mh_parser/vol_split/29 - Joel/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Joel.iv" n="iv" next="Amos" prev="Joel.iii" progress="80.80%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Joel.iv-p0.1">J O E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Joel.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Joel.iv-p1" shownumber="no">In the close of the foregoing chapter we had a
gracious promise of deliverance in Mount Zion and Jerusalem; now
this whole chapter is a comment upon that promise, showing what
that deliverance shall be, how it shall be wrought by the
destruction of the church's enemies, and how it shall be perfected
in the everlasting rest and joy of the church. This was in part
accomplished in the deliverance of Jerusalem from the attempt that
Sennacherib made upon it in Hezekiah's time, and afterwards in the
return of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon, and other
deliverances wrought for the Jewish church between that and
Christ's coming. But it has a further reference, to the great
redemption wrought out for us by Jesus Christ, and the destruction
of our spiritual enemies and all their agents, and will have its
full accomplishment in the judgment of the great day. Here is a
prediction, I. Of God's reckoning with the enemies of his people
for all the injuries and indignities that they had done them, and
returning them upon their own head, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.1-Joel.3.8" parsed="|Joel|3|1|3|8" passage="Joe 3:1-8">ver. 1-8</scripRef>. II. Of God's judging all nations
when the measure of their iniquity is full, and appearing publicly,
to the everlasting confusion of all impenitent sinners and the
everlasting comfort of all his faithful servants, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.9-Joel.3.17" parsed="|Joel|3|9|3|17" passage="Joe 3:9-17">ver. 9-17</scripRef>. III. Of the provision
God has made for the refreshment of his people, for their safety
and purity, when their enemies shall be made desolate, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.18-Joel.3.21" parsed="|Joel|3|18|3|21" passage="Joe 3:18-21">ver. 18-21</scripRef>. These promises were
not of private interpretation only, but were written for our
learning, "that we, through patience and comfort of this scripture,
might have hope."</p>
<scripCom id="Joel.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3" parsed="|Joel|3|0|0|0" passage="Joe 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Joel.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.1-Joel.3.8" parsed="|Joel|3|1|3|8" passage="Joe 3:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iv-p1.6">
<h4 id="Joel.iv-p1.7">Threatenings against Israel's
Enemies. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p1.8">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iv-p2" shownumber="no">1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time,
when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
  2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down
into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for
my people and <i>for</i> my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land.   3 And they
have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for a harlot,
and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.   4 Yea, and
what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts
of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense
me, swiftly <i>and</i> speedily will I return your recompence upon
your own head;   5 Because ye have taken my silver and my
gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
  6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem
have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from
their border.   7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place
whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon
your own head:   8 And I will sell your sons and your
daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall
sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p2.1">Lord</span> hath spoken <i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p3" shownumber="no">We have often heard of the <i>year of the
redeemed,</i> and the <i>year of recompences for the controversy of
Zion;</i> now here we have a description of the transactions of
that year, and a prophecy of what shall be done when it comes,
whenever it comes, for it comes often, and at the end of time it
will come once for all.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p4" shownumber="no">I. It shall be the <i>year of the
redeemed,</i> for God will <i>bring again the captivity of Judah
and Jerusalem,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.1" parsed="|Joel|3|1|0|0" passage="Joe 3:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. Though the bondage of God's people may be grievous
and very long, yet it shall not be everlasting. That in Egypt ended
at length in their deliverance into the glorious liberty of the
children of God. <i>Let my son go, the he may serve me.</i> That in
Babylon shall likewise end well. And the Lord Jesus will provide
for the effectual redemption of poor enslaved souls from under the
dominion of sin and Satan, and will proclaim that <i>acceptable
year,</i> the year of jubilee, the release of debts and servants,
and the <i>opening of the prison to those that were bound.</i>
There is a day, there is a time, fixed for the <i>bringing again of
the captivity</i> of God's children, for the redeeming of them
<i>from the power of the grave;</i> and it shall be the <i>last
day</i> and the end of all time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p5" shownumber="no">II. It shall be the <i>year of recompences
for the controversy of Zion.</i> Though God may suffer the enemies
of his people to prevail against them very far and for a long time,
yet he will call them to an account for it, and will lead captivity
captive (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.18" parsed="|Ps|68|18|0|0" passage="Ps 68:18">Ps. lxviii. 18</scripRef>),
will lead those captive that led his people captive, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.13.10" parsed="|Rev|13|10|0|0" passage="Re 13:10">Rev. xiii. 10</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p6" shownumber="no">1. Who those are that shall be reckoned
with—<i>all nations,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.2" parsed="|Joel|3|2|0|0" passage="Joe 3:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. This intimates, (1.) That all the nations had made
themselves liable to the judgment of God for wrong done to his
people. Persecution is the reigning crying sin of the world; that
<i>lying in wickedness</i> itself is set against godliness. The
enmity that is in the old serpent, <i>the god of this world,</i>
against the seed of the woman, appears more or less in the
<i>children of this world. Marvel not if the world hate you.</i>
(2.) That, whatsoever nation injured God's nation, they should not
go unpunished; for he that touches the Israel of God shall be made
to know that he touches the apple of his eye. Jerusalem will be a
<i>burdensome stone to all people,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.3" parsed="|Zech|12|3|0|0" passage="Zec 12:3">Zech. xii. 3</scripRef>. But the neighboring nations
shall be particularly reckoned with—<i>Tyre, and Sidon, and all
the coasts of Palestine,</i> or the Philistines, who have been
troublesome neighbours to the Israel of God, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.4" parsed="|Joel|3|4|0|0" passage="Joe 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. When the more remote and potent
nations that laid Israel wastes are reckoned with the impotent
malice of those that lay near them, and <i>helped forward the
affliction,</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.1.15" parsed="|Zech|1|15|0|0" passage="Zec 1:15">Zech. i.
