mh_parser/vol_split/29 - Joel/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Joel.iii" n="iii" next="Joel.iv" prev="Joel.ii" progress="80.15%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Joel.iii-p0.1">J O E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Joel.iii-p0.2">CHAP. II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Joel.iii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have, I. A further description
of that terrible desolation which should be made in the land of
Judah by the locusts and caterpillars, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.1-Joel.2.11" parsed="|Joel|2|1|2|11" passage="Joe 2:1-11">ver. 1-11</scripRef>. II. A serious call to the
people, when they are under this sore judgment, to return and
repent, to fast and pray, and to seek unto God for mercy, with
directions how to do this aright, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.12-Joel.2.17" parsed="|Joel|2|12|2|17" passage="Joe 2:12-17">ver. 12-17</scripRef>. III. A promise that, upon
their repentance, God would remove the judgment, would repair the
breaches made upon them by it, and restore unto them plenty of all
good things, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.18-Joel.2.27" parsed="|Joel|2|18|2|27" passage="Joe 2:18-27">ver. 18-27</scripRef>.
IV. A prediction of the setting up of the kingdom of the Messiah in
the world, by the pouring out of the Spirit in the latter days,
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.28-Joel.2.32" parsed="|Joel|2|28|2|32" passage="Joe 2:28-32">ver. 28-32</scripRef>. Thus the
beginning of this chapter is made terrible with the tokens of God's
wrath, but the latter end of it made comfortable with the
assurances of his favour, and it is in the way of repentance that
this blessed change is made; so that, though it is only the last
paragraph of the chapter that points directly at gospel-times, yet
the whole may be improved as a type and figure, representing the
curses of the law invading men for their sins, and the comforts of
the gospel flowing in to them upon their repentance.</p>
<scripCom id="Joel.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2" parsed="|Joel|2|0|0|0" passage="Joe 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Joel.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.1-Joel.2.11" parsed="|Joel|2|1|2|11" passage="Joe 2:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Joel.iii-p1.8">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land
tremble: for the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p2.1">Lord</span>
cometh, for <i>it is</i> nigh at hand;   2 A day of darkness
and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the
morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong;
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after
it, <i>even</i> to the years of many generations.   3 A fire
devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land
<i>is</i> as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a
desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.   4
The appearance of them <i>is</i> as the appearance of horses; and
as horsemen, so shall they run.   5 Like the noise of chariots
on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame
of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in
battle array.   6 Before their face the people shall be much
pained: all faces shall gather blackness.   7 They shall run
like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and
they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break
their ranks:   8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall
walk every one in his path: and <i>when</i> they fall upon the
sword, they shall not be wounded.   9 They shall run to and
fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up
upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
  10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall
tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining:   11 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p2.2">Lord</span> shall utter his voice before his army: for
his camp <i>is</i> very great: for <i>he is</i> strong that
executeth his word: for the day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p2.3">Lord</span> <i>is</i> great and very terrible; and who
can abide it?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p3" shownumber="no">Here we have God contending with his own
professing people for their sins and executing upon them the
judgment written in the law (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.42" parsed="|Deut|28|42|0|0" passage="De 28:42">Deut.
xxviii. 42</scripRef>), <i>The fruit of thy land shall the locust
consume,</i> which was one of those diseases of Egypt that God
would bring upon them, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.60" parsed="|Deut|28|60|0|0" passage="De 28:60"><i>v.</i>
60</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p4" shownumber="no">I. Here is the war proclaimed (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.1" parsed="|Joel|2|1|0|0" passage="Joe 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>Blow the trumpet in
Zion,</i> either to call the invading army together, and then the
trumpet sounds a charge, or rather to give notice to Judah and
Jerusalem of the approach of the judgment, that they might
<i>prepare to meet their God</i> in the way of his judgments and
might endeavor by prayers and tears, the church's best artillery,
to put by the stroke. It was the priests' business to sound the
trumpet (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Num.10.8" parsed="|Num|10|8|0|0" passage="Nu 10:8">Num. x. 8</scripRef>), both as
an appeal to God in the day of their distress and a summons to the
people to come together to seek his face. Note, It is the work of
ministers to give warning from the word of God of the fatal
consequences of sin, and to reveal his wrath from heaven against
the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And though it is not
the privilege of Zion and Jerusalem to be exempted from the
judgments of God, if they provoke him, yet it is their privilege to
be warned of them, that they might make their peace with him. Even
in <i>the holy mountain</i> the <i>alarm</i> must be
<i>sounded,</i> and then it sounds most dreadful, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Amos.3.2" parsed="|Amos|3|2|0|0" passage="Am 3:2">Amos iii. 2</scripRef>. Now, <i>shall a trumpet be
blown in the city,</i> in the holy city, <i>and the people not be
afraid?</i> Surely they will. <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.3.6" parsed="|Amos|3|6|0|0" passage="Am 3:6">Amos iii.
6</scripRef>. <i>Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;</i>
they shall be made to tremble by the judgment itself; let them
therefore tremble at the alarm of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p5" shownumber="no">II. Here is a general idea given of the day
of battle, which <i>cometh,</i> which is <i>nigh at hand,</i> and
there is no avoiding it. It is the <i>day of the Lord,</i> the day
of his judgment, in which he will both manifest and magnify
himself. It is <i>a day of darkness and gloominess</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.2" parsed="|Joel|2|2|0|0" passage="Joe 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), literally so, the swarms
of locusts and caterpillars being so large and so thick as to
darken the sky (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.10.15" parsed="|Exod|10|15|0|0" passage="Ex 10:15">Exod. x.
15</scripRef>), or rather figuratively; it will be a melancholy
time, a time of grievous affliction. And it will come <i>as the
morning spread upon the mountains;</i> the darkness of this day
will come as suddenly as the morning light, as irresistibly, will
spread as far, and grow upon them as the morning light.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p6" shownumber="no">III. Here is the army drawn up in array
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.2" parsed="|Joel|2|2|0|0" passage="Joe 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): They are a
<i>great people, and a strong.</i> Any one sees the vast numbers
that there shall be of locusts and caterpillars, destroying the
land, will say (as we are all apt to be most affected with what is
present), "Surely, never was the like before, nor ever will be the
like again." Note, Extraordinary judgments are rare things, and
seldom happen, which is an instance of God's patience. When God had
drowned the world once he promised never to do it again. The army
is here describe to be, 1. Very bold and daring: <i>They are as
horses,</i> as war-horses, that rush into the battle and <i>are not
affrighted</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.39.22" parsed="|Job|39|22|0|0" passage="Job 39:22">Job xxxix.
