The Prophet Joel
By Arno Clement Gaebelein
Chapter 2
With the second chapter we reach the heart of the great prophecy of Joel. The description of the literal locusts, which had come upon the land and devoured everything, so vividly shown in the first chapter, is not continued in the second chapter. That these locust swarms in their different stages prefigured nations who were to come in upon Israel's land and lay everything waste, we have learned. Dispensationally the first chapter would stand for the entire times of the Gentiles. These began with Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 11:36-38) and they continue till the time when the God of heaven sets up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. That will be when the stone cut out of the mountain without hands falls upon the kingdoms and breaks them to pieces, in other words, the second Coming of Christ (Dan. ii:44, 45 an d Dan. vii:13, 14). During these times of the Gentiles Israel's land is the prey of the Gentiles as the land was the prey of the locusts in the days of Joel. This is why the literal locusts are made so prominent in the beginning of the vision of the seer of the Lord's day.
In our study of the first chapter we learned that in the midst of the description of the havoc wrought by the locusts, the prophet beheld a greater judgment advancing and he announced in a single exclamation the Day of the Lord. The prominence this great future day, when Jehovah is manifested visibly, occupies in the different prophetic books we have seen. The description of that great day is now taken up in the vision of Joel. The Day of the Lord is the burden of both the second and third chapters. There can be no doubt whatever that the complete fulfilment of what Joel describes as God's Prophet in these two chapters has not yet taken place and that its accomplishment falls in the time of the great day of the Lord. Before that day comes, when the Lord appears, the greatest distress will be upon the land and the people; there will be a time of trouble such as never was before nor ever will be after (Matt. xxiv:21). The remnant of His people will cry to the Lord for intervention and for deliverance, and the Lord will answer their cry and come to deliver His people. As a result of His coming His earthly people will be delivered, their land becomes once more like the garden of Eden, there will be a great outpouring of the Spirit of God and from Jerusalem the great centre of the kingdom the blessings will extend to the nations. At the same time the day of the Lord will mean judgment for the nations who have dealt wickedly with His earthly people. All these different events which group themselves around the day of the Lord, both before and after the manifestation of the Lord we find in these two chapters, the remainder of the Book of Joel. However, with this we do not say that this great prophecy had no meaning for the people and their children who listened first of all to this solemn message. It was surely meant to warn the people of a great trouble which was soon to come upon them. A great invasion of the land by one coming from the North, the Assyrian, was to happen, and to this Assyrian invasion the prophecy undoubtedly referred in part at least. But that Assyrian invasion, which is made so prominent in the Book of Isaiah, is but a picture of that great future invasion of the land, when the Assyrian of the end-time falls into Palestine. The same is true about the miraculous deliverance which Israel in the past experienced, when after the prayer and repentance of the people, the invading army was checked and in one night an end was made of the proud army of Sennacherib (Isa. xxxvii:3438). It is a prophetic type of what will happen to that foe who comes once more from the North to spoil the people at the end of the age.
Most interpreters of the second chapter of Joel maintain that he still pictures locusts. We just say a brief word on this. The word "locust" is not mentioned at all in the first part of the second chapter. It occurs in the second part when the Prophet gives the predictions of restoration, and there he declares that the damage of the locusts is to be repaired and that the Lord will restore the years which the locusts have eaten. This undoubtedly refers to a return of the fruitfulness of the land; it means the restoring of all the blessings which the land had forfeited during the times of the Gentiles. In this second chapter a great invading army is described under the figure of the locusts, which in their large numbers, their orderly advance, their fearful devastation and for different other reasons are well adapted to prefigure such an army.
The scene of this second chapter in its future fulfilment is during that time of trouble which precedes the glorious manifestation of the Lord. It necessitates the restoration of a part of the people to the land and a resumation of the ancient ceremonials, such as the blowing of the trumpets. Such a restoration in unbelief is indicated in the prophetic Word and is even now at the present time in process.
The chapter before us contains seven parts, giving the events of the day of the Lord preceded by trouble and bringing blessing, temporal and spiritual, to His earthly people Israel. The church, the reader will understand is nowhere mentioned, nor even indicated. It concerns only His earthly people, and in the third chapter the nations. The church is no longer on earth when these mighty events take place, but she is to be manifested with the Lord in His glorious appearing.
The seven parts of the chapter are the following:
I. The sounding of the alarm. The day of Jehovah is at hand (Verses 1, 2).
II. The description of the invading army from the North. Their advance and the destruction it brings (Verses 3-11).
III. The second blowing of the trumpet. The great repentance of the people, the prayer to Jehovah to spare His people (Verses 12-17).
IV. The prophetic word "Then." The great change and how it is brought about (Verse 18).
V. Promises of Restoration and the removal of the northern army; the early and the latter rain. The end of Israel's tribulation. They are never to be ashamed (Verses 19-27).
VI. The outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh. Wonders in heaven and on earth (Verses 28-31).
VII. Salvation in Jerusalem and in Zion for the residue whom the Lord shall call.
I. The blowing of the trumpet in Zion ; the day of the Lord cometh.
"Blow the trumpet in Zion And sound an alarm in my holy mountain, Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, Because the day of the Lord cometh, For it is near at hand. A day of darkness and of gloom, A day of clouds and gross darkness, As the dawn spread upon the mountains; A great people and a strong; There hath not been ever the like, Neither shall be any more after them, To the years of many generations." (Verses 1, 2.)
"The day of Jehovah cometh it is at hand" is the startling announcement the prophet makes again in this chapter. We have therefore in this chapter and the third chapter a description of the day of Jehovah, when He comes to deliver His earthly people out of the hands of the enemy who invades Israel's land in the latter day, when He interferes in behalf of His inheritance. It bears repeating that the great prophecy which is before us had a partial fulfilment in the past. The Assyrian power which fell into the land some time after this prophecy was given was no doubt the primary object of these predictions, but never the fulfilment of it. Nor was the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh as mentioned in this chapter fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, nor has it been fulfilled since that day. The day of Jehovah alone will accomplish all that the Prophet Joel beheld in this and the following chapter. It is well to be positive about this, for if we assume that future events are fulfilled or now during this present age in process of fulfilment, it will be disastrous. Our object in our studies is therefore to look at that great end: fulfilment of the vision of our Prophet. This is both interesting and timely. We stand upon the threshold of the greatest crisis since the beginning of the age and we see more and more that day approaching concerning which Joel bears witness, though we shall not see that day itself.
