Joel 2

Announcement of alarm and peril

1 Blow the horn in Zion; give a shout on my holy mountain! Let all the people of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is near—

2 a day of darkness and no light, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread out upon the mountains, a great and powerful army comes, unlike any that has ever come before them, or will come after them in centuries ahead.

3 In front of them a fire consumes; and behind them a flame burns. Land ahead of them is like Eden's garden, but they leave behind them a barren wasteland; nothing escapes them.

4 They resemble horses, and like warhorses they charge,

5 like the rumbling of chariots. They leap on the mountaintops— like the crackling of a fire's flame, devouring the stubble; like a powerful army ready for battle.

6 In their presence, peoples shake with fear; all faces turn red with worry.

7 Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they climb the wall. Each keeps to their own path; they didn't change their course.

8 They don't crowd each other; each keeps to their own path. Even if they fall among the weapons, they won't stop.

9 They rush upon the city; they run upon the walls. They climb into the houses; they enter through the windows like thieves.

10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens shake. The sun and the moon are darkened; the stars have stopped shining,

11 because the LORD utters his voice at the head of his army. How numerous are his troops! Mighty are those who obey his word. The day of the LORD is great; it stirs up great fear—who can endure it?

Change your hearts

12 Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your hearts, with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow;

13 tear your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, very patient, full of faithful love, and ready to forgive.

14 Who knows whether he will have a change of heart and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

15 Blow the horn in Zion; demand a fast; request a special assembly.

16 Gather the people; prepare a holy meeting; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the groom leave his room and the bride her chamber.

17 Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the LORD's ministers, weep. Let them say, "Have mercy, LORD, on your people, and don't make your inheritance a disgrace, an example of failure among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?'"

Words of compassion and promise

18 Then the LORD became passionate about this land, and had pity on his people.

19 The LORD responded to the people: See, I am sending you the corn, new wine, and fresh oil, and you will be fully satisfied by it; and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations.

20 I will remove the northern army far from you and drive it into a dried-up and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its rear into the western sea. Its stench will rise up; its stink will come to the surface. The LORD is about to do great things!

21 Don't fear, fertile land; rejoice and be glad, for the LORD is about to do great things!

22 Don't be afraid, animals of the field, for the meadows of the wilderness will turn green; the tree will bear its fruit; the fig tree and grapevine will give their full yield.

23 Children of Zion, rejoice and be glad in the LORD your God, because he will give you the early rain as a sign of righteousness; he will pour down abundant rain for you, the early and the late rain, as before.

24 The threshing floors will be full of grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil.

25 I will repay you for the years that the cutting locust, the swarming locust, the hopping locust, and the devouring locust have eaten— my great army, which I sent against you.

26 You will eat abundantly and be satisfied, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has done wonders for you; and my people will never again be put to shame.

27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God—no other exists; never again will my people be put to shame.

28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone; your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

29 In those days, I will also pour out my spirit on the male and female slaves.

30 I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke.

31 The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.

32 But everyone who calls on the LORD's name will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be security, as the LORD has promised; and in Jerusalem, the LORD will summon those who survive.

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]. Or a great and strong people
• [b]. Or then the LORD became jealous for his land
• [c]. Or at the first

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.