washed in the opened fountain, and purified by that blood which cleanseth from all sin, that we are made meet for the holy companionship of heaven. Here in the Church below the lessons of the Divine Word, the ordinances of religion, the providences of God, sometimes pleasant, oftener painful, but above all and giving efficacy to all, the blood of atonement, purge away our sins. But whatever is amiss in the Church or the Christian on earth shall be amended, whatever is wrong shall be, rectified; and the Church, as the individual soul, shall be without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Spiritual prosperity.
The language of the prophet in this passage is obviously figurative. In poetical terms, the boldness and beauty of which are not exceeded by the graceful and imaginative writers of classical antiquity, Joel depicts the reign of peace, plenty, and prosperity. Literally these words have not been, and will not be, fulfilled. To some they speak of a restoration of Israel, yet in the future, of a period when all the delights that a nation can enjoy shall be secured in abundance to the descendants of Abraham. It seems a more sober and more profitable interpretation to read in these words a prediction of the spiritual prosperity of God"s people, whether to be enjoyed upon this earth or in the new heavens and the new earth.
I THE MOUNTAINS DROPPING WINE SYMBOLIZE THE SPIRITUAL JOYS OF CHRIST"S CHURCH. The Scriptures speak of wine as "making glad the heart of man." The "new wine" of the gospel is for the enjoyment of the elect. The wine of the kingdom is of celestial vintage; they who partake of it are "filled with the Spirit." The joy of the new covenant, the joy of the Lord, is the portion of the rescued, emancipated, and consecrated Israel.
II THE HILLS FLOWING WITH MILK SYMBOLIZE THE SPIRITUAL NUTRIMENT OF CHRIST"S CHURCH. We are taught by the apostle to "desire the sincere milk of the Word, that we may grow thereby." Even the babes in Christ can partake of this nourishing spiritual diet; but the strong men do not disdain the food. As Canaan was "a land flowing with milk and honey," so the Church of the blessed Saviour abounds with all that can enrich and nourish and bless the people of God. "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.
III THE RIVERS FLOWING WITH WATERS SYMBOLIZE THE REVIVAL AND REFRESHMENT OF CHRIST"S CHURCH, Several of the prophets, expatiating (as they loved to do) upon the glorious prospect afforded them by inspiration of the future of the Church, describe one element of that happy future by the figure of a river flowing from its source in the Lord"s house at Jerusalem, and fertilizing the soil until it should enter the Dead Sea or the Mediterranean. And the Apostle John beheld the river of the water of life, flowing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. How exact is the correspondence between the prediction and the reality! It was in Jerusalem that Jesus was condemned, and hard by that he suffered; and his cross was the source of a river of spiritual blessing to mankind. Wherever his Spirit penetrates, there life is revived, souls are saved, society is purified, weariness is refreshed. Not earth only, but heaven, is fertilized and cheered by the water which Christ gives in a sweet, unceasing stream. T.
Vers. 18-21. The millennium era.
"And it shall come to pass in that day," etc. This passage begins with a splendid representation of the glorious prosperity which shall attend the people of God after the destruction of all their enemies. Whatever their application to the Jews at any period of their history, they certainly bear an application to that period foretold by prophets and sung by poets, the millennial period. Giving it this application, observe
I IT WILL BE AN ERA OF PLENTIFUL PROVISION. "And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim." Fertilizing streams will irrigate the land. The vineyards on the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the well-fed cattle shall yield abundance of milk. The idea is, in that age there will be a profusion of all that is necessary to supply the needs and gratify the desires of men. The time, I verily believe, will come when pauperism will be banished from the earth, when indigence, squalor, and want will be evils existing only in the history of the past. Even now it does not require the earth to he more fruitful than it is, to yield mankind ample supplies. What is wanted is men less avaricious, indolent, extravagant, intemperate, and wasteful.
II IT WILL BE AN ERA OF COMPLETE CONQUEST. "Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land." Egypt and Edom, the old and inveterate enemies of the Jews, are here represented as crushed into utter desolation. Error and sin are the Egypt and Edom of the world. These will be crushed one day. The great moral Deliverer will bruise Satan under our feet, will put down all rule and authority, will make mankind more than conquerors. There is a period of moral conquest and moral kingship that will dawn upon souls before the history of the world is over.
III IT IS AN ERA OF ABIDING PROSPERITY. "Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation." So long as the earth endures the righteous shall continue. They will endure throughout all generations, and happiness will attend them. The kingdom of truth, purity, love, and peace, which Christ is now building up, and which one day he will make commensurate with the world, will continue from generation to generation; it will have no end.
IV IT IS AN ERA OF MORAL PURITY. "For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed." That is, I will radically cleanse them. Their very blood, which has been a current of moral pollution, I will make pure in every particle. I will cleanse, not merely their skin, or their external parts, but the whole current of their life.
Such is the era which the passage anyhow suggests; such is the era that awaits the earth. Would that it had dawned! Haste, ye circling seasons, and bring it on or rather haste, ye servants of Christ, to disseminate those principles of the gospel over the earth in whose mature development consists the blessed era! "The time shall come when every evil thing From being and remembrance both shall die; The world one solid temple of pure gold. ("Festus.") D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v18And it shall come to pass in that day,…
Joe_3:18-21
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine.
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The golden age
I. It will be an age in which great temporal prosperity will be witnessed. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters. Here we have set forth the temporal prosperity which the Church of God is destined to enjoy after the destruction of its enemies. The Church is now in great poverty. It does not possess the good things of the material universe. The world itself is barren. It is rendered so by greed and covetousness. But the day is coming when the meek shall inherit the earth, and when the earth shall spontaneously and richly yield her increase. The earth shall yield her harvest responsive to the smile of heaven.
II. It will be an age in which the hallowed moral influences of the sanctuary shall pervade society. And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Thus in the age to come there will issue from the sanctuary of the Lord a moral influence as pure, refreshing, and quickening as a stream of water, which shall be beneficial to the social life of men; indeed, society will be pervaded by the tide of thought, feeling, and praise which takes its rise in the secret place of the Most High. This tide shall reach even to the valley of Shittim; the most distant and barren places of society shall be awakened into moral verdure by the advent of the life-giving stream.
III. It will be an age in which moral goodness will be continuous and progressive. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Then the redemption of the good will be eternal. They shall never again be led into captivity. Their moral condition will be permanent and happy: they shall dwell in it for ever. Sin of every kind is doomed to become a desolate wilderness; but purity, righteousness, truth, and virtuous character shall continue and progress in meaning and splendour through the ages.
IV. It will be an age in which the Divine presence will be richly manifested. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. The men of the age will be made morally pure, and then God will come and dwell in their midst. Lessons:--
1. The world has not yet reached its ideal condition.
2. There are agencies at work seeking to bring the world under Divine influences.
3. Let us derive encouragement from this picture of the future of the race. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Purified:
These words must be understood in the Christian and spiritual, not in the Jewish and literal sense. The Judah here spoken of is the spiritual Judah; those who are followers of the Lord, by the regenerating grace of God.
I. Vital consecration to god. I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed. Take this strictly in a spiritual sense.
1. Medicinally. Illustrate by the circumstances of the cleansing of the leper. It is said, the priest shall consider; and we may be sure the Great Physician will consider those who seek Him with their sin-disease. And He will cleanse them, even cleanse the blood which is the life.
2. It relates to their citizenship. For nothing that defileth, worketh abomination, and maketh a lie, can enter into the city, can be reckoned a citizen.
II. The presence of the Lord. The Lord dwelleth in Zion.
1. As the strength of Zion. It is strong if salvation be the walls.
2. As the security, or peace, of Zion. The defence of His people.
3. As the source of happiness to His people. (James Wells.)
A happy Church
Three things promised it.
1. Purity. I will cleanse, etc. Put last here, as a reason for the rest.
2. Plenty. The mountains shall drop new wine. Such abundance shall they have of suitable provision.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns the rest.
(1) The Church of Christ shall continue in the world to the end of time. All the living members of that Church shall be established in their happiness to the utmost ages of eternity. (Matthew Henry.)
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.--
God and the Church
The statement of the prophet amounts to this--that the Lord bears a peculiar relation to the Church.
I. The Church is the greatest Witness of God. The very existence of the Church on earth shows that it is a witness of Gods being, providence, and redemption. This will appear if we consider--
1. The Church of God is decidedly opposed to the principles and practice of the great mass of mankind. Its creed and conduct are thought to be holy, just, benevolent, and productive of happiness.
2. A great portion of mankind have in every age and clime opposed the Church. You cannot put your finger on a page of ecclesiastical history without discovering this.
3. Still the Church not only has existed, but it has increased. I am not able to account for this unless it be Divine interposition. From these considerations we can confidently say that the Church is a living witness of God in the midst of faithless generations. May it ever be a bold, brave, honest witness against sin in all its forms.
II. The Church is the brightest illustration of God.
1. By publishing Gods own revelations. This was done by writing, translating, and printing. If this had not been done, we should have been to this day under the influence of Druidism. Let the Word of God have free course, and wherever it goes it will cause the wilderness to blossom as the rose, and the parched earth to appear in verdure, fertility, and beauty.
2. By imitating His moral perfections. It not only says such a being as God exists, but in effect says, Look on me, and you shall see Gods character exhibited. One of the servants of Plato said once, very sagaciously, Plato has written a book against anger, and yet he is one of the most angry of men. Christians speak much of Christianity as a system of love, yet they are hating and persecuting one another.
III. The Church is the highest instrument of God.
1. It ameliorates the outward sufferings of the world. I believe that there is throughout the world a favourable disposition towards Christianity, because it is calculated to better the temporal condition of mankind. Let us endeavour not to contradict this impression.
2. It converts the moral heart of the world. What a noble work God has given His Church to do; what a solemn charge! The conversion of the whole world. Let every individual feel his own responsibility. Let us unite in prayer, that we may be baptized with the Holy Ghost. (Caleb Morris.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v18Joe_3:18.] After judgment upon all nations, the land of…
CRITICAL NOTES.
Joe_3:18.] After judgment upon all nations, the land of Jehovah shall overflow with Divine blessings; but the seat of the world will become barren waste. Drop] Poetic for great fertility, happy times and plenty. Valley of Shittim] Even the arid desert shall be fertilized with blessings from Jerusalem (Zec_14:8; Rev_22:2).
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Joe_3:19. Egypt and Edom] Both remarkable for enmity to Jews and emblems of enemies to God’s people. They have been desolate for centuries (Isa_19:1; Jer_49:17; Oba_1:10).
Joe_3:20. Dwell] Abide; the true Church shall never be destroyed, but all false, persecuting people will be annihilated (Amo_9:15).
Joe_3:21. Cleanse] Wipe away blood-guiltiness, the climax of her sin, and for long not purged away, but visited with judgment. Amid extraordinary manifestations of wrath in the destruction of the wicked, Israel will be saved, and learn anew that Jehovah is their holy God and King.
