Joel 2:20

But I will remove 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. I WILL REMOVE FAR OFF FROM YOU THE NORTHERN ARMY. The Hebrew expresses that the north in relation to Palestine is not merely the quarter whence the invader comes, but is his native land, 'the northlander'-namely, the Assyrian or Babylonian (cf. Jeremiah 1:14; , "the north ... Assyria"). The locust's native country is not the north, but the south, the deserts of Arabia, Egypt, and Libya. Therefore, the literal locust cannot be meant in the ulterior sense. Assyria and Babylon are the type an...

In this verse he more fully confirms the Jews, that they might not be afraid of reproach from the Gentiles. It may have been that the Assyrians were now in readiness, prepared for war; it was then difficult to free the Jews from every fear. The Prophet had said generally that they would be no more subject to the mockeries of the Gentiles; but yet fear could not but be felt by them. “We see the Assyrians already armed; and what can we expect but to be devoured by them? for we are not able to resist them.” Anxiety then must have constantly tormented the Jews, had he not distinctly and in express words declared, “It is in God’s power to drive away the Assyrians, and to confound all their attempts.” The Prophet, therefore, is now on this subject. _The Northlander, _(9) he says, _will I remove far from you. _The Chaldeans and the Assyrians, we know, were northward of Judea. He then means here...

15-27 The priests and rulers are to appoint a solemn fast. The sinner's supplication is, Spare us, good Lord. God is ready to succour his people; and he waits to be gracious. They prayed that God would spare them, and he answered them. His promises are real answers to the prayers of faith; with him saying and doing are not two things. Some understand these promises figuratively, as pointing to gospel grace, and as fulfilled in the abundant comforts treasured up for believers in the covenant of grace....

Verse 20. _I WILL REMOVE FAR OFF FROM YOU THE NORTHERN_ ARMY] "That is, the _locusts_; which might enter Judea by the _north_, as Circassia and Mingrelia abound with them. Or the locusts may be thus called, because they spread terror like the _Assyrian_ armies, which entered Judea by the _north_. See Zephaniah 2:13." - _Newcome_. Syria, which was _northward_ of Judea, was infested with them; and it must have been a _northern_ wind that brought them into Judea, in the time of _Joel_; as God promises to _change_ this wind, and carry them into a _barren and desolate land_, Arabia Deserta. "And his face toward the east sea," i.e., the _Dead Sea_, which lay _eastward_ of Jerusalem. "His hinder part toward the utmost sea," the _western sea_, i.e., the _Mediterranean_. And his stink shall co

AND I WILL REMOVE FAR OFF FROM YOU THE NORTHERN ARMY - God speaks of the human agent under the figure of the locusts, which perish in the sea; yet so as to show at once, that He did not intend the locust itself, nor to describe the mode in which He should overthrow the human oppressor. He is not speaking of the locust itself, for the Northern is no name for the locust which infested Palestine, since it came from the south; nor would the destruction of the locust be in two opposite seas, since they are uniformly driven by the wind into the sea, upon whose waves they alight and perish, but the wind would not carry them into two opposite seas; nor would the locust perish in a “barren and desolate” land, but would fly further; nor would it be said of the locust that he was destroyed, Because he had done great things . But He represents to us, how this enemy should be driven quite out of the...

EXPOSITION JOEL 2:1 These verses contain a further description of the calamity occasioned by the locusts and the appearance presented by them; the calling of a congregational meeting for penitence and prayer; the reason assigned in the coming of the day of the Lord. JOEL 2:1 BLOW YE THE TRUMPET (margin, cornet) in Zion, AND SOUND AN ALARM (or, cause it to sound) IN MY HOLY MOUNTAIN. The _shophar_, or far-sounding horn, and probably the _chatsoterah_,_ _the _hazar_ or silver trumpet, were called into requisition. The priests are urged with great vehemence, as _tiqu shophar _and _hariu _imply, to apprise the people that the day of Jehovah's terrible judgment was near

BUT I WILL REMOVE FAR OFF FROM YOU THE NORTHERN [ARMY],.... The army of the locusts, which came from the northern corner, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; and is the first sense Jarchi makes mention of; though he says their Rabbins b interpret it of the evil imagination hid in the heart of men; and the two seas, later mentioned, of the two temples, first and second, destroyed by it; so, Kimchi says, they explain this verse of the days of the Messiah, and observes, the same sense they give; but Jarchi mentions another, according to which a people coming from the north are designed, even the kings of Assyria; and with this agrees the Targum, which paraphrases it, "and the people which come from the north I will remove far off from you;'' and indeed locusts do not usually come from the north, but from the south, or from the east; it was an east wind that brought the locusts into Egypt,...

II. THE COMING DAY OF THE LORD: THE REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION OF ISRAEL CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The alarm sounded and the day at hand (Joel 2:1) _ 2. The invading army from the north (Joel 2:3) 3. The repentance of the people and cry for help (Joel 2:12) 4. “Then.” The great change (Joel 2:18) 5. Promises of restoration, and the early and latter rain (Joel 2:19) 6. The outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28) 7. Deliverance in Mount Zion

JOEL 2:18 Joel 3:21. YAHWEH'S GRACIOUS RESPONSE TO THE PRAYER OF INTERCESSION. Joel 2:18. The Locusts shall be Destroyed and the Inhabitants of the Land Rejoice in Renewed Prosperity. Joel 2:21, which seems to interrupt the speech of Yahweh, may be misplaced. Certainly Joel 2:25 would follow well on Joel 2:20, and the change to the third person for Yahweh is striking. But in prophecy the interchange between the words of Yahweh and the words of the prophet regarded as one and the same t

THE NORTHERN ARMY. This is what the "locusts" of Joel 1:4 are the symbol of. The prophet does not "forget for. moment" the locusts of Joel 1:4. but, here explains the symbol. Locusts do not come from the north. The armies of Revelation 9; Daniel 1. do. THE EAST SEA: i.e. the Dead Sea. Compare Ezekiel 47:18; Zechariah 14:8. THE UTMOST SEA.. the Great Sea. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuter