CHAPTER I. > to Joel the son of Pethuel. aie a .
2 © Hear this, 4 ye old men, and give‘ %2
The prophet describes the entire destruction of the fruits of the earth, by | ear all ye inhabitants of the land: ¢ Hath 45.5 1 drought and novious insects, 1—7. | this been in your days, or even in the si ig a fe calls on the pecple to lament, over | days of your fathers ? eae: oe . 7 f.. : . d Job viil. @. zit. the r calamities, with prayer and fast-| 3 Tell ‘ye your children of it, and 1s. xr. 0 m. ing, 8—17. He cries to God for them, | let your children ¢ed/ their children, and e # % Dest. tv. and represents the cery beasts as join- | their children another generation. 17. Jer. xxx. 7.; : c ‘ siege ing in his supplications, 18—20. ser Peis ee
NOTES. mities, nor had any such befa'len Judah. since it was a CHAP. I. V. 2, 3. The prophet opened his subject, | nation. They ought therefore to speak of them to their
by calling upon: the aged men, and all the inhabitants of the land, to attend to the events which were about to take place. None of them could remember such dire cala-children, that the account might’ be transmitted by ome generation to another, to warn them not to a or God to punish them with similar judgments. (Marg. Ref): ,
B. C.720. tHe tiered 4 ° That which & the palmer-worm of the palmer-w hath left hath = the locust eaten: and
@ it. 23. Am. iy. 9g.
h Bx, x. 1915,
42. 1 Kings tiii.
oe, gic 1s. pcanker-worm hath left hath * the cater-
Bp tii. 13. Ps. sa. Am. vie 1, Pillar eaten.
Arm. vi 37. of the new wine; ° for it is cut off from
36. Rom. xii, your mouth. mit. is. Jere. = For °a nation is:come up upon n Iso asx, io? my land, strong, and without number,
ooo. 4 whose teeth are the teeth of a: lion, ° Prov'xxx.25aNd he hath the cheek-teeth of a great P ba cvil. 34. Is. lion.
viii. 8. XXXii. 138, : ° . "Hos. ix. 3. 7 He hath * laid my vine waste, and Prov. xxx. 14, . Revive, = +t barked my fig-tree: he hath made it Ps. cv. 33.18. v- clean bare, and cast i¢ away; the branches
viii. 13. Hos. ii. thereof are made white.
w2. Hab. iti. 17. . a a es te Tig-uee for'2 8 * Lament like a virgin girded with
JSg-tree for @ barking:
¢ 1315 i. is—Sackcloth for * the husband of her youth..
14. Is. xxii. 12. MXiV. ’ — 19,
axiv, 7— 18. Q The ° meat-offering and the drink-ix. 17-19. Jam. Offering is cut off from the house of the
iv. 8, 9. Vv. I.
t Prov.ii.17.Jer. LoRD ; * the priests, ¥ the Lorp’s mini-iit. 4. Mal. ii.
u 13. 16. ii. 14. sters, mourn. i ~ fos ixnt | 6 «100s The 7 field is wasted, the land 4, 16. y Ex. xxviii. 1. @ Chr. xiii. 10. Is. Lxi. 6. Z 17—~20. Lev. xxvi. 20. Is.
Riv. 3, 4; Jer. xii. 4¢ 11. Xiv. 9-6. HOS. iv. 3,
V. 4. The exact difference, between these several species of insects, cannot easily be explained. Probably, they made their appearance in succession, at different seasons of the year. Sometimes one, and sometimes another of them, had been used to cause a partial devastation of the fruits of the earth; but on this occasion they followed each other, till they had utterly destroyed the whole. Indeed, some think that this was the case for several years together, and that it was an emblem of the repeated invasions and ‘ devastations of the Chaldeans. We have no history of the completion of this prophecy; if indeed the passage be not historical rather than prophetical.—* A future event which ‘ might be averted by repentance is spoken of, as having ‘ already taken place, to enliven the description, by setting the images before the eye of the reader.’ (Bp. New-combe.)
V. 5—7. The prophet, considering the effects of this visitation, called on the drunkards to awake and bewail their miserics. Their sins, and the danger to which their souls were exposed, had failed to rouse them from insensibility: but this judgment was suited to affect them; as it would deprive them of their idolized indulgence, and force them to be sober in the most distressing circumstances.— For though these insects were small and easily crushed ; yet their unnumbered multitudes would render them’ as formidable, as a mighty and populous nation invading the Jand. Their teeth, suited to destroy the vegetables and bark the trees, would be more formidable than those of a lion; and they would leave nothing growing, but leafless and naked: stems.
A
“* CHAPTER IL
that whieh the locust hath left hath ' the Deut. xxiii. 38. canker-worm eaten; and that which the
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mourneth; for the corn is wasted: * the® 5,3. i. new wine is ? dried up, the oil languish- ty." * 9 eth. : 3 Or, ashamed.
11 Be ye * ashamed, O ye husband-° i0n.4%5.> * ‘men, howl, © ye vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley; ° because the harvest of the field is perished.