HOMILETICS
THE NEW WORLD.—Joe_3:18-21
In these verses, says Lowth, “either the times of the Messiah are described, or we have a description of Jerusalem after its final restoration, when a golden age shall commence among its inhabitants, and when the knowledge of God and his Christ shall a second time be widely diffused from it.”
I. The scene of manifold blessings. These blessings are predicted under significant figures. “The mountains drop down new wine and the hills flow with milk” in rich abundance. Divine influences will attend the preaching of the word, converts shall rapidly increase in number and fruitfulness, the ordinances of religion shall water the land and make it exceedingly productive. “All the rivers of Judah” shall make glad this world of beauty, and streams of pure water shall quench the thirst and quicken the virtues of its people.
II. The abode of perfect happiness.
1. Freedom from foes. Inveterate enemies, as Egypt and Edom, will be destroyed. All opposition, violence, and cruelty to God’s people will be at an end. They shall be free from injury and perpetuated to the end of time.
2. Freedom from barrenness. “A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord” to fertilize the most unproductive regions. Temporal blessings shall be accompanied with spiritual blessings without stint or measure. The vivifying and refreshing waters of life shall flow from Christ to bless the capital and the world. “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be” (Zec_14:8).
III. The residence of righteous people. The inhabitants will be purged and cleansed from sin. Pollution in general shall be wiped away. Special sins, such as shedding innocent blood, shall be forgiven. Knowledge shall spread, and every one shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest. There will be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. No strangers will defile nor disturb the peace and prosperity of these happy regions. God will dwell and make his Church a fit residence for his presence and praise. In his presence will be fulness of joy, and at his right hand pleasures for evermore. Seek to be numbered with the saints in glory. While on earth prepare for this glorious era. Help it on by daily effort and incessant prayer.
Teach us in watchfulness and prayer
To wait for the appointed hour;
And fit us by thy grace to share
The triumphs of thy conquering power.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joe_3:18. The glorious fountain. I. Its source. “The house of the Lord.” All springs of grace, comfort, and glory are in God. These blessings take their rise in the sanctuary, like the waters of Ezekiel (Eze_47:1), or those from under the threshold of the temple. The ordinances of God’s house are like fountains of joy and refreshment to thirsty souls. II. Its abundance. It is a fountain, not a mere spring. An abundance to fill all the rivers, lit. channels of Judah. Rivers of living water flow from the Spirit (Joh_7:38). There is no scarcity of gospel blessings to sinners and saints. III. Its fertility. It creates fertility in the king’s gardens (2Ki_25:4; Jer_39:4). The waters in Christ vivify and refresh the barren spots in the Church. Valleys of Shittim, arid deserts, shall be fruitful. “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High” (Psa_46:4).
Or if Zion’s hill
Delight thee more, or Siloa’s fount that flowed
Hard by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thine aid to my adventurous song.
Joe_3:19.
1. The desolation. In contrast to the fruitfulness of the Church, the curse falls upon open enemies and treacherous friends. The low condition of Egypt and Edom for centuries proves the truth of this prediction (Isa_19:1; Jer_49:17). So at the second coming of Christ all foes of Israel typified by these nations shall be destroyed.
2. The cause of the desolation. (a) Violence to God’s people (Eze_25:12-13). (b) Shedding innocent blood. How highly does God esteem the death of his people, the blood of the faithful. The warning is repeated time after time to deter nations from the danger. In every place where his cause and crown have been disregarded ruin has followed. Sin blights nations, destroys their palaces, and desolates their land. “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.” “The three words of Joel, Egypt shall become desolation, are more comprehensive than any prophecy, except those by Ezekiel. They foretell that abiding condition, not only by force of the words, but by the contrast with an abiding condition of bliss. The words say, not only ‘it shall be desolated,’ as by a passing scourge sweeping over it, but it shall ‘itself pass over into that state;’ it shall become what it had not been; and this in contrast with the abiding condition of God’s people. The contrast is like that of the Psalmist (Psa_107:33-35). Judah should overflow with blessing, and the streams of God’s grace should pass beyond its bounds, and carry fruitfulness to what now was dry and barren. But what should reject his grace should be itself rejected” [Pusey].
Joe_3:20. The perpetuity of the Church. Egypt and Edom, all enemies of God, will come to an end. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. No enemy can destroy, no ages consume her. She knows no injury, nor decay. The Church of God shall abide in him and by him on earth, and shall dwell with him for ever.
Joe_3:21. This verse has been interpreted in various ways. God would cleanse, or pronounce the blood which had been shed by the enemies to be innocent. This cleansing or sentence would be accomplished by punishing those who shed it. “I will exact full atonement of their enemies for all their oppressions and violence.” Or the meaning may be, “I will blot out their own transgressions, so far as these have not already been purged away.” In one case, the principle is that guilt cannot be cleansed without complete satisfaction. In the other, that security with God can only be enjoyed by removal of all transgression. Hence peace and security with God by atonement for guilt.
1. To the sinner. Guilt must be removed, justice satisfied, and everything taken away which renders him unfit for God’s presence. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.
2. To the Church. The security and happiness of the Church depend upon God’s presence. God will not dwell with a worldly people. “Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.” God will not dwell with evil, nor will he tolerate it in the believer, or in his house. Only when cleansed from blood are we fit for the dwelling of the Holy God and King.
The crown and seal. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
1. To sanctify.
2. To be praised.
3. To defend. “And the nam of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (Eze_48:35)
The Church has all her foes defied,
And laughed to scorn their rage;
E’en thus for aye, she shall abide
Secure from age to age.
HOMILETICS
THE FINAL SCENE.—Joe_3:1-21
The whole of this chapter may be summed up into two parts, of unequal length and graphic description.
I. God’s judgment upon the nations. Joe_3:1-16.
1. The verdict pronounced in time and place with its nature and ground (Joe_3:1-8).
2. The sentence executed (Joe_3:9-16). The call to hear it (Joe_3:9-11); the throne from which it is given (Joe_3:11-12); and the dreadful overthrow which it specifies (Joe_3:13-16).
II. The final glory of God’s kingdom. Joe_3:17-21.
1. The presence of God in it (Joe_3:17).
2. Its abundant blessings (Joe_3:18).
3. Its perpetual blessedness (Joe_3:19-21). This is contrasted with the destruction of its enemies, and all that oppress its subjects. “In fine,” says a writer, “the closing chapter of Joel’s prophecy is a brief apocalypse, cast in the forms of Hebrew thought and story indeed, and only dimly bodied out, yet setting forth, in language which even the Jews could not and do not mistake, the terrors of the last judgment, the issue of the time long struggle of good with evil, and the golden age of peace and fruitful service, which is to succeed to the conflicts and storms of time.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Joe_3:19. A French traveller thus describes this desolation—“Instead of those ancient cultivated and fertile plains, one only finds, here and there, canals filled up, or cut in two, whose numerous ramifications, crossing each other in every direction, exhibit only some scarcely distinguishable traces of a system of irrigation: instead of those villages and populous cities, one sees only masses of bare and arid ruins, remnants of ancient habitations reduced to ashes; lastly, one finds only lagoons, miry and pestilential, or sterile sands, which extend themselves, and unceasingly invade a land, which the industry of man had gained from the desert and the sea.”
Joe_3:20-21. The human mind has ever conceived a reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked in a future state. Heaven is all the more resplendent by contrast with the dark back-ground of another state.
If there’s a Power above us
(And that there is, all Nature cries aloud,
Through all her works), He must delight in virtue,
And they, whom he delights in, must be happy.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv18, 20General Information:
General Information:
God continues to speak about the day of the Lord.
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It will come about on that day that the mountains
"This is what will happen on that day: the mountains" Translate "It will come about" as in Joel 2:28.
the mountains will drip with sweet wine
"sweet wine will drip from the mountains." This is an exaggeration to show that the land is very fertile. AT: "On the mountains there will be vineyards that produce plenty of sweet wine" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
the hills will flow with milk
"milk will flow from the hills." The land being very fertile is spoken of as if the hills would flow with milk. AT: "on the hills your cattle and goats will produce plenty of milk" (See: Metaphor)
all the brooks of Judah will flow with water
"water will flow through all the brooks of Judah"
water the Valley of Shittim
"will send water to the Valley of Shittim"
Shittim
the name of a place on the east side of the Jordan River. It means "Acacia Trees." (See: How to Translate Names)
Egypt will become an abandoned devastation
"Everyone will leave Egypt and no one will live there"
Edom will become an abandoned wilderness
"Everyone will leave Edom and it will look like no people have ever lived there"
because of the violence done to the people of Judah
"because of the violent things Egypt and Edom did to the people of Judah"
because they shed innocent blood in their land
The word "they" refers to "Edom" and "Egypt" and is a metonym for the people of Egypt and Edom. The words "innocent blood" are a metonym for innocent people whom they have killed. AT: "because the people of Egypt and the people of Edom killed innocent people in the land of the people of Judah" (See: Metonymy)
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv18–203:18 Blessings would flow from the Lord’s sovereign presence…
3:18 Blessings would flow from the Lord’s sovereign presence in Zion (see also Ezek 47:1-12; Amos 9:13). There would be a superabundance of sweet wine and milk. The Temple, God’s own dwelling on earth, would be the source of a spring that would forever water the arid landscape (see Zech 14:8; Rev 22:1-2).
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv18–21 The Prophet here declares that God will be so…
The Prophet here declares that God will be so bountiful to his people, that no good things will be wanting to them either in abundance or variety. When God then shall restore his Church, it will abound, he says, in every kind of blessing: for this is the meaning of this language, Distill new wine shall the mountains, and the hills shall make milk to run down; and all rivers also shall have abundant waters, and a fountain shall arise from the house of Judah to irrigate the valley of Shittim. We now perceive the design of Joel. But we must remember that when the Prophets so splendidly extol the blessings of God, they intend not to fill the minds of the godly with thoughts about eating and drinking; but profane men lay hold on such passages as though the Lord intended to gratify their appetite. We know, indeed, that God’s children differ much from swine: hence God fills not the faithful with earthly things, for this would not be useful for their salvation. At the same time, he thus enlarges on his blessings, that we may know that no happiness shall in any way be wanting to us, when God shall be propitious to us. We hence see that our Prophet so speaks of God’s earthly blessings, that he fills not the minds of the godly with these things but desires to raise them above, as though he said, that the Israelites would in every way be happy, after having in the first place been reconciled to God. For whence came their miseries and distresses of every kind, but from their sins? Since, then, all troubles, all evils, are signs of God’s wrath and alienation, it is no wonder that the Lord, when he declares that he will be propitious to them, adds also the proofs of his paternal love, as he does here: and we know that it was necessary for that rude people, while under the elements of the Law, to be thus instructed; for they could not as yet take solid food, as we know that the ancients under the Law were like children. But it is enough for us to understand the design of the Holy Spirit, namely, that God will satisfy his people with the abundance of all good things, as far as it will be for their benefit. Since God now calls us directly to heaven, and raises our minds to the spiritual life, what Paul says ought to be sufficient, — that to godliness is given the hope, not only of future life, but also of that which is present, (1 Timothy 4;) for God will bless us on the earth, but it will be, as we have already observed, according to the measure of our infirmity.
