mh_parser/vol_split/29 - Joel/Chapter 1.xml

<div2 id="Joel.ii" n="ii" next="Joel.iii" prev="Joel.i" progress="79.81%" title="Chapter I">
<h2 id="Joel.ii-p0.1">J O E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Joel.ii-p0.2">CHAP. I.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Joel.ii-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter is the description of a lamentable
devastation made of the country of Judah by locusts and
caterpillars. Some think that the prophet speaks of it as a thing
to come and gives warning of it beforehand, as usually the prophets
did of judgments coming. Others think that it was now present, and
that his business was to affect the people with it and awaken them
by it to repentance. I. It is spoken of as a judgment which there
was no precedent of in former ages, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.1-Joel.1.7" parsed="|Joel|1|1|1|7" passage="Joe 1:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>. II. All sorts of people sharing in
the calamity are called upon to lament it, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.8-Joel.1.13" parsed="|Joel|1|8|1|13" passage="Joe 1:8-13">ver. 8-13</scripRef>. III. They are directed to look
up to God in their lamentations, and to humble themselves before
him, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.14-Joel.1.20" parsed="|Joel|1|14|1|20" passage="Joe 1:14-20">ver. 14-20</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Joel.ii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1" parsed="|Joel|1|0|0|0" passage="Joe 1" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Joel.ii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.1-Joel.1.7" parsed="|Joel|1|1|1|7" passage="Joe 1:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.ii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Joel.ii-p1.7">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.ii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p2.1">Lord</span> that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
  2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of
the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your
fathers?   3 Tell ye your children of it, and <i>let</i> your
children <i>tell</i> their children, and their children another
generation.   4 That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the
locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the
canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath
the caterpillar eaten.   5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and
howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is
cut off from your mouth.   6 For a nation is come up upon my
land, strong, and without number, whose teeth <i>are</i> the teeth
of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.   7 He
hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it
clean bare, and cast <i>it</i> away; the branches thereof are made
white.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p3" shownumber="no">It is a foolish fancy which some of the
Jews have, that this Joel the prophet was the same with that Joel
who was the son of Samuel (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.8.2" parsed="|1Sam|8|2|0|0" passage="1Sa 8:2">1 Sam. viii.
2</scripRef>); yet one of their rabbin very gravely undertakes to
show why Samuel is here called <i>Pethuel.</i> This Joel was long
after that. He here speaks of a sad and sore judgment which was now
brought, or to be brought, upon Judah, for their sins. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The greatness of the judgment, expressed
here in two things:—1. It was such as could not be paralleled in
the ages that were past, in history, or in the memory of any
living, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.2" parsed="|Joel|1|2|0|0" passage="Joe 1:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. The
<i>old men</i> are appealed to, who could remember what had
happened long ago; nay, and <i>all the inhabitants of the land</i>
are called on to testify, if they could any of them remember the
like. Let them go further than any man's memory, and <i>prepare
themselves for the search of their fathers</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.8.8" parsed="|Job|8|8|0|0" passage="Job 8:8">Job viii. 8</scripRef>), and they would not find an
account of the like in any record. Note, Those that outdo their
predecessors in sin may justly expect to fall under greater and
sorer judgments than any of their predecessors knew. 2. It was such
as would not be forgotten in the ages to come (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.3" parsed="|Joel|1|3|0|0" passage="Joe 1:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>Tell you your children of
it;</i> let them know what dismal tokens of the wrath of God you
have been under, that they make take warning, and may learn
obedience by the things which you have suffered, for it is designed
for warning to them also. Yea, let <i>your children tell their
children, and their children another generation;</i> let them tell
it not only as a strange thing, which may serve for matter of talk"
(as such uncommon accidents are records in our almanacs—It is so
long since the plague, and fire—so long since the great frost, and
the great wind), "but let them tell it to <i>teach their
children</i> to stand in awe of God and of his judgments, and to
tremble before him." Note, We ought to transmit to posterity the
memorial of God's judgments as well as of his mercies.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p5" shownumber="no">II. The judgment itself; it is an invasion
of the country of Judea by a great army. Many interpreters both
ancient and modern understand it of armies of men, the forces of
the Assyrians, which, under Sennacherib, <i>took all the defenced
cities of Judah,</i> and then, no doubt, made havoc of the country
and destroyed the products of it: nay, some make the four sorts of
animals here names (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.4" parsed="|Joel|1|4|0|0" passage="Joe 1:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>) to signify the four monarchies which, in their turns,
were oppressive to the people of the Jews, one destroying what had
escaped the fury of the other. Many of the Jewish expositors think
it is a parabolic expression of the coming of enemies, and their
multitude, to lay all waste. So the Chaldee paraphrast mentions
these animals (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.4" parsed="|Joel|1|4|0|0" passage="Joe 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>);
but afterwards (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.25" parsed="|Joel|2|25|0|0" passage="Joe 2:25"><i>ch.</i> ii.