The chapter covers the last part of the second half of the 70th week of Daniel's great prophecy. To be clear and help such of our readers, who are beginners in the study of the Word of Prophecy we give a little synopsis of the 70-week prophecy as found in the prophet Daniel.
The reader will please turn to Daniel ix:24-27. Here we read: "Seventy weeks are apportioned out upon thy people (Daniel's people, the Jews) and upon thy holy city (Jerusalem), to close the transgression and to make an end of sins, and to make expiation for iniquity and to bring in the righteousness of ages, and to seal the vision and the Prophet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies," Seventy sevens as it is in the Hebrew, each week having seven years, makes 490 years. This space of time, as the heavenly messenger declared, is apportioned out for the people Israel and Jerusalem and at the close of it the full blessing will come for Israel. The term "the righteousness of the ages" refers to that age which we term the Millennium, because according to New Testament revelation the Lord Jesus Christ will reign over the earth with His saints for a thousand years.
Then we read in the prophecy of Daniel that these 70 weeks or 490 years are divided into three parts. First, seven weeks; secondly, sixty-two weeks ; thirdly, one week. What does this division mean ? We are not left to speculation for the Word makes it plain.
"Know therefore and understand: From the going forth of the Word to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. The street and the moat shall be built again, even in troublesome times. And after sixty-two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end, therefore, shall be with an overflow, and unto the end war, the desolations determined" (Dan. ix:25, 26)The first seven weeks (49 years) is the period of time which elapsed from the giving of the command to rebuild Jerusalem and its walls till this was accomplished. The commission to restore and build Jerusalem was given to Nehemiah by Artaxerxes in his twentieth year. The sixty-two weeks (434 years) is the time from the complete restoration of the city and the walls till Messiah is cut off, that is the death of Christ, and there is nothing for Him. His own people rejected Him and then in consequence of that rejection the city and the sanctuary are to be destroyed by the people of the prince that shall come. Wars and desolations, persecutions and troubles, bloodshed and suffering is to be the lot of the Jewish people after the rejection of the Messiah, a prophecy given not only here, but throughout the prophetic Word.
How solemnly it has come true for hundreds and hundreds of years is sufficiently verified by the history of the Jews, a history of blood and tears. The people who destroyed the city and the sanctuary were the Romans. Now there is one week left, the seventieth week, or seven years. This week has not yet been. When at the end of the sixty-ninth week Messiah was cut off God's mercy, it is true, lingered for a time over Jerusalem in another offer of what they had rejected, but another age had begun. The Holy Spirit had come to earth and on the day of His coming the church, that mystery hidden in former ages, began. The events of that last week of seven years as given in Daniel ix, were never fulfilled. Between the sixty-ninth week and the seventieth week is a gap, which is the present age. As soon then as God's purpose in this age is occomplished (the calling of the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all) then the last week of Daniel will come to pass. That week is divided into two parts, twice three and a half years ; the second half, or the last three years and a half are called the great tribulation and towards the end of that great tribulation falls the history and fulfilment of our chapter. The last chapter of the prophet Zechariah covers about the same period only it gives us additional light upon these great coming events.
It is necessary that the Jewish people, at least in part, be brought to the land before all these events can happen. This return will be in unbelief, though in the midst of them there will be a God-fearing remnant, who tremble at His Word (Is. lxvi:5), and who suffer intensely in that evil day. That remnant will increase and become more and more numerous as that great day of the Lord draws nearer. One in the power of Elijah will witness during that tribulation period as it is written, "Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mai. iv:5, 6). All this falls into the last seven years.
For the accomplishment of what is revealed in our chapter a partial restoration of the Jews to their land, the rebuilding of the temple, the resumption of the sacrifices and the exercise of the functions of the priesthood, the different ceremonies as commanded in the law of Moses are absolutely necessary. But we may add, what is one of the most, if not the most significant sign of the times, that such a return of the Jews as demanded by our chapter and similar other portions of prophecy, is at present going on. Not alone has the way been opened for the return of thousands of Jews to the land of their fathers, but Zionism is through its appointed leaders in closest touch with the Sultan, who seems to be ready to make the largest concessions, greater than the most sanguine Zionists ever dared to hope. The national establishment of a part of the Jewish race upon the soil of Palestine is the tremendous event in sight.1
All this should not surprise us, for the time for it has come, but it ought to stir our hearts as nothing else. Inasmuch as the complete restoration of part of the Jewish people cannot come as long as the church is on earth, it is evident that our gathering together unto Him, to meet Him in the air must be very near.
We do not know if there will be an interval between the rapture of the church and the beginning of the last week of Daniel, and if there is such an interval, how long it will last, we do not know and cannot find anything in the Word to warrant statements, which are often made.
It is during the last portion of that prophetic period, which winds up the Jewish age, that the events here before us transpire.
The first thing mentioned is the blowing of the trumpet in Zion, the sounding of the alarm. This was an Old Testament ceremony commanded to His people by the Lord. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver ; of a whole piece shalt thou make them ; that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps" (Numbers x:1, 2). This was the first use of the trumpets. Then we read also: "And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then shall ye blow an alarm with the trumpets ; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies" (Verse 9). The trumpets were to be blown by the priests; they are therefore here addressed. The blowing of the trumpet is an alarm because the day of Jehovah is about to come and the forerunner, so to speak, is the invading army of the North.
The faith of the pious remnant suffering in the midst of the confusion of that time, when the false Christ will sit in the temple and all the desolation and abomination will be in the midst of the city, will lay hold of that gracious promise given by the Lord that He will remember and save them from their enemies. Indeed the time is then come to have mercy upon Zion; their hour is come. The alarm is to be sounded as the sign of the approach of events of the most startling character; first the invasion of a mighty army and next the interference of Jehovah. What strange and often ridiculous things interpreters will say on such passages of Scripture is learned when one reads that some of the expositors declare that the trumpets were blown with a strong sound to "frighten away the locust swarms and divert their flight from the city and the surrounding country."
We only mention that trumpets, the sound of the trumpet, etc., are often connected with the Theophany, the appearing of the Lord. We read of it in different ways and in Isaiah it is written: "And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come that were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem" (Isaiah xxvii:13). That will be the trumpet blast with which the Lord will gather His earthly people together after He has come.