The valley of Shittim was nigh the borders of the Moabites, as we learn from Numbers 25:1, and Joshua 2:1. Now when the Prophet says, that waters, flowing from the holy fountains would irrigate the valley of Shittim, it is the same as though he said, that the blessing of God in Judea would be so abundant, as to diffuse itself far and wide, even to desert valleys.
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, 19, 21 He promiseth to his Church abundance of graces, read…
He promiseth to his Church abundance of graces, read Ezek. 47:1, which should water and comfort the most barren places, Amos 9:13.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–21 Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in…
Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Ver. 18. The mountains shall drop down new wine] By these hyperbolic expressions is promised plenty of all things pertaining to life and godliness, such a golden age as the poet describeth (Ovid. Metam.),
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“ Flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant,
Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella. ”
Where it must be observed that spiritualy good things are promised under the notion of temporal, as of must, milk, &c., ob populi infantiam, by reason of the infancy of that people, of that time. The mountains, i.e. the most barren places, shall drop down απονητι, without our labour shall yield plentifully new wine, strong consolations, and Scripture comforts, for strong Christians; and the hills shall flow with milk, that unadulterated sincere milk of God’s word for his babes, 1Co 2:2 1Pe 2:2.
And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters] Sanctuary waters, wholesome doctrines, such as have a healing, cooling, quenching, quickening property in them, Isa 44:3.
And a fountain shall come forth] viz. Baptism, that laver of regeneration, Tit 3:5; that fountain opened, Zec 13:1; that pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, that washeth away sin, Rev 22:1 Act 22:16.
And shall water the valley of Shittim] That dry valley in the borders of Moab, near to Jordan, and not far from the Dead Sea, Num 25:1 Jos 2:1. Here it was that the Israelites defiled themselves with the daughters of Moab, as Jarchi noteth, but shall be purified and sanctified with the washing of water by the word, Eph 5:26. Tarnovius renders the text, Qui irrigabit vallem cedrorum, which shall water the valley of cedars, those choicest trees planted in the paradise of God, Psa 92:13; for, saith he, as the Tabernacle was built and garnished of old with shittim wood for the most part, Exo 25:5; Exo 26:15; Exo 27:1; Exo 30:1, so is the spiritual temple with these spiritual cedars.
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 vv18–21 In that day; when afflictions, amidst which they were…
In that day; when afflictions, amidst which they were preserved, from which delivered, and by which they were purified.
The mountains; the vines planted upon the mountains, which were dried up, Joe 1:12, shall now be full of juice and fruit.
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Shall drop down, shall come down as the showers or dew, sweetly and plentifully, new wine; sweet and delicious.
The hills shall flow with milk; so fruitful shall the hills be, and keep so many cows, sheep, and goats, that milk shall abound every where, as it were a current that ever runs down.
All the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters: in the great drought rivers dried up, now the rivers shall be full of water and ever flow.
A fountain: the prophet alludes to those waters which were conveyed from some spring through conduit pipes towards the altar, of which Eze 47:1-5, for the use of the temple, in which water the priests washed what was to be washed. This no doubt is a shadow of the purifying blood of Christ, and his sanctifying Spirit and word. And in that it is said to
come from the house of the Lord, it intimateth that these glad tidings, this saving grace, shall be first preached from Jerusalem, and by the church, which is the house of God, shall be published to others.
Shall water, refresh, purge, and make fruitful in all holy works,
the valley of Shittim; it was a place in the plains of Moab, on the borders of Israel towards the south-east, Num 33:49; Jos 3:1, not far from the Dead Sea. These spiritual waters shall flow down to the dry and thirsty, the barren and fruitless Gentiles, and make them fruitful.
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 These promises with which this prophecy concludes have their…
These promises with which this prophecy concludes have their accomplishments in part in the kingdom of grace, and the comforts and graces of all the faithful subjects of that kingdom, but will have their full accomplishment in the kingdom of glory; for, as to the Jewish church, we know not of any event concerning that which answers to the extent of these promises, and what instances of peace and prosperity they were blessed with, which they may be supposed to be a hyperbolical description of, they were but figures of better things reserved for us, that they in their best estate without us might not be made perfect.
I. It is promised that the enemies of the church shall be vanquished and brought down, Joe 3:19. Egypt, that old enemy of Israel, and Edom, which had an inveterate enmity to Israel, derived from Esau, these shall be a desolation, a desolate wilderness, no more to be inhabited; they have become the people of God's curse; so the Idumeans were, Isa 34:5. No strength nor wealth of a nation is a defence against the judgment of God. But what is the quarrel God has with these potent kingdoms? It is for their violence against the children of Judah, and the injuries they had done them; see Eze 25:3, Eze 25:8, Eze 25:12, Eze 25:15; Eze 26:2. They had shed the innocent blood of the Jews that fled to them for shelter or were making their escape through their country. Note, The innocent blood of God's people is very precious to him, and not a drop of it shall be shed but it shall be reckoned for. In the last day this earth, which has been filled with violence against the people of God, shall be made a desolation, when it and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up. And, sooner or later, the oppressors and persecutors of God's Israel shall be brought down and laid in the dust, nay, they will at length be brought down and laid in the flames.
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II. It is promised that the church shall be very happy; and truly happy it is in spiritual privileges, even during its militant state, but much more when it comes to be triumphant. Three things are here promised it: -
1. Purity. This is put last here, as a reason for the rest (Joe 3:21); but we may consider it first, as the ground and foundation of the rest: I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, that is, their bloody heinous sins, especially shedding innocent blood; that filth and guilt they had contracted by sin, which rendered them unfit for communion with God, and made them odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice; this they shall be washed from in the fountain opened, Zac 13:1. That shall be cleansed by the blood of Christ which could not be cleansed by the sacrifices and purifications of the ceremonial law. Or, if we apply it to the happiness of a future state, it intimates the cleansing of the saints from all these corruptions from which they were not cleansed either by ordinances or providences in the world; there shall not be the least remains of sin in them there. Here, though they are washing daily, there is still something that is not cleansed; but in heaven, even that also shall be done away. Ands the reason is because the Lord dwells in Zion, dwells with his church, and much more gloriously with that in heaven, and holiness becomes his house for ever, for which reason, where he dwells there must be, there shall be, a perfection of holiness. Note, Though the refining and reforming of the church is work that goes on slowly, and still there is something we complain of that is not cleansed, yet there is a day coming when every thing that is amiss shall be amended, and the church shall be all fair, and no spot, no stain in her; and we must wait for that day.
2. Plenty, Joe 3:18. This is put first, because it is the reverse of the judgment threatened in the foregoing chapters. (1.) The streams of this plenty overflow the land and enrich it: The mountains shall drop new wine and the hills shall flow with milk, such great abundance shall they have of suitable provision, both for babes and for strong men. It intimates the abundance of vineyards, and all fruitful; and the abundance of cattle in the pastures that fill them with milk. And, to make the corn-land fruitful, the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, so that the country shall be like the garden of Eden, well-watered every where and greatly enriched, Psa 65:9. But this seems to be meant spiritually; the graces and comforts of the new covenant are compared to wine and milk (Isa 55:1), and the Spirit to rivers of living water, Joh 7:38. And these gifts abound much more under the New Testament than they did under the Old; when believers receive grace for grace from Christ's fulness, when they are enriched with everlasting consolations, and filled with joy and peace in believing, then the mountains drop new wine, and the hills flow with milk. Drink you, drink abundantly, O beloved! When there is plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace, then the rivers of Judah flow with water, and make glad, not only the city of our God (Psa 46:4), but the whole land. (2.) The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take their rise, as those waters of the sanctuary (Eze 47:1) from under the threshold of the house, and the river of life out of the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev 22:1. The psalmist, speaking of Zion, says, All my springs are in thee, Psa 87:7. Those that take temporal blessings to be meant in the former part of the verse, yet by this fountain out of the house of the Lord understand the grace of God, which, if we abound in temporal blessings, we have so much more need of, that we may not abuse them. Christ himself is the fountain; his merit and grace cleanse us, refresh us, and make us fruitful. This is said to water the valley of Shittim, which lay a great way off from the temple at Jerusalem, on the other side of Jordan, and was a dry and barren valley, which intimates that gospel-grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach far, even to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions of it, and shall make those to abound in the fruits of righteousness who had long lain as the barren wilderness. This grace is a fountain overflowing, ever-flowing, from which we may be continually drawing, and yet need not fear its being drawn dry. This fountain comes out of the house of the Lord above, from his temple in heaven, flows all that good which here we are daily tasting the streams of, but hope to be shortly, hope to be eternally, drinking at the fountain-head of.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns all the rest (Joe 3:20): Judah shall dwell for ever (when Egypt and Edom are made a desolation), and Jerusalem shall continue from generation to generation. This is a promise, and a precious promise it is, (1.) That the church of Christ shall continue in the world to the end of time. As one generation of professing Christians passes away, another shall come, in whom the throne of Christ shall endure for ever, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (2.) That all the living members of that church (Judah and Jerusalem are put for the inhabitants of that city and country, Mat 3:5) shall be established in their happiness to the utmost ages of eternity. This new Jerusalem shall be from generation to generation, for it is a city that has foundations, not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens.