22</scripRef>); and <i>as horsemen,</i> carried on with martial
fire and fury, <i>so they shall run,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.4" parsed="|Joel|2|4|0|0" passage="Joe 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. Some of the ancients have
observed that the head of a locust is very like, in shape, to the
head of a horse. 2. Very loud and noisy—<i>like the noise of
chariots,</i> of many chariots, when driven furiously over rough
ground, <i>on the tops of the mountains,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.5" parsed="|Joel|2|5|0|0" passage="Joe 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Hence is borrowed part of the
description of the locusts which St. John saw rise out of the
bottomless pit. <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.9.7 Bible:Rev.9.9" parsed="|Rev|9|7|0|0;|Rev|9|9|0|0" passage="Re 9:7,9">Rev. ix. 7,
9</scripRef>, <i>The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses
prepared to the battle; and the sound of their wings was as the
sound of chariots, of many horses running to the battle.</i>
Historians tell us that the noise made by swarms of locusts in
those countries that are infested with them has sometimes been
heard six miles off. The noise is likewise compared to that of a
<i>roaring fire;</i> it is like the <i>noise of a flame</i> that
<i>devours the stubble,</i> which noise is the more terrible
because that which it is the indication of is devouring. Note, When
God's judgments are abroad they make a great noise; and it is
necessary for the awakening of a secure and stupid world that they
should do so. (3.) They are very regular, and keep ranks in their
march; though numerous and greedy of spoil, yet they are <i>as a
strong people set in battle array</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.5" parsed="|Joel|2|5|0|0" passage="Joe 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>They shall march every one on
his ways,</i> straight forward, as if they had been trained up by
the discipline of war to keep their post and observe their
right-hand man. <i>They shall not break their ranks, nor one thrust
another,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.7-Joel.2.8" parsed="|Joel|2|7|2|8" passage="Joe 2:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7,
8</scripRef>. Their number and swiftness shall breed no confusion.
See how God can make creatures to act by rule that have no reason
to act by, when he designs to serve his own purposes by them. And
see how necessary it is that those who are employed in any service
for God should observe order, and keep ranks, should diligently go
on in their own work and stand in one another's way. 4. They are
very <i>swift;</i> they <i>run like horsemen</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.4" parsed="|Joel|2|4|0|0" passage="Joe 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), run <i>like mighty
men</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.9" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.7" parsed="|Joel|2|7|0|0" passage="Joe 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>); they
<i>run to and fro in the city,</i> and <i>run upon the wall,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.10" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.9" parsed="|Joel|2|9|0|0" passage="Joe 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. When God
<i>sends forth his command on earth</i> his word <i>runs very
swiftly,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p6.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.147.15" parsed="|Ps|147|15|0|0" passage="Ps 147:15">Ps. cxlvii.
15</scripRef>. Angels have wings, and so have locusts, when God
makes use of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p7" shownumber="no">IV. Here is the terrible execution done by
this formidable army, 1. In the country, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.2" parsed="|Joel|2|2|0|0" passage="Joe 2:2"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. View the army in the front, and
you will see a <i>fire devouring before them;</i> they consume all
as if they breathed fire. View it in the rear, and you will see
those that come behind as furious as the foremost: <i>Behind them a
flame burns.</i> When they are gone, then it will appear what
destruction they have made. Look upon the fields that they have not
yet invaded, and they are <i>as the garden of Eden,</i> pleasant to
the eye, and full of good fruits; they are the pride and glory of
the country. But look upon the fields that they have eaten up and
they are <i>as a desolate wilderness;</i> one would not think that
these had ever been like the former, and yet so they were perhaps
but the day before, or that those should ever be made like these,
and yet so they shall be perhaps by to-morrow night; yea, and
<i>nothing shall escape them</i> than can possibly be made food for
them. Let none be proud of the beauty of their grounds any more
than of their bodies, for God can soon change the face of both. 2.
In the city. They shall <i>climb the wall</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.7" parsed="|Joel|2|7|0|0" passage="Joe 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), they shall <i>run upon the
houses,</i> and <i>enter in at the windows like a thief</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.9" parsed="|Joel|2|9|0|0" passage="Joe 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>); when Egypt
was plagued with <i>locusts,</i> they filled <i>Pharaoh's
houses</i> and the <i>houses of his servants,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Exod.10.5-Exod.10.6" parsed="|Exod|10|5|10|6" passage="Ex 10:5,6">Exod. x. 5, 6</scripRef>. The locusts out of
the bottomless pit, Satan's emissaries, and missionaries of the man
of sin, do as these locusts. God's judgments too, when they come
with commission, cannot be kept out with bars and bolts; they will
find or force their way.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p8" shownumber="no">V. The impressions that should hereby be
made upon the people. They shall find it to no purpose to make
opposition. These enemies are invulnerable and therefore
irresistible: <i>When they fall upon the sword they shall not be
wounded,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.8" parsed="|Joel|2|8|0|0" passage="Joe 2:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>.
And those that cannot be hurt cannot be stopped; and therefore
<i>before their faces the people shall be much pained</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.6" parsed="|Joel|2|6|0|0" passage="Joe 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), as the
merchants are in pain for their trading ships when they hear they
are just in the mouth of a squadron of the enemies. "One is in pain
for his field, another for his vineyard, <i>and all faces gather
blackness,</i>" which denotes the utmost consternation imaginable.
Men in fear look pale, but men in despair look black; the whiteness
of a sudden fright, when it is settled, turns into blackness. What
is the matter of our pride and pleasure God can soon make the
matter of our pain. The terror that the country should be in is
described (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.10" parsed="|Joel|2|10|0|0" passage="Joe 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>) by
figurative expressions: <i>The earth shall quake and the heavens
tremble;</i> even the hearts that seemed undaunted, so firm that
nothing would frighten them, as immovable as heaven or earth, shall
be seized with astonishment. Or when the inhabitants of the land
are made to quake it seems to them as if all about them trembled
too. Through the prevalency of their fear, or for want of the
supports of life which they used to have, their eye shall wax dim
and their sight fail them, so that to them <i>the sun and moon
shall seem</i> to be <i>dark,</i> and the stars to <i>withdraw
their shining.</i> Note, When God frowns upon men the lights of
heaven will be small joy to them; for man, by rebelling against his
Creator, has forfeited the benefit of all the creatures. But,
though this is to be understood figuratively, there is a day coming
when it will be accomplished in the letter, when the <i>heavens</i>
shall be <i>rolled together like a scroll,</i> and <i>the earth,
and all the works that are therein,</i> shall be <i>burnt up.</i>
Particular judgments should awaken us to think of the general
judgment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p9" shownumber="no">VI. We are here directed to look up both
him who is the commander-in-chief of this formidable army, and that
is God himself, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.11" parsed="|Joel|2|11|0|0" passage="Joe 2:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. It is <i>his army;</i> it is <i>his camp.</i> He
raised it; he gives it commission; he <i>utters his voice before
it,</i> as the general gives orders to his army what to do and
makes a speech to animate the soldiers; it is the Lord that gives
the word of command to all these animals, which they exactly
observe. Some think that with this cloud of locusts God sent
terrible thunder, for that is called, <i>The voice of the Lord,</i>
and was another of the plagues of Egypt, and this made the heavens
and the earth tremble. It is the <i>day of the Lord</i> (as it was
called, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.1" parsed="|Joel|2|1|0|0" passage="Joe 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), for in
this war we are sure he carries the day; it must needs be his, for
<i>his camp is great</i> and numerous. Those whom he makes war upon
he can, as here, overpower with numbers; and whoever he employs to
<i>execute his word,</i> as the minister of his justice, is sure to
be made <i>strong</i> and <i>par negotio—equal to what he
undertakes;</i> whom God gives commission to he girds with strength
for the executing of that commission. And this makes the <i>great
day</i> of the Lord <i>very terrible</i> to all those who in that
day are to be made the monuments of his justice; for <i>who can
abide it?</i> None can escape the arrests of God's wrath, can make
head against the force of it, or bear up under the weight of it,
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.20 Bible:Ps.76.7" parsed="|1Sam|6|20|0|0;|Ps|76|7|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:20,Ps 76:7">1 Sam. vi. 20; Ps. lxxvi.