12 The ¢vine is dried up, and the fig- cans. ii,’s. iv.
° - Vu. tree languisheth; © the pomegranate-tree, £ 10. Ps. iv. 7. ts.
xX. 3. xvi. 10.
c Is. xvii. 11. Jer. IX. 12.
d 10. Ps.* xcii. 3%,
even all the trees of the field, are withered: , #52, 5. because ‘ joy is withered away from the £4, 2 '* sons of men. ea acter
13 4 & Gird yourselves, and lament, ° 1 kings xi. a7: ye priests: how], » ye ministers of the kis ixi..1 cor.
iv. t. 2Cor. iii.
altar: come, ' lie all night in sackcloth, , 6.4 1.23." K ye ministers of my God: ! for the meat- 0. Num. aaiz. offering, and the drink-offering, is with- mi 15's. ¢cbr. holden from the house of your God. Or ore 14 ™ Sanctify ye a fast, calla § solemn, Bi *%... 10, assembly, gather "the elders, andall the ii: Saris inhabitants of the land, ‘inéo the house of don. ii... the’ Lorp your God, and ° cry unto the?7: Amv. i= q ii. 1. Ps. xxxvii.
13. 18. xiii. 6~—9, of the Lorp is at hand, and asa destruc- + '4~18- Luke tion from the Almighty shall it come. ree
_ Reb. vii. 13, 14. 12Sam. sik 16
18 15 P Alas for the day! for : the day Xii, 2—90, Zeph.
7. AM. V. 160 Lorp. vi. 17.
V.8. Judah was here called upon to lament, on account of her miseries, as a betrothed virgin, who should be deprived of the intended and beloved husband of her youth, before the completion of her marriage; that, is, with exceedingly great and unfeigned sorrow. This intimated how. very heavy their calamities would be.
V. 9. Some of the priests would piously lament the suspension of sacred ordinances, on so melancholy an occasion: the rest would nafura//ly mourn over the diminution of their revenues. .
V. 11. The husbandmén would be ashamed of their unsuccessful labours, in cultivating their fields and vineyards ; as neither their skill nor industry, on, which they would be apt to depend, could prevent the most terrible: famine: all their expectations would be frustrated, and they confounded for having entertained them.
V. 12. Because. ‘* Surely all joy, &c..2 The joy of ' harvest, and all joy in outward things, must cease, during such a famine. (Had. iii. 17, 18.)
V. 13. ‘ He shews, that the only means. to avoid. ‘ God’s wrath, and to have all things restored, is true ‘ repentance.’—The priests, especially those who kept the watches at the temple, are here calledon, to set the people an example of humiliation before God.—Instead of going ta rest, or spending the watches in Psalmody ; let.them lie all night on the ground in sackcloth, and employ themselves in confessing their sins and deprecating the wrath of God. (2 Sam. xii. 16—22.)—To suppose, that they. were only to: sleep in sackcloth, instead of their. ordinary covering, quite: enervates the exhortation. |
e Num. iii. “93. Z
the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, xxiv. 1. rer. .
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rea am. 616 Ig not * the meat cut off before s Deit. xii. 6, 7- Our eyes, yea, ‘joy and gladness from the
11, 12. xvi. 10— Hie house of our God ? * Heb. grains. 17 The * seed is rotten under their
cleds, the garners are laid desolate, the ‘barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. : to.1Kingxvii. 16 Flow do ‘ the beasts groan! the
5. Jer. Xi. 4, : xiv, 5, 6. Hoss herds of cattle are perplexed, be- = cause they have no pasture; yea, the
V. 14, 15. The priests no doubt had great influence in appointing fasts, though the authority of the kings was generally interposed. They were not only called upon to Jament before God themselves, with cvery expression of humiliation and repentance ; but to appoint, and keep holy, a solemn season of publick fasting and prayer: the elders (or the princes and rulers of the people) were directed to convene at the house of the Lord, to join in humbly deprecating his displeasure, and seeking forgiveness of their sins ; and all the people were required to lament, that they ever saw such a day, which seemed to be a time of judgment and vengeance ; and of destruction rather than of correction, from the Almighty. (Adarg. Ref.)
V. 16. Neither priests nor people could now frequent the temple with peace-offerings, or sacrifices of praise, or _ joyfully celebrate their festivals, as formerly they used to do: they could only come before God to mourn and complain, because of their sins and miseries.
V. 17, 18. Aterrible drought, as well as locusts, &c, was predicted or described: and dry hot weather often in those countries precedes the coming of the locusts. The failure of the crops rendered granaries and barns useless : and the unoffending cattle groaned under the calamities inflicted for the sins of men. (Notes, Rom. viii. 18—23.)
V. 19, 20. All the produce of the land was consumed as by fire ; so that even the beasts seemed to join the prophet, in beseeching God to deliver them from their distresses: and thus they shamed those Jews, who refused to call upon him.
PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. V. t—7. ——— et .