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 vv18–21 And it shall come to pass in that day,....…
And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When antichrist shall be destroyed; the Jews converted; the power of godliness revived, and the presence of God among his people enjoyed. Vitringa, in his Commentary on Isaiah, frequently applies this, and such like prophecies, to the times of the Maccabees; though, he owns, they were but an emblem of better times under the Gospel dispensation; nor does he deny the mystical and spiritual sense of them;
that the mountains shall drop down new wine; which, and the following expressions, are to be understood not in a strict literal sense, as Lactantius (t) seems to have understood them; who says, that, in the Millennium, God will cause a rain of blessing to descend morning and evening; the earth shall bring forth all kind of fruit without the labour of man; honey shall drop from the rocks, and the fountains of milk and wine shall overflow: but hyperbolically, just as the land of Canaan is said to flow with milk and honey; not that it really did, but the phrase is used to denote the fertility of it, and the abundance of temporal blessings in it. The literal sense is this, that the mountains shall be covered with vines, on which they are often planted; these vines shall be full of large clusters of grape; and these grapes, being pressed, shall yield a large quantity of new wine; and so, by a metonymy, the mountains are said to drop it down (u), that is, abound with it, or produce an abundance of it: but the spiritual or mystical sense is, that the churches of Christ in those times, comparable to mountains, and so to hills in the next clause, for their exalted and visible glorious state in which they now will be; and for the rich gifts and graces of the Spirit within them; and for the pasture upon them, and the trees of righteousness that grow thereon; and also for their firmness and stability, their immovableness and perpetual duration; these shall abound with fresh and large discoveries of the love of God and Christ, which is better than wine, Sol 1:2; like wine, cheering and refreshing; like new wine, though old as to its original, yet new in the manifestations of it; and which are usually made in the church, and the ordinances of it, to the making glad the hearts of the Lord's people; also they shall abound with the blessings of grace, the fruits of love, such as pardon, peace, justification, &c. which, like wine, fill with joy, revive and comfort; and though they are ancient blessings, provided long ago, they are exhibited under the Gospel dispensation in a new covenant way; and the application of them is made in the churches, in Zion, where the Lord commands the blessing, even life for evermore. This may also take in the Gospel, which brings the good news of these blessings, and so is very reviving and cheering; and, though ordained and preached of old, is newly revealed under the present dispensation; and will be more clearly in later times, when all the mountains or churches will abound with it, and even the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of it, Isa 11:9; likewise the ordinance of the Lord's supper, that feast of fat things, of wines on the lees well refined, made in the mountain of the Lord, for all his people may be included; and both in that, and in the ministry of the word, the Lord is sometimes pleased, as he may more abundantly hereafter, to give his saints some foretaste of that new wine, which Christ and they shall partake of in his Father's kingdom; see Sol 7:9 Mat 26:29;
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and the hills shall flow with milk: that is, there shall be much pasturage upon them, and a great number of cattle feeding thereon, which shall yield large quantities of milk; and so, by the same figure as before, the hills may be said to flow with it (w). The spiritual meaning is, that the churches of Christ, comparable to hills, for the reasons before given, shall abound with the means of grace, with the sincere milk of the word; to which the Gospel is compared for its whiteness and purity, for every word of God is pure and purifying; for assuaging the wrath the law produces; it being easy of digestion, even to newborn babes; and its salutary nourishing virtue and efficacy; and of this there will be great abundance in the latter day; see Sol 4:11 Pe1 2:2;
and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters; that is, the channels in which the rivers run; these, in a time of drought, are sometimes empty, and the bottoms of them to be seen, but now full of water, and flow with it: grace is often in Scripture compared to "water" because of its refreshing, cleansing, and fructifying nature; and "rivers" denote, an abundance of it; and the "channels", through which it is conveyed to men, out of the fulness of Christ, are the ordinances; see Zac 4:12; and the prophecy suggests, that these should not be dry and empty, but that large measures of grace shall be communicated by means of them to the souls of men, to their great comfort and edification, and for the supply of their wants; see Eze 36:25;
and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord; not meaning baptism, as some; nor Christ, the fountain of grace, life, and salvation; but the Gospel, the word of the Lord, that fountain full of excellent truths and doctrines; of the blessings of grace; of exceeding great and precious promises; and of much spiritual peace, joy, and comfort: this is the law or doctrine of the Lord, that should come out of Zion, or the church, Isa 2:3; the living waters that shall come out of Jerusalem, Zac 14:8; and the same with the waters in Ezekiel's vision, that came from under the threshold of the house, Eze 47:1; it seems to denote the small beginnings of the Gospel, and the great increase and overflow of it in the world, as it does in all the above passages: this is referred by the ancient Jews (x) to the times of the Messiah;
and shall water the valley of Shittim; a plain or valley near Jordan, upon the borders of Moab, at the farther end of Canaan that way, Num 33:49. Benjamin of Tudela (y) says, that from the mount of Olives may be seen the plain and brook of Shittim, unto or near Mount Nebo, which was in the land of Moab. This valley or plain, as the Targum, was so called, either from the "shittah" tree, Isa 41:19; of which was the wood "shittim", so much used for various things in the tabernacle and temple, that grew there; and which Jerom on this place says was a kind of tree that grew in the wilderness, like a white thorn in colour and leaves, though not in size, for otherwise it was a very large tree, out of which the broadest planks might be cut, and its wood very strong, and of incredible, smoothness and beauty; and which grew not in cultivated places, nor in the Roman soil, but in the desert of Arabia; and therefore one would think did not grow in this plain near Jordan, and so could not be denominated from hence: but Dr. Shaw (z) observes, that the Acacia is by much the largest and the most common tree of these deserts (that is, of Arabia), as it might likewise have been of the plains of Shittim, over against Jericho, from whence it took its name; and adds, we have some reason to conjecture that the shittim wood, whereof the various utensils, &c. of the tabernacle, &c. Exo 25:10, &c. were made, was the wood of the acacia. Or it may be this place had its name from the rushes which grew on the banks of Jordan, near to which it was; for so, is the word interpreted by some (a): and Saadiah Gaon says, this valley is Jordan; so called, because Jordan was near to a place called Shittim: however, be it as it will, this can never be understood in a literal sense, that any fountain should arise out of the temple, and flow as far as beyond Jordan, and water any tract of land there; but must be understood spiritually, of the same waters of the sanctuary as in Ezekiel's vision, Eze 47:1; at most, the literal sense could only be, that the whole land should be well watered from one end to the other, and, become very fertile and fruitful, by the order and direction of the Lord, that dwells in his temple. The mystical sense is best. Jarchi makes mention of a Midrash, that interprets it of the expiation of the sins of the Israelites, in the affair of Baalpeor at Shittim, Num 25:1; but the true spiritual sense is, that the Gospel shall be carried to the further parts of the earth; that the whole world shall be filled and watered with it, and become fruitful, which before was like a desert; these living waters shall flow, both toward the former and the hinder seas, the eastern and west: era, as in Zac 14:8; see Isa 11:9. Some render it, "shall water the valley of cedars" (b); the shittim wood being a kind of cedar, of which many things belonging to the tabernacle, a type of the church, was made, being firm, sound, incorruptible, and durable; see Exo 25:10; saints are compared to cedars for their height in Christ, their strength in him, and in his grace; their large and spreading leaves, branches, and roots, or growth in grace; and for their duration and incorruption; see Num 24:5; a valley may signify the low estate of God's people; or be an emblem of lowly, meek, and humble souls, to whom the Gospel is preached, and who are watered and revived by it, and to whom more grace is given; see Isa 40:4. It is by Symmachus rendered "the valley of thorns"; and so Quinquarboreus (c) says the word signifies and designs such who are barren in good works.
(t) Epitome Divin. Institut. c. 11. Vid. Institut. l. 7. c. 24. (u) "Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella". Virgil. Eclog. 4. l. 29, 30. (w) "Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant, Flavaque de viridi stillabant ibice mella". Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. (x) Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2. (y) Itineranium, p. 44. (z) Travels, c. 3. p. 444, 459. Ed. 2. (a) Vid. Relaud. Palestina Illustrata, l. 1. c. 54, p. 351, 352. (b) "vallem cedrorum lectissimorum", Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius. (c) Scholia in Targum in loc.
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 vv18–21 The mountains - The vines planted upon the mountains.…
The mountains - The vines planted upon the mountains. Shall flow - So fruitful shall the hills be, that milk shall abound everywhere. A fountain - The prophet alludes to those waters which were conveyed from some spring through conduit pipes towards the altar. This no doubt is a shadow of the purifying blood of Christ, and his sanctifying spirit and word. And in that it is said to come from the house of the Lord, it intimates that this saving grace shall be first preached from Jerusalem, and by the church, which is the house of God, shall be published to others. Shittim - Was a place in the plains of Moab. These spiritual waters shall flow down to the dry and thirsty, the barren and fruitless Gentiles, and make them fruitful.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18–21 Verse 18. In that day] After their return from…
Verse 18. In that day] After their return from their captivities.
The mountains shall drop down new wine] A poetic expression for great fertility. Happy times: peace and plenty. The vines shall grow luxuriantly on the sides of the mountains; and the hills shall produce such rich pastures that the flocks shall yield abundance of milk.
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And all the rivers of Judah] Far from being generally dry in the summer, shall have their channels always full of water.
And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord] See the account of the typical waters in Ezekiel, Eze 47:1-23, to which this seems to have a reference; at least the subject is the same, and seems to point out the grace of the Gospel, the waters of salvation, that shall flow from Jerusalem, and water the valley of Shittim. Shittim was in the plains of Moab beyond Jordan; Nu 33:49; Jos 3:1; but as no stream of water could flow from the temple, pass across Jordan, or reach this plain, the valley of Shittim must be considered symbolical, as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But as Shittim may signify thorns, it may figuratively represent the most uncultivated and ferocious inhabitants of the earth receiving the Gospel of Christ, and being civilized and saved by it. We know that briers and thorns are emblems of bad men; see Eze 2:6. Thus all the figures in this verse will point out the happy times of the Gospel: the mountains shall drop down new wine; the hills flow with milk; the thorny valleys become fertile, c. Similar to those almost parallel words of the prince of poets: -
Mistaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.--
Ipsae lacte domum referent destenta capellae
Ubera: nec magnos metuent armenta leones.--
Molli paullatim flavescet campus arista,
Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva:
Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.
VIRG Ecl. iv. 20.
Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy bring,
And fragrant herbs the promises of spring.
The goats with streaming dugs shall homeward speed
And lowing herds, secure from lions, feed.
Unlabour'd harvests shall the fields adorn,
And cluster'd grapes shall grow on every thorn:
The knotted oaks shall showers of honey weep.
DRYDEN.
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, 19, 21 Joe 3:18. The mountains shall drop down new wine…
Joe 3:18. The mountains shall drop down new wine — Namely, the vines planted upon the mountains. The hills shall flow with milk — So fruitful shall the hills be, that milk shall abound everywhere. And all the rivers, &c. — These expressions are all figurative, and highly poetical, and, according to Calmet, symbolical of the doctrine of the gospel; which, accompanied by the Spirit of grace, was to flow forth from Jerusalem, and to water the Gentile world, which had been as a barren and uncultivated land.
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 vv18–21 And it shall come to pass in that Day…
And it shall come to pass in that Day - After the destruction of antichrist, there will, it seems, still be a period of probation, in which the grace of God will abound and extend more and more widely. The prophet Zechariah, who continues on the image, of the “living waters going out from Jerusalem” Zec 14:8, places this gift after God had gathered all nations against Jerusalem, and had visibly and miraculously overthrown them Zec 14:2-4. But in that the blessings which he speaks of, are regenerating, they belong to time; the fullness of the blessing is completed only in eternity; the dawn is on earth, the everlasting brightness is in heaven. But though the prophecy belongs eminently to one time, the imagery describes the fulness of spiritual blessings which God at all times diffuses in and through the Church; and these blessings, he says, shall continue on in her for ever; her enemies shall be cut off for ever. It may be, that Joel would mark a fresh beginning and summary by his words, “It shall be in that Day.” The prophets do often begin, again and again, their descriptions. Union with God, which is their theme, is one. Every gift of God to His elect, except the beatific vision, is begun in time, union with Himself, indwelling, His Spirit flowing forth from Him into His creatures, His love, knowledge of Him, although here through a glass darkly.