7</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.iii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.12-Joel.2.17" parsed="|Joel|2|12|2|17" passage="Joe 2:12-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iii-p9.5">
<h4 id="Joel.iii-p9.6">Exhortation to Repentance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p9.7">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iii-p10" shownumber="no">12 Therefore also now, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p10.1">Lord</span>, turn ye <i>even</i> to me with all your
heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
  13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p10.2">Lord</span> your God: for he <i>is</i>
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repenteth him of the evil.   14 Who knoweth <i>if</i> he will
return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; <i>even</i> a
meat offering and a drink offering unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p10.3">Lord</span> your God?   15 Blow the trumpet in
Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:   16 Gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go
forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.   17
Let the priests, the ministers of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p10.4">Lord</span>, weep between the porch and the altar, and
let them say, Spare thy people, <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p10.5">O
Lord</span>, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the
heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the
people, Where <i>is</i> their God?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p11" shownumber="no">We have here an earnest exhortation to
repentance, inferred from that desolating judgment described and
threatened in the <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.1-Joel.2.11" parsed="|Joel|2|1|2|11" passage="Joe 2:1-11">foregoing
verses</scripRef>: <i>Therefore now turn you to the Lord.</i> 1.
"Thus you must answer the end and intention of the judgment; for it
was sent for this end, to convince you of your sins, to humble you
for them, to reduce you to your right minds and to your
allegiance." God brings us into straits, that he may bring us to
repentance and so bring us to himself. 2. "Thus you may stay the
progress of the judgment. Things are bad with you, but thus you may
prevent their growing worse; nay, if you take this course, they
will soon grow better." Here is a gracious invitation,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p12" shownumber="no">I. To a personal repentance, exercised in
the soul, <i>every family apart, and their wives apart,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.12.12" parsed="|Zech|12|12|0|0" passage="Zec 12:12">Zech. xii. 12</scripRef>. When the
judgments of God are abroad, each person is concerned to contribute
his <i>quota</i> to the common supplications, having contributed to
the common guilt. Every one must mend one and mourn for one, and
then we should all be mended and all found among God's mourners.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p13" shownumber="no">1. What we are here called to, which will
teach us what it is to repent, for it is the same that the Lord our
God still requires of us, we having all made work for repentance.
(1.) We must be truly humbled for our sins, must be sorry we have
by sin offended God, and ashamed we have by sin wronged ourselves,
both wronged our judgments and wronged our interests. There must be
outward expressions of sorrow and shame, <i>fasting,</i> and
<i>weeping,</i> and <i>mourning;</i> tears for the sin that
procured it. But what will the outward expressions of sorrow avail
if the inward impressions be not agreeable, and not only accompany
them, but be the root and spring of them, and give rise to them?
And therefore it follows, <i>Rend your heart, and not your
garments;</i> not but that, according to the custom of that age, it
was proper for them to rend their garments, in token of great grief
for their sins and a holy indignation against themselves for their
folly; but, "Rest not in the doing of that, as if that were
sufficient, but be more in care to accommodate your spirits than to
accommodate your dress to a day of fasting and humiliation; nay,
rend not your garments at all, unless withal you rend your hearts,
for the sign without the thing signified is but a jest and a
mockery, and an affront to God." Rending the heart is that which
God looks for and requires; that is the <i>broken and contrite
heart</i> which he <i>will not despise,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.51.17" parsed="|Ps|51|17|0|0" passage="Ps 51:17">Ps. li. 17</scripRef>. When we are greatly grieved in
soul for sin, so that it even <i>cuts us to the heart</i> to think
how we have dishonoured God and disparaged ourselves by it, when we
conceive an aversion to sin, and earnestly desire and endeavor to
get clear of the principles of it and never to return to the
practice of it, then we rend our hearts for it, and then will God
<i>rend the heavens</i> and come down to us with mercy. (2.) We
must be thoroughly converted to our God, and come home to him when
we fall out with sin. <i>Turn you even to me, said the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.12" parsed="|Joel|2|12|0|0" passage="Joe 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), and again
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.13" parsed="|Joel|2|13|0|0" passage="Joe 2:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), <i>Turn
unto the Lord your God.</i> Our fasting and weeping are worth
nothing if we do not with them turn to God as our God. When we are
fully convinced that it is our duty and interest to keep in with
him, and are heartily sorry we have ever turned the back upon him,
and thereupon, by a firm and fixed resolution, make his glory our
end, his will our rule, and his favour our felicity, then we
<i>return to the Lord our God,</i> and this we are all commanded
and invited to do, and to do it quickly.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p14" shownumber="no">2. What arguments are here used to persuade
this people thus to turn to the Lord, and to turn to him <i>with
all their hearts.</i> When the heart is rent for sin, and rent from
it, then it is prepared to turn entirely to God, and to be devoted
entirely to him, and he will have it all or none. Now, to bring
ourselves to this, let us consider, (1.) We are sure that he is, in
general, a good God. We must <i>turn to the Lord our God,</i> not
only because he has been just and righteous in punishing us for our
sins, the fear of which should drive us to him, but because he is
<i>gracious and merciful,</i> in receiving upon us our repentance,
the hope of which should draw us to him. He is gracious and
merciful, delights not in the death of sinners, but desires that
they may turn and live. <i>He is slow to anger</i> against those
that offend him, but of <i>great kindness</i> towards those that
desire to please him. These very expressions are used in God's
proclamation of his name when he caused <i>his goodness,</i> and
with it all his glory, to <i>pass before Moses,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Exod.34.6-Exod.34.7" parsed="|Exod|34|6|34|7" passage="Ex 34:6,7">Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7</scripRef>. <i>He repents him
of the evil,</i> not that he changes his mind, but, when the
sinner's mind is changed, God's way towards him is changed; the
sentence is reversed, and the curse of the law is taken off. Note,
That is genuine, ingenuous, and evangelical repentance, which
arises from a firm belief of the mercy of God, which we have sinned
against, and yet are not in despair. <i>Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.</i> The goodness of God, if it be rightly
understood, instead of emboldening us to go on in sin, will be the
most powerful inducement to repentance, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.130.4" parsed="|Ps|130|4|0|0" passage="Ps 130:4">Ps. cxxx. 4</scripRef>. The act of indemnity brings
those to God whom the act of attainder frightened from him. (2.) We
have reason to hope that he will, upon our repentance, give us that
good which by sin we have forfeited and deprived ourselves of
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.14" parsed="|Joel|2|14|0|0" passage="Joe 2:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), that he
will <i>return and repent,</i> that he will not proceed against us
as he has done, but will act in favour of us. <i>Therefore</i> let
us repent of our sins against him, and return to him in a way of
duty, because then we may hope that he will repent of his judgments
against us and return to us in a way of mercy. Now observe, [1.]
The manner of expectation is very humble and modest: <i>Who knows
if he will?</i> Some think it is expressed thus doubtfully to check
the presumption and security of the people, and to quicken them to
a holy carefulness and liveliness in their repentance, as <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Josh.24.19" parsed="|Josh|24|19|0|0" passage="Jos 24:19">Josh. xxiv. 19</scripRef>. Or, rather, it is
expressed doubtfully because it is the removal of a temporal
judgment that they here promise themselves, of which we cannot be
so confident as we can that, in general, God is gracious and
merciful. There is no question at all to be made but that if we
truly repent of our sins God will forgive them, and be reconciled
to us; but whether he will remove this or the other affliction
which we are under may well be questioned, and yet the probability
of it should encourage us to repent. Promises of temporal good
things are often made with a peradventure. <i>It may be, you shall
be hid,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.2.3" parsed="|Zeph|2|3|0|0" passage="Zep 2:3">Zeph. ii. 3</scripRef>.
