REPENTANCE FOLLOWED BY RESTORATION Joel 2:1 are another description of the locust plague. An alarm is sounded as though the Day of Jehovah had come (Joel 2:1). The advance of the locusts into the city is described under the figure of an invading army (Joel 2:4). A message to the penitent is given fr... [ Continue Reading ]
DARKNESS, etc.] caused either by the clouds of locusts, or a figure of calamity: cp. Amos 5:18; Zephaniah 1:5. 3. The devastation wrought by the locusts was as though the country had been swept by a fire. GARDEN OF EDEN] Genesis 2:8. called also 'garden of Jehovah,' Genesis 13:10 : cp. Ezekiel 28:1... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'At their presence the peoples are in anguish: all faces are waxed pale.'... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'They run.. they climb.. they march.. they break not.'... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path: and they burst through the weapons, and break not off _their course_.' Thus compact is the march of locusts. No weapons avail to stem their approach.... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they climb up into the houses; they enter.' 10. 'The earth quaketh.. heavens tremble.. are darkened.. stars withdraw.' The advent of the locusts is idealised as though with them came also the earthquake and the eclipse. The Hebrews conceived of t... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'uttereth.' The voice of Jehovah is thunder (Psalms 29), hence the thought is that of a great storm accompanying the locusts.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH ALL YOUR HEART] cp Deuteronomy 6:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
REND YOUR HEART] even as the Psalmist speaks of a broken heart (Psalms 51:17). 14. The divine will is neither arbitrary nor fixed, but is deeply affected by human intercessions and conditions, and hence a purpose of destruction may be changed (Jeremiah 18:18; Jeremiah 42:10; Amos 7:3; Amos 7:6). 1... [ Continue Reading ]
CLOSET] The same, of course, as the chamber of the bridegroom. The Heb. word means 'canopy' or 'pavilion,' and its usage comes from the primitive nuptial tent provided for the wedded pair.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PORCH of the Temple, in front of which stood the ALTAR in the court of the priests. THAT THE HEATHEN, etc.] RM 'that the nations should use a byword against them,' i.e. that they should become a byword through their wretched abandonment by God. RV 'among the peoples.' On the taunt, cp. Psalms 42... [ Continue Reading ]
ARV 'Then was Jehovah jealous for his land and had pity on his people.' It is implied that the fast and solemn assembly were held, and that Jehovah responded to the cry of His people with the promises of Joel 2:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'and the Lord answered and said unto his people.'... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NORTHERN _army_] or, 'the northerner,' i.e. the locusts, which might possibly have come from the N., although usually in Palestine from the S. or SE. Probably they are idealised as typical of the enemies of Israel, who are frequently spoken of as coming from the N (Jeremiah 1:14; Jeremiah 4:6; J... [ Continue Reading ]
BE NOT AFRAID] of famine. DO SPRING] i.e. are renewed with fresh grass: cp. Joel 1:7; Joel 1:12; Joel 1:18., where the desolation is described.... [ Continue Reading ]
MODERATELY] RV 'in just measure.' THE FORMER.. AND THE LATTER RAIN] the rains at seedtime in early winter and before the harvest in early spring. IN THE FIRST _month_] RM 'at (= as at) the first,' i.e. before the calamity of drought and locusts. 25. Cp. Joel 1:4; Joel 2:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MY PEOPLE, etc.] probably by copyist error from next verse. 27. The rain and the harvests are evidences of Jehovah's presence. ISRAEL] the Jewish community so called after the exile. NONE ELSE] an assertion of monotheism: cp. Deuteronomy 4:35; Deuteronomy 4:39; 1 Kings 8:60; Isaiah 45:5; Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTERWARD] The prophets saw the future purposes of God realised one after the other without fixed intervals of time. Material blessings imply spiritual ones: both nature and man are to be renewed. MY SPIRIT] of knowledge or divine revelation, since it results in prophecy, dreams, and visions: a spir... [ Continue Reading ]
RV 'In Jerusalem shall be those that escape as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call.' In the general destruction the condition of escape is calling on Jehovah, and the saved remnant of Israel is at Jerusalem, and among them are those whom Jehovah has called from else... [ Continue Reading ]