15</scripRef>), and made a hand of it (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.26.2" parsed="|Ezek|26|2|0|0" passage="Eze 26:2">Ezek. xxvi. 2</scripRef>), shall not be passed by. Note,
Little persecutors shall be called to an account as well as great
ones; and, though they could not do much mischief, shall be
reckoned with according to the <i>wickedness of their endeavors</i>
and the mischief they would have done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p7" shownumber="no">2. The sitting of this court for judgment.
They shall all be <i>gathered</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.2" parsed="|Joel|3|2|0|0" passage="Joe 3:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), that those who have combined
together against God's people, <i>with one consent</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.5" parsed="|Ps|83|5|0|0" passage="Ps 83:5">Ps. lxxxiii. 5</scripRef>), may together receive
their doom. They shall be <i>brought down into the valley of
Jehoshaphat,</i> which lay near Jerusalem, and there <i>God will
plead with them,</i> (1.) Because it is fit that criminals should
be tried in the same country where they did the fact. (2.) For
their greater confusion, when they shall see that Jerusalem which
they have so long endeavored and hoped for the ruin of, in spite of
all their rage, made a <i>praise in the earth.</i> (3.) For the
greater comfort and honor of God's Jerusalem, which shall see God
pleading their cause. (4.) Then shall be re-acted what God did for
Jehoshaphat when he gave him victory over those that invaded him,
and furnished him and his people with matter of joy and praise, in
the <i>valley of Berachah.</i> See <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.26" parsed="|2Chr|20|26|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:26">2
Chron. xx. 26</scripRef>. (5.) It was in this valley of Jehoshaphat
(as Dr. Lightfoot suggests) that Sennacherib's army, or part of it,
lay, when it was destroyed by an angel. They came together to ruin
Jerusalem, but God brought them together for their own ruin, <i>as
sheaves into the floor,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.4.12" parsed="|Mic|4|12|0|0" passage="Mic 4:12">Mic. iv.
12</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p8" shownumber="no">3. The plaintiff called, on whose behalf
this prosecution is set on foot; it is for <i>my people,</i> and
<i>for my heritage Israel.</i> It is their cause that God will now
plead with jealousy. Note, God's people are <i>his heritage,</i>
his <i>peculiar,</i> his <i>portion,</i> his <i>treasure,</i> above
all people, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.19.5 Bible:Deut.32.9" parsed="|Exod|19|5|0|0;|Deut|32|9|0|0" passage="Ex 19:5,De 32:9">Exod. xix. 5; Deut.
xxxii. 9</scripRef>. They are his demesne, and therefore he has a
good action against those that trespass upon them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p9" shownumber="no">4. The charge exhibited against them, which
is very particular. Many affronts they had put upon God by their
idolatries, but that for which God has a quarrel with them is the
affront they have put upon his people and upon the vessels of his
sanctuary.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p10" shownumber="no">(1.) They had been very abusive to the
people of Israel, had <i>scattered them among the nations</i> and
forced them to seek for shelter where they could find a place, or
carried them captive into their respective countries and there
industriously dispersed them, for fear of their incorporating for
their common safety. They <i>parted their land,</i> and took every
one his share of it as their own; nay, they have <i>cast lots for
my people,</i> and <i>sold them.</i> When they had taken them
prisoners, [1.] They made a jest of them, made a scorn of them as
of no value. They would not release them and yet thought them not
worth the keeping; they made nothing of playing them away at dice.
