Joel 2

1 Sound the trumpet in Sion, make a proclamation in my holy mountain, and let all the inhabitants of the land be confounded: for the day of the Lord is near;

2 for a day of darkness and gloominess is near, a day of cloud and mist: a numerous and strong people shall be spread upon the mountains as the morning; there has not been from the beginning one like it, and after it there shall not be again even to the years of many generations.

3 Before them is a consuming fire, and behind them is a flame kindled: the land before them is as a paradise of delight, and behind them a desolate plain: and there shall none of them escape.

4 Their appearance is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they pursue.

5 As the sound of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, and as the sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble, and as a numerous and strong people setting themselves in array for battle.

6 Before them shall the people be crushed: every face as the blackness of a caldron.

7 As warriors shall they run, and as men of war shall they mount on the walls; and each shall move in his path, and they shall not turn aside from their tracks:

8 and not one shall stand aloof from his brother: they shall go on weighed down with their arms, and they fall upon their weapons, yet shall they in no wise be destroyed.

9 They shall seize upon the city, and run upon the walls, and go up upon the houses, and enter in through the windows as thieves.

10 Before them the earth shall be confounded, and the sky shall be shaken: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.

11 And the Lord shall utter his voice before his host: for his camp is very great: for the execution of his words is mighty: for the day of the Lord is great, very glorious, and who shall be able to it?

12 Now therefore, saith the Lord your God, turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with lamentation:

13 and rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is merciful and compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repents of evils.

14 Who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord your God?

15 Sound the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, proclaim a service:

16 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the infants at the breast: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests that minister to the Lord weep, and say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them, lest they should say among the heathen, Where is their God?

18 But the Lord was jealous of his land, and spared his people.

19 And the Lord answered and said to his people, Behold, I send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied with them: and I will no longer make you a reproach among the Gentiles.

20 And I will chase away from you the northern , and will drive him away into a dry land, and I will sink his face in the former sea, and his back parts in the latter sea, and his ill savour shall come up, and his stink come up, because he has wrought great things.

21 Be of good courage, O land; rejoice and be glad: for the Lord has done great things.

22 Be of good courage, ye beasts of the plain, for the plains of the wilderness have budded, for the trees have borne their fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded their strength.

23 Rejoice then and be glad, ye children of Sion, in the Lord your God: for he has given you food fully, and he will rain on you the early and the latter rain, as before.

24 And the floors shall be filled with corn, and the presses shall overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will recompense you for the years which the locust, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, and the cankerworm have eaten, my great army, which I sent against you.

26 And ye shall eat abundantly, and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of the Lord your God which he has wrought wonderfully with you: and my people shall not be ashamed for ever.

27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and I am the Lord your God, and there is none else beside me; and my people shall no more be ashamed for ever.

28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.

29 And on my servants and on handmaids in those days will I pour out of my Spirit.

30 And I will shew wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord come.

32 And it shall come to pass whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one be as the Lord has said, and they that have glad tidings preached to them, whom the Lord has called.

Joel 2 Commentary

Chapter 2

God's judgments. (1-14) Exhortations to fasting and prayer; blessings promised. (15-27) A promise of the Holy Spirit, and of future mercies. (28-32)

Verses 1-14 The priests were to alarm the people with the near approach of the Divine judgments. It is the work of ministers to warn of the fatal consequences of sin, and to reveal the wrath from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The striking description which follows, shows what would attend the devastations of locusts, but may also describe the effects from the ravaging of the land by the Chaldeans. If the alarm of temporal judgments is given to offending nations, how much more should sinners be warned to seek deliverance from the wrath to come! Our business therefore on earth must especially be, to secure an interest in our Lord Jesus Christ; and we should seek to be weaned from objects which will soon be torn from all who now make idols of them. There must be outward expressions of sorrow and shame, fasting, weeping, and mourning; tears for trouble must be turned into tears for the sin that caused it. But rending the garments would be vain, except their hearts were rent by abasement and self-abhorrence; by sorrow for their sins, and separation from them. There is no question but that if we truly repent of our sins, God will forgive them; but whether he will remove affliction is not promised, yet the probability of it should encourage us to repent.

Verses 15-27 The priests and rulers are to appoint a solemn fast. The sinner's supplication is, Spare us, good Lord. God is ready to succour his people; and he waits to be gracious. They prayed that God would spare them, and he answered them. His promises are real answers to the prayers of faith; with him saying and doing are not two things. Some understand these promises figuratively, as pointing to gospel grace, and as fulfilled in the abundant comforts treasured up for believers in the covenant of grace.

Verses 28-32 The promise began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, and it was continued in the converting grace and miraculous gifts conferred on both Jews and Gentiles. The judgments of God upon a sinful world, only go before the judgment of the world in the last day. Calling on God supposes knowledge of him, faith in him, desire toward him, dependence on him, and, as evidence of the sincerity of all this, conscientious obedience to him. Those only shall be delivered in the great day, who are now effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from things below to things above.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gr. age.
• [b]. Gr. it, sc. the people.
• [c]. Lit. to him, sc. the people.
• [d]. Or, pot.
• [e]. Gr. works.
• [f]. Gr. sufficient for it?
• [g]. See ch 1:14.
• [h]. Gr. base.
• [i]. Gr. cause to disappear.
• [j]. Gr. corruption.
• [k]. See Job 6,7.
• [l]. Gr. magnified his works.
• [m]. Gr. to exactness.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 2

In this chapter a further account is given of the judgment of the locusts and caterpillars, or of those who are designed by them, Joe 2:1-11; the people of the Jews are called to repentance, humiliation, and fasting, urged from the grace and goodness of God, his jealousy and pity for his people, and the answer of prayer that might he expected from him upon this, even to the removal of the calamity, Joe 2:12-20; a prophecy of good things, both temporal and spiritual, in the times of the Messiah, is delivered out as matter and occasion of great joy, Joe 2:21-27; and another concerning the effusion of the Spirit, which was fulfilled an the day of Pentecost, Joe 2:28-29; and the chapter is concluded with the judgments and desolations that should come upon the land of Judea after this, for their rejection of Christ, though the remnant according to the election of grace should be delivered and saved from the general destruction, Joe 2:30-32.