The promise cannot relate to exuberance of temporal blessings, even as tokens of God’s favor. For he says, “a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” But “the valley of Shittim” is on the other side Jordan, beyond the Dead Sea, so that by nature the waters could not flow there. The valley of Shittim or acacia trees is a dry valley, for in such the Easten Acacia, i. e., the sant or sandal wood grows. “It is,” says Jerome (on Isa 12:1-6 :19), “a tree which grows in the desert, like a white thorn in color and leaves, not in size. For they are of such size, that very large planks , are cut out of them. The wood is very strong, and of incredible lightness and beauty. They do not grow in cultivated places, or in the Roman soil, save only in the desert of Arabia.” It does not decay ; and when old becomes like ebony . Of it the ark of God was made, its staves, the table of showbread, the tabernacle and its pillars, the altar for burnt-offerings, and of incense Exo 25:5, Exo 25:10, Exo 25:13, Exo 25:23, Exo 25:28; Exo 26:15, Exo 26:26, Exo 26:32, Exo 26:37; Exo 27:1, Exo 27:6; Exo 30:1; Exo 35:7, Exo 35:24; Exo 36:20, Exo 36:31, Exo 36:36; Exo 37:1, Exo 37:4, Exo 37:10, Exo 37:15, Exo 37:25, Exo 37:28; Exo 38:1, Exo 38:6; Deu 10:3. The valley is about six miles from Livias , seven and a half beyond the Dead Sea . It was the last station of Israel, before entering the land of promise Num 33:49, from where Joshua sent out the spies Jos 2:1; where God turned the curse of Balaam into a blessling Num. 23; 24; Mic 6:5; and he prophesied of the Star which should arise out of Israel, even Christ Num 24:17; where Israel sinned in Baal Peor, and Phineas turned aside His displeasure Num 25:1, Num 25:7, Num 25:11.
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The existence of a large supply of water under the temple is beyond all question. While the temple was still standing, mention is made up of “a fountain of ever-flowing water under the temple,” as well as pools and cisterns for preserving rain-water. One evidently well acquainted with the localities says , “The pavement has slopes at befitting places, for the sake of a flush of water which takes place in order to cleanse away the blood from the victims. For on festivals many myriads of animals are sacrificed. But of water there is an unfailing supply, a copious and natural fountain within gushing over, and there being moreover wonderful underground-receptacles in a circuit of five furlongs, in the substructure of the temple, and each of these having numerous pipes, the several streams inter-communicating, and all these closed up below and on the sides - There are also many mouths toward the base, invisible to all except those to whom the service of the temple belongs. So that the manifold blood of the sacrifices being brought together are cleansed by the gush (of water down) the slope.”
This same writer relates that, more than half a mile from the city, he was told to stoop down and heard the sound of gushing waters underground. The natural fountain, then, beneath the temple was doubtless augmented by waters brought from a distance, as required for the “divers washings” both of the priests and other things, and to carry off the blood of the victims. Pools near the temple are mentioned by writers of the third and fourth century ; and Omar, on the surrender of Jerusalem, 634 a.d., was guided to the site of the ancient temple (whereon he built his Mosk) by the stream of water which issued through a water-channel from it . Whencesoever this water was derived, whether from a perennial spring beneath the temple itself, or whether brought there from some unfailing source without, it afforded Jerusalem an abundant supply of water.
Much as Jerusalem suffered in sieges by famine, and its besiegers by thirst, thirst was never any part of the sufferings of those within . The superfluous water was and still is carried off underground, to what is now “the fountain of the Virgin” , and thence again, through the rock, to the pool of Siloam . Thence it carried fertility to the gardens of Siloam, in Joel’s time doubtless “the king’s gardens” , still “a verdant spot, refreshing to the eye in the heat of summer, while all around is parched and dun.” The blood of the victims flowed into the same brook Kidron, and was a known source of fertility, before the land was given to desolation. The waters of Kidron, as well as all the waters of Palestine, must have been more abundant formerly.
Isaiah speaks of it as “flowing softly” Isa 8:6; Josephus , of the “abundant fountain;” an official report , of the “fountain gushing forth with abundance of water.” Still its fertilizing powers formed but one little oasis, where all around was arid. It fertilized those gardens live miles from the city, but the mid-space was waterless , thirsty, mournful . Lower down, the rivulet threaded its way to the Dead Sea, through a narrow ravine which became more and more wild, where Saba planted his monastery. “A howling wilderness, stern desolation. stupendous perpendicular cliffs, terrific chasms, oppressive solitude” are the terms by which one endeavors to characterize “the heart of this stern desert of Judaea” .
Such continues to be its character, in the remaining half of its course, until it is lost in the Dead Sea, and is transmuted into its saltness. Its valley bears the name of desolation, Wady en Nar , “valley of fire.” No human path lies along it. The Kidron flows along “a deep and almost impenetrable ravine” Psa 46:4, “in a narrow channel between perpendicular walls of rock, as if worn away by the rushing waters between those desolate chalky hills.” That little oasis of verdure was fit emblem of the Jewish people, itself bedewed by the stream which issued from the Temple of God, but, like Gideon’s fleece, leaving all around dry. It made no sensible impression out of, or beyond itself. Hereafter, “the stream”, the Siloah, whose “streamlets,” i. e., the artificial fertilizing divisions, “made glad the city of God” Eze 47:1-12, should make the wildest, driest spots of our mortality “like the garden of the Lord.” Desolation should become bright and happy; the parched earth should shoot up fresh with life; what was by nature barren and unfruitful should bring forth good fruit; places heretofore stained by sin should be purified; nature should be renewed by grace; and that, beyond the borders of the promised land, in that world which they had left, when Joshua brought them in there.
This, which it needs many words to explain, was vivid to those to whom Joel spoke. They had that spot of emerald green before their eyes, over which the stream which they then knew to issue from the temple trickled in transparent brightness, conducted by those channels formed by man’s diligence. The eyes of the citizens of Jerusalem must have rested with pleasure on it amid the parched surface around. Fresher than the gladliest freshness of nature, brighter than its most kindled glow, is the renewing freshness of grace; and this, issuing from mount Zion, was to be the portion not of Judea only, but of the world.
The vision of Ezekiel Eze 47:1-12, which is a comment on the prophecy of Joel, clearly belongs primarily to this life. For in this life only is there need for healing; in this life only is there a desert land to be made fruitful; death to be changed into life; death and life, the healed and unhealed, side by side; life, where the stream of God’s grace reacheth, and death and barrenness, where it reacheth not. The fishers who spread their nests amid “the fish, exceeding many,” are an emblem which waited for and received its explanation from the parables of our Lord.
In the Revelation, above all, the peace, glory, holiness, vision of God, can only be fulfilled in the sight of God. Yet here too the increase of the Church, and the healing of the nations Rev 21:24-26; Rev 22:21, belong to time and to a state of probation, not of full fruition.
But then neither can those other symbols relate to earthly things.
The mountains shall drop down new wine - Literally, “trodden” out. What is ordinarily obtained by toil, shall be poured forth spontaneously. “And the hills shall flow with milk,” literally, “flow milk,” as though they themselves, of their own accord, gushed forth into the good gifts which they yield. “Wine” ever new, and ever renewing, sweet and gladdening the heart; “milk,” the emblem of the spiritual food of childlike souls, of purest knowledge, holy devotion, angelic purity, heavenly pleasure. And these shall never cease. These gifts are spoken of, as the spontaneous, perpetual flow of the mountains and hills; and as the fountain gushes forth from the hill or mountain-side in one ceaseless flow, day and night, streaming out from the hidden recesses to which the waters are supplied by God from His treasure-house of the rain, so day and night, in sorrow or in joy, in prosperity or adversity, God pours out, in the Church and in the souls of His elect, the riches of His grace. “All the rivers,” literally “channels, of Judah shall flow with water.” Every “channel,” however narrow and easily drying up, shall “flow with water,” gushing forth unto everlasting life; the love of God shall stream through every heart; each shall he full according to its capacity and none the less full, because a larger tide pours through others. How much more , “in those everlasting hills of heaven, “the heavenly Jerusalem,” resting on the eternity and Godhead of the Holy Trinity, shall that long promise be fulfilled of the land flowing with milk and honey, where God, through the beatific vision of Himself, shall pour into the blessed “the torrent of pleasure,” the unutterable sweetness of joy and gladness unspeakable in Himself; and “all the rivers of Judah,” i. e., all the powers, capacities, senses, speech of the saints who “confess” God, shall flow with a perennial stream of joy, thanksgiving, and jubilee, as of all pleasure and bliss.”
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 vv18–21 Sweetness; oil and honey. (Calmet) --- Fountain, &c., viz.,…
Sweetness; oil and honey. (Calmet) --- Fountain, &c., viz., the fountain of grace in the Church militant, and of glory in the Church triumphant; which shall water the torrent or valley of thorns, that is, the souls that before, like barren ground, brought forth nothing but thorns, or that were afflicted with the thorns of crosses and tribulations. (Challoner) --- Septuagint have, "bands." Hebrew shittim. (Haydock) --- Abundance shall ensue after the death of Cambyses, as a figure of the graces which shall be granted to Christians, Ezechiel xlvii. 2.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv18–21 mountains . . . drop . . . wine--figurative…
mountains . . . drop . . . wine--figurative for abundance of vines, which were cultivated in terraces of earth between the rocks on the sides of the hills of Palestine (Amo 9:13).
hills . . . flow with milk--that is, they shall abound in flocks and herds yielding milk plentifully, through the richness of the pastures.
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waters--the great desideratum for fertility in the parched East (Isa 30:25).
fountain . . . of . . . house of . . . Lord . . . water . . . valley of Shittim--The blessings, temporal and spiritual, issuing from Jehovah's house at Jerusalem, shall extend even to Shittim, on the border between Moab and Israel, beyond Jordan (Num 25:1; Num 33:49; Jos 2:1; Mic 6:5). "Shittim" means "acacias," which grow only in arid regions: implying that even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the blessing from Jerusalem. So Eze 47:1-12 describes the waters issuing from the threshold of the house as flowing into the Dead Sea, and purifying it. Also in Zac 14:8 the waters flow on one side into the Mediterranean, on the other side into the Dead Sea, near which latter Shittim was situated (compare Psa 46:4; Rev 22:1).
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 vv18–21 18-21. After the judgment upon the nations, Judah, under…
18-21. After the judgment upon the nations, Judah, under the care and protection of Jehovah, will enjoy the fullness of the divine blessing. The seat of the former world powers will become a barren waste, while in Judah there will be fertility and peace. 18.
In that day — The day of judgment upon the enemies and of deliverance for the Jews, and so the beginning of the Messianic age. Now follows a hyperbolical description of extreme fertility.
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Mountains… hills — The territory of Judah was “strewn with limestone rocks. The little soil between yielded only a meager subsistence in return for the most wearisome labor.” But the fertility in the new age will be so great that it will seem as if the mountains and hills themselves were giving forth the wine and milk.
New [“sweet”] wine — See on Joe_1:5 (compare Amo_9:13).
Milk — Canaan is called a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exo_3:8). The prophet, on the whole adopting the language of Amos, takes the liberty to make the change in accord with the rest of the description.