Or they made a dividend of the prisoners <i>by lot,</i> as the
soldiers did of Christ's garments. [2.] They made a gain of them.
When they had them they <i>sold</i> them, yet with so much contempt
that they did <i>not increase their wealth by their price,</i> but
sold them for their pleasure rather than their profit; they <i>gave
a boy</i> taken in war for the <i>hire of a harlot,</i> and <i>a
girl</i> for so many bottles of wine as would serve them for one
sitting, a <i>goodly price</i> at which they valued them, and
goodly preferment for a son and daughter of Israel to be a slave
and a drudge in a tavern or a brothel. Observe, here, how that
which is got by sin is commonly spent upon another. The spoil which
these enemies of the Jews gathered by injustice and violence they
scattered and threw away in drinking and whoring; such is
frequently the character, and such the conversation, of the enemies
and persecutors of the people of God. The Tyrians and Philistines,
when they seized any of the children of Judah and Jerusalem, either
took them prisoners in war or kidnapped them, they sold them to the
Grecians (with whom the men of Tyre traded in the <i>persons of
men,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.27.13" parsed="|Ezek|27|13|0|0" passage="Eze 27:13">Ezek. xxvii. 13</scripRef>),
that they <i>might remove them far from their</i> own
<i>border,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.6" parsed="|Joel|3|6|0|0" passage="Joe 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>.
It was a great reproach to Israel, God's first-born, his free-born,
to be thus bought and sold among the heathen.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p11" shownumber="no">(2.) They had unjustly seized <i>God's
silver and gold</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.5" parsed="|Joel|3|5|0|0" passage="Joe 3:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>), by which some understand the wealth of Israel. The
silver and gold which God's people had he calls his, because they
had received it from him and devoted it to him; and whosoever
robbed them God took it as if they had robbed him and would make
reprisals accordingly. Those who take away the estates of good men
for well-doing will be found guilty of sacrilege; they take God's
<i>silver and gold.</i> But it seems rather to be meant of the
<i>vessels</i> and <i>treasures of the temple,</i> which God here
calls his <i>goodly pleasant things,</i> precious and desirable to
him and all that are his. These they <i>carried into their
temples</i> as trophies of their victory over God's Israel,
thinking that therein they triumphed over Israel's God, nay, and
that their idols triumphed over him. Thus the ark was put in
Dagon's temple. Thus they did unjustly. "<i>What have you to do
with me</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.4" parsed="|Joel|3|4|0|0" passage="Joe 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>),
with my people; what wrong have they done you? What provocation
have they given you? You had nothing to do with them, and yet you
do all this against them. Devices are devised against the <i>quiet
in the land,</i> and those offended and harmed that are harmless
and inoffensive: <i>Will you render me a recompence?</i>" Can they
pretend that either God or his people have done them any injury,
for which they may justify themselves by the law of retaliation in
doing them these mischiefs? No; they have no colour for it. Note,
It is no new thing for those who have been very civil and obliging
to their neighbours to find them very unkind and unneighbourly and
for those who do no injuries to suffer many.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p12" shownumber="no">5. The sentence passed upon them. In
general (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.4" parsed="|Joel|3|4|0|0" passage="Joe 3:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), "If
<i>you recompense me,</i> if you pretend a quarrel with me, if you
provoke me thus to jealousy, if you touch the apple of my eye, <i>I
will swiftly and speedily return your recompence upon your own
head.</i>" Those that contend with God will find themselves unable
to make their part good with him. He will recompense them
<i>suddenly,</i> when they little think of it, and have not time to
prevent it; if he take them to task, he will soon effect their
ruin. Particularly, it is threatened, (1.) That they should not
gain their end in the mischief they designed against God's people.
They thought to <i>remove them so far from their border</i> that
they should never return to it again, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.6" parsed="|Joel|3|6|0|0" passage="Joe 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. But (says God) "<i>I will raise
them out of the place whither you have sold them,</i> and they
shall not, as you intended, be buried alive there." Men's selling
the people of God will not deprive him of his property in them.
(2.) That they shall be paid in their own coin, as Adonibezek was
(<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.8" parsed="|Joel|3|8|0|0" passage="Joe 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): "<i>I will
sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of
Judah;</i> you shall lie as much at their mercy as they have been
at yours," <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.60.14" parsed="|Isa|60|14|0|0" passage="Isa 60:14">Isa. lx. 14</scripRef>.