25</scripRef>) puts instead of them, <i>Nations, peoples, tongues,
languages, potentates,</i> and <i>revenging kingdoms.</i> But it
seems much rather to be understood literally of armies of insects
coming upon the land and eating up the fruits of it. Locusts were
one of the plagues of Egypt. Of them it is said, There never were
any like them, nor should be (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.10.14" parsed="|Exod|10|14|0|0" passage="Ex 10:14">Exod. x.
14</scripRef>), none such as those in Egypt, none such as these in
Judah—none like those locusts for bigness, none like these for
multitude and the mischief they did. The plague of locusts in Egypt
lasted but for a few days; this seems to have continued for four
years successively (as some think), because here are four sorts of
insects mentioned (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.4" parsed="|Joel|1|4|0|0" passage="Joe 1:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), one destroying what the other left; but others think
they came all in one year. We are not told, in the history of the
Old Testament, when this happened, but we are sure that no word of
God fell to the ground; and, though a devastation by these insects
is primarily intended here, yet it is expressed in such a language
as is very applicable to the destruction of the country by a
foreign enemy invading it, because, if the people were not humbled
and reformed by that less judgment which devoured the land, God
would send this greater upon them, which would devour the
inhabitants; and by the description of that they are bidden to take
it for a warning. If this nation of worms do not subdue them,
another nation shall come to ruin them. Observe, 1. What these
animals are that are sent against them—<i>locusts</i> and
<i>caterpillars, palmer-worms</i> and <i>canker-worms,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.4" parsed="|Joel|1|4|0|0" passage="Joe 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. We cannot now
describe how these differed one from another; they were all little
insects, any one of them despicable, and which a man might easily
crush with his foot or with his finger; but when they came in vast
swarms, or shoals, they were very formidable and ate up all before
them. Note, God is Lord of hosts, has all creatures at his command,
and, when he pleases, can humble and mortify a proud and rebellious
people by the weakest and most contemptible creatures. Man is said
to be a worm; and by this it appears that he is <i>less than a
worm,</i> for, when God pleases, worms are too hard for him,
plunder his country, eat up that for which he laboured, destroy the
forage, and cut off the subsistence of a potent nation. The weaker
the instrument is that God employs the more is his power magnified.
2. What fury and force they came with. They are here called a
<i>nation</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.6" parsed="|Joel|1|6|0|0" passage="Joe 1:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>),
because they are embodied, and act by consent, and as it were with
a common design; for, though <i>the locusts have no king, yet they
go forth all of them by bands</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.30.27" parsed="|Prov|30|27|0|0" passage="Pr 30:27">Prov. xxx. 27</scripRef>), and it is there mentioned as
an instance of their <i>wisdom.</i> It is prudence for those that
are weak severally to unite and act jointly. They are
<i>strong,</i> for they are <i>without number.</i> The <i>small
dust of the balance</i> is light, and easily blown away, but a heap
of dust is weighty; so a worm can do little (yet one worm served to
destroy Jonah's gourd), but numbers of them can do wonders. They
are said to have <i>teeth of a lion,</i> of a <i>great lion,</i>
because of the great and terrible execution they do. Note, Locusts
become as lions when they come armed with a divine commission. We
read of the locusts out of the bottomless pit, that <i>their teeth
were as the teeth of lions,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Rev.9.8" parsed="|Rev|9|8|0|0" passage="Re 9:8">Rev. ix.