Rivers (Joe_1:20) shall flow with waters — Water was doled out but sparingly in Judah, most of the brooks dried up entirely during the dry season. That will happen no more; water will be plentiful for man and beast.
A fountain… of the house of Jehovah — There are two other passages speaking of a fountain that shall come forth from Jerusalem or from the temple of Jehovah (Zec_14:8; Eze_47:1-12). All three passages may have been suggested by the fact that there was a spring which came forth from beneath the temple in a perennial stream (Isa_8:6; compare Psa_46:4; Joh_9:7). “The idea which the three prophets share in common is that these waters should be increased in volume to such an extent as to be capable of fertilizing effectually the barren parts of Judah.”
Valley of Shittim — R.V. margin, “That is, the valley of acacias.”
Valley — Hebrews nahal. Not the same word as in Joe_3:12; Joe_3:14; it corresponds to the Arabic wady, a gorge between hills, through which runs a water course which in the rainy season becomes a rushing torrent, while in the dry season it dries up partly or entirely.
Shittim — Literally, acacias — The name of the last encampment of the Israelites before their entrance into Canaan (Num_25:1; Jos_3:1); but this does not seem to be the place in the mind of Joel, for “it is hardly likely that the prophet would picture the stream as crossing the Jordan and fertilizing the opposite side.” There is to-day a depression southwest of Jerusalem, Wady-es-Sunt (Sant), probably identical with the vale of Elah (1Sa_17:2), through which runs the road to Ashkelon. Sunt, the modern name of this wady, is identical with Shittim, and a few scholars (Wellhausen, Nowack) identify the valley mentioned by Joel with this depression. The great majority of scholars, however, think that the prophet uses the name to designate the Kidron valley, or at least a part of the same, now called Wady-en-Nar. It begins northwest of Jerusalem, runs along the east side of the city, separating it from the Mount of Olives, then continues in a southeasterly direction, and finally reaches the Dead Sea about ten miles from its northern end. Acacias still grow on the west shore of the Dead Sea (Tristram, Land of Israel, 280, 295). That Ezekiel has this depression in mind is beyond doubt. Whether it or the Wady-es-Sunt is referred to here cannot be determined. Wherever located, the term was chosen to designate a barren valley, as the acacia grows in dry soil; even the dry, barren soil will, in the new age, become fertile and productive. That fertility and material prosperity are an essential element of the divine blessing in the Messianic age is frequently taught by the prophets (Hos_2:21-22; Amo_9:13; Isa_4:2).
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 vv18–21 18. in that day] In the era beginning immediately…
18. in that day] In the era beginning immediately after the judgement on the nations. Cf. on Amo_9:11.
the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk] A hyperbolical description of the fertility of the soil (cf. Job_29:6). The words are evidently based upon Amo_9:13 “The mountains shall cause sweet wine to drop down, and all the hills shall melt.” On “sweet wine,” see on Amo_9:13.
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rivers] channels, as Joe_1:20. The streams will then no more dry up through a drought, as they had done recently (Joe_1:20).
and a fountain, &c.] A stream issuing forth from the Temple will water the “Wâdy of the Acacias,” which (from the context, as well as probably from the name) must have been some particularly dry and unfruitful Wâdy in Judah. The two parallel passages which ought in particular to be compared are Zec_14:8, where it is promised that ‘living’ (i.e. running) waters, flowing alike in summer and winter, shall come forth from Jerusalem in two streams, one going down into the Dead Sea, and the other into the Mediterranean Sea; and Eze_47:1-12, where, in his vision of the territory of the restored people, the prophet sees waters issuing forth from under the Eastern threshold of the Temple, which gradually swelled into a deep stream descending into the Arábah, fertilizing the soil along its banks, and entering finally the Dead Sea, the waters of which it sweetened, enabling fish to live in them. Probably the thought of these passages was suggested by the “waters of Shiloah” (Isa_8:6 : cf. Psa_46:4; Joh_9:7), which actually gushed out beneath the Temple hill in a perennial stream, fertilizing (as they do still) the parts of the Wâdy of the Kidron in their immediate neighbourhood, though not abundant enough to flow further; and the idea which the three prophets share in common is that these waters should be increased in volume to such an extent as to be capable of fertilizing effectually the barren parts of Judah, especially the Wâdy of the Kidron, the deep and rocky gorge which runs down from Jerusalem into the Dead Sea (see the next note).
the valley of Shittim] the Wâdy of Shittim (or of the Acacias). The word is quite a different one from that rendered ‘valley’ in Joe_3:2; Joe_3:12; Joe_3:14, and means a gorge between hills containing a watercourse, with or without water, as the case might be (see on Amo_5:24). What Wâdy is meant, is however uncertain. According to many, the reference is to the ‘Meadow of Shittim (or of the Acacias)’—part of the broad plain into which the Jordan-valley expands immediately before the river enters the Dead Sea, and now identified generally with the Ghôr es-Seisebân—which was the last camping-ground of the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan (Num_33:49; also called simply The Shittim, or The Acacias, ib. Num_25:1; Jos_2:1 al.). But the depression through which the Jordan flows has a special name, the Arábah, and is never called a Wâdy (naḥal); and it is hardly likely that Joel would picture the stream as crossing the Jordan, and fertilizing the soil on the opposite side. Others, therefore (as Credner, Hitzig), prefer to think that the “Wâdy of the Acacias” was the Kidron-Wâdy itself, which starting (under the name Wâdy el-Jôz) a little N.W. of Jerusalem, bends round so as to run along the E. of the city, separating it from the Mount of Olives (cf. above on Joe_3:2), and then, as a deep, rocky gorge (now called, perhaps from the “furnace-like” heat of its lower stretches, the Wâdy en-Nâr or “the Wâdy of Fire”) runs down in a S.E. direction towards the Dead Sea, which it joins at about 10 miles from its N. end (see Plate iv. in G. A. Smith, Geogr.): though in winter-time there is sometimes water in the bed of this naḥal, it is in general quite dry, the soil is rocky, and it runs through the arid and desolate region known as the “wilderness of Judah” (cf. Smith, l.c. p. 511 f.). There is little doubt that this was the naḥal through which Ezekiel pictured the fertilizing waters as flowing, in his vision, ch. 47. For Acacias on the W. shore of the Dead Sea, see Tristram, Land of Isr., pp. 280, 295. Wellhausen thinks of the Wâdy on the S.W. of Jerusalem—usually identified with the Wâdy of Elah of 1Sa_17:2—which still bears the corresponding name, Wâdy es-Sunṭ (or Sanṭ): this forms part of the direct route from Jerusalem to Tell eṣ-Ṣâfiyeh (probably Gath), and Ashkelon (cf. G. A. Smith, Plate iv., and pp. 226 f.). The reason why Joel specifies the Wâdy of the Acacias is to be found, no doubt, in the fact that the Acacia (as Jerome, on Isa_41:17, already observes) grows in dry soil—it is abundant, for instance, in the peninsula of Sinai; and hence the name might well be given to an arid Wâdy, such as needed fertilizing. Comp. Rev_22:1-2.
18–20. Israel’s final prosperity. After the judgement upon the nations, the land of Judah will be blessed with preternatural fertility, and will enjoy for ever undisturbed peace, while that of her foes will become a desolate waste.
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 vv18, 19, 21 (18) The mountains shall drop down new wine.—The material…
(18) The mountains shall drop down new wine.—The material prosperity depicted in these verses symbolises the glorious reign of Jehovah when the last enemy has been destroyed, and “God is all in all.”
A fountain shall come forth.—The spiritual fertilising power of the knowledge of the Lord is compared to the life-giving influence of a stream of water, which causes luxuriance to the trees on its banks. This imagery is exemplified by Ezekiel, who traces the course of the waters issuing from under the threshold of the house of the Lord (Ezekiel 47). (Comp. Zec_14:8; Rev_22:1.)
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The valley of Shittim.—Heb., acacias. Shittim, in the land of Moab, is symbolical of the barrenness and sterility of land where there is no water; of the dry places of the world, where there are trees lacking moisture: the heathen, to whom God is not known, shall yet become covered with the knowledge of the Lord.
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 vv18–20 Vers. 18-21. These verses picture Judah and Jerusalem as…
Vers. 18-21. These verses picture Judah and Jerusalem as scenes of most abundant blessings, while Egypt and Edom are doomed to irretrievable barrenness and desolation. But, as the language must be understood figuratively, the prosperity of the Lord"s laud is set in contrast with the countries of the world-powers; but the contrast includes, as we think, the allotments of eternity as well as the destinies of time.
In that day. These words express the state of things consequent on the judgment just executed. The mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow (margin, go) with waters. Thus the mountains are represented as covered over with vines of richest growth and terraced to the top; the hills as affording most luxuriant pastures and clothed with flocks; the rivers, dried up in summer and reduced to dried-up river-beds, flowing unintermittingly and coursing along with full stream. To exuberance of wine and milk is added, what is no less valuable in a thirsty Eastern land, abundance of water. The source of this abundant supply is a fountain; the fountain-head is the house of the Lord; thence proceeds a broad deep stream, which makes its way to the Jordan valley and across the river to the dry trans-Jordanic valley of acacias, as it is added: A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim; from which statement we must conclude the figurative signification of the whole of this and the following verses. Parallels for some of the above expressions are not far to seek. Ovid"s description of the golden age, in which be speaks of rivers of milk and rivers of nectar and honey dropping from the green palm tree, is cited by Rosenmuller; while the "Speaker"s Commentary" quotes from the "Bacchae" of Euripides the lines about the plain flowing with milk, flowing with wine, and flowing with the nectar of the bees. Instead of the "hills flowing with milk," we should rather expect the milk to be spoken of as flowing; the hypallage, however, as we may consider it, makes the clause more symmetrical with those between which it stands. Thus Kimchi: "The meaning of "They shall flow (go) with milk," is from the abundance of the flowing and running: he applies the name of flowing (going) to the hills, even although that the milk is that which goes and flows." And in reference to the following clause he says, "He uses the name of going to the channels." That is one side of the picture. We are now invited to look on this
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Vers. 18-21. The promise of plenty.
These verses contain the concluding promises of the closing chapter of this book of Scripture.
I THERE IS THE PROMISE OF PLENTY. Some understand the whole of this verse as referring to spiritual blessings, especially in millennial times. "But though the prophecy belongs eminently to one time, the imagery describes the fulness of spiritual blessings which God at all times diffuses in and through the Church; and these blessings, he says, shall continue on in her for ever; her enemies shall be cut off for ever." Others, understanding these blessings as promised to the Jeers when restored and converted, understand the last clause of the verse as relating to spiritual, and the preceding to temporal, blessings. In either case the language is beautifully poetic, and conveys the idea of exuberant blessings. The mountains, covered with vineyards, shall yield abundance of wine, or, without human toil, shall spontaneously pour it forth; the hills shall be clothed with flocks, or, of their own accord, shall yield abundance of milk; the rivers, even the tiny channels, never again reduced to dry river-beds, shall gush perennially, or overflow their banks. Thus there shall be abundance of wine for refreshment, of milk for nourishment, and of water for allaying thirst or fertilizing what would otherwise be a dry, parched land. The last clause can only be referred to spiritual blessings, both because of its source the house of the Lord and its course, extending to the valley of acacias, seven and a half miles to the east of the Dead Sea. This is the stream, "the Siloah," whose streamlets, i.e. the artificial fertilizing divisions, which made glad the city of God, shall make the wildest, driest spots of our mortality like the garden of the Lord.