Thus the Jews <i>had rule over those that hated them,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Esth.9.1" parsed="|Esth|9|1|0|0" passage="Es 9:1">Esther ix. 1</scripRef>. And then they shall
justly be <i>sold to the Sabeans,</i> to a <i>people far off.</i>
This (some think) had its accomplishment in the victories obtained
by the Maccabees over the enemies of the Jews; others think it
looks as far forward as the last day, when the <i>upright shall
have dominion</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.49.14" parsed="|Ps|49|14|0|0" passage="Ps 49:14">Ps. xlix.
14</scripRef>) and <i>the saints shall judge the world.</i> It is
certain that none ever hardened his heart against God, or his
church, and prospered long; no, not Pharaoh himself, for <i>the
Lord has spoken it,</i> for the comfort of all his suffering
servants, that <i>vengeance is his and he will repay.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.iv-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.9-Joel.3.17" parsed="|Joel|3|9|3|17" passage="Joe 3:9-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iv-p12.8">
<h4 id="Joel.iv-p12.9">Threatenings against Israel's
Enemies. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p12.10">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iv-p13" shownumber="no">9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare
war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let
them come up:   10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your
pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I <i>am</i> strong.
  11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather
yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to
come down, <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p13.1">O Lord</span>.   12 Let the
heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for
there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.   13
Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down;
for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness
<i>is</i> great.   14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of
decision: for the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p13.2">Lord</span>
<i>is</i> near in the valley of decision.   15 The sun and the
moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
  16 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p13.3">Lord</span> also shall roar
out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens
and the earth shall shake: but the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p13.4">Lord</span> <i>will be</i> the hope of his people, and
the strength of the children of Israel.   17 So shall ye know
that I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p13.5">Lord</span> your God
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy,
and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p14" shownumber="no">What the psalmist had long before ordered
to be <i>said among the heathen</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.96.10" parsed="|Ps|96|10|0|0" passage="Ps 96:10">Ps. xcvi. 10</scripRef>) the prophet here will have in
like manner to be published to all nations, That <i>the Lord
reigns,</i> and that <i>he comes, he comes to judge the earth,</i>
as he had long been judging in the earth. The notice here given of
God's judging the nations may have reference to the destruction of
Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, and to the Antichrist
especially, and all the proud enemies of the Christian church; but
some of the best interpreters, ancient and modern (particularly the
learned Dr. Polock), think the scope of these verses is to set
forth the day of the last judgment under the similitude of God's
making war upon the enemies of his kingdom, and his gathering in
the harvest of the earth, both which similitudes we find used in
the Revelation, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.19.11 Bible:Rev.14.18" parsed="|Rev|19|11|0|0;|Rev|14|18|0|0" passage="Re 19:11,Re 14:18"><i>ch.</i>
xix. 11; xiv. 18</scripRef>. Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p15" shownumber="no">I. A challenge given to all the enemies of
God's kingdom to do their worst. To signify to them that God is
preparing war against them, they are called upon to prepare war
against him, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.9-Joel.3.11" parsed="|Joel|3|9|3|11" passage="Joe 3:9-11"><i>v.</i>
9-11</scripRef>. When the hour of God's judgment shall come
effectual methods shall be taken to gather all nations <i>to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.16.14 Bible:Rev.20.8" parsed="|Rev|16|14|0|0;|Rev|20|8|0|0" passage="Re 16:14,20:8">Rev. xvi. 14; xx. 8</scripRef>. It seems to be here
spoken ironically: "<i>Proclaim you this among the Gentiles;</i>
let all the forces of the nations be summoned to join in
confederacy against God and his people." It is like that, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.9" parsed="|Isa|7|9|0|0" passage="Isa 7:9">Isa. vii. 9</scripRef>, "<i>Associate yourselves,
O you people!</i> and <i>gird yourselves,</i> but you shall be
<i>broken to pieces.</i> <i>Prepare war;</i> muster up all your
strength; <i>wake up the mighty men;</i> call them into your
service; excite them to vigilance and resolution; <i>let all the
men of war draw near. Let them come</i> and enter the lists with
Omnipotence if they dare; let them not complain for want of
weapons, but let them <i>beat their ploughshares into swords</i>
and their <i>pruning-hooks into spears.</i> Let them resolve, if
they will, never to return to their husbandry again, but either to
conquer or die; let none plead unfitness to bear arms, but <i>let
the weak say, I am strong</i> and will venture into the field of
battle." Thus does a God of almighty power bid defiance to all the
opposition of the powers of darkness; let the <i>heathen rage,</i>
and the <i>kings of the earth take counsel together, against the
