Joel 1:1-12
A DESCRIPTION OF THE CALAMITY... [ Continue Reading ]
A DESCRIPTION OF THE CALAMITY... [ Continue Reading ]
The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel, the superscription assuring us that we are not getting Joel's own ideas, but the inspired words of Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear this, ye old men, whose memory reached back through generations of men, AND GIVE EAR, in yielding a most willing and careful attention, ALL YE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND. It is a spirited challenge to all the people of Judah to mark the lesson of the great calamity which has befallen them. HATH TH... [ Continue Reading ]
Tell ye your children of it and let your children tell their children and their children another generation, passing it on from father to son, all of them accepting this tradition with awe, fear, and trembling, as being an unparalleled manifestation of God's anger against men on account of their sin... [ Continue Reading ]
That which the palmer-worm, literally, "the gnawer-off,". HATH LEFT HATH THE LOCUST EATEN, the swarming or multiplying locust of the Orient; AND THAT WHICH THE LOCUST HATH LEFT HATH THE CANKER-WORM, the devouring grasshopper, EATEN; AND THAT WHICH THE CANKER-WORM HATH LEFT HATH THE CATERPILLAR EATEN... [ Continue Reading ]
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine, since the supply of grapes and therefore of the liquor made from them was not available; FOR IT IS CUT OFF FROM YOUR MOUTH. This appeal is introduced to describe, with poetical power, the complete devastation... [ Continue Reading ]
For a nation is come up upon My land, a great and mighty army of fierce warriors, STRONG AND WITHOUT NUMBER, in swarms of countless myriads, WHOSE TEETH ARE THE TEETH OF A LION, AND HE HATH THE CHEEK-TEETH OF A GREAT LION, the jaw-teeth of a lioness protecting or avenging her young, grinding to piec... [ Continue Reading ]
He hath laid My vine waste, by consuming its foliage, AND BARKED MY FIG-TREE, gnawing off the bark and laying bare stem and branches, so that they were ruined; HE HATH MADE IT CLEAN BARE AND CAST IT AWAY; THE BRANCHES THEREOF ARE MADE WHITE, by the complete removal of the bark. This being the condit... [ Continue Reading ]
Lament like a virgin, girded with sackcloth, the dress of mourning, FOR THE HUSBAND OF HER YOUTH, whom, after their betrothal, death took away. The grief of a bereaved virgin and bride is represented also in other passages as deep and overwhelming. Cf Isaiah 54:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
The meat-offering and the drink-offering, the sacrifices in the worship of Jehovah, IS CUT OFF FROM THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, because it was impossible to procure the necessary materials, since everything was destroyed; THE PRIESTS, THE LORD'S MINISTERS, MOURN, on account of the decay resulting from th... [ Continue Reading ]
The field is wasted, made desolate; THE LAND MOURNETH, both the uncultivated and the cultivated sections of the land suffering in the same measure; FOR THE CORN IS WASTED, the grain completely consumed; THE NEW WINE IS DRIED UP, the grapes being spoiled for want of foliage on the vines; THE OIL LANG... [ Continue Reading ]
Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen, bearing the shame of disappointed hopes after working hard for a crop; HOWL, O YE VINE-DRESSERS, these two representing the agricultural classes of the land, FOR THE WHEAT AND FOR THE BARLEY, BECAUSE THE HARVEST OF THE FIELD IS PERISHED, this being the cause of the fa... [ Continue Reading ]
The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth, so that gardener and horticulturist likewise had reasons for mourning; THE POMEGRANATE-TREE, THE PALM-TREE ALSO, the date-palm, which ordinarily escaped the onslaughts of the locust, AND THE APPLE-TREE, or the quince, EVEN ALL THE TREES OF THE FIEL... [ Continue Reading ]
Gird yourselves, namely, with garments of mourning, AND LAMENT, YE PRIESTS; HOWL, YE MINISTERS OF THE ALTAR, whose chief duties were concerned with the sacrifices brought on the two altars of the Temple. COME, LIE ALL NIGHT IN SACKCLOTH, YE MINISTERS OF MY GOD, extending their exercises of mourning... [ Continue Reading ]
PRESCRIBING FASTING AND PENITENCE... [ Continue Reading ]
Sanctify ye a fast, appointing a day or a number of days for a special religious service, during which the depth of the people's grief should be indicated by their abstaining from food; CALL A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY, such as were held in connection with the great festivals; GATHER THE ELDERS AND ALL THE IN... [ Continue Reading ]
Alas for the day! so the prophet himself laments, FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD, the time of His stern visitation, IS AT HAND, AND AS A DESTRUCTION FROM THE ALMIGHTY SHALL IT COME, bringing its desolating scourge upon the land.... [ Continue Reading ]
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? as their food supply was destroyed by the invading hordes of locusts, YEA, JOY AND GLADNESS FROM THE HOUSE OF OUR GOD? since the various sacrifices and meals of thanksgiving were no longer possible.... [ Continue Reading ]
The seed is rotten under their clods, withering in the soil on account of the terrible drought; THE GARNERS ARE LAID DESOLATE, the granaries being empty because there could be no harvest; THE BARNS, which otherwise harbored such rich crops, ARE BROKEN DOWN, falling to pieces for want of money to rep... [ Continue Reading ]
How do the beasts groan! since the meadows also were dried up. THE HERDS OF CATTLE ARE PERPLEXED, the word being chosen to denote the restless hunting of hungry cattle, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO PASTURE; YEA, THE FLOCKS OF SHEEP ARE MADE DESOLATE, bearing their sufferings as a consequence of the transgre... [ Continue Reading ]
O Lord, to Thee will I cry; for the fire, the parching heat, HATH DEVOURED THE PASTURES OF THE WILDERNESS, of the great Judean steppes, AND THE FLAME, the fierce heat of the drought, HATH BURNED ALL THE TREES OF THE FIELD.... [ Continue Reading ]
The beasts of the field, both domestic and wild animals, CRY ALSO UNTO THEE, their dumb misery being a powerful appeal for help; FOR THE RIVERS OF WATERS ARE DRIED UP, AND THE FIRE HATH DEVOURED THE PASTURES OF THE WILDERNESS. Cf Job 38:41; Psalms 104:21; Psalms 145:15; Psalms 147:9; Jeremiah 14:5.... [ Continue Reading ]