8</scripRef>. 3. What mischief they do. They <i>eat up</i> all
before them (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.4" parsed="|Joel|1|4|0|0" passage="Joe 1:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>);
what one leaves the other devours; they destroy not only the grass
and corn, but the trees (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.7" parsed="|Joel|1|7|0|0" passage="Joe 1:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): The <i>vine is laid waste.</i> There vermin eat the
leaves which should be a shelter to the fruit while it ripens, and
so that also perishes and comes to nothing. They eat the very bark
of the fig-tree, and so kill it. Thus the <i>fig-tree does not
blossom,</i> nor is there <i>fruit in the vine.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p6" shownumber="no">III. A call to the drunkards to lament this
judgment (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.5" parsed="|Joel|1|5|0|0" passage="Joe 1:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>):
<i>Awake and weep, all you drinkers of wine.</i> This intimates, 1.
That they should suffer very sensibly by this calamity. It should
touch them in a tender part; the <i>new wine</i> which they loved
so well should be <i>cut off from their mouth.</i> Note, It is just
with God to take away those comforts which are abused to luxury and
excess, to <i>recover</i> the <i>corn and wine</i> which are
<i>prepared</i> for Baal, which are made the food and fuel of a
base lust. And to them judgments of that kind are most grievous.
The more men place their happiness in the gratification of sense
the more pressing temporal afflictions are upon them. The drinkers
of water need not to care when the vine was laid waste; they could
live as well without it as they had done; it was no trouble to the
Nazarites. But the <i>drinkers of wine</i> will <i>weep and
howl.</i> The more delights we make necessary to our satisfaction
the more we expose ourselves to trouble and disappointment. 2. It
intimates that they had been very senseless and stupid under the
former tokens of God's displeasure; and therefore they are here
called to <i>awake and weep.</i> Those that will not be roused out
of their security by the word of God shall be roused by his rod;
those that will not be startled by judgments at a distance shall be
themselves arrested by them; and when they are going to partake of
the forbidden fruit a prohibition of another nature shall come
<i>between the cup and the lip,</i> and <i>cut off the wine from
their mouth.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.ii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.8-Joel.1.13" parsed="|Joel|1|8|1|13" passage="Joe 1:8-13" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.ii-p6.3">
<h4 id="Joel.ii-p6.4">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p6.5">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.ii-p7" shownumber="no">8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for
the husband of her youth.   9 The meat offering and the drink
offering is cut off from the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p7.1">Lord</span>; the priests, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p7.2">Lord</span>'s ministers, mourn.   10 The field is
wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is
dried up, the oil languisheth.   11 Be ye ashamed, O ye
husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the
barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.   12 The
vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate
tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, <i>even</i> all the
trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from
the sons of men.   13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests:
howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth,
ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink
offering is withholden from the house of your God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p8" shownumber="no">The judgment is here described as very
lamentable, and such as all sorts of people should share in; it
shall not only rob the drunkards of their pleasure (if that were
the worst of it, it might be the better borne), but it shall
deprive others of their necessary subsistence, who are therefore
called to lament (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.8" parsed="|Joel|1|8|0|0" passage="Joe 1:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), as a virgin laments the death of her lover to whom
she was espoused, but not completely married, yet so that he was in
effect her husband, or as a young woman lately married, from whom
the <i>husband of her youth,</i> her young husband, or the husband
to whom she was married when she was young, is suddenly taken away
by death. Between a new-married couple that are young, that married
for love, and that are every way amiable and agreeable to each
other, there is great fondness, and consequently great grief if
either be taken away. Such lamentation shall there be for the loss
of their corn and wine. Note, The more we are wedded to our
creature-comforts that harder it is to part with them. See that
parallel place, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.10-Isa.32.12" parsed="|Isa|32|10|32|12" passage="Isa 32:10-12">Isa. xxxii.