David's sin is pardoned, and yet the child shall die, and, when
David prayed for its life, he said, as here, <i>Who can tell
whether God will be gracious to me</i> in this matter likewise?
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.22" parsed="|2Sam|12|22|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:22">2 Sam. xii. 22</scripRef>. The
Ninevites repented and reformed upon such a consideration as this,
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.3.9" parsed="|Jonah|3|9|0|0" passage="Jon 3:9">Jonah iii. 9</scripRef>. [2.] The
matter of expectation is very pious. They hope God will return and
repent, and <i>leave a blessing behind him,</i> not as if he were
about to go from them, and they could be content with any blessing
in lieu of his presence, but <i>behind him,</i> that is, "After he
has ceased his controversy with us, he will bestow a blessing upon
us;" and what is it? It is a <i>meat-offering and a drink-offering
to the Lord our God.</i> The fruits of the earth are called <i>a
blessing</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.8" parsed="|Isa|45|8|0|0" passage="Isa 45:8">Isa. xlv. 8</scripRef>)
because they depend upon God's blessing and are necessary blessings
to us. They had been deprived of these, and that which grieved them
most while they were so was that God's altar was deprived of its
offerings and God's priests of their maintenance; that therefore
which they comfort themselves with the prospect of in their return
of plenty is that then there shall be meat-offerings and
drink-offerings in abundance brought to God's altar, which they
more desired than to see the wonted abundance of meat and drink
brought to their own tables. Thus when Hezekiah was in hopes that
he should recover of his sickness he asked, <i>What is the sign
that I shall go up,</i> not to the thrones of judgment, or to the
councilboard, but <i>to the house of the Lord?</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.38.22" parsed="|Isa|38|22|0|0" passage="Isa 38:22">Isa. xxxviii. 22</scripRef>. Note, The
plentiful enjoyment of God's ordinances in their power and purity
is the most valuable instance of a nation's prosperity and the
greatest blessing that can be desired. If God give the blessing of
meat-offering and the drink-offering, that will bring along with it
other blessings, will sanctify them, sweeten them, and secure
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p15" shownumber="no">II. They are here called to a public
national repentance, to be exercised in the solemn assembly, as a
national act, for the glory of God and the excitement of one
another, and that the neighbouring nations might know and observe
what it was that qualified them for God's gracious returns in mercy
to them, which they would be the admiring witnesses of. Let us see
here, 1. How the congregation must be called together, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.15-Joel.2.16" parsed="|Joel|2|15|2|16" passage="Joe 2:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>. The trumpet was
blown (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.1" parsed="|Joel|2|1|0|0" passage="Joe 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), to
sound an <i>alarm of war;</i> but now it must be blown in order to
a treaty of peace. God is willing to show mercy to his people if he
do but find them in a frame fit for it; and therefore, Call them
together; <i>sanctify a fast.</i> By the law many annual feasts
were appointed, but only one day in the year was to be observed as
a fast, the <i>day of atonement,</i> a day to <i>afflict the
soul;</i> and, if they had kept close to God and their duty, there
would have been no occasion to observe any more; but now that they
had by sin brought the judgments of God upon them they are often
called to fasting. What was said <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.14" parsed="|Joel|1|14|0|0" passage="Joe 1:14"><i>ch.</i> i. 14</scripRef> is here repeated: "<i>Call a
solemn assembly; gather the people</i> (press them to come together
upon this errand); <i>sanctify the congregation;</i> appoint a time
for solemn preparation beforehand and put them in mind to prepare
themselves. Let not the greatest be excused, but <i>assemble the
elders,</i> the judges and magistrates. Let not the meanest be
passed by, but <i>gather the children, and those that suck the
breasts.</i>" It is good to bring little children, as soon as they
are capable of understanding any thing, to religious assemblies,
that they may be trained up betimes in the way wherein they should
go; but these were brought even when they were at the breast and
were kept fasting, that by their cries for the breast the hearts of
the parents might be moved to repent of sin, which God might justly
so visit upon their children that the <i>tongue of the sucking
child</i> might <i>cleave to the roof of his mouth</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Lam.4.4" parsed="|Lam|4|4|0|0" passage="La 4:4">Lam. iv. 4</scripRef>), and that on them God might
have compassion, as he had on the infants of Nineveh, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.4.11" parsed="|Jonah|4|11|0|0" passage="Jon 4:11">Jonah iv. 11</scripRef>. New-married people must
not be exempted: <i>Let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber and
the bride out of her closet;</i> let them not take state upon them
as usual, not put on their ornaments, nor indulge themselves in
mirth, but address themselves to the duties of the public fast with
as much gravity and sadness as any of their neighbours. Note,
Private joys must always give way to public sorrows, both those for
affliction and those for sin. 2. How the work of the day must be
carried on, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.17" parsed="|Joel|2|17|0|0" passage="Joe 2:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>.
(1.) The priests, <i>the Lord's ministers,</i> must preside in the
congregation, and be God's mouth to the people, and theirs to God;
who should stand in the gap to turn away the wrath of God but those
whose business it was to make intercession upon ordinary occasions?
(2.) They must officiate <i>between the porch and the altar.</i>
There they used to attend about the sacrifices, and therefore now
that they have no sacrifices to offer, or next to none, there they
must offer up spiritual sacrifices. There the people must see them
weeping and wrestling, like their father Jacob, and be helped into
the same devout frame. Ministers must themselves be affected with
those things wherewith they desire to affect others. It was
<i>between the porch and the altar</i> that Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada was put to death for his faithfulness; that precious blood
God would require at their hands, and therefore, to turn away the
judgment threatened for it, there they must <i>weep.</i> (3.) They
must pray. Words here are put into their mouths, which they might
in their prayers enlarge upon. Their petition must be, <i>Spare thy
people, O Lord!</i> God's people, when they are in distress, can
expect no relief against God's justice but what comes from his
mercy. They cannot say, Lord, <i>right us,</i> but, Lord, <i>spare
us.</i> We deserve the correction; we need it; but, Lord, mitigate
it. The sinner's supplication is, <i>Spare us, good Lord.</i> Their
plea must be taken from the relation wherein they stand to God
("They are <i>thy people,</i> and <i>thy heritage,</i> therefore
have compassion on them"), but especially from the concern of God's
glory in their trouble—"Lord, <i>give not thy heritage to
reproach,</i> to the reproach of famine; let not the land of
Canaan, that has so long been celebrated as the glory of all lands,
now be made the scorn of all lands; let not <i>the heathen rule
over them,</i> as they will easily do when thy heritage is thus
impoverished and disabled to subsist. Let not the heathen make them
<i>a proverb,</i> or a <i>by-word</i>" (so some read it); "let it
never be said, <i>As poor and beggarly as an Israelite.</i>" Note,
The maintaining of the credit of the nation among its neighbours is
a blessing to be desired and prayed for by all that wish well to
it. But that reproach of the church is especially to be dreaded and
deprecated which reflects upon God: "Let them not <i>say among the
people, Where is their God</i>—that God who has promised to help
them, whom they have boasted so much of and put such a confidence
in?" If God's heritage be destroyed, the neighbours will say, "God
was either weak and could not relieve them or unkind and would
not." <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.37" parsed="|Deut|32|37|0|0" passage="De 32:37">Deut. xxxii. 37</scripRef>,
<i>Where are now their gods in whom they trusted?</i> And
Sennacherib thus triumphs over them. <i>Where are they gods of
Hamath and Arpad?</i> But it must by no means be suffered that they
should say of Israel, <i>Where is their God?</i> For we are sure
that our God is in the heavens (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.115.2-Ps.115.3" parsed="|Ps|115|2|115|3" passage="Ps 115:2,3">Ps.
