_Blow ye the trumpet in Zion_ The prophet, having in the preceding chapter described the locusts and caterpillars as a mighty army sent by God, in pursuance of this metaphor now exhorts the people to prepare to meet them, in the same terms as if they were alarmed to oppose an enemy, which was always... [ Continue Reading ]
_A day of darkness and of gloominess_ A day of great calamity and trouble, which is often expressed in the Scripture by darkness. Or, perhaps, the prophet's words are to be taken here in the literal sense; for it is certain that, in the eastern countries, locusts will sometimes, on a sudden, cover t... [ Continue Reading ]
_A fire devoureth before them_, &c. They consume like a general conflagration. “They destroy the ground,” says Sir Hans Sloane, (_Natural History of Jamaica, 1:_ 29,) “not only for the time, but burn trees for two years after.” “Wheresoever they feed, says Ludolphus, (_History of Ethiopia_, lib. 1.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses _ Bochart and many other writers mention the resemblance which the head of a locust bears to that of a horse; whence the Italians call them _cavalette. Like the noise of chariots on the mountains shall they leap_ Or, as the clause may be better... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall run like mighty men_ They shall proceed everywhere like stout and mighty men, who are afraid of nothing. The description here given agrees perfectly to locusts, as Bochart has shown. “First, _They shall run._ Now their manner of fighting is thus described: They strike, or wound, not as t... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall run to and fro in the city_ No place shall be inaccessible to them, nor free from them. “Every place,” says St. Jerome, “lies open to them; for they infest not only the fields, and the fruits of the earth, but creep into cities, houses, and the most secret recesses.” _The earth shall qua... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army_ God, who can make the meanest parts of the creation the instruments of his vengeance, is here sublimely introduced, like a leader or general, commanding and animating this his army by his voice. _For his camp is very great_ That is, his army is ve... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore, also now_, &c. Or, _Nevertheless, also now, saith the Lord_, &c. Here a method is pointed out, whereby they might still have hopes of avoiding the calamity denounced against them, namely, by turning to God sincerely, and publicly testifying their inward repentance and grief for their sin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Blow the trumpet in Zion_ This was a signal for assembling the people at the solemn times of public worship. _Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly_ Or, _appoint ye a fast, proclaim a solemn day:_ so Archbishop Newcome. _Sanctify the congregation_ Let the people prepare themselves for this solemn... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar_ The priests, being in a peculiar sense the Lord's servants, are here required to take the lead in this sacred work of penitence, and to stand weeping and praying between the porch and the altar; that is, in the open c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then will the Lord be jealous for his land_ If you do what I propose to you, if you sincerely humble yourselves before God, confess your sins, and truly repent of them, turning to God in newness of life, then will the Lord be concerned for the honour and welfare of that land which he has chosen to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Fear not, O land_, &c. “In the former part of this prophecy the land is elegantly represented as mourning, the beasts groaning, and the herds of cattle as greatly distressed; the rivers of water dried up, and the pastures of the wilderness as all consumed. In the same elegant strain he calls upon t... [ Continue Reading ]
_He hath given you the former rain moderately_ The season of the former rain was about the middle of October. The Hebrew word לצדקה, rendered _moderately_, literally signifies, _according to righteousness:_ and is equivalent with _according to judgment._ Archbishop Newcome renders it, _in just propo... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten _ I will compensate you, or make you amends, for what the locusts have eaten in the foregoing years, by an extraordinary plenty of the fruits of the earth. This verse proves, beyond a doubt, that they mistake who interpret this prophecy... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it shall come to pass afterward_ Some versions begin the third chapter with this verse; and indeed the subject which is begun here is of so different a nature from what goes before, that it seems evident a new chapter ought to be begun here. The Jewish Rabbi Kimchi says here, that the expressio... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth_, &c. Whoever will be at the pains to compare this prediction with the prophecy of Christ, Matthew 24., and Luke 21., will have no doubt concerning the application of it. It principally and evidently refers to the destruction of the city and t... [ Continue Reading ]
_The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,_ &c. Particular judgments upon kings and nations are often described in such terms as properly belong to the general judgment and conflagration of the heavens and the earth, as has been observed on Joe 2:10 th of this chapter. The expr... [ Continue Reading ]
_And whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord_ Whosoever, having heard the gospel, shall repent and believe in Christ, and call on him, or shall make application to God in prayer through him, _shall be delivered_ Namely, from temporal and eternal destruction: thus St. Paul interprets this passag... [ Continue Reading ]