10-12</scripRef>. Two sorts of people are here brought in, as
concerned to lament this devastation, countrymen and clergymen.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p9" shownumber="no">I. Let the husbandmen and vine-dressers
lament, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.11" parsed="|Joel|1|11|0|0" passage="Joe 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. Let
them be ashamed of the care and pains they have taken about their
vineyards, for it will be all labour lost, and they shall gain no
advantage by it; they shall see the fruit of their labour eaten up
before their eyes, and shall not be able to save any of it. Note,
Those who labour only <i>for the meat that perishes</i> will,
sooner or later, be ashamed of their labour. The
<i>vine-dressers</i> will then express their extreme grief by
<i>howling,</i> when they see their vineyards stripped of leaves
and fruit, and the vines withered, so that nothing is to be had or
hoped for from them, wherewith they might pay their rent and
maintain their families. The destruction is particularly described
here: <i>The field is laid waste</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.10" parsed="|Joel|1|10|0|0" passage="Joe 1:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>).; all is consumed that is
produced; <i>the land mourns;</i> the ground has a melancholy
aspect, and looks ruefully; all the inhabitants of the land are in
tears for what they have lost, are in fear of perishing for want,
<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.24.4 Bible:Jer.4.28" parsed="|Isa|24|4|0|0;|Jer|4|28|0|0" passage="Isa 24:4,Jer 4:28">Isa. xxiv. 4; Jer. iv.
28</scripRef>. "The <i>corn,</i> the bread-corn, which is the staff
of life, is <i>wasted;</i> the <i>new wine,</i> which should be
brought into the cellars for a supply when the old is drunk, is
<i>dried up,</i> is <i>ashamed</i> of having promised so fair what
it is not now able to perform; the oil <i>languishes,</i> or is
<i>diminished,</i> because (as the Chaldee renders it) <i>the
olives have fallen off.</i>" The people were not thankful to God as
they should have been for the <i>bread that strengthens man's
heart,</i> the <i>wine</i> that <i>makes glad the heart,</i> and
the <i>oil that makes the face to shine</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.14-Ps.104.15" parsed="|Ps|104|14|104|15" passage="Ps 104:14,15">Ps. civ. 14, 15</scripRef>); and therefore they are
justly brought to lament the loss and want of them, of all the
products of the earth, which God had given either for necessity or
for delight (this is repeated, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.11-Joel.1.12" parsed="|Joel|1|11|1|12" passage="Joe 1:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>)—the <i>wheat and
barley,</i> the two principal grains bread was then made of, wheat
for the rich and barley for the poor, so that the rich and poor
meet together in the calamity. The trees are destroyed, not only
the <i>vine and the fig-tree</i> (as before, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.7" parsed="|Joel|1|7|0|0" passage="Joe 1:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), which were more useful and
necessary, but other trees also that were for delight—the
<i>pomegranate, palm-tree,</i> and <i>apple-tree,</i> yea, all the
<i>trees of the field,</i> as well as those of the orchard,
timber-trees as well as fruit-trees. In short, all <i>the harvest
of the field has perished,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.11" parsed="|Joel|1|11|0|0" passage="Joe 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. And by this means <i>joy has
withered away from the children of men</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.11" parsed="|Joel|1|11|0|0" passage="Joe 1:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>); the <i>joy of harvest,</i>
which is used to express great and general joy, has come to
nothing, is turned into shame, is turned into lamentation. Note,
The perishing of the harvest is the withering of the joy of the
children of men. Those that place their happiness in the delights
of the sense, when they are deprived of them, or in any way