Lord and his Christ;</i> let them <i>assemble, and come,</i> and
<i>gather themselves together;</i> but he that sits in heaven shall
laugh at them, and, while he thus calls them, he has them in
derision, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1 Bible:Ps.2.4" parsed="|Ps|2|1|0|0;|Ps|2|4|0|0" passage="Ps 2:1,4">Ps. ii. 1, 4</scripRef>. The
heathen must be wakened, must be raised from the dead, that they
may <i>come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat,</i> to receive their
doom (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.12" parsed="|Joel|3|12|0|0" passage="Joe 3:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), may
come up out of their graves, come up <i>into the air,</i> to meet
the Lord there. Jehoshaphat signifies <i>the judgment of the
Lord.</i> Let them come to the place of God's judgment, which
perhaps is the chief reason for the using of this name here, but it
is put together as a proper name for the sake of allusions to the
place so called, which we observed before; let them come thither
where God will <i>sit to judge the heathen,</i> to that <i>throne
of glory</i> before which shall be <i>gathered all nations</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.25.32" parsed="|Matt|25|32|0|0" passage="Mt 25:32">Matt. xxv. 32</scripRef>), for before
the judgment-seat of Christ <i>we must all appear.</i> The
challenge (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.9" parsed="|Joel|3|9|0|0" passage="Joe 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) is
turned into a summons, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.12" parsed="|Joel|3|12|0|0" passage="Joe 3:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>. It is not only, <i>Come if you dare,</i> but <i>You
shall come</i> whether you will or no, for there is no escaping the
judgments of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p16" shownumber="no">II. A charge given to the ministers of
God's justice to appear and act against these daring enemies of his
kingdom among men: And therefore <i>cause thy mighty ones to come
down, O Lord!</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.11" parsed="|Joel|3|11|0|0" passage="Joe 3:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. When they bring their forces into the field, let God
bring his, let the archangel's trumpet sound a charge, to call
together his <i>mighty ones,</i> that is, his angels. Perhaps it is
with reference to this that Christ's coming from heaven at the last
day is said to be <i>with his mighty angels,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.1.7" parsed="|2Thess|1|7|0|0" passage="2Th 1:7">2 Thess. i. 7</scripRef>. These are the <i>hosts of the
Lord,</i> that shall fight his battles when he shall put down all
opposing rule, principality, and power when he shall <i>judge among
the heathen,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.110.6" parsed="|Ps|110|6|0|0" passage="Ps 110:6">Ps. cx. 6</scripRef>.
Some think these words (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.9-Joel.3.10" parsed="|Joel|3|9|3|10" passage="Joe 3:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9,
10</scripRef>), <i>Prepare war, wake up the mighty men,</i> are not
a challenge to the enemies' hosts, but a charge to God's hosts; let
them <i>draw near, and come up.</i> When God's cause is to be
pleaded, either by the law or by the sword, he has those ready that
shall please it effectually, witnesses ready to appear for him in
the court of judgment, soldiers ready to appear for him in the
field of battle. They shall <i>beat ploughshares into swords,</i>
if need be. However, it is plain that to them the charge in given
(<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.13" parsed="|Joel|3|13|0|0" passage="Joe 3:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), <i>Put you
in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;</i> that is, <i>their
wickedness is great,</i> the measure of it is full, and they are
ripe for ruin. Our Saviour has expounded this, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.39" parsed="|Matt|13|39|0|0" passage="Mt 13:39">Matt. xiii. 39</scripRef>. <i>The harvest is the end of
the world, and the reapers are the angels.</i> And they are
commanded to <i>thrust</i> in their <i>sickle. their sharp
sickle,</i> and gather in both the <i>harvest</i> and the
<i>vintage,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p16.7" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.15 Bible:Rev.14.18" parsed="|Rev|14|15|0|0;|Rev|14|18|0|0" passage="Re 14:15,18">Rev. xiv. 15,
18</scripRef>. Note, The greatness of men's wickedness makes them
ripe for God's judgment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p17" shownumber="no">III. The vast appearance that shall be in
that great and solemn day (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.14" parsed="|Joel|3|14|0|0" passage="Joe 3:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>): <i>Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of
decision,</i> the same which before was called the <i>valley of
Jehoshaphat,</i> or <i>of the judgment of the Lord,</i> for the
<i>day of the Lord is near</i> in that valley. Note, 1. The
judgment-day, that day of the Lord, has all along been looked upon,
and spoken of, as <i>nigh at hand.</i> Enoch said, <i>Behold, the
Lord comes,</i> as if the Judge were then standing before the do
or, because it is certain that that day will come and will come
according to the appointment, and a <i>thousand years with God are
but as one day;</i> things are ripening apace for it; we ought
always to be ready for it, because our judgment is at hand. 2. The
day of judgment will be the <i>day of decision,</i> when every
man's eternal state will be determined, and the controversy that
has been long depending between the kingdom of Christ and that of
Satan shall be finally decided, and an end put to the struggle.