cxv. 2, 3</scripRef>), is in his temple, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.11.4" parsed="|Ps|11|4|0|0" passage="Ps 11:4">Ps. xi. 4</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.iii-p15.10" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.18-Joel.2.27" parsed="|Joel|2|18|2|27" passage="Joe 2:18-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iii-p15.11">
<h4 id="Joel.iii-p15.12">Promise of Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p15.13">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iii-p16" shownumber="no">18 Then will the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p16.1">Lord</span> be jealous for his land, and pity his
people.   19 Yea, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p16.2">Lord</span> will
answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and
wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no
more make you a reproach among the heathen:   20 But I will
remove far off from you the northern <i>army,</i> and will drive
him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east
sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall
come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done
great things.   21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p16.3">Lord</span> will do great things.
  22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures
of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the
fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.   23 Be glad
then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p16.4">Lord</span> your God: for he hath given you the former
rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain in the first <i>month.</i>
  24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall
overflow with wine and oil.   25 And I will restore to you the
years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the
caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among
you.   26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and
praise the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p16.5">Lord</span> your
God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never
be ashamed.   27 And ye shall know that I <i>am</i> in the
midst of Israel, and <i>that</i> I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p16.6">Lord</span> your God, and none else: and my people
shall never be ashamed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p17" shownumber="no">See how ready God is to succour and relieve
his people, how he <i>waits to be gracious;</i> as soon as ever
they humble themselves under this hand, and pray, and seek his
face, he immediately meets them with his favours. They prayed that
God would <i>spare them,</i> and see here with what <i>good words
and comfortable words</i> he answered them; for God's promises are
real answers to the prayers of faith, because with him saying and
doing are not two things. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p18" shownumber="no">I. Whence this mercy promised shall take
rise (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.18" parsed="|Joel|2|18|0|0" passage="Joe 2:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): God
will be <i>jealous for his land</i> and <i>pity his people.</i> He
will have an eye, 1. To his own honour, and the reputation of his
covenant with Israel, by which he had conveyed to them that good
land and had given in the value of it very high; now he will not
suffer it to be despised nor disparaged, but will be jealous for
the credit of his land, and the inhabitants of it, who had been
praised as a happy people and therefore must not lie open to
reproach as a miserable people. 2. To their distress: He will
<i>pity his people,</i> and, in pity to them, he will restore them
their forfeited comforts. God's compassion is a great encouragement
to those that come humbly to him as penitents and as
petitioners.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p19" shownumber="no">II. What his mercy shall be, in several
instances:—1. The destroying army shall be dispersed and defeated
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.20" parsed="|Joel|2|20|0|0" passage="Joe 2:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): "<i>I will
remove far off from you the northern army,</i> that army of locusts
and caterpillars that invaded you from the north, brought in upon
the wings of a north wind, an army which you could put no stop to
the progress of; but, when you have made your peace with God, he
will ease you of these soldiers that are quartered upon you and
will <i>drive them into a land barren and desolate,</i> into that
vast howling wilderness that Israel wandered in, where, after
having surfeited upon the plenty of Canaan, they shall perish for
want of sustenance. Those that have their <i>face to the east
sea</i> (the Dead Sea, which lay east of Judea) shall perish in
that, and the rear of the army shall be lost in the Great Sea,"
called here the <i>utmost sea.</i> They had made the land barren
and desolate, and now God will cast them into a land barren and
desolate. Thus those whom God employs for the correction of his
people come afterwards to be themselves reckoned with; and the rod
is thrown into the fire. Nothing shall remain of these swarms of
insects but the ill savour of them. When Egypt was eased of the
plague of locusts they were carried away to the Red Sea, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.10.19" parsed="|Exod|10|19|0|0" passage="Ex 10:19">Exod. x. 19</scripRef>. Note, When an affliction
has done its work it shall be removed in mercy, as the locusts of
Canaan were from a penitent people, not as the locusts of Egypt
were removed, in wrath, from an impenitent prince, only to make
room for another plague. Many interpreters, by this northern army,
understand that of Sennacherib, which was dispersed when God by it
had <i>accomplished his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon
Jerusalem,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.12" parsed="|Isa|10|12|0|0" passage="Isa 10:12">Isa. x. 12</scripRef>.
This enemy shall be driven away, because <i>he has done great
things,</i> has done a great deal of mischief, and has
<i>magnified</i> to do it, has done it in the pride of his heart;
therefore it follows (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.21" parsed="|Joel|2|21|0|0" passage="Joe 2:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), <i>The Lord will do great things for</i> his
people, as the enemy has done great things against them, to
convince them that wherein they deal proudly he is, and will be,
above them, that, what great things soever they did, they did no
more than God commissioned them to do; and as, when he said to
them, Go, they went, so, when he said to them, Come, they came, to
show that they were <i>soldiers under him.</i> 2. The destroyed
land shall be watered and made fruitful. When the army is
scattered, yet what shall we do if the desolation they have made
continue? It is therefore promised (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.22" parsed="|Joel|2|22|0|0" passage="Joe 2:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>) that <i>the pastures of the
wilderness,</i> the pastures which the locusts had left as bare as
the wilderness, shall again <i>spring</i> and the <i>trees shall
again bear their fruit,</i> particularly the <i>fig-tree and the
vine.</i> But, when we see how the country is wasted, we are
tempted to say, <i>Can these dry bones live? If the Lord should
make windows in heaven,</i> it cannot be; but it shall be, for
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.23" parsed="|Joel|2|23|0|0" passage="Joe 2:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>) <i>the Lord
has given</i> and will give you <i>the former rain and the latter
rain,</i> and, if he give them in mercy, he will give them
moderately, so that the rain shall not turn into a judgment, and he
will give them in due season, the <i>latter rain in the first
month,</i> when it was wanted and expected. It would make it
comfortable to them to see it coming from the hand of God, and
ordered by his wisdom, for then we are sure it is well ordered.