disturbed in the enjoyment of them, lose all their joy; whereas the
children of God, who look upon the pleasures of sense with holy
indifference and contempt, and know what it is to make God their
hearts' delight, can rejoice in him as the <i>God of their
salvation</i> even when the <i>fig-tree does not blossom;</i>
spiritual joy is so far from withering then, that it flourishes
more than ever, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Hab.3.17-Hab.3.18" parsed="|Hab|3|17|3|18" passage="Hab 3:17,18">Hab. iii. 17,
18</scripRef>. Let us see here, 1. What perishing uncertain things
all our creature-comforts are. We can never be sure of the
continuance of them. Here the heavens had given their rains in due
season, the earth had yielded her strength, and, when the appointed
weeks of harvest were at hand, they saw no reason to doubt but that
they should have a very plentiful crop; yet then they are invaded
by these unthought-of enemies, that lay all waste, and not by fire
and sword. It is our wisdom not to lay up our treasure in those
things which are liable to so many untoward accidents. 2. See what
need we have to live in continual dependence upon God and his
providence, for our own hands are not sufficient for us. When we
see the <i>full corn in the ear,</i> and think we are sure of
it—nay, when we have <i>brought it home,</i> if <i>he blow upon
it,</i> nay, if he do not bless it, we are not likely to have any
good of it. 3. See what ruinous work sin makes. A paradise is
turned into a wilderness, a fruitful land, the most fruitful land
upon earth, <i>into barrenness,</i> for the <i>iniquity of those
that dwelt therein.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p10" shownumber="no">II. Let the priests, the Lord's ministers,
lament, for they share deeply in the calamity: <i>Gird
yourselves</i> with sackcloth (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.13" parsed="|Joel|1|13|0|0" passage="Joe 1:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); nay, they <i>do mourn,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.9" parsed="|Joel|1|9|0|0" passage="Joe 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Observe, The
priests are called the <i>ministers of the altar,</i> for on that
they attended, and the <i>ministers of the Lord</i> (of <i>my
God,</i> says the prophet), for in attending on the altar they
served him, did is work, and did him honour. Note, Those that are
employed in holy things are therein God's ministers, and on him
they attend. The ministers of the altar used to rejoice before the
Lord, and to spend their time very much in singing; but now they
must <i>lament and howl,</i> for the <i>meat-offering</i> and
<i>drink-offering</i> were <i>cut off from the house of the
Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.9" parsed="|Joel|1|9|0|0" passage="Joe 1:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), and
the same again (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.13" parsed="|Joel|1|13|0|0" passage="Joe 1:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), <i>from the house of your God.</i> "He is your God
in a particular manner; you are in a nearer relation to him than
other Israelites are; and therefore it is expected that you should
be more concerned than others for that which is a hindrance to the
service of his sanctuary." It is intimated, 1. That the people, as
long as they had the fruits of the earth brought in in their
season, presented to the Lord his dues out of them, and brought the
offerings to the altar and tithes to those that served at the
altar. Note, A people may be filling up the measure of their
iniquity apace, and yet may keep up a course of external
performances in religion. 2. That, when the meat and drink failed,
the meat-offering and drink-offering failed of course; and this was
the sorest instance of the calamity. Note, As far as any public
trouble is an obstruction to the course of religion it is to be
upon that account, more than any other, sadly lamented, especially
by the priests, the Lord's ministers. As far as poverty occasions
the decay of piety and the neglect of divine offices, and starves
the cause of religion among a people, it is indeed a sore judgment.