II THERE IS THE PROMISE OF PERPETUITY. While the enemies of God, like Egypt, the ancient oppressor of his people, and Edom, their constant enemy, are devoted to destruction, Judah the country and Jerusalem the city all the members of the Church of Christ shall enjoy a perpetuity of blessing in time, and an eternity of bliss when time shall be no more. "Egypt and Edom and all the enemies of God shall come to an end; but his people shall never come to an end." The Judah that truly praise God, the Israel that without ceasing pray to God, shall outlive all the machinations of the wicked; the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. "The enemy shall not destroy her; time shall not consume her; she shall never decay. The people of God shall abide before him and through him here, and shall dwell with him for ever.
III THERE IS THE PROMISE OF PURITY. This blessing contains the reason of all the rest. It is the cause of the plenty and perpetuity and all other privileges. If we accept the Authorized Version of the last verse, we conclude from it that all the guilt of sin, especially their blood-guiltiness, shall be purged away. The people of God, both Jew and Gentile, shall in the day of God"s gracious visitation be cleansed from sin and throughly washed from all iniquity; otherwise they could not be fit for full communion with God. As long as we are defiled by sin, we are odious to the holiness and obnoxious to the justice of God. It is only when washed in the opened fountain, and purified by that blood which cleanseth from all sin, that we are made meet for the holy companionship of heaven. Here in the Church below the lessons of the Divine Word, the ordinances of religion, the providences of God, sometimes pleasant, oftener painful, but above all and giving efficacy to all, the blood of atonement, purge away our sins. But whatever is amiss in the Church or the Christian on earth shall be amended, whatever is wrong shall be, rectified; and the Church, as the individual soul, shall be without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Spiritual prosperity.
The language of the prophet in this passage is obviously figurative. In poetical terms, the boldness and beauty of which are not exceeded by the graceful and imaginative writers of classical antiquity, Joel depicts the reign of peace, plenty, and prosperity. Literally these words have not been, and will not be, fulfilled. To some they speak of a restoration of Israel, yet in the future, of a period when all the delights that a nation can enjoy shall be secured in abundance to the descendants of Abraham. It seems a more sober and more profitable interpretation to read in these words a prediction of the spiritual prosperity of God"s people, whether to be enjoyed upon this earth or in the new heavens and the new earth.
I THE MOUNTAINS DROPPING WINE SYMBOLIZE THE SPIRITUAL JOYS OF CHRIST"S CHURCH. The Scriptures speak of wine as "making glad the heart of man." The "new wine" of the gospel is for the enjoyment of the elect. The wine of the kingdom is of celestial vintage; they who partake of it are "filled with the Spirit." The joy of the new covenant, the joy of the Lord, is the portion of the rescued, emancipated, and consecrated Israel.
II THE HILLS FLOWING WITH MILK SYMBOLIZE THE SPIRITUAL NUTRIMENT OF CHRIST"S CHURCH. We are taught by the apostle to "desire the sincere milk of the Word, that we may grow thereby." Even the babes in Christ can partake of this nourishing spiritual diet; but the strong men do not disdain the food. As Canaan was "a land flowing with milk and honey," so the Church of the blessed Saviour abounds with all that can enrich and nourish and bless the people of God. "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.
III THE RIVERS FLOWING WITH WATERS SYMBOLIZE THE REVIVAL AND REFRESHMENT OF CHRIST"S CHURCH, Several of the prophets, expatiating (as they loved to do) upon the glorious prospect afforded them by inspiration of the future of the Church, describe one element of that happy future by the figure of a river flowing from its source in the Lord"s house at Jerusalem, and fertilizing the soil until it should enter the Dead Sea or the Mediterranean. And the Apostle John beheld the river of the water of life, flowing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. How exact is the correspondence between the prediction and the reality! It was in Jerusalem that Jesus was condemned, and hard by that he suffered; and his cross was the source of a river of spiritual blessing to mankind. Wherever his Spirit penetrates, there life is revived, souls are saved, society is purified, weariness is refreshed. Not earth only, but heaven, is fertilized and cheered by the water which Christ gives in a sweet, unceasing stream. T.
Vers. 18-21. The millennium era.
"And it shall come to pass in that day," etc. This passage begins with a splendid representation of the glorious prosperity which shall attend the people of God after the destruction of all their enemies. Whatever their application to the Jews at any period of their history, they certainly bear an application to that period foretold by prophets and sung by poets, the millennial period. Giving it this application, observe
I IT WILL BE AN ERA OF PLENTIFUL PROVISION. "And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim." Fertilizing streams will irrigate the land. The vineyards on the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the well-fed cattle shall yield abundance of milk. The idea is, in that age there will be a profusion of all that is necessary to supply the needs and gratify the desires of men. The time, I verily believe, will come when pauperism will be banished from the earth, when indigence, squalor, and want will be evils existing only in the history of the past. Even now it does not require the earth to he more fruitful than it is, to yield mankind ample supplies. What is wanted is men less avaricious, indolent, extravagant, intemperate, and wasteful.
II IT WILL BE AN ERA OF COMPLETE CONQUEST. "Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land." Egypt and Edom, the old and inveterate enemies of the Jews, are here represented as crushed into utter desolation. Error and sin are the Egypt and Edom of the world. These will be crushed one day. The great moral Deliverer will bruise Satan under our feet, will put down all rule and authority, will make mankind more than conquerors. There is a period of moral conquest and moral kingship that will dawn upon souls before the history of the world is over.
III IT IS AN ERA OF ABIDING PROSPERITY. "Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation." So long as the earth endures the righteous shall continue. They will endure throughout all generations, and happiness will attend them. The kingdom of truth, purity, love, and peace, which Christ is now building up, and which one day he will make commensurate with the world, will continue from generation to generation; it will have no end.
IV IT IS AN ERA OF MORAL PURITY. "For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed." That is, I will radically cleanse them. Their very blood, which has been a current of moral pollution, I will make pure in every particle. I will cleanse, not merely their skin, or their external parts, but the whole current of their life.
Such is the era which the passage anyhow suggests; such is the era that awaits the earth. Would that it had dawned! Haste, ye circling seasons, and bring it on or rather haste, ye servants of Christ, to disseminate those principles of the gospel over the earth in whose mature development consists the blessed era! "The time shall come when every evil thing From being and remembrance both shall die; The world one solid temple of pure gold. ("Festus.") 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 v18 And it shall come to pass in that day,…
Joe_3:18-21
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine.
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The golden age
I. It will be an age in which great temporal prosperity will be witnessed. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters. Here we have set forth the temporal prosperity which the Church of God is destined to enjoy after the destruction of its enemies. The Church is now in great poverty. It does not possess the good things of the material universe. The world itself is barren. It is rendered so by greed and covetousness. But the day is coming when the meek shall inherit the earth, and when the earth shall spontaneously and richly yield her increase. The earth shall yield her harvest responsive to the smile of heaven.
II. It will be an age in which the hallowed moral influences of the sanctuary shall pervade society. And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Thus in the age to come there will issue from the sanctuary of the Lord a moral influence as pure, refreshing, and quickening as a stream of water, which shall be beneficial to the social life of men; indeed, society will be pervaded by the tide of thought, feeling, and praise which takes its rise in the secret place of the Most High. This tide shall reach even to the valley of Shittim; the most distant and barren places of society shall be awakened into moral verdure by the advent of the life-giving stream.
III. It will be an age in which moral goodness will be continuous and progressive. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Then the redemption of the good will be eternal. They shall never again be led into captivity. Their moral condition will be permanent and happy: they shall dwell in it for ever. Sin of every kind is doomed to become a desolate wilderness; but purity, righteousness, truth, and virtuous character shall continue and progress in meaning and splendour through the ages.
IV. It will be an age in which the Divine presence will be richly manifested. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. The men of the age will be made morally pure, and then God will come and dwell in their midst. Lessons:--
1. The world has not yet reached its ideal condition.
2. There are agencies at work seeking to bring the world under Divine influences.
3. Let us derive encouragement from this picture of the future of the race. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Purified:
These words must be understood in the Christian and spiritual, not in the Jewish and literal sense. The Judah here spoken of is the spiritual Judah; those who are followers of the Lord, by the regenerating grace of God.
I. Vital consecration to god. I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed. Take this strictly in a spiritual sense.
1. Medicinally. Illustrate by the circumstances of the cleansing of the leper. It is said, the priest shall consider; and we may be sure the Great Physician will consider those who seek Him with their sin-disease. And He will cleanse them, even cleanse the blood which is the life.
2. It relates to their citizenship. For nothing that defileth, worketh abomination, and maketh a lie, can enter into the city, can be reckoned a citizen.
II. The presence of the Lord. The Lord dwelleth in Zion.
1. As the strength of Zion. It is strong if salvation be the walls.
2. As the security, or peace, of Zion. The defence of His people.
3. As the source of happiness to His people. (James Wells.)
A happy Church
Three things promised it.
1. Purity. I will cleanse, etc. Put last here, as a reason for the rest.
2. Plenty. The mountains shall drop new wine. Such abundance shall they have of suitable provision.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns the rest.
(1) The Church of Christ shall continue in the world to the end of time. All the living members of that Church shall be established in their happiness to the utmost ages of eternity. (Matthew Henry.)
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.--
God and the Church
The statement of the prophet amounts to this--that the Lord bears a peculiar relation to the Church.
I. The Church is the greatest Witness of God. The very existence of the Church on earth shows that it is a witness of Gods being, providence, and redemption. This will appear if we consider--
1. The Church of God is decidedly opposed to the principles and practice of the great mass of mankind. Its creed and conduct are thought to be holy, just, benevolent, and productive of happiness.
2. A great portion of mankind have in every age and clime opposed the Church. You cannot put your finger on a page of ecclesiastical history without discovering this.
3. Still the Church not only has existed, but it has increased. I am not able to account for this unless it be Divine interposition. From these considerations we can confidently say that the Church is a living witness of God in the midst of faithless generations. May it ever be a bold, brave, honest witness against sin in all its forms.
II. The Church is the brightest illustration of God.
1. By publishing Gods own revelations. This was done by writing, translating, and printing. If this had not been done, we should have been to this day under the influence of Druidism. Let the Word of God have free course, and wherever it goes it will cause the wilderness to blossom as the rose, and the parched earth to appear in verdure, fertility, and beauty.
2. By imitating His moral perfections. It not only says such a being as God exists, but in effect says, Look on me, and you shall see Gods character exhibited. One of the servants of Plato said once, very sagaciously, Plato has written a book against anger, and yet he is one of the most angry of men. Christians speak much of Christianity as a system of love, yet they are hating and persecuting one another.