<i>He has given you a teacher of righteousness,</i> (so the margin
reads it, for the same word that signifies the <i>rain</i>
signifies a <i>teacher.</i> and that which we translate
<i>moderately</i> is <i>according to righteousness</i>), and this
<i>teacher of righteousness,</i> says one of the rabbin, is the
King Messias, and of him many others understand this; for he is a
<i>teacher come from God,</i> and he shows us the way of
<i>righteousness.</i> But others understand it of any prophet that
<i>instructs unto righteousness,</i> and some of Hezekiah
particularly, others of Isaiah. Note, It is a good sign that God
has mercy in store for a people when he sends them teachers of
righteousness, pastors after his own heart. 3. All their losses
shall be repaired (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.25" parsed="|Joel|2|25|0|0" passage="Joe 2:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>): "<i>I will restore to you the years that the locust
has eaten;</i> you shall be comforted according to the time that
you have been afflicted, and shall have years of plenty to balance
the years of famine." Thus does it <i>repent the Lord concerning
his servants,</i> when they repent, and, to show how perfectly he
is reconciled to them, he makes good the damage they have sustained
by his judgments, and, like the jailer, <i>washes their
stripes.</i> Though, in justice, he distrained upon them, and did
them no wrong, yet, in compassion, he makes restitution; as the
father of the prodigal, upon his return, made up all he had lost by
his sin and folly, and took him into his family, as in his former
estate. The locusts and caterpillars are here called <i>God's great
army which he sent among them,</i> and he will repair what they had
devoured because they were his army. 4. They shall have great
abundance of all good things. The earth shall yield her increase,
and they shall enjoy it. Look into the stores where they lay up,
and you shall find <i>the floors full of wheat, and the fats
overflowing with wine and oil</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.24" parsed="|Joel|2|24|0|0" passage="Joe 2:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>), whereas, in the day of their
distress, the <i>wine and oil languished</i> and <i>the barns were
broken down,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.9" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.10 Bible:Joel.1.17" parsed="|Joel|1|10|0|0;|Joel|1|17|0|0" passage="Joe 1:10,17"><i>ch.</i> i. 10,
17</scripRef>. Look upon their tables, where they lay out what they
have laid up, and you shall find that they <i>eat in plenty and are
satisfied,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.10" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.26" parsed="|Joel|2|26|0|0" passage="Joe 2:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. They do not eat to excess, nor are surfeited; we
hope the <i>drunkards</i> are cured by the late affliction of their
inordinate love of wine and strong drink, for, though they were
brought in howling for their scarcity (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p19.11" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.5" parsed="|Joel|1|5|0|0" passage="Joe 1:5"><i>ch.</i> i. 5</scripRef>), they are now brought in
again here singing for the plenty of it; but now all shall have
enough, and shall known when they have enough, for God will make
their food nourishing and give them to be content with it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p20" shownumber="no">These are the mercies promised, and in
these <i>God does great things</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.21" parsed="|Joel|2|21|0|0" passage="Joe 2:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), <i>He deals wondrously with
his people,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.26" parsed="|Joel|2|26|0|0" passage="Joe 2:26"><i>v.</i>
26</scripRef>. Herein he glorifies his power, and shows that he can
relieve his people though their distress be ever so great, and
glorifies his goodness, that he will do it upon their repentance
though their provocations were ever so great. Note, When God deals
graciously with poor sinners that return to him it must be
acknowledged that he deals wondrously and does great things. Some
expositors understand these promises figuratively, as pointing at
gospel-grace, and having their accomplishment in the abundant
comforts that are treasured up for believers in the covenant of
grace and the satisfaction of soul they have therein. When God
sends us his promises to be the matter of our comfort, his graces
to be the grounds of it, and his Spirit to be the author of it, we
may well own that he has sent us (according to his promise here,
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.19" parsed="|Joel|2|19|0|0" passage="Joe 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>) <i>corn, and
wine, and oil,</i> or that which is unspeakably better, and we have
reason to be satisfied therewith.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p21" shownumber="no">III. What use shall be made of these
returns of God's mercy to them and the good account they shall turn
to.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p22" shownumber="no">1. God shall have the glory thereof, for
they shall <i>rejoice in the Lord their God</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.23" parsed="|Joel|2|23|0|0" passage="Joe 2:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), and what is the matter of
their rejoicing shall be the matter of their thanksgiving; they
shall <i>praise the name of the Lord their God</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.26" parsed="|Joel|2|26|0|0" passage="Joe 2:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>) and not praise their
idols, nor call their corn and wine the <i>rewards that their
lovers had given them.</i> Note, The plenty of our
creature-comforts is a mercy indeed to us when by them our hearts
are enlarged in love and thankfulness to God, who gives us all
things richly to enjoy, though we serve him but poorly. When God
restores to us plenty after we have known scarcity, as it is doubly
pleasant to us, so it should make us the more thankful to God. When
Israel comes out of a wilderness into a Canaan, and there eats and
is full, surely he will then <i>bless the Lord,</i> with a very
sensible pleasure, for <i>that good land</i> which <i>he has given
him,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.10" parsed="|Deut|8|10|0|0" passage="De 8:10">Deut. viii. 10</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p23" shownumber="no">2. They shall have the credit, and comfort,
and spiritual benefit, thereof. When God gives them plenty again,
and gives them to be satisfied with it, (1.) Their reputation shall
be retrieved; they and their God shall be no more reflected upon as
unfaithful to one another when they have returned to him in a way
of duty and he to them in a way of mercy (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.19" parsed="|Joel|2|19|0|0" passage="Joe 2:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): "<i>I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen,</i> that triumphed in your calamities
and insulted over you;" and <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.26-Joel.2.27" parsed="|Joel|2|26|2|27" passage="Joe 2:26,27"><i>v.</i> 26, 27</scripRef>, "<i>My people shall
never be ashamed,</i> as they have been, of their good land which
they used to boast of, but shall again and ever have the same
occasion to boast of it." Note, It redounds much to the honour of
God when he does that which saves the honour of his people; and
those that are his people indeed, though they may be for a time,
shall not be always, a <i>reproach among the heathens;</i> if we be
rightly ashamed of our sins against God, we shall never be ashamed
of our glorying in God. (2.) Their joys shall be revived (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.23" parsed="|Joel|2|23|0|0" passage="Joe 2:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>Be glad and
rejoice, O land!</i> and all the inhabitants of it. Times of plenty
are commonly times of joy; yet the favour of God <i>puts gladness
into the heart</i> more than those who have <i>corn, and wine, and
oil increase.</i> But especially <i>be glad them, you children of
Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.23" parsed="|Joel|2|23|0|0" passage="Joe 2:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. They <i>mourned in Zion</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.15" parsed="|Joel|2|15|0|0" passage="Joe 2:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), and
therefore there in a particular manner they shall rejoice; for
those that sow in penitential tears shall certainly reap in
thankful joys. The children of Zion, who led the rest in fasting,
must lead the rest in rejoicing. But observe, They shall <i>rejoice
in the Lord their God,</i> not so much in the good themselves that
are given them as in the good hand that gives them and in the
return of his favour to them, as theirs in covenant, which these
good things are the tokens and pledges of. The <i>joy of