And now comes a more detailed description of the coming day. It is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and gross darkness. It is not at all necessary to think of the literal locusts here. It is a fact that these locust swarms are sometimes so large and composed of such an enormous multitude of insects that they obscure the light of the sun. We read in Exodus x that Moses said when he announced the plague of locusts to come upon Egypt: "And they shall cover the face of the earth that one cannot be able to see the earth." And when they came the record says: "For they covered the face of the whole earth so that the land was darkened" (Exod. xv:15). The darkness and the gloom as well as the clouds are symbolical of the solemnity of that approaching day.
Darkness, a hidden sun, is, as we know from the cross of our ever blessed Lord, a symbol of divine wrath. It has this meaning here; the clouds of judgment and wrath are gathering together, the day of vengeance is at hand. We must likewise remember that when Jehovah came in that great manifestation on Mount Sinai it is written: "Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (Exod. xx:21). "And ye came near and stood under the mountain ; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds and thick darkness" (Deut. iv:11).
David by the Spirit in looking back to that past Theophany, which is the type of the future coming manifestation of Jehovah, the second Coming of Christ, declares: "He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the sky" (Psalms xviii:11). Still another prophet announces that day in the same terms. "That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers" (Zeph. i:15, 16). In Isaiah, too, we read that when the Lord comes "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people" (Isaiah lx:2). The meaning then is clear. Wrath, judgment, confusion is symbolically described by these terms, while no doubt when the day of Jehovah begins, a literal darkness will cover the earth.
But there is still another sentence left which we have not explained. That day, the day of Jehovah will be like "the dawn spread upon the mountains." We cannot accept the thought expressed by most interpreters that this sentence, "As the dawn spread upon the mountains," must be brought in connection with "a great people and a strong." We quote from one of the most able of these commentators.
"The subject is left indefinite: "Like morning dawn it is spread over the mountains." The prophet's meaning is evident enough from what follows. He clearly refers to the bright glimmer or splendor which is seen in the sky as a swarm of locusts approaches from the reflection of the sun's rays from their wings." In a footnote he quotes a phenomenon in connection with the locusts, which evidently bears out this interpretation. One Portuguese monk, Francis Alvarez, writes that the day before the arrival of the locusts "we could infer that they were coming, from a yellow reflection in the sky, proceeding from their yellow wings."
We think the words "as the dawn spread upon the mountains" have nothing to do with the description of the invading army, though that army is described with the previous literal locust plague in view, that is, under the type of a locust invasion. The words which follow "a great people and strong, there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after then, to the years of generations and generations" are, we take it, an exclamation preparing the way for the more detailed description of the invading army.
The words, "As the dawn spread upon the mountains," are a description of the day itself and not the invading army, which precedes that day. On the one hand the day of Jehovah is a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and gross darkness; on the other hand it is a day "As the dawn spread upon the mountains." After the darkness and gloom, the light of that day dawn will break. Then it will be "even as a morning without clouds" (2 Sam. xxiii:4). Brightness, light and glory are repeatedly mentioned in connection with the day of Jehovah.
II. The description of the invading army.
A fire devoureth before them, And behind them a flame burneth; Before them the land is as the garden of Eden, And behind them a desolate wilderness, Yea, and nothing can escape them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, And like the horsemen shall they run. Like the noise of chariots, On the mountain tops, they shall leap, Like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, Like a strong people set in battle array. Before them the peoples are in distress All faces turn to paleness. They run like mighty men They climb the wall like men of war; And they march each one in his ways, And they turn not aside from their ranks, Nor doth one press upon another A mighty one marches in the highroad. They fall upon the dart, but are not wounded. They spread themselves in the city, They run along upon the wall, They climb up into the houses, They enter in by the windows like a thief. The earth trembleth before them, The heavens shake, The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah uttereth His voice before His army For His camp is very great; For strong is He that executeth His Word For the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible And who can bear it? (Verses 3-11).
Before we look at the text itself, to make a careful study of it, we shall consider this invasion in a general way. A mighty army not of locusts but of men is described in these verses. The land was spoiled in Joel's day by the literal locusts, which had destroyed everything, and now an actual army is announced to come upon the land. Many armies have marched through Israel's land in the past and wrought terrible destruction. How truly may Israel say what is written in Psalm cxxix: "Many a time have they afflicted me from
my youth, may Israel now say; many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows." And equally may they declare "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side; when men rose up against us; then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us; then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul, then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as 1 a prey to their teeth" (Psalm cxxix:2-6). Verily it has been true and will ever be true "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn" (Isaiah Iv:i17). But who of the many enemies of God's beloved earthly people is here meant? As' we have already stated the Assyrian. This great enemy of God's chosen people, how he was used of God as an instrument to discipline His people, how God dealt with him, is mentioned prominently in the prophecy of Isaiah. But the Assyrian, as he came upon Israel in the past, is a prophetic type of a more powerful Northerner, the Assyrian, who invades the land and besieges Jerusalem immediately before the Lord comes in great power and glory.
Many believers in the premillennial coming of the Lord and the restoration of Israel do not see clearly in regard to this last great enemy and therefore much is hazy. Generally people speak simply of the Anti-Christ and all passages in the Old Testament which speak of invaders and enemies of Israel are classed as predicting the Anti-Christ. This 1 is far from being correct. The Anti-Christ will not be the only person acting under satanic impulses and powers during the last week of Daniel. There is another head, the head of the revived Roman Empire. Daniel vii:23-27; ix127. He is mentioned in the book of Revelation as the beast rising out of the sea and also ascending out of the bottomless pit. The Anti-Christ is a different person from the first beast; he is seen rising out of the earth and has two horns like a lamb and speaks like a dragon (Rev. xiii:11). Of him we read in Isaiah xxx:33; Daniel xi:36, and in other passages we read of him.2
Then there will be the last Assyrian coming from the North. While the first beast will be the head of the political power and confederacy of nations and the Anti-Christ, the man of sin will be in Jerusalem and take his place in the temple and by lying wonders show himself that he is God, the Assyrian will come from the outside and come against the people and Jerusalem. Isaiah xxix:1-8 gives us a description of this siege. Zechariah xiv:1-6 gives the same prediction and shows how the Lord will intervene. Of his end we read also in Daniel xi:45.
There is likewise the description of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel xxxviii and xxxix. In all this we cannot enter fully here.
The Assyrian coming from the North will make a terrible invasion and lay siege to Jerusalem towards the end of the great tribulation. It will be, indeed, the heights of that time of Jacob's trouble, for while the Anti-Christ is inside tormenting the people, the Assyrian will be outside. Most instructive is the tenth chapter in Isaiah. While it refers to the Assyrian, who came to Israel's land, it is a perfect picture of what will happen in the future. Notice six parts in Isaiah x:5 to the close of the chapter.