<i>The valley of the distribution of judgment</i> (so the Chaldee),
when <i>every man shall receive according to the things done in the
body. The valley of threshing</i> (so the margin), carrying on the
metaphor of the <i>harvest,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.13" parsed="|Joel|3|13|0|0" passage="Joe 3:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. The proud enemies of God's
people will then be crushed and broken to pieces, and made as the
<i>dust of the summer threshing-floors.</i> 3. Innumerable
multitudes will be gathered together to receive their final doom in
that day, as in the destruction of Gog we read of the valley of
<i>Hamon-Gog,</i> and the city of <i>Hamonah</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.39.15-Ezek.39.16" parsed="|Ezek|39|15|39|16" passage="Eze 39:15,16">Ezek. xxxix. 15, 16</scripRef>), both
signifying the <i>multitude</i> of the vanquished enemies; it is
the word here used, <i>Hamonim, Hamonim,</i> expressed by the way
of admiration—O what vast multitudes of sinners will divine
justice be glorified in the ruin of at that day! <i>A multitude of
living</i> (says one of the rabbin) <i>and a multitude of dead,</i>
for Christ shall come <i>to judge both the quick and the
dead.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p18" shownumber="no">IV. The amazing change that shall then be
made in the kingdom of nature (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.15" parsed="|Joel|3|15|0|0" passage="Joe 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>The sun and moon shall be
darkened,</i> as before, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.31" parsed="|Joel|2|31|0|0" passage="Joe 2:31"><i>ch.</i>
ii. 31</scripRef>. Their glory and lustre shall be eclipsed by the
far greater brightness of that glory in which the Judge shall then
appear. Nay, they shall themselves be set aside in the dissolution
of all things; for the damned sinners in hell shall not be allowed
their light, for God himself will be <i>their everlasting
light,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.60.19" parsed="|Isa|60|19|0|0" passage="Isa 60:19">Isa. lx. 19</scripRef>.
Those that fall under the wrath of God in that day of wrath shall
be cut off from all comfort and joy, signified by the darkening not
only of sun and moon, but of the stars also.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p19" shownumber="no">V. The different impressions which that day
will make upon the children of this world and the children of God,
according as it will be to them. 1. To the wicked it will be a
terrible day. <i>The Lord</i> shall then speak <i>from Zion and
Jerusalem,</i> from the throne of his glory, from heaven, where he
manifests himself in a peculiar manner, as sometimes he has done in
the <i>glorious high throne of his sanctuary,</i> which yet was but
a faint resemblance of the glory of that day. He shall speak
<i>from heaven,</i> from <i>the midst</i> of his saints and angels
(so some understand it), the holy society of which may be called
<i>Zion</i> and <i>Jerusalem;</i> for, when we come to the
<i>heavenly Jerusalem,</i> we come to the <i>innumerable company of
angels;</i> see <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.22" parsed="|Heb|12|22|0|0" passage="Heb 12:22">Heb. xii. 22,
25</scripRef>. Now is speaking in that day will be to the wicked as
<i>roaring,</i> terrible as the roaring of a lion (for so the word
signifies); he long kept silence, but now <i>our God shall come,
and shall not keep silence,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.3 Bible:Ps.50.21" parsed="|Ps|50|3|0|0;|Ps|50|21|0|0" passage="Ps 50:3,21">Ps.
l. 3, 21</scripRef>. Note, The judgment of the great day will make
the ears of those to tingle that continue the implacable enemies of
God's kingdom. God's voice will then <i>shake terribly</i> both
<i>heaven and earth</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.21" parsed="|Isa|2|21|0|0" passage="Isa 2:21">Isa. ii.
21</scripRef>), yet <i>once more,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Hag.2.6 Bible:Heb.12.26" parsed="|Hag|2|6|0|0;|Heb|12|26|0|0" passage="Hag 2:6,Heb 12:26">Hag. ii. 6; Heb. xii. 26</scripRef>. This
denotes that the voice of God will in the great day speak such
terror to the wicked as were enough to put even heaven and earth
into a consternation. When God comes to pull down and destroy his
enemies, and make them all his footstool, though heaven and earth
should stand up in defence of them and undertake their protection,
it shall be all in vain. Even they shall shake before him and be an
insufficient shelter to those whom he comforts forth to contend
with. Note, As blessings out of Zion are the sweetest blessings,
and enough to make heaven and earth sing, so terrors out of Zion
are the sorest terrors, and enough to make heaven and earth shake.