When the famine prevailed God could not have his sacrifices, nor
could the priests have their maintenance; and therefore let <i>the
Lord's ministers mourn.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.ii-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.14-Joel.1.20" parsed="|Joel|1|14|1|20" passage="Joe 1:14-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.ii-p10.6">
<h4 id="Joel.ii-p10.7">Threatenings of Judgment; A Proclamation for
a Fast. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p10.8">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.ii-p11" shownumber="no">14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly,
gather the elders <i>and</i> all the inhabitants of the land
<i>into</i> the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p11.1">Lord</span>
your God, and cry unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p11.2">Lord</span>,
  15 Alas for the day! for the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p11.3">Lord</span> <i>is</i> at hand, and as a destruction
from the Almighty shall it come.   16 Is not the meat cut off
before our eyes, <i>yea,</i> joy and gladness from the house of our
God?   17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners
are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is
withered.   18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle
are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of
sheep are made desolate.   19 <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.ii-p11.4">O
Lord</span>, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the
pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees
of the field.   20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee:
for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured
the pastures of the wilderness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p12" shownumber="no">We have observed abundance of tears shed
for the destruction of the fruits of the earth by the locusts; now
here we have those tears turned into the right channel, that of
repentance and humiliation before God. The judgment was very heavy,
and here they are directed to own the hand of God in it, his
<i>mighty hand,</i> and to <i>humble themselves</i> under it. Here
is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p13" shownumber="no">I. A proclamation issued out for a general
fast. The priests are ordered to appoint one; they must not only
mourn themselves, but they must call upon others to mourn too:
"<i>Sanctify a fast;</i> let some time be set apart from all
worldly business to be spent in the exercises of religion, in the
expressions of repentance and other extraordinary instances of
devotion." Note, Under public judgments there ought to be public
humiliations; for by them the <i>Lord God calls to weeping and
mourning.</i> With all the marks of sorrow and shame sin must be
confessed and bewailed, the righteous of God must be acknowledged,
and his favour implored. Observe what is to be done by a nation at
such a time. 1. A day is to be appointed for this purpose, a <i>day
of restraint</i> (so the margin reads it), a day in which people
must be restrained from their other ordinary business (that they
may more closely attend God's service), and from all bodily
refreshments; for, 2. It must be a <i>fast,</i> a religious
abstaining from meat and drink, further than is of absolute
necessity. The king of Nineveh appointed a fast, in which they were
to <i>taste nothing,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.3.7" parsed="|Jonah|3|7|0|0" passage="Jon 3:7">Jonah iii.
7</scripRef>. Hereby we own ourselves unworthy of our necessary
food, and that we have forfeited it and deserve to be wholly
deprived of it, we punish ourselves and mortify the body, which has
been the occasion of sin, we keep it in a frame fit to serve the
soul in serving God, and, by the appetite's craving food, the
desires of the soul towards that which is better than life, and all
the supports of it, are excited. This was in a special manner
seasonable now that God was depriving them of their <i>meat and
drink;</i> for hereby they accommodated themselves to the
affliction they were under. When God says, <i>You shall fast,</i>
it is time to say, <i>We will fast.</i> 3. There must be a solemn
assembly. The <i>elders</i> and the <i>people,</i> magistrates and
subjects, must be <i>gathered together,</i> even <i>all the
inhabitants of the land,</i> that God might be honoured by their
public humiliations, that they might thereby take the more shame to
themselves, and that they might excite and stir up one another to
the religious duties of the day. All had contributed to the
national guilt, all shared in the national calamity, and therefore
they must all join in the professions of repentance. 4. They must
come together in the temple, <i>the house of the Lord</i> their
