Joel
Joel 1
Chapter I · Vol. III, pp. 1428–1429
1 Joel, declaring sundry judgments of God, exhorteth to observe them, 8 and to mourn. 14 He recommendeth a solemn fasting with prayer.
2 Hearb this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath cthis been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Telld ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation:
4 eThat1 which the palmer-worm2 hath left, hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left, hath the canker-worm3 eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left, hath the caterpillar eaten.
e De.28.38. ch.2.2-11,25. Am.4.9;7.1.
1 Heb. The residue of the palmer-worm.
2 The palmer-worm is represented by Bochart as a particular species of locust; but the Septuagint renders it by a word signifying a caterpillar.—C.
3 The canker-worm. This cannot be the ordinary canker-worm, for in Na. 3.15 it is described as a winged creature. Some think it a species of locust, others an insect that ravages vineyards. Jeremiah (ch.51. 27) describes it as rough, and some species of locusts have their heads covered with hairs. See Re.9.8.—C.
5 Awake,g ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off hfrom your mouth.
6 Fori a nation4 is come up upon jmy land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are kthe teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion.
7 Hel hath laid my vine waste, and 5barked my fig-tree:6 he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
l Is.5.3,4,6. Ho.2.8.
5 Barked. When the locust has destroyed the leaves, it then assails the bark of trees, and thus so injures them that it frequently requires three years to repair the ravages of one.—C.
6 Heb. laid my fig-tree for a barking.
8 Lamentn like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the ohusband of her youth.
n Is.22.12. ver.13-15;ch.2.12-17. Is.32.9-12.
9 Thep meat-offering and the drink-offering is cut off from the house of the LORD: qthe priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
10 Ther field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up,7 the oil languisheth.
r Je.12.11. Is.24.4,7. Ho.4.3. ver.11,12,17-20. Le.26.19,20. De.28.23,24.
7 Or, ashamed.
11 Bes ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vine-dressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
A.M. cir. 3284 or 3214. B.C. cir. 720 or 790.
s Is.9.3. Je.14.1-4. Am.4.6-9;7.1,4. De.28.22-24. Le.26.19,20. Is.17.11;32.10-12.
12 The vine is dried up, and the tfig-tree languisheth; the pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered; because ujoy is withered away from the sons of men.
13 Girdv yourselves, and lament, ye priests; howl, ye xministers of the altar; come, lie yall night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: forz the meat-offering and the drink-offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 Sanctifya ye a fast, call a solemn assembly,8 gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
a ch.2.15,16. Mat.17.21. 2 Ch.20.3,4.
15 Alasb for the day! for the day of the LORD9 is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
17 The seed1 is rotten2 under their clods, thed garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
1 Heb. grains.
2 The seed is rotten. This seems to allude, not to the ravages of insects, but to the rotting of seed from some unknown and inexplicable cause. A similar disease to that described—a disease previously unknown—has now (1842) prevailed more or less during four successive years in this kingdom (Ireland). The seed planted in the morning has grown vigorously—the seed planted at noon has totally or partially rotted away. The labour of one day has been lost, the labour of the next successful. Many have investigated—no man has satisfactorily accounted for the difference.—Note, Totally independent of natural causes, are such events not merely calculated, but intended, to lead men to trace the inseparable connection between national sins and national judgments?—C.
18 How do ethe beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O LORD, to thee gwill I cry: for hthe fire hath devoured the pastures3 of the iwilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Notes
Ver. 5. Drunkards. Every period and every nation has its own peculiar, favourite, and prevailing sin, that seems to swallow up all others. And it is not improbable that as the 'drunkards' are first called to awake to repentance, the sin of drunkenness had become the prevalent sin of the day. C.
Ver. 19. An invading enemy wasting the country with 'fire' and sword; or 'fires' kindled in the dry grass and the branches of the withered trees, as often happens in forest countries. C.
Reflections.—God's judgments and mercies ought to be carefully observed and remembered. Nor need we wonder if he deprive us of the mercies which we have sinfully abused, or make even the weakest insects victorious instruments of his wrath. It is hard to part with created comforts, once idolized. But certain is their shame who labour only for perishing provision; and sad their sorrow at last who place all their happiness in the delights of sense! Alas! how wide-spread is the havoc made by men's sins! and it is a lamentable case when poverty disqualifies for the public service of God. National judgments call for national humiliation and importunate prayers. And in the way of our duty we may hope that God will meet us in mercy. But hardened must that heart be which trembles not when God's judgments are everywhere before our eyes; and the very animals around us bewail the disaster. Yet God's ministers must be deeply affected themselves, even though they cannot affect their hearers.