I. A description of the Assyrian (Verses 5-11). He is described as the instrument which God uses to punish Israel. He is the rod of God's anger and God sends him against a hypocritical nation. 2. The punishment of the Assyrian is announced (Verses 12-15). The time for the punishment is 1 when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and Jerusalem. This shows that it must be in the future. 3. The Punishment itself (Verses 16-19). It will be sudden and complete. 4. The Return of the remnant of Israel is promised (Verses 20-23). Then there is the Word of Comfort to the Remnant (Verses 24-27). 6. A vivid description of the march of the Assyrian against Jerusalem and the intervention of the Lord (Verses 28-34). Sennacherib's army completely overthrown in the presence of Jerusalem is a prophetic picture of what will happen to the last Assyrian. In Isaiah xiv:25 we read: "I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot ; then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders." Again God says concerning this mighty army of the Assyrian in his terrible onslaught against Jerusalem: "Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away ; yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem), even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision" (Isaiah xxix:5-7). We find this 'Assyrian also mentioned in Micah v:5.
The army which Joel beholds in the beginning of the second chapter coming against Jerusalem is the Assyrian, approaching from the North. This is clearly seen from the 20th verse, where we read, "And I will remove far off from you him that cometh from the North" Joel ii:20; Isaiah x; xxix:1-7; Zechariah xiv, and similar passages should be carefully studied together, for they give us the same event only each in a different way. And now we turn to a study of the details as given in these verses.
In the third verse we read that a fire devoureth before them and behind them a flame burneth. The expositors who apply all this to literal locusts have great difficulty to explain the meaning of these words. There is no such difficulty if we look upon the entire description as having nothing more to do with the literal swarms of locusts, which devastated the land as we saw in the first chapter. An army of invaders uses the torch; before them and behind them the fire burns. Such scenes of devastation, burning down castles, country residences, villages, etc., were lately seen in the revolutionistic outbreaks in Russia. Of greater difficulty are the words "Before them the land is as the garden of Eden, and behind them a desolate wilderness." According to this Israel's land will have to be again in a prosperous condition, be like the garden of Eden. That this will be the future condition of Palestine is predicted in the prophetic Word elsewhere. "For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord . . ." (Isaiah li:4). In the great restoration chapter of the Prophet Ezekiel, that is chapter xxxvi, we find a similar prophecy. "And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and the desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited" (Ezek. xxxvi:35). These two prophecies tell us that Palestine will be the garden spot of the earth. Just as the Lord had made the garden of Eden the choicest place in all His creation, for Adam and his wife to enjoy, so in the coming age Israel's land will be the most blessed, the most beautiful, the most glorious of all the lands of the earth. Of this Prophecy has much to say. But this glorious condition of the land will be the result of the second Coming of Christ and also the changes which take place in the land itself, such as are indicated in Zechariah xiv:4-10. In our passage here in Joel the statement that the land is like the garden of Eden does not refer to that prosperous condition, which will Be during the Millennium. The events pictured here are premillennial, preceding the Coming of the Lord. The easiest way to dismiss the difficulty would be, as some have done, by saying that the words are a mere figure of speech to describe the great havoc which this army works. This does not satisfy us. We believe that the land of Israel, Palestine, will be really in a prosperous condition when the army from the North comes upon it. The land will enjoy once more great prosperity and will be the center of commerce and influence, so that the Jews will call it their "garden of Eden." Everything that God has promised and that which He will do is more or less imitated by Satan. Before the true time of peace and righteousness comes, called the Millennium, and brought about by the coming of the Prince of Peace, the devil will have a mock millennium. He is now at this very thing, and ere long there will be something on earth which looks like universal peace, when people will say "Peace and Safety." So the enemy imitates the true restoration of Israel by a counterfeit restoration. The Zionistic movement has not only paved the way for this but is that restoration itself. Palestine is soon to be the center of commerce and widespread influence. Jewish capital, uncountable in its millions, is ready to back up the great national scheme. Agriculture and colonization is doing much for the land. But recently we read that around Jaffa the smell from the blossoms of the large orange groves was so strong that people were obliged to close their windows. There is a wonderful progress noticeable throughout that land. As soon as the land becomes more populated by its true owners (which may be the question of a few years), and colonization and irrigation advances, as well as with the accomplishment of planned commercial enterprises, the land will become for the Jews "like the garden of Eden." It will be at that time when the restoration in unbelief, the proud, self confident schemes of the still unbelieving people will be an accomplished fact, that the greatest calamity that land ever saw will come upon it. This calamity, preceding the visible manifestation of Jehovah, is here described. The invading army from the North, the northern enemy of Israel, will lay the land waste and desolate once more. It is a significant fact that the great northern power, the Russian Empire, not only is the enemy of Israel but also has great aspirations for Palestine and Jerusalem.
There is no need to follow the description of this invading army in detail.3 The description is very graphic. The artillery is described, as well as the chariots. Their march in battle array, how they advance in perfect order. They climb walls, climb into the houses and into the windows. The distress of the people is pictured ; all faces turn to paleness. We also read, "A mighty One marches in the highroad ;" they will have a leader.
The last two verses of the section under consideration need some further attention.
"The earth trembleth before them, The heavens shake, The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah uttereth His voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is he that executeth His Word, For the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible, And who can bear it?"
These words make the interpretation that literal locusts are meant well nigh an impossibility. Yet an attempt has been made, while others have said that Joel merely describes a storm which came when the trouble had reached its height and put an end to the locust plague. The trembling earth, the shaking of the heavens, darkened sun, moon and stars are always mentioned in connection with the manifestation of the Lord. "Therefore will I shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the day of the Lord" (Is. xiii:13). "At His wrath the earth shall tremble" (Jerem. x:10). Similar words are found in Ezek. xxxii:7-8; Isaiah xxiv:19-23; Matthew xxiv:29; For this reason the words here in Joel must mean these physical signs of the approaching day of Jehovah. This is evident because in these verses the day of Jehovah is mentioned ; "the day of Jehovah is great and very terrible and who can bear it?" With the great invasion, the fearful troubles which will then rest upon the land and the people, outward signs will herald the day itself. The army from the North is but an indication that the day of Jehovah is not far hence; the trembling earth, the shaking and darkened heavens announce something far greater which is going to happen. Jehovah's voice will be heard. That the invading army is called "His army" and that they execute His Word or command is to be explained by the former Assyrian power, which was used to humiliate the nation. In Isaiah x:5-6 we read the address of the Lord
to the Assyrian power. "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets." The Lord used the Assyrian as an ax to hew down the pride of His people (Isaiah x:15). When the Lord announced to the prophet Habakkuk that He would punish His apostate people, He said, "For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places, that are not theirs" (Hab. i:6). Then follows a description similar to the description of the invading army in Joel's prophecy. The prophet Habakkuk in answering Jehovah said, "O Lord thou hast ordained them for judgment" (Hab. i:12).