III. The Church is the highest instrument of God.
1. It ameliorates the outward sufferings of the world. I believe that there is throughout the world a favourable disposition towards Christianity, because it is calculated to better the temporal condition of mankind. Let us endeavour not to contradict this impression.
2. It converts the moral heart of the world. What a noble work God has given His Church to do; what a solemn charge! The conversion of the whole world. Let every individual feel his own responsibility. Let us unite in prayer, that we may be baptized with the Holy Ghost. (Caleb Morris.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v18 Joe_3:18.] After judgment upon all nations, the land of…
CRITICAL NOTES.
Joe_3:18.] After judgment upon all nations, the land of Jehovah shall overflow with Divine blessings; but the seat of the world will become barren waste. Drop] Poetic for great fertility, happy times and plenty. Valley of Shittim] Even the arid desert shall be fertilized with blessings from Jerusalem (Zec_14:8; Rev_22:2).
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Joe_3:19. Egypt and Edom] Both remarkable for enmity to Jews and emblems of enemies to God’s people. They have been desolate for centuries (Isa_19:1; Jer_49:17; Oba_1:10).
Joe_3:20. Dwell] Abide; the true Church shall never be destroyed, but all false, persecuting people will be annihilated (Amo_9:15).
Joe_3:21. Cleanse] Wipe away blood-guiltiness, the climax of her sin, and for long not purged away, but visited with judgment. Amid extraordinary manifestations of wrath in the destruction of the wicked, Israel will be saved, and learn anew that Jehovah is their holy God and King.
HOMILETICS
THE NEW WORLD.—Joe_3:18-21
In these verses, says Lowth, “either the times of the Messiah are described, or we have a description of Jerusalem after its final restoration, when a golden age shall commence among its inhabitants, and when the knowledge of God and his Christ shall a second time be widely diffused from it.”
I. The scene of manifold blessings. These blessings are predicted under significant figures. “The mountains drop down new wine and the hills flow with milk” in rich abundance. Divine influences will attend the preaching of the word, converts shall rapidly increase in number and fruitfulness, the ordinances of religion shall water the land and make it exceedingly productive. “All the rivers of Judah” shall make glad this world of beauty, and streams of pure water shall quench the thirst and quicken the virtues of its people.
II. The abode of perfect happiness.
1. Freedom from foes. Inveterate enemies, as Egypt and Edom, will be destroyed. All opposition, violence, and cruelty to God’s people will be at an end. They shall be free from injury and perpetuated to the end of time.
2. Freedom from barrenness. “A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord” to fertilize the most unproductive regions. Temporal blessings shall be accompanied with spiritual blessings without stint or measure. The vivifying and refreshing waters of life shall flow from Christ to bless the capital and the world. “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be” (Zec_14:8).
III. The residence of righteous people. The inhabitants will be purged and cleansed from sin. Pollution in general shall be wiped away. Special sins, such as shedding innocent blood, shall be forgiven. Knowledge shall spread, and every one shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest. There will be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. No strangers will defile nor disturb the peace and prosperity of these happy regions. God will dwell and make his Church a fit residence for his presence and praise. In his presence will be fulness of joy, and at his right hand pleasures for evermore. Seek to be numbered with the saints in glory. While on earth prepare for this glorious era. Help it on by daily effort and incessant prayer.
Teach us in watchfulness and prayer
To wait for the appointed hour;
And fit us by thy grace to share
The triumphs of thy conquering power.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joe_3:18. The glorious fountain. I. Its source. “The house of the Lord.” All springs of grace, comfort, and glory are in God. These blessings take their rise in the sanctuary, like the waters of Ezekiel (Eze_47:1), or those from under the threshold of the temple. The ordinances of God’s house are like fountains of joy and refreshment to thirsty souls. II. Its abundance. It is a fountain, not a mere spring. An abundance to fill all the rivers, lit. channels of Judah. Rivers of living water flow from the Spirit (Joh_7:38). There is no scarcity of gospel blessings to sinners and saints. III. Its fertility. It creates fertility in the king’s gardens (2Ki_25:4; Jer_39:4). The waters in Christ vivify and refresh the barren spots in the Church. Valleys of Shittim, arid deserts, shall be fruitful. “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High” (Psa_46:4).
Or if Zion’s hill
Delight thee more, or Siloa’s fount that flowed
Hard by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thine aid to my adventurous song.
Joe_3:19.
1. The desolation. In contrast to the fruitfulness of the Church, the curse falls upon open enemies and treacherous friends. The low condition of Egypt and Edom for centuries proves the truth of this prediction (Isa_19:1; Jer_49:17). So at the second coming of Christ all foes of Israel typified by these nations shall be destroyed.
2. The cause of the desolation. (a) Violence to God’s people (Eze_25:12-13). (b) Shedding innocent blood. How highly does God esteem the death of his people, the blood of the faithful. The warning is repeated time after time to deter nations from the danger. In every place where his cause and crown have been disregarded ruin has followed. Sin blights nations, destroys their palaces, and desolates their land. “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.” “The three words of Joel, Egypt shall become desolation, are more comprehensive than any prophecy, except those by Ezekiel. They foretell that abiding condition, not only by force of the words, but by the contrast with an abiding condition of bliss. The words say, not only ‘it shall be desolated,’ as by a passing scourge sweeping over it, but it shall ‘itself pass over into that state;’ it shall become what it had not been; and this in contrast with the abiding condition of God’s people. The contrast is like that of the Psalmist (Psa_107:33-35). Judah should overflow with blessing, and the streams of God’s grace should pass beyond its bounds, and carry fruitfulness to what now was dry and barren. But what should reject his grace should be itself rejected” [Pusey].
Joe_3:20. The perpetuity of the Church. Egypt and Edom, all enemies of God, will come to an end. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. No enemy can destroy, no ages consume her. She knows no injury, nor decay. The Church of God shall abide in him and by him on earth, and shall dwell with him for ever.
Joe_3:21. This verse has been interpreted in various ways. God would cleanse, or pronounce the blood which had been shed by the enemies to be innocent. This cleansing or sentence would be accomplished by punishing those who shed it. “I will exact full atonement of their enemies for all their oppressions and violence.” Or the meaning may be, “I will blot out their own transgressions, so far as these have not already been purged away.” In one case, the principle is that guilt cannot be cleansed without complete satisfaction. In the other, that security with God can only be enjoyed by removal of all transgression. Hence peace and security with God by atonement for guilt.
1. To the sinner. Guilt must be removed, justice satisfied, and everything taken away which renders him unfit for God’s presence. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.
2. To the Church. The security and happiness of the Church depend upon God’s presence. God will not dwell with a worldly people. “Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.” God will not dwell with evil, nor will he tolerate it in the believer, or in his house. Only when cleansed from blood are we fit for the dwelling of the Holy God and King.
The crown and seal. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
1. To sanctify.
2. To be praised.
3. To defend. “And the nam of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (Eze_48:35)
The Church has all her foes defied,
And laughed to scorn their rage;
E’en thus for aye, she shall abide
Secure from age to age.
HOMILETICS
THE FINAL SCENE.—Joe_3:1-21
The whole of this chapter may be summed up into two parts, of unequal length and graphic description.
I. God’s judgment upon the nations. Joe_3:1-16.
1. The verdict pronounced in time and place with its nature and ground (Joe_3:1-8).
2. The sentence executed (Joe_3:9-16). The call to hear it (Joe_3:9-11); the throne from which it is given (Joe_3:11-12); and the dreadful overthrow which it specifies (Joe_3:13-16).
II. The final glory of God’s kingdom. Joe_3:17-21.
1. The presence of God in it (Joe_3:17).
2. Its abundant blessings (Joe_3:18).
3. Its perpetual blessedness (Joe_3:19-21). This is contrasted with the destruction of its enemies, and all that oppress its subjects. “In fine,” says a writer, “the closing chapter of Joel’s prophecy is a brief apocalypse, cast in the forms of Hebrew thought and story indeed, and only dimly bodied out, yet setting forth, in language which even the Jews could not and do not mistake, the terrors of the last judgment, the issue of the time long struggle of good with evil, and the golden age of peace and fruitful service, which is to succeed to the conflicts and storms of time.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Joe_3:19. A French traveller thus describes this desolation—“Instead of those ancient cultivated and fertile plains, one only finds, here and there, canals filled up, or cut in two, whose numerous ramifications, crossing each other in every direction, exhibit only some scarcely distinguishable traces of a system of irrigation: instead of those villages and populous cities, one sees only masses of bare and arid ruins, remnants of ancient habitations reduced to ashes; lastly, one finds only lagoons, miry and pestilential, or sterile sands, which extend themselves, and unceasingly invade a land, which the industry of man had gained from the desert and the sea.”
Joe_3:20-21. The human mind has ever conceived a reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked in a future state. Heaven is all the more resplendent by contrast with the dark back-ground of another state.
If there’s a Power above us
(And that there is, all Nature cries aloud,
Through all her works), He must delight in virtue,
And they, whom he delights in, must be happy.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 20 General Information:
General Information:
God continues to speak about the day of the Lord.
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It will come about on that day that the mountains
"This is what will happen on that day: the mountains" Translate "It will come about" as in Joel 2:28.
the mountains will drip with sweet wine
"sweet wine will drip from the mountains." This is an exaggeration to show that the land is very fertile. AT: "On the mountains there will be vineyards that produce plenty of sweet wine" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
the hills will flow with milk
"milk will flow from the hills." The land being very fertile is spoken of as if the hills would flow with milk. AT: "on the hills your cattle and goats will produce plenty of milk" (See: Metaphor)
all the brooks of Judah will flow with water
"water will flow through all the brooks of Judah"
water the Valley of Shittim
"will send water to the Valley of Shittim"
Shittim
the name of a place on the east side of the Jordan River. It means "Acacia Trees." (See: How to Translate Names)
Egypt will become an abandoned devastation
"Everyone will leave Egypt and no one will live there"
Edom will become an abandoned wilderness
"Everyone will leave Edom and it will look like no people have ever lived there"
because of the violence done to the people of Judah
"because of the violent things Egypt and Edom did to the people of Judah"
because they shed innocent blood in their land
The word "they" refers to "Edom" and "Egypt" and is a metonym for the people of Egypt and Edom. The words "innocent blood" are a metonym for innocent people whom they have killed. AT: "because the people of Egypt and the people of Edom killed innocent people in the land of the people of Judah" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
wine
Judah
Yahweh
Egypt
Edom
desert
innocent
blood
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 vv18–20 3:18 Blessings would flow from the Lord’s sovereign presence…
3:18 Blessings would flow from the Lord’s sovereign presence in Zion (see also Ezek 47:1-12; Amos 9:13). There would be a superabundance of sweet wine and milk. The Temple, God’s own dwelling on earth, would be the source of a spring that would forever water the arid landscape (see Zech 14:8; Rev 22:1-2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.