Joel foresheweth a terrible visitation, and enjoineth a fast. 1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white. 8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth. 9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. 10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth. bandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. 13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. 14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. 16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18 How do the 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 will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and 11 Be ye ashamed, O ye hus- the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness. LECTURE 1403. Of praying unto God whilst we have time. The prophet Joel foreshews, in a very lively manner, some terrible judgment, which was about to befal the Lord's people, speaking of it as if it were actually inflicted. He mentions it as something unheard of in the land; and describes it under the figure of a visitation with which those who heard him were well acquainted, a swarm of locusts, and of other like noxious creatures. He pursues this figure with so much animation, that some have thought that a famine to be brought upon the land by these means is the great evil here foretold. If any such famine took place, if any such swarm of locusts and caterpillars stripped the land of its produce, and reduced the people to extremity of want, this, like the prophet's language, must be understood as foreshewing the spoiling of the country by the host of the Babylonians; whose successive invasions, and triumphant progress, and the ravages they committed in every direction, might be aptly represented by such words as these: "that which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten." In such a general calamity the drunkards are called upon to awake and weep; because the means of sensual indulgence will utterly fail. The husbandmen are warned that they will be ashamed, and have to mourn the diligent producers suffering in common with the idle and wasteful consumers. The priests too, they that ministered at the altar, would not find wherewith to render the appointed offerings to the Lord. So complete would be the coming desolation; so universal the want and tribulation; even the flocks and herds being represented as perplexed and groaning, "because they have no pasture." But in the hour of most imminent peril, or rather in the midst of that most awful visitation, the prophet would have the priests and people all unite to observe a fast unto the Lord, and to cry aloud in prayer unto their God. Judgment may be denounced, and yet we shall do well to pray for mercy. Judgment may be actually inflicted; and yet in the midst of the visitation we shall do wisely to resolve, "O Lord, to thee will I cry." This at least is true of any judgments which befal us in the life that now is. But in the life to come, it will be too late to say, Lord, Lord. It will then be too late to pray. Oh let us therefore humble our souls with deep contrition, in prayer unto the Lord our God, now, whilst we yet have time, crying to Him earnestly, and pleading with Him importunately, whilst as yet He vouchsafes to hear. 66 Joel further describeth the visitation and the fast. 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 LORD cometh, for it is 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, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is 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 when 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 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 LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? 12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even 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 LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD 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 LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them : wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? LECTURE 1404. Our gain in observing solemn national fasts. This lively description of an invading host seems in many respects to correspond exactly with the discipline and strong defensive armour of the Roman legions. But it is not impossible, that all the four great ancient empires of the world, to which the Jews were in turn subjected, are signified by the four destructive swarms mentioned by this prophet in the former chapter. See Ch. 1. 4. And if so, it may be the intent of these prophecies to forewarn the people of God, that however they might glory in their independence, and deem themselves unconquerable, yet would they be given up for their sins, as an easy prey, to the destroying armies of the heathen; and especially to that last great conquering host, which is here more particularly described. In the former chapter God calls the country of the Israelites "my land." Ver. 6. Here He calls the host of their destroyers "his army," and their camp "his camp." An instructive change in the application of like words, shewing us, that though God's chosen people are peculiarly his, this does not exempt them from his judgments; and also, that they whom He has not chosen to the privileges of his covenant are notwithstanding his, as the creation of his hand, his, for the execution of his will. If we consider this prophecy as descriptive of the several chief invasions by which the Jews from time to time suffered, and especially of the last and most destructive of them all, we may also regard the directions here given for holding a solemn fast of penitence and prayer, as a standing rule, applicable to the case of the Israelites, and to the case of Christians also, in any great emergency of their nation or their church. It is not known with certainty at what period Joel prophesied; but it was probably previous to the reign of Hezekiah in Jerusalem, certainly long before that of Josiah. In the solemn religious assemblies held by these two pious kings, we may see the application of these prophetic instructions. And in their history we read the blessings which ensued. In our own national experience, we too have found the like blessings follow on the like conduct. In the greatest contest we ever were engaged in, and the greatest danger we ever encountered, many a day of national fast and humiliation was duly appointed by our rulers, and solemnly observed by our people. We survived, when nearly all other nations fell. We triumphed over those who triumphed over them. Let us never forget to whom we were indebted for all our safety and success. And let us not doubt, that amongst the means whereby we obtained the blessing and help of the Most High were these, the devout national acknowledgment that we for our sins did worthily deserve to be punished, and the earnest national supplication, that God would be pleased notwithstanding to forgive us our sins, and to deliver us out of the hands of our godless enemies. Blessings are promised to the church in different ages. caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 18 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19 Yea, the LORD 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 remové far off from you the northern army, 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 LORD 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 LORD 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 month. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you and my people shall never be ashamed." 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that 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 LORD come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. LECTURE 1405. 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 cankerworm, and the The many privileges which we enjoy under the Gospel. Great things are here promised to God's people, in case they will turn to Him with fasting and prayer, as they had been previously enjoined. "Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people." But it is clear that the promises here made are conditional. In some measure the conditions of repentance and prayer were made good on the part of the Israelites, when |