God used these nations for a purpose, in the punishment of His people and when the Assyrian was lifted up with pride, He broke him to pieces. In the same way will the northern army, the last Assyrian, be an instrument in the hand of the Lord against His people and in this sense they will be "His army" and "execute His Word." But when the Lord appears He will deal with these enemies of Israel on account of their wickedness. Zechariah xii:2-3 will then be fulfilled. "Behold I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people ; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered against it." "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when He fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives" (Zech. xiv:3, 4).
After the description of the invading army, the great calamity at the close of the great tribulation which is still in store for Israel's land and the people we find in our chapter a solemn appeal of the Lord to the people to repent and the people's response to that appeal.
III. The second blowing of the trumpet. The great repentance of the people, the prayer to Jehovah to spare His people (Verses 12-17).
Yet even now, saith Jehovah, Return unto me with all your heart, With fasting and with weeping and with mourning. And rend your heart and not your garments, And return unto Jehovah your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger and of great loving kindness, And repenteth Him of the evil. Who knoweth. He may return and repent, And leave a blessing behind, An oblation and a drink offering, For Jehovah your God. (Verses 12-14.)
This is one of the most interesting portions of this chapter. Jehovah calls once more to His people to repent. The word "return" means "to turn about," repent. This has been the call of Jehovah to His people Israel in the past. Moses and the prophets exhorted the people in Jehovah's name to turn unto Him and promised to the nation the greatest blessing. Then the Lord appeared in their midst, His message was to the nation, "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." This message he gave to His disciples. After Pentecost there was a second appeal to the nation to repent.4 But Israel rejected these gracious appeals and calls of the Lord. They fell and through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles (Rom. xi:11). During the present age, salvation being offered to the Gentiles and the church being formed, the Jewish nation as such is in a blinded, impenitent state, wanderers among the nations of the earth. The orthodox Jews read the great penitential psalms and have in their rituals sublime prayers of repentance, clothed in perfectly scriptural language and yet there is no true repentance and returning unto the Lord. And a great part of the Jewish people have rejected even these outward forms and have completely apostatized and become unbelievers. But there will come a time when a remnant of these will return unto the Lord. The unbelieving impenitent part of the nation will be cut off by judgments during the great tribulation. It is a mistake to think that all the Jews will repent and become heirs of the promises; still more serious is the teaching one meets so often in these days that "all Israel shall be saved" does not only mean all living Israelites believing and unbelieving, but that it also includes past generations who died in unbelief. During the awful period, the time of Jacob's trouble, with its attending judgments the nation will be sifted and immense numbers will be carried off the earth. This is clearly revealed in prophecy. "And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me, I will bring them forth out of the country, where they sojourn and they shall not enter into the land of Israel and ye shall know that I am the Lord" (Ez. xx:38). "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein" (Zech. xiii:8, 9). Only the third part in the land will be left. The rest will be carried off in judgment.
A part of the nation will return unto Jehovah; it will be during the great tribulation. "I will go and return unto my place till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face; in their affliction they will seek me early. Come and let us return unto the Lord; for He hath torn and He will heal us; He hath smitten and He will bind us up" (Hosea v:15; vi:1). In this fundamental passage we read that Jehovah was in the midst of His people; He left them and went back to His place. This was fulfilled when the Lord Jesus was in their midst and left them returning to His place, to the Father from whom He came. But He has not gone to be there forever. There is a limit given. "Till they acknowledge their offence and seek my face." This means the repentance of the remnant of His people. Furthermore, we have the time specified when they will acknowledge their offence and seek His face. It will be "in their affliction"; this means the great coming affliction, Jacob's trouble (Jeremiah xxx:49). Then their prayer of repentance is recorded; "come and let us return unto the Lord." To this same time refers Jehovah's appeal to His people here in Joel's prophecy. We also notice that there is a two-fold returning mentioned. The Lord says, "Return unto me," and the Lord will also return unto them, "He may return and repent." This return of the people and the returning of the Lord to them is mentioned in other parts of the Word. It stands in connection with the future events among that people. For instance in Deut. xxx:1-4, we have a great prophecy of the dispersion of the people Israel among all nations. This reaches beyond the Babylonian captivity and is the present dispersion of God's ancient people. Then we read the condition of their regathering. It is, "return unto the Lord" (verse 2). But there we read also that the Lord will return unto them. "Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee" (Deut. xxx:3). In the last prophetic book with which the Old Testament closes, this vital statement is made again. ''Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Mai. iii:7). Many other passages could be quoted which speak of the returning remnant of Israel in true repentance and of the Lord who returns unto them. "The remnant shall return, the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return; the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness" (Is. x:21-22). This passage we mention especially for it is in connection with the invasion of the Assyrian, the same power which Joel saw prophetically invading the land.
This coming return of the people is to be genuine. They are not to rend their garments, but their hearts. The rending of the garments was an outward sign of excessive grief. This custom prevailed among other nations likewise. In the Word of God we find it mentioned in Gen. xxxvii:34; Numb. xiv:6; Josh. vii:6; 2 Sam. iii:31; I Kings xxi:27; 2 Kings xxii:11; Job ii:12; Ezra. ix:3. Yet this impressive custom, tearing a part of the garment covering the chest, was often nothing but an outward ceremony. Their repentance is to be deeper, a real heart return unto the Lord. The words:
"For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger and of great loving kindness, And repenteth Him of the evil,"
refer us to Exo. xxxiv:5-9. Moses had a marvellous revelation of the Lord. He descended in a cloud, and made known the name of the Lord. His graciousness and mercifulness is declared and that He is "abundant in goodness and truth." This is what has been revealed through our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in Joel is added "He repenteth Him of evil." Compare with Exo. xxxii:14 and 2 Sam. xxiv:16. But the passage in Exodus is here brought especially to our notice by the Holy Spirit because there is mention made of something which refers us to the Return of the Lord to be revealed to His earthly people and thereby to heal and to restore them. When Moses had heard this great declaration of Jehovah's name by Jehovah who had descended in a cloud, he said: "If now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord. I pray thee, go among us ; for it is a stiffnecked people ; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, take us for thine inheritance" (Exo. xxxivx}). When the Lord returns then the iniquity and sin of Israel will be pardoned. The quotation from Exo. xxxiv. here in Joel is a reminder that Moses' burning desire will then be fulfilled.