The word of God, among its other manifold uses, is intended to explain the dispensations of Providence ; that the Author, the cause, the support, and the remedy, of every affliction may be made known. What the Lord hath taught us in this school, we should carefully impart to our children; that they may receive the benefit, without the eee of our salutary chastisements.—The most insignificant insects, at God’s command, become more tremendous to proud man, than even herds of savage beasts, or
armies of hostile invaders: how then should we fear the
power of his wrath, who can so easily arm the whole creation against us, or lift up his own heavy hand to crush us at once!—The more inordinately men indulge their appetites, the heavier calamities must press upon them: whereas habitual self-denial and temperance prevent the most distressing effects even of impoverishing losses. It
JOEL °: |
| B.C. 720. flocks of sheep are matle desolate. 19 O Lorn, "to thee will Tory: fors™ 1 us xt
*the fire hath devoured the t pastures Hab 7M of the wilderness, and the flame hath" % %7%, = burned all the trees of the field. Lo
20 The beasts of the field ¥ cryy Joo x=xma.«.
also unto thee: for * the rivers of, Bice waters are dried up, and the fire hath *™* devoured the pastures of the wilderness, .
is well, if any temporal sufferings serve to awaken the drunkard, the epicure, and the sensualist, to lament feg
their sins, and to flee from the wrath to come. But what:
must be the-feelings of those who continue insensible, till they fall into that place, where not a drop.of water can be procured to alleviate their misery ;-and where their howling and weeping will be without extenuation, intermission, or hope for evermore!—The bitter howlings, the confusion and anguish, the hardships and miseries, which are the effects of extreme famine, should teach us to be thankful for a land of plenty, to be contented with a moderate pore tion, and to be temperate, kind, and pious in our use of it.
V. 8—20.
We are so dependent upon God in every thing, that no human wisdom or power can provide plenty, when he pleases to send scarcity: without his rain, the seed-corn must -perish, the trees of the field must wither, and all our temporal joys must sicken and die; and such, judgments are emblems of the great day of retribution, which will soon come as a destruction from the Almighty. Even the brute creation groans under the effects of man’s sins; and
“they seem, in their way, to cry and complain to the Lord,
that without their fault they are reduced to perish by hun ger and thirst, through the wickedness of their oppressor, and tyrant, man.—How stupid then are sinners, who are insensible under such judgments, or only lament with a rebellious and unhumbled sorrow!—-We should never rest in any expressions of mere grief; but should.also humble ourselves before God, on account of those sins whieh have provoked his chastening rod.
All our other sorrows should lead us to that ‘* godly sorrow, which worketh repentance ‘¢ unto salvation not to be repented of.” We ought to grieve under outward afflictions, chiefly when they, deprive us of the comfort and benefit of divine .ordinances, or when joy and gladness are cut: off from the house of the Lord. No self-denial, humiliation, or continued self-abasement before God, should appear too great, as there is yet hope of forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from everlasting misery.
The ministers of God especially should set the example, and use their influence, to promote a spirit of repentance and piety amongst the people. Publick solemn seasons of fasting and humiliation, attended with the assembling together of the honourable of the land, as well as of the multitude, to confess their sins, to bow down before God, and‘to pour out their prayers unto him, are proper means of averting national calamities. And, though
-
B.C. 720. | sieves: CHAP. II. . -
e Jer. iv. 5. Hos. viii. t.
« Hos. wilt Vue, A description of the locusts, as a mighty xv. #8. Ho ;. Hos. v.
army, sent forth to ravage the land, 1—11. Karnest cails for prublick Jasting, prayer, and repentance, 12— 17... Promises of manifold blessings, 18—27. Predictions of the pouring - out of the Spirit, under the gospel; - and of subsequent events, 23—32.
ix. 16. 20. Zeph. iii, 11. Zech. viii. $. d Ezra ix. 3, 4 I
* Bev vi, $78 BLOW ye the * trumpet in Zion, Am Se Ob: > and sound an, alarm * in my holy 1 Thee. v2 mountain: ¢ let all the inhabitants of the
cic. i. 4,land tremble: ¢ for the day of the Lorp is. seve 2. 1s. cometh, for Zt is nigh at hand.
Jer. aii. 16. 2 A ‘day of darkness and of gloomi- Zep i. 4, 13. ness, a day of clouds and of thick dark- Judes. ness, 8 as the morning spread upon the
mountains: ® a great people and a strong:
5. 11,25. 4. 6.
4. pan:.7H 1-1 there hath not been ever the like,
3 2, 3. Px. x. 6. ! Mark xiii. 19.
many will observe them formally, or wholly neglect them ;,
yet the Lord will hear the united prayers of the remnant of his servants, and often for their sakes rescue a guilty nation from impending destruction.—They, who would excite others to stich duties, must take the lead in them, as being greatly affected and desirous of affecting them. Thus individuals will find the comfort of acceptance with God, whatever may become of nations that proceed to greater ungodliness; and they will enjoy their gracious recompence, when the wicked, and all their possessioris, shall be burnt up with the fire of the Lord’s indignation. .
NOTES.