harvest</i> and the joy of a feast must both terminate in God,
whose love we should taste in all the gifts of his bounty, that we
may make him our chief joy, as he is our chief good, and the
fountain of all good to us. (3.) Their faith in God shall be
confirmed and increased. When temporal mercies are made by the
grace of God to be of spiritual advantage to us, and plenty for the
body is so far from being an enemy (as with many it proves) that it
becomes a friend to the prosperity of the soul, then they are
mercies indeed to us. This is promised here (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.27" parsed="|Joel|2|27|0|0" passage="Joe 2:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): <i>You shall know that I am in
the midst of Israel,</i> the <i>Holy One in the midst of thee</i>
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.9" parsed="|Hos|11|9|0|0" passage="Ho 11:9">Hos. xi. 9</scripRef>), <i>and that I
am the Lord your God, and none else.</i> As it proves that the Lord
is God, and there is none other, because he <i>wounds</i> and he
<i>heals,</i> he <i>forms light and darkness,</i> he does <i>good
and evil</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p23.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.7 Bible:Deut.32.39" parsed="|Isa|45|7|0|0;|Deut|32|39|0|0" passage="Isa 45:7,De 32:39">Isa. xlv. 7;
Deut. xxxii. 39</scripRef>), so it proves him to be <i>God of
Israel,</i> a God in covenant with his people and a father to them,
that as a father he both corrects them when they offend and
comforts them when they repent. It was the burden of the
threatenings in Ezekiel's prophecy, Such and such evils I will
bring upon you, <i>and you shall know that I am the Lord;</i> and
the same is here made the crown of the promises: You shall <i>eat,
and be satisfied,</i> and rejoice, and thus <i>you shall know that
I am the Lord.</i> Note, We should labour to grow in our
acquaintance with God by all providences, both merciful and
afflictive. When God gives to his people plenty, and peace, and
joy, upon their return to him, he thereby gives them to understand
that he is pleased with their repentance, that he has pardoned
their sins, and that he is theirs as much as ever—that they are
taken into the same covenant with him, for he is the Lord their
God, and into the same communion, for he is in the midst of them,
<i>nigh unto them in all that they call upon him for,</i> and, as
the sun in the centre of the worlds, so in the midst of them as to
diffuse his benign influences to all the parts of his land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p24" shownumber="no">3. Even the inferior creatures shall share
therein and be made easy thereby: <i>Fear not, O land!</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.21" parsed="|Joel|2|21|0|0" passage="Joe 2:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. <i>Be not
afraid, you beasts of the field,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.22" parsed="|Joel|2|22|0|0" passage="Joe 2:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. They had suffered for the sin
of man, and for God's quarrel with him; and now they shall fare the
better for man's repentance and God's reconciliation to him. Nay,
the beasts were said to <i>cry unto God</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.20" parsed="|Joel|1|20|0|0" passage="Joe 1:20"><i>ch.</i> i. 20</scripRef>); and now that cry is
answered, and they are directed not to <i>be afraid,</i> for they
shall have plenty of all that which their nature craves. God, in
sparing Nineveh, had an eye to the cattle (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Jonah.4.11" parsed="|Jonah|4|11|0|0" passage="Jon 4:11">Jonah iv. 11</scripRef>), for the cattle had fasted,
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.8" parsed="|Joel|3|8|0|0" passage="Joe 3:8"><i>ch.</i> iii. 8</scripRef>. This may
lead us to think of the restitution of all things, when the
<i>creature,</i> that is now <i>made subject to vanity</i> and
<i>groans</i> under it, <i>shall be brought,</i> though not into
the glorious joy, yet <i>into the glorious liberty, of the children
of God,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.21" parsed="|Rom|8|21|0|0" passage="Ro 8:21">Rom. viii.
21</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Joel.iii-p24.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.28-Joel.2.32" parsed="|Joel|2|28|2|32" passage="Joe 2:28-32" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Joel.iii-p24.8">
<h4 id="Joel.iii-p24.9">Promise of Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p24.10">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Joel.iii-p25" shownumber="no">28 And it shall come to pass afterward,
<i>that</i> I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams,
your young men shall see visions:   29 And also upon the
servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my
spirit.   30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the
earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.   31 The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the
great and the terrible day of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p25.1">Lord</span> come.   32 And it shall come to pass,
<i>that</i> whosoever shall call on the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p25.2">Lord</span> shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and
in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p25.3">Lord</span> hath said, and in the remnant whom the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Joel.iii-p25.4">Lord</span> shall call.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p26" shownumber="no">The promises of corn, and wine, and oil, in
the <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.12-Joel.2.27" parsed="|Joel|2|12|2|27" passage="Joe 2:12-27">foregoing verses</scripRef>,
would be very acceptable to a wasted country; but here we are
taught that we must not rest in those things. God has reserved some
better things for us, and these verses have reference to those
better things, both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory,
with the happiness of true believers in both. We are here told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p27" shownumber="no">I. How the kingdom of grace shall be
introduced by a plentiful <i>effusion of the Spirit,</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.28-Joel.2.29" parsed="|Joel|2|28|2|29" passage="Joe 2:28,29"><i>v.</i> 28, 29</scripRef>). We are not at a
loss about the meaning of this promise, nor in doubt what it refers
to and wherein it had its accomplishment, for the apostle Peter has
given us an infallible explication and application of it, assuring
us that when the Spirit was poured out upon the apostles, on the
day of Pentecost (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.1" parsed="|Acts|2|1|0|0" passage="Ac 2:1">Acts ii. 1</scripRef>,
&amp;c.), that was the very thing <i>which was spoken of here by
the prophet Joel,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.16-Joel.2.17" parsed="|Joel|2|16|2|17" passage="Joe 2:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16,
17</scripRef>. That was the gift of the Spirit, which, according to
this prediction, was <i>to come,</i> and we are not to <i>look for
any other,</i> any more than for another accomplishment of the
promise of the Messiah. Now, 1. The blessing itself here promised
is the <i>pouring out of the Spirit of God,</i> his gifts, graces,
and comforts, which the blessed Spirit is the author of. We often
read in the Old Testament of the Spirit of the Lord coming by
drops, as it were, upon the judges and prophets whom God raised up
for extraordinary services; but now the Spirit shall be poured out
plentifully in a full stream, as was promised with an eye to
gospel-times, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.44.3" parsed="|Isa|44|3|0|0" passage="Isa 44:3">Isa. xliv. 3</scripRef>.
<i>I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed.</i> 2. The time fixed for
this is <i>afterwards;</i> after the fulfilling of the foregoing
promises this shall be fulfilled. St. Peter expounds this of <i>the
last days,</i> the days of the Messiah, by whom the world was to
have its last revelation of the divine will and grace in the last
days of the Jewish church, a little before its dissolution. 3. The
extent of this blessing, in respect of the persons on whom it shall
be bestowed. The Spirit shall be <i>poured out upon all flesh,</i>
not as hitherto upon Jews only, but upon Gentiles also; for in
Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.11-Rom.10.12" parsed="|Rom|10|11|10|12" passage="Ro 10:11,12">Rom. x. 11, 12</scripRef>. Hitherto divine
revelation was confined to the seed of Abraham, none but those of
the land of Israel had the Spirit of prophecy; but, in the last
days, <i>all flesh shall see the glory of God</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.5" parsed="|Isa|40|5|0|0" passage="Isa 40:5">Isa. xl. 5</scripRef>) and shall come to
<i>worship before him,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.66.23" parsed="|Isa|66|23|0|0" passage="Isa 66:23">Isa. lxvi.