The fourteenth verse expresses the hope of the repenting people. The Lord will return and leave a blessing behind. However their faith does not reach up to the promises of God. They expect only temporal blessing, which will make it possible to bring an oblation and drink offering.
But there will be much more.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, Sanctify a fast. Call out a solemn assembly, Gather the people. Sanctify a congregation. Assemble the old men. Gather the children, And those that suck the breasts; Let the bridegroom leave his chamber, And the bride her closet; Let the priests the ministers of Jehovah, Weep between the porch and the altar And let them say: "Spare Thy people, O Jehovah, And give not thine heritage to reproach. That the nations should rule over them, Wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?" (Verses 15-17.)
Once more the trumpet is to be blown in Zion. This second blowing of the trumpet is different from the blowing in the beginning of the chapter. There it is to sound the alarm on account of the impending trouble, here it is to call the people together for a fast and a solemn assembly. It is the response to Jehovah's loving appeal, ''return unto Me with all your heart." The people gather then in a great congregation to weep and mourn and to cry to Jehovah for deliverance. All classes are called together, the old men as well as the children and even the suckling. In Deut. xxiv:5 we read: "When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business, but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife, which he hath taken." But here this law is not followed. The bridegroom and the bride must join the solemn assembly and fast and pray with the rest of the people. This then will be a great national lament and calling to the Lord for deliverance. When at last the deliverer comes and is revealed out of heaven, the event will be followed by another mourning. Zechariah xii:914 gives us a description of that event. The mourning is on account of Him whom they have pierced. It is that which Revelation i:/ mentions': "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so. Amen." Here in Joel it is a repentance and prayer for deliverance which precedes the manifestation of the pierced One. The language of the priests is especially mentioned. This shows that the order and service of the priests will be resumed during Israel's final struggle and at their final deliverance. The words of prayer, "Give not thine heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them, wherefore should they say among the peoples', Where is their God?" are not found here exclusively. In other parts of the prophetic Word we read of prayers against the triumph of the nations. The great leader of the people Israel, Moses, was the first to employ similar words in pleading for the disobedient people (Exod. xxxii:12). God had promised Israel that they should be rulers over the nations ; "thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign ever thee" (Deut. xv:6). But when they were disobedient then "He gave them into the hands of the nations ; and they that hated them ruled over them" (Ps. cvi:41). Prophecy concerning their dispersion and shame among the nations has found its literal fulfilment. "And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kindgoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them" (Jer. xxiv:9). At last they will acknowledge this. In that great prophetic Psalm, the forty-fourth, which precedes the Psalm in which the King is seen appearing in majesty, we read this: "Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the people" (Ps. xliv:13-14).
Now the great mass of Jews believe that they are not scattered on account of their disobedience ; that it is rather an honor than a dishonor to be among the nations. But the day which is described in this prophecy is the day when they will acknowledge their judgment and plead with Jehovah for deliverance. "Wherefore should the nations say, Where is now their God?" (Ps. cxv:2).
"Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name, and deliver us and purge away our sins, for Thy name's sake. Wherefore should the nations say, Where is their God? Let Him be known among the nations in our sight by the revenging of the blood of Thy servants which is shed" (Ps. lxxix:9-10). Many similar prayers, besides the great prayer in Isaiah (chapter lxiii:17 and Ixiv) could be quoted. In fact, many of the prayers for deliverance and punishment of the enemies which are recorded in the Book of Psalms, and so wrongly claimed by the rituals of Christendom, are all the .prayers of the believing and returning remnant of Israel in the end of the age.
IV. The prophetic word "Then." The great change and how it is brought about. (Verse 18.)
Then Jehovah will be jealous for His land, And will have pity on His people. (Verse 18.)
With this verse we reach the great turning point in Joel's prophecy. Up to this verse we have seen nothing but disaster, calamity and judgments. Literal locusts had devoured the land. These were types of nations which should prey upon Israel's land. The last great trouble was then seen by the prophet, and it resulted in the repentance of the remnant of Israel. No sooner have they acknowledged their offences and cried to the Lord, then the Lord will answer them. When the nations once more fall upon His people, when Gentile world powers in their domineering and arrogant pride rise up against the people Israel, when their power is gone (Deut. xxxii:36) and they turn with their hearts unto the Lord, then He will be jealous for His land and will pity His people. The same prophecy we find in the great post-exile prophet Zechariah. When the nations are at ease and help forward the affliction of His people, then the Lord is going to be jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy (Zech. i:12-17). How often the little word "then" is found in the prophetic Word marking the great change from Israel's judgment and rejection to deliverance and glory we cannot follow here. The following passages may be examined in connection with the 18th verse of our chapter. Is. xiv.25; xxiv:23; xxxii:16; xxxv:8, 6; lviii:8, 14; lx:5; Ixvi:l2; Ezek. xxviii:25-26; etc.
The personal manifestation of the Lord is here not mentioned, nor is it anywhere else in this prophet. But when He rises up to deliver His people and to answer their prayers, He is manifested in person. "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem" (Zech. xiv:3-4). "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in Glory" (Ps. cii:16). The first step towards the building up of Zion, the restoration of all things as revealed by the prophets, will be when the Lord answers the cries of His people and when He deals with their enemies; He will answer them by His own personal and glorious appearing. Thus will be fulfilled what is written in Isaiah lx:2. "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people ; but the Lord shall rise on thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee."
The two actions of the Lord in Joel ii:18 are Jehovah's jealousy and Jehovah's pity. The jealousy will be vengeance upon His enemies, which are the enemies of Israel; His mercy will return to His downtrodden people and the land, so significantly called "Immanuel's land" (Is. viii:8). The day of vengeance will then have come, but also the blessed day when comfort will be given to them that mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Is. lxi:2-3). Moses in his great prophetic song (Deut. xxxii) speaks of the Lord's jealousy and His mercy. At the close of his testimony the Spirit of God declares, "Rejoice, O ye nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful to His land and to His people" (Deut. xxxii:43). The Lord arises and His divine intervention will make an end of the enemies. "The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war; He shall cry, yea, roar; He shall prevail against His enemies" (Is. xlii:13). Many more predictions relating to this great event, written in the prophetic books and in the Psalms, might be quoted here. They will be fulfilled when the Lord comes in power and glory. The prayer in Isaiah Ixiii:15 will then be answered. "Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and of Thy glory. Where is Thy zeal and Thy strength, the soundings of Thy bowels and of Thy mercies toward me ? Are they restrained ?" Then the Lord will be jealous for His land and will have pity on His people.