2. To the righteous it will be a joyful day. When the heaven and
earth shall tremble, and be dissolved and burnt up, then will the
Lord be the <i>hope of his people</i> and the <i>strength of the
children of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.16" parsed="|Joel|3|16|0|0" passage="Joe 3:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), and <i>then shall Jerusalem be holy,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.17" parsed="|Joel|3|17|0|0" passage="Joe 3:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. The saints are the
Israel of God; they are <i>his people;</i> the church is his
Jerusalem. They are in covenant and communion with him; now in the
great day, (1.) Their longings shall be satisfied: <i>The Lord will
be the hope of his people.</i> As he always was the founder and
foundation of their hopes, so he then will be the crown of their
hopes. He will be the <i>harbour</i> of his people (so the word
is), their receptacle, refuge, and home. The saints in the great
day shall arrive at the desired haven, shall put to shore after a
stormy voyage; they shall go to be for ever at home with God, to
their Father's house, the house <i>not made with hands.</i> (2.)
Their happiness shall be confirmed. God will be in that day the
<i>strength of the children of Israel,</i> enabling them to bid
that day welcome and to bear up under the weight of its glories and
joys. In this world, when the judgments of God are abroad, and
sinners are falling under them, God is and will be the hope and
strength of his people, the strength of their heart, and their
portion, when other men's hearts fail them for fear. (3.) Their
holiness shall be completed (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.17" parsed="|Joel|3|17|0|0" passage="Joe 3:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>Then shall Jerusalem be holy,</i> the <i>holy
city</i> indeed; such shall the heavenly Jerusalem be, such the
glorious church, <i>without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.
Jerusalem shall be holiness</i> (so the word is); it shall be
perfectly holy; there shall be no remainder of sin in it. The
gospel-church is a holy society, even in its militant state, but
will never be holiness itself till it comes to be triumphant. Then
<i>no stranger shall pass through her any more;</i> there shall not
enter into the New Jerusalem any thing that defiles or works
iniquity; none shall be there but those who have a right to be
there, none but its own citizens; for it shall be an unmixed
society. (4.) God shall in all this be manifested and magnified:
<i>So shall you know that I am the Lord your God.</i> By the
sanctifying and glorifying of the church God will be known in his
holiness and glory, as the God that dwells in his holy mountain and
makes it holy by dwelling in it; and those that are sanctified and
glorified are so <i>through the knowledge of him</i> that called
them. The knowledge which true believers have of God is, [1.] An
appropriating knowledge. They know that he is <i>the Lord their
God,</i> yet not theirs only, but theirs in common with the whole
church, that he is their God, but <i>dwelling in Zion his holy
mountain;</i> for, though faith appropriates, it does not engross
or monopolize the privileges of the covenant. [2.] It is an
experimental knowledge. They shall find him their <i>hope and
strength</i> in the worst of times, and so they shall <i>know that
he is the Lord their God.</i> Those know best the goodness of God
who have tasted and seen it, and have found him good to them.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.iv-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.18-Joel.3.21" parsed="|Joel|3|18|3|21" passage="Joe 3:18-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iv-p19.9">
<h4 id="Joel.iv-p19.10">Judgments and Mercies; Promises to the
Church. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p19.11">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iv-p20" shownumber="no">18 And it shall come to pass in that day,
<i>that</i> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p20.1">Lord</span>, and shall water the valley of
Shittim.   19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a
desolate wilderness, for the violence <i>against</i> 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
<i>that</i> I have not cleansed: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iv-p20.2">Lord</span> dwelleth in Zion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p21" shownumber="no">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 <i>better things</i>
reserved <i>for us, that they</i> in their best estate <i>without
us might not be made perfect.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p22" shownumber="no">I. It is promised that the enemies of the
church shall be vanquished and brought down, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.19" parsed="|Joel|3|19|0|0" passage="Joe 3:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Egypt, that old enemy of
Israel, and Edom, which had an inveterate enmity to Israel, derived
from Esau, these <i>shall be a desolation,</i> a <i>desolate
wilderness,</i> no more to be inhabited; they have become the
<i>people of God's curse;</i> so the Idumeans were, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.34.5" parsed="|Isa|34|5|0|0" passage="Isa 34:5">Isa. xxxiv. 5</scripRef>. 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
<i>violence against the children of Judah,</i> and the injuries
they had done them; see <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.25.3 Bible:Ezek.25.8 Bible:Ezek.25.12 Bible:Ezek.25.15 Bible:Ezek.26.2" parsed="|Ezek|25|3|0|0;|Ezek|25|8|0|0;|Ezek|25|12|0|0;|Ezek|25|15|0|0;|Ezek|26|2|0|0" passage="Eze 25:3,8,12,15,26:2">Ezek. xxv. 3, 8, 12, 15; xxvi.
