Joel 1:12

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. THE POMEGRANATE TREE - a tree straight in the stem, growing 20 feet high: the fruit is of the size of an orange, with blood-red coloured pulp. THE PALM TREE. The dates of Palestine were famous. The palm is the symbol of Judea on coins under the Roman emperor Vespasian. It often grows a hundred feet high. AND THE APPLE TREE. The Hebrew [ tapuwach (H8598)] is generic, including the orange, lemon, and pear tree. JOY IS WITHERED AWAY - such as is felt in the harvest and the vintage (Psalms 4:7...

The Prophet now concludes his subjects which was, that as God executed judgments so severe on the people, it was a wonder that they remained stupefied, when thus reduces to extremities. _The vine_, he says, _has dried up_, and every kind of fruit; he adds the _fig-tree, _afterwards the רמון _remun_, the _pomegranate_, (for so they render it,) _the palm, the apple-tree_, (4) and all trees. And this sterility was a clear sign of God’s wrath; and it would have been so regarded, had not men either wholly deceived themselves, or had become hardened against all punishments. Now this αναὶσθησὶα (_insensibility_) is as it were the very summit of evils; that is, when men feel not their own calamities, or at least understand not that they are inflicted by the hand of God. Let us now proceed —...

8-13 All who labour only for the meat that perishes, will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their labour. Those that place their happiness in the delights of sense, when deprived of them, or disturbed in the enjoyment, lose their joy; whereas spiritual joy then flourishes more than ever. See what perishing, uncertain things our creature-comforts are. See how we need to live in continual dependence upon God and his providence. See what ruinous work sin makes. As far as poverty occasions the decay of piety, and starves the cause of religion among a people, it is a very sore judgment. But how blessed are the awakening judgments of God, in rousing his people and calling home the heart to Christ, and his salvation!...

Verse 12. _THE VINE IS DRIED UP_] Dr. _Shaw_ observes that in Barbary, in the month of June, the locusts collect themselves into compact bodies a furlong or more square, and march on, eating up every thing that is green or juicy, and letting nothing escape them, whether vegetables or _trees_. They destroy the _pomegranate_, the _palm_, the _apple_, (תפוח tappuach, the _citron tree_,) the _vine_, the _fig_, and every _tree of the field_. Joel 2:2....

BECAUSE JOY IS WITHERED AWAY - o: “There are four sorts of joy, a joy in iniquity, a joy in vanity, a joy of charity, a joy of felicity. Of the first we read, “Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the forwardness of the wicked Proverbs 2:14. Of the second, “They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ” Job 21:12. Of the third, “Let the saints be joyful in glory” Psalms 149:5. Of the fourth, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be still praising Thee” Psalms 84:4. The joy of charity and the joy of felicity “wither from the sons of men,” when the virtues aforesaid f

EXPOSITION JOEL 1:1 THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO JOEL THE SON OF PETHUEL. The name Joel signifies "Jehovah is God," or "whose God is Jehovah." We read in Scripture of several of the same name, but the prophet is distinguished as "the son of Pethuel," a name signifying "the sincerity of God," or "godly simplicity." We are not certain of the exact period at which Joel prophesied, but he is generally believed to have been the earliest prophetic writer of the southern kingdom, and one of the earliest of the twelve minor prophets, while Jonah is generally thought to have been the earliest prophetic writer whose book has found a place in the sacred canon. It is at least certain that Joel preceded Amos, who begins his prophecy with a passage from Joel (comp. Joel 3:16 wi

THE VINE IS DRIED UP,.... Withered away, stripped of its leaves and fruits, and its sap and moisture gone: or, "is ashamed" t; to see itself in this condition, and not answer the expectation of its proprietor and dresser: AND THE FIG TREE LANGUISHETH; sickens and dies, through the bite of the locusts: THE POMEGRANATE TREE: whose fruit is delicious, and of which wine was made: the palm tree also; which bears dates: AND THE APPLE TREE; that looks so beautiful, when either in bloom, or laden with fruit, and whose fruit is very grateful to the palate; so that both what were for common use and necessary food, and what were for delight and pleasure, were destroyed by these noisome creatures: [EVEN] ALL THE TREES OF THE FIELD ARE WITHERED; for locusts not only devour the leaves and fruits of trees, but hurt the trees themselves; burn them up by touching them, and cause them to wither away a...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS II. THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD: THE RUIN, THE REPENTANCE AND THE RESTORATION III. THE EVENTS OF THE DAY OF THE LORD: ISRAEL'S ENEMIES JUDGED AND THE KINGDOM ESTABLISHED I. THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The prophet's appeal (Joel 1:1) _ 2. The call to the drunkards (Joel 1:5) 3. The call to the people and the priests (Joel 1:8) 4. The day of the Lord and the suffering land (Joel 1:15) 5. The prayer of the prophet (Joel 1:19)...

THE DISTRESS CAUSED BY THE PLAGUE. Joel 1:5. The wine-bibbers no censure is implied; they are mentioned first because of the contrast between their accustomed merriment and the tears they are bidden to shed are summoned to arouse from their drunken sleep and bemoan the devastation of the vineyards. The many-mouthed host of invaders (for nation _cf._ Proverbs 30:25 f.) has wrought such destruction that it is likened to a ravening lion. Vine and fig-tree are stripped bare, so that the twigs splinter and the branches gleam white. [ JOEL 1:6 B. The comparison with lions-' teeth (Revelation 9:8) is very apt, for in proportion to i

MEN. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14....