<i>God,</i> because that was the house of prayer, and there they
might be hope to meet with God because it was the place which he
had <i>chosen to put his name there,</i> there they might hope to
speed because it was a type of Christ and his mediation. Thus they
interested themselves in Solomon's prayer for the acceptance of all
the requests that should be put up in or towards this house, in
which their present case was particularly mentioned. <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.7.37" parsed="|1Kgs|7|37|0|0" passage="1Ki 7:37">1 Kings vii. 37</scripRef>, <i>If there be
locust, if there be caterpillar.</i> 5. They must <i>sanctify</i>
this fast, must observe it in a religious manner, with sincere
devotion. What is a fast worth if it be not sanctified? 6. They
must <i>cry unto the Lord.</i> To him they must make their
complaint and offer up their supplication. When we cry in our
affliction we must <i>cry to the Lord;</i> this is <i>fasting to
him,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5" parsed="|Zech|7|5|0|0" passage="Zec 7:5">Zech. vii. 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p14" shownumber="no">II. Some considerations suggested to induce
them to proclaim this fast and to observe it strictly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p15" shownumber="no">1. God was beginning a controversy with
them. It is time to <i>cry unto the Lord,</i> for <i>the day of the
Lord is at hand,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.15" parsed="|Joel|1|15|0|0" passage="Joe 1:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. Either they mean the continuance and consequences of
this present judgment which they now saw but breaking in upon them,
or some greater judgments which this was but a preface to. However
it be, this they are taught to make the matter of their
lamentation: <i>Alas, for the day! for the day of the Lord is at
hand.</i> Therefore <i>cry to God.</i> For, (1.) "The day of his
judgment is very near, it is <i>at hand;</i> it <i>will not
slumber,</i> and therefore you should not. It is time to fast and
pray, for you have but a little time to turn yourselves in." (2.)
It will be very terrible; there is no escaping it, no resisting it:
<i>As a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.</i> See
<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.13.6" parsed="|Isa|13|6|0|0" passage="Isa 13:6">Isa. xiii. 6</scripRef>. It is not a
correction, but a destruction; and it comes from the hand, not of a
weak creature, but <i>of the Almighty;</i> and <i>who knows</i>
(nay, who does not know) <i>the power of his anger?</i> Whither
should we go with our cries but to him from whom the judgment we
dread comes? There is no fleeing from him but by fleeing to him, no
escaping destruction from the Almighty but by making our submission
and supplication to the Almighty; this is <i>taking hold on his
strength, that we may make peace,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.27.5" parsed="|Isa|27|5|0|0" passage="Isa 27:5">Isa. xxvii. 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p16" shownumber="no">2. They saw themselves already under the
tokens of his displeasure. It is time to fast and pray, for their
distress is very great, <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.16" parsed="|Joel|1|16|0|0" passage="Joe 1:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. (1.) Let them look into their own houses, and was no
plenty there, as used to be. Those who kept a good table were now
obliged to retrench: <i>Is not the meat cut off before our
eyes?</i> If, when God's hand is lifted up, men <i>will not
see,</i> when his hand is laid on <i>they shall see.</i> Is not the
meat many a time cut off before our eyes? Let us then labour for
that spiritual meat which is not before our eyes, and which cannot
be cut off. (2.) Let them look into God's house, and see the
effects of the judgment there; joy and gladness were <i>cut off
from the house of God.</i> Note, The house of our God is the proper
place of joy and gladness; when David goes to the <i>altar of
God,</i> it is to God <i>my exceeding joy;</i> but when <i>joy and
gladness</i> are <i>cut off from God's house,</i> either by
corruption of holy things or the persecution of holy persons, when
serious godly decays and love waxes cold, then it time to cry to
the Lord, time to cry, <i>Alas!</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p17" shownumber="no">3. The prophet returns to describe the
grievousness of the calamity, in some particulars of it. Corn and
cattle are the husbandman's staple commodities; now here he is
deprived of both. (1.) The caterpillars have devoured the corn,
<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.17" parsed="|Joel|1|17|0|0" passage="Joe 1:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. The
<i>garners,</i> which they used to fill with corn, <i>are laid