2</scripRef>. They had <i>shed</i> the <i>innocent blood</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p23" shownumber="no">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:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p24" shownumber="no">1. Purity. This is put last here, as a
reason for the rest (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.21" parsed="|Joel|3|21|0|0" passage="Joe 3:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>); but we may consider it first, as the ground and
foundation of the rest: <i>I will cleanse their blood that I have
not cleansed,</i> 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 <i>fountain opened,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.13.1" parsed="|Zech|13|1|0|0" passage="Zec 13:1">Zech. xiii. 1</scripRef>. 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. And the
reason is because <i>the Lord dwells in Zion,</i> dwells with his
church, and much more gloriously with that in heaven, and
<i>holiness becomes his house for ever,</i> 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
<i>not cleansed,</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p25" shownumber="no">2. Plenty, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.18" parsed="|Joel|3|18|0|0" passage="Joe 3:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 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: <i>The mountains shall drop new wine</i> and <i>the
hills shall flow with milk,</i> such great abundance shall they
have of suitable provision, both for <i>babes</i> and for <i>strong
men.</i> 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 <i>rivers of Judah
shall flow with water,</i> so that the country shall be like the
garden of Eden, well-watered every where and greatly enriched,
<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.65.9" parsed="|Ps|65|9|0|0" passage="Ps 65:9">Ps. lxv. 9</scripRef>. But this seems
to be meant spiritually; the graces and comforts of the new
covenant are compared to <i>wine and milk</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.1" parsed="|Isa|55|1|0|0" passage="Isa 55:1">Isa. lv. 1</scripRef>), and the Spirit to <i>rivers of
living water,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:John.7.38" parsed="|John|7|38|0|0" passage="Joh 7:38">John vii.
38</scripRef>. And these gifts abound much more under the New
Testament than they did under the Old; when believers receive
<i>grace for grace</i> from Christ's fulness, when they are
enriched with <i>everlasting consolations,</i> and <i>filled with
joy and peace in believing,</i> then <i>the mountains drop new
wine,</i> and <i>the hills flow with milk. Drink you,</i> drink
abundantly, <i>O beloved!</i> When there is plentiful effusion of
the Spirit of grace, then the <i>rivers of Judah flow with
water,</i> and make glad, not only <i>the city of our God</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.46.4" parsed="|Ps|46|4|0|0" passage="Ps 46:4">Ps. xlvi. 4</scripRef>), but the whole
land. (2.) The fountain of this plenty is in the <i>house of
God,</i> whence the streams take their rise, as those <i>waters of
the sanctuary</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.47.1" parsed="|Ezek|47|1|0|0" passage="Eze 47:1">Ezek. xlvii.
1</scripRef>) from <i>under the threshold of the house,</i> and the
river of life <i>out of the throne of God and the Lamb,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:Rev.22.1" parsed="|Rev|22|1|0|0" passage="Re 22:1">Rev. xxii. 1</scripRef>. The psalmist,
speaking of Zion, says, <i>All my springs are in thee,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p25.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.87.7" parsed="|Ps|87|7|0|0" passage="Ps 87:7">Ps. lxxxvii. 7</scripRef>. Those that
take temporal blessings to be meant in the former part of the
verse, yet by this <i>fountain</i> out of <i>the house of the
Lord</i> 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
<i>the valley of Shittim,</i> 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 <i>out of the house of the Lord</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iv-p26" shownumber="no">3. Perpetuity. This crowns all the rest
(<scripRef id="Joel.iv-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.20" parsed="|Joel|3|20|0|0" passage="Joe 3:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>Judah
shall dwell for ever</i> (when Egypt and Edom are made <i>a
desolation</i>), and Jerusalem shall continue <i>from generation to
generation.</i> 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 <i>throne</i> of Christ
<i>shall endure for ever,</i> and <i>the gates of hell shall not
prevail</i> against it. (2.) That all the living members of that
church (Judah and Jerusalem are put for the <i>inhabitants</i> of
that city and country, <scripRef id="Joel.iv-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.5" parsed="|Matt|3|5|0|0" passage="Mt 3:5">Matt. iii.
5</scripRef>) shall be established in their happiness to the utmost
ages of eternity. This new Jerusalem shall be <i>from generation to
generation,</i> for it is a city that has foundations, not made
with hands, but eternal in the heavens.</p>
</div></div2>