23</scripRef>. The Jews understand it of all flesh in the land of
Israel, and Peter himself did not fully understand it as speaking
of the Gentiles till he saw it accomplished in the descent of the
Holy Ghost upon Cornelius and his friends, who were Gentiles
(<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.10.44-Acts.10.45" parsed="|Acts|10|44|10|45" passage="Ac 10:44,45">Acts x. 44, 45</scripRef>), which
was but a continuation of the same gift which was bestowed on the
day of Pentecost. The Spirit shall be poured out <i>upon all
flesh,</i> that is, upon all those whose hearts are made hearts of
flesh, soft and tender, and so prepared to receive the impressions
and influences of the Holy Ghost. <i>Upon all flesh,</i> that is,
upon some of all sorts of men; the gifts of the Spirit shall not be
so sparing, or so much confined, as they have been, but shall be
more general and diffusive of themselves. (1.) The Spirit shall be
poured out upon some of each sex. Not <i>your sons</i> only, but
<i>your daughters,</i> shall prophesy; we read of four sisters in
one family that were prophetesses, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.9" osisRef="Bible:Acts.21.9" parsed="|Acts|21|9|0|0" passage="Ac 21:9">Acts
xxi. 9</scripRef>. Not the parents only, but the children, shall be
filled with the Spirit, which intimates the continuance of this
gift for some ages successively in the church. (2.) Upon some of
each age: "<i>Your old men,</i> who are past their vigour and whose
spirits begin to decay, <i>your young men,</i> who have yet but
little acquaintance with and experience of divine things, shall yet
<i>dream dreams</i> and <i>see visions;</i>" God will reveal
himself by dreams and visions both to the young and old. (3.) Upon
those of the meanest rank and condition, even <i>upon the servants
and the handmaids.</i> The Jewish doctors say, <i>Prophecy does not
reside on any</i> but such as are <i>wise, valiant, and rich,</i>
not upon the soul of a <i>poor man,</i> or a man <i>in sorrow.</i>
But in Christ Jesus there is <i>neither bond nor free,</i>
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.10" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.28" parsed="|Gal|3|28|0|0" passage="Ga 3:28">Gal. iii. 28</scripRef>. There were
many that <i>were called being servants</i> (<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p27.11" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.21" parsed="|1Cor|7|21|0|0" passage="1Co 7:21">1 Cor. vii. 21</scripRef>), but that was no obstruction
to their receiving the Holy Ghost. (4.) The effect of this
blessing: <i>They shall prophesy;</i> they shall receive new
discoveries of divine things, and that not for their own use only,
but for the benefit of the church. They shall interpret scripture,
and speak of things secret, distant, and future, which by the
utmost sagacities of reason, and their natural powers, they could
not have any insight into nor foresight of. By these extraordinary
gifts the Christian church was first founded and set up, and the
scriptures were written, and the ministry settled, by which, with
the ordinary operations and influences of the Spirit, it was to be
afterwards maintained and kept up.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p28" shownumber="no">II. How the kingdom of glory shall be
introduced by the universal change of nature, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.30-Joel.2.31" parsed="|Joel|2|30|2|31" passage="Joe 2:30,31"><i>v.</i> 30, 31</scripRef>. The pouring out of the
Spirit will be very comfortable to the righteous; but let the
unrighteous hear this, and tremble. There is a <i>great and
terrible day of the Lord</i> coming, which shall be ushered in with
<i>wonders</i> in <i>heaven and earth, blood, and fire, and pillars
of smoke,</i> the turning of <i>the sun into darkness and the moon
into blood.</i> This is to have its full accomplishment (as the
learned Dr. Pocock thinks) in the day of judgment, at the end of
time, before which these signs will be performed in the letter of
them, yet so that it was accomplished in part in the death of
Christ (which is called the <i>judgment of this world,</i> when the
earth quaked and the sun was darkened, and a <i>great and terrible
day</i> it was), and more fully in the destruction of Jerusalem,
which was a type and figure of the general judgment, and before
which there were many amazing prodigies, besides the convulsions of
states and kingdoms prophesied of under the figurative expressions
of turning the <i>sun into darkness and the moon into blood,</i>
and the <i>wars and rumours of wars,</i> and <i>distress of
nations,</i> which our Saviour spoke of as the <i>beginning of</i>
these <i>sorrows,</i> <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.24.6-Matt.24.7" parsed="|Matt|24|6|24|7" passage="Mt 24:6,7">Matt. xxiv. 6,
7</scripRef>. But before the last judgment there will be
<i>wonders</i> indeed <i>in heaven and earth,</i> the dissolution
of both, without a metaphor. The judgments of God upon a sinful
world, and the frequent destruction of wicked kingdoms by fire and
sword, are prefaces to and presages of the judgment of the world in
the last day. Those on whom the Spirit is poured out shall foresee
and foretel that <i>great and terrible day of the Lord,</i> and
expound the <i>wonders in heaven and earth</i> that go before it;
for, as to his first coming, so to his second, all the prophets did
and do bear witness, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.10.7" parsed="|Rev|10|7|0|0" passage="Re 10:7">Rev. x.
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Joel.iii-p29" shownumber="no">III. The safety and happiness of all true
believers both in the first and second coming of Jesus Christ,
<scripRef id="Joel.iii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Joel.2.32" parsed="|Joel|2|32|0|0" passage="Joe 2:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. This speaks
of particular persons, for to them the New Testament has more
respect, and less to kingdoms and nations, than the Old. Now
observe here, 1. That there is a salvation wrought out. Though the
day of the Lord will be great and terrible, yet <i>in Mount Zion
and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance</i> from the terror of
it. It is the day of the Lord, the day of his judgment, who knows
how to separate between the precious and the vile. In the
everlasting gospel, which <i>went from Zion,</i> in the church of
the first-born typified by Mount Zion, and which is the Jerusalem
that is from above, there is <i>deliverance;</i> a way of escaping
the <i>wrath to come</i> is found out and laid open. Christ is
himself not only the <i>Saviour,</i> but <i>the salvation;</i> he
is so <i>to the ends of the earth.</i> This deliverance, laid up
for us in the covenant of grace, is in performance of the promises
made to the fathers. <i>There shall be deliverance, as the Lord has
said.</i> See <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.72" parsed="|Luke|1|72|0|0" passage="Lu 1:72">Luke i. 72</scripRef>.
Note, This is ground of comfort and hope to sinners, that, whatever
danger there is in their case, there is also deliverance,
deliverance for them, if it be not their own fault. And, if we
would share in this deliverance, we must ourselves apply to the
gospel—Zion, to God's Jerusalem. 2. That there is a remnant
interested in this salvation, and for whom the deliverance is
wrought. It is <i>in that remnant</i> (that is, among them) that
the deliverance is, or in their souls and spirits; there are the
earnests and evidences of it. <i>Christ in you, the hope of
glory.</i> They are called a <i>remnant,</i> because they are but a
few in comparison with the multitudes that are left to perish; a
little remnant but a chosen one, a <i>remnant according to the
election of grace.</i> And here we are told who they are that shall
be delivered in the great day. (1.) Those that sincerely call upon
God: <i>Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,</i> whether
Jew or Gentile (for the apostle so expounds it, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p29.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.10.13" parsed="|Rom|10|13|0|0" passage="Ro 10:13">Rom. x. 13</scripRef>, where he lays this down as the
great rule of the gospel by which we must all be judged), <i>shall
be delivered.</i> This calling on God supposes knowledge of him,
faith in him, desire towards him, dependence on him, and, as an
evidence of the sincerity of all this, a conscientious obedience to
him; for, without that, crying <i>Lord, Lord,</i> will not stand us
in any stead. Note, It is the praying remnant that shall be the
saved remnant. And it will aggravate the ruin of those who perish
that they might have been saved on such easy terms. (2.) Those that
are effectually called to God. The deliverance is sure to the
<i>remnant whom the Lord shall call,</i> not only with the common
call of the gospel, with which many are called that are not chosen,
but with a special call into the fellowship of Jesus Christ, whom
<i>the Lord predestinates,</i> or <i>prepares,</i> so the Chaldee.
St. Peter borrows this phrase, <scripRef id="Joel.iii-p29.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.39" parsed="|Acts|2|39|0|0" passage="Ac 2:39">Acts ii.
39</scripRef>. Note, Those only shall be delivered in the great day
that are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to
Christ, from things below to things above.</p>
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