desolate,</i> and <i>the barns broken down,</i> because <i>the corn
has withered,</i> and the owners think it not worth while to be at
the charge of repairing them when they have nothing to put in them,
nor are likely to have any thing; for <i>the seed it rotten under
the clods,</i> either through too much rain or (which was the more
common case in Canaan) for want of rain, or perhaps some insects
under ground ate it up. When one crop fails the husband man hopes
the next may make it up; but here they despair of that, the
seedness being as bad as the harvest. (2.) The cattle perish too
for want of grass (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.18" parsed="|Joel|1|18|0|0" passage="Joe 1:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): <i>How do the beasts groan!</i> This the prophet
takes notice of, that the people might be affected with it and lay
to heart the judgment. The groans of the cattle should soften their
hard and impenitent hearts. <i>The herds of cattle,</i> the large
cattle (black cattle we call them), <i>are perplexed;</i> nay, even
<i>the flocks of sheep,</i> which will live upon a common and be
content with very short grass, <i>are made desolate.</i> See here
the inferior creatures suffering for our transgression, and
groaning under the double burden of being serviceable to the sin of
man and subject to the curse of God for it. <i>Cursed is the ground
for thy sake.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p18" shownumber="no">III. The prophet stirs them up to cry to
God, with the consideration of the examples given them for it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p19" shownumber="no">1. His own example (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.19" parsed="|Joel|1|19|0|0" passage="Joe 1:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>O Lord! to thee will I
cry.</i> He would not put them upon doing that which he would not
resolve to do himself; nay, whether they would do it or no, he
would. Note, If God's ministers cannot prevail to affect others
with the discoveries of divine wrath, yet they ought to be
themselves affected with them; if they cannot bring others to cry
to God, yet they themselves be much in prayer. In time of trouble
we must not only pray, but cry, must be fervent and importunate in
prayer; and to God, from whom both the destruction is and the
salvation must be, ought our cry to be always directed. That which
engaged him <i>to cry to God</i> was, not so much any personal
affliction, as the national calamity: The <i>fire has devoured the
pastures of the wilderness,</i> which seems to be meant of some
parching scorching heat of the sun, which was as fire to the fruits
of the earth; it consumed them all. Note, When God <i>calls to
contend by fire</i> it concerns those that have any interest in
heaven to cry mightily to him for relief. See <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.2 Bible:Amos.7.4-Amos.7.5" parsed="|Num|11|2|0|0;|Amos|7|4|7|5" passage="Nu 11:2,Am 7:4,5">Num. xi. 2; Amos vii. 4, 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.ii-p20" shownumber="no">2. The example of the inferior creatures:
"<i>The beasts of the field</i> do not only <i>groan,</i> but
<i>cry unto thee,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.20" parsed="|Joel|1|20|0|0" passage="Joe 1:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>. They appeal to thy pity, according to their
capacity, and as if, though they are not capable of a rational and
revealed religion, yet they had something of dependence upon God by
natural instinct." At least, when they groan by reason of their
calamity, he is pleased to interpret it as if they cried to him;
much more will he put a favourable construction upon the groanings
of his own children, though sometimes so feeble that they <i>cannot
be uttered,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.ii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.26" parsed="|Rom|8|26|0|0" passage="Ro 8:26">Rom. viii.
26</scripRef>. The beasts are here said to <i>cry unto God,</i> as
from him the <i>lions seek their meat</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.104.21" parsed="|Ps|104|21|0|0" passage="Ps 104:21">Ps. civ. 21</scripRef>) and the young <i>ravens,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.ii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.38.41" parsed="|Job|38|41|0|0" passage="Job 38:41">Job xxxviii. 41</scripRef>. The
complaints of the brute-creatures here are for want of water
(<i>The rivers are dried up,</i> through the excessive heat), and
for want of grass, for the <i>fire has devoured the pastures of the
wilderness.</i> And what better are those than beasts who never cry
to God but for corn and wine, and complain of nothing but the want
of delight of sense? Yet their crying to God in those cases shames
the stupidity of those who cry not to God in any case.</p>
</div></div2>