V. Promises of Restoration and the removal of the northern army; the early and the latter rain. The end of Israel's tribulation. They are never to be ashamed. (Verses 19-27.)
And Jehovah will answer and say to His people: Behold I am sending to you the corn, The new wine and the oil, And ye shall be satisfied therewith, And I will no longer make you, For a reproach among the nations. And I will remove afar from you the One from the North, And will drive him into a dry and desolate land, His face toward the Eastern sea, His rear toward the Western sea, And his stench shall rise, And his ill odor shall ascend, For he hath lifted himself up to do great things. (Verses 19, 20.)
And now we have the comfortable words in detail. What Jehovah will answer to His people is now fully made known. He will send the corn, the new wine and the oil. Earthly blessings will come upon them again. Israel's land will become once more the fruitful land, yea, more fruitful than ever before. There is no need to spiritualize these terms, corn, new wine and oil. We must leave them stand as they are. The promise is the same as in the Prophet Hosea. "And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine and the oil, and they shall hear Jezreel" (Hos. ii:21-22). To the herdsman of Tekoa, Amos, was given the same promise. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof ; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God" (Amos ix:13-15). The reproach which they were among the nations will then cease. Scattered in the corners of the earth they became a reproach and a byword. But Israel's calling is to be the head among the nations (Deut. xxviii:13). This will be realized in that coming day, when the Lord will bring again the captivity of His people. Then the reproach will be removed. "Neither will I cause to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nation to fall any more, saith the Lord Jehovah" (Ez. xxxvi:15). Then the Lord will restore double to His people. "For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not ! for thou shalt not be ashamed ; neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more" (Is. liv:3-4).
A number of interpreters, in fact nearly all, claim that God fulfilled these promises when the remnant of Israel came back from Babylon. But such an interpretation is impossible on account of certain words. "No longer" "any more" "no more!" After the Babylonian captivity blessings came upon the returning remnant, but now again they are scattered in the great dispersion. When they are regathered and blest, then they will no longer be a reproach, they will no more be scattered, they shall no more be plucked out of their land.
The 20th verse shows another great action of Jehovah. By His power and in His manifestation He will remove far the One from the North, that is the northern army, the Assyrian of the endtime. Thus He broke the Assyrian once and overthrew his proud army. So He will do in the future when the One from the North will trouble Israel again. Some who hold to the literal locust theory, that the locust invasion is meant, claim that locust swarms come sometimes from the North, and that heavy winds carry these insects into the sea. Such a meaning is impossible. It is said of the One from the North, "for he hath lifted himself up to do great things." This could not mean locusts, but it is descriptive of the pride of the Assyrian. (See Hab. i:10-11 and Is. x:10-15.) The end of the invader will be a terrible one; he will be driven into the land of desolation and not into the Dead sea or the Mediterranean sea.
Fear not, O Land, Be glad and rejoice, For Jehovah doeth great things. Fear not, ye beasts of the field! For the pastures of the desert spring forth, The tree beareth her fruit, The fig tree and the vine give their strength. (Verses 21, 22.)
And now the land is addressed not to fear but to rejoice and be glad. Even the beasts of the field are thus addressed, for they are to share the blessings which will then come from the Lord. The trees once more bear fruit. The figtree and the vine give their strength. Jehovah Himself doeth all these things. By His own merciful power He brings it to pass.
All these wonderful things in store for Israel and Israel's land as revealed in these great prophecies are Jehovah's doings. The land is to be glad and to rejoice "for Jehovah doeth great things." (Verse 21.) To that Jehovah, whose gifts and calling are without repentance (Rom. xi:29), the Jewish people must look in the end for deliverance and flee to Him in true repentance. When that is the case, as our exposition has shown, the Lord will be jealous for His land and pity His people. (Verse 18.) But now they are very far from that, with perhaps a very small number among them, who still expect relief and blessing by the coming of the promised Messiah. They look to their own strength and wisdom. Zionism, human leaders and at present the "young Turk movement" are the foundations upon which their hopes rest. These foundations will all be swept away during the time of great tribulation. "Their feet shall slide in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them shall make haste" (Deut. xxxii:35) . This is the prediction given through Moses concerning that time when disaster overtakes them. But when they see "that their power is gone" (Deut. xxxii:36), and they look to Jehovah and cry to Him out of their distress, He will answer them and arise in all His majestic power to deliver His heritage. "See now that I, even I am He, and there is no god with me. I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal, neither is there any that can deliver out of my hands." The last stanza of Moses' great song, after the day of their calamity is passed, reveals the same blessing for the land and restoration of His people, as seen by Joel. "Rejoice O ye nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His adversaries, and will be merciful unto His land and to His people." (Verse Deut. xxxii:43.)
Ye children of Zion, be glad and rejoice In Jehovah your God; For He giveth you the early rain in righteousness, He causeth to descend for you the showers The early and latter rain as before. (Verse 23.)
The children of Zion, which means the inhabitants of the land, will then rejoice and be glad. Their joy will be in the Lord, who has arisen and had mercy on Zion. The rain is especially mentioned. The early and latter rain as before comes again upon the land. In the next verses the result of the rain is described, that is, a return of the former fruitfulness of the land.
This phrase "the early and latter rain" has of late been strangely misapplied. It has been claimed that the terms early and latter rain have a spiritual significance. The early rain, it is said, means the first day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out. The "latter rain" these people tell us, is another Pentecost, a greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The early rain, they teach, took place in the beginning of the age and now as the age is about to close the latter rain is falling. This latter rain consists, according to their conception, in a restoration of "pentecostal gifts," and is evidenced by being able to talk in different tongues. To what sorts of fanaticism and delusion this fantastic interpretation (if it can be called that), has led we do not follow now.
Nowhere in the Bible is there warrant for us to believe that "the early and latter rain" has a spiritual significance. To say that the early rain and the latter rain typify blessings and manifestations of the Spirit of God, peculiar to the opening of this present age and to its close, is extremely fanciful and cannot be verified by the Scriptures. It is strange that even men who seem to possess considerable light have endorsed this kind of exposition, which has worked such harm among so many Christian people. There is absolutely no prediction anywhere in the New Testament, that the present age is to close with "a latter rain" experience, a time when the Holy Spirit again is poured out and that in greater measure. This age, according to divine revelation, ends in apostasy and complete departure from God and His truth (2 Thess. ii:3-12). After the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost, for the formation of the church, the body of Christ, there is nowhere to be found a promise in the church epistles that another outpouring is to take place, by which a part of the church is to get into possession again of the different sign gifts. The enemy of souls has made good use of these distorted teachings to bring in his most subtle delusions.
Now what then is the meaning of "the early and latter rain?" It has a purely literal meaning with absolutely no spiritual significance or application. God gave to His earthly people promises of earthly blessings. The land He has given to them as a possession was a fruitful land, a land "flowing with milk and honey." The early and latter rain were periodical rainfalls in great abundance on which the fruitfulness of the land depended. They fell in the fall and then the parched ground was revived and prepared for the receiving of the seed, while the later showers of the spring helped the ripening crops of the field. The withholding of the early and latter rain was a sign of God's displeasure, because it resulted in a complete failure of the crops and in famine. The return of the rain was a sign of Jehovah's blessing and favor. In this way the early and latter rain is mentioned in different parts of the Bible. "If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit" (Levit. xxvi:4). "And it shall come to pass, if ye hearken diligently unto my commandments, which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain upon your land in due season, the early rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them. And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you." (Deut. xi:14-17.) Solomon is his dedicatory prayer mentioned this literal rain. "When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray towards this place, and confess Thy Name, and turn from their sin, when Thou afflictest them. Then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sins of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel that Thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance." (1 Kings viii:33-36.) Jeremiah says that on account of the sin of the people "the showers were withholden and there hath been no latter rain." (Jerem. iii:5.) In Hosea vi 13 the latter and former rain is mentioned in connection with the restoration of the people and the return of the Lord. In the New Testament the early and latter rain is mentioned only once and that in the Epistle which is addressed not to the church, but to the twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad. This must always be remembered in reading the Epistle of James. But there it is used only as an illustration and has no further spiritual application. As the husbandman has patience in waiting for the precious fruit of the earth until he receive the early and latter rain, so we are exhorted to be patient unto the coming of the Lord.
We learn from all these passages that the early and latter rain means simply the literal rain and nothing else. But the present day queer interpretations of the most simple statements of the Word of God have their source in the wrong division of the Word. The Book of Joel knows absolutely nothing of the church, nor did Joel prophesy concerning any event which stands in any relation whatever to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The words "early rain in righteousness" are translated by some "the teacher of righteousness." "For He giveth you the teacher of righteousness." Some of the Jewish expositors and translators have done so and one (Abarbanel) states that "the teacher of righteousness" is the Messiah. We do not think this translation is a correct one, though there is some ground for it. The context shows that "early rain" must be the true rendering, for the restoration of the land to its former fruitfulness is here exclusively in view. The peculiar phrase "the early rain in righteousness" has of course its meaning. What Jehovah does then is founded upon righteousness. It points back to the cross, where the Son of God died for that nation. (John xi:51.)
In the next place we have the result of the early and latter rain.
And the floors shall be full of corn, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years Which the Arbeh hath eaten, The Jelek, the Chasel and the Gazam, My great army which I sent among you. (Verses 24-25.)
Prosperity then for the land returns. All the devastations wrought by the locusts will be at an end and the years of barren waste will be restored to them. Here, of course, we are reminded too of the typical meaning of the locusts, which are now called "my great army, which I sent among you." As we learned from the first chapter they typified nations. The times of the Gentiles are at an end when this glorious time for Israel's land arrives and then the desolation will cease.
Then ye shall be in abundance, and be satisfied And praise the Name of Jehovah your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you, And my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, And that I Jehovah am your God, and none else. And my people shall never be ashamed. (Verses 26-27.)
Israel thus blessed will break forth in singing. At last Jehovah will receive the praise from His earthly people. Elsewhere in the prophetic Word we find the glorious singing of Israel revealed. Read Isaiah xii; lxi:10; and many other passages. Twice the statement is made in these verses that His people shall never be ashamed. The days of their shame and reproach are now passed. After the long years of suffering and humiliation glory has come at last. Never again will shame be the lot of His people, for they are healed of their backsliding. The Lord Himself furthermore will dwell in their midst. His glorious throne will be established in Zion. Of this' we shall hear more when we reach the last verses of the third chapter.
VI. The Outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh. Wonders in heaven and earth.
We now reach the sixth section of this chapter. It contains a vision of what is to take place "afterwards."
And it shall come to pass afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. Yea, even upon the men servants and the maid servants, In those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will give wonders in the heavens and on earth, Blood, and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. And it shall come to pass Whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, .As Jehovah hath said, Even for the remnant whom Jehovah shall call. (Verses 28-32.)
This interesting passage invites our closest attention. The almost general interpretation of this prophecy has been that it found its fulfilment on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured forth. Most expositors confine the fulfilment to that event while others claim that Pentecost was only the beginning of the fulfilment and that the event which occurred once continues to occur throughout this Christian age. We quote from one of the best commentaries. "But however certain it may be that the fulfilment took place at the first Christian feast of Pentecost, we must not stop at this one Pentecostal miracle. The address of the Apostle Peter by no means requires this limitation, but rather contains distinct indications that Peter himself saw nothing more therein than the commencement of the fulfilment, but a commencement indeed, which embraced the ultimate fulfilment, as the germ enfolds the tree; for if not only the children of the apostles' contemporaries but also those that were afar off i. e., not foreign Jews, but the far off heathen, were to participate in the gift of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which commenced on Pentecost must continue as long as the Lord shall receive into His Kingdom those that are still standing afar, i. e., until the fulness of the Gentiles shall have entered the kingdom of God."
There is, however, no scriptural foundation for the statement that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit commenced on Pentecost must continue throughout this present age. The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. He was poured out once and nowhere in the New Testament is there a continued or repeated outpouring of the Holy Spirit promised. The difficulty with interpreting this' great prophecy of Joel of having been fulfilled on Pentecost and being fulfilled throughout this age is that which follows in the next two verses. Wonders in heaven and on earth, fire, pillars of smoke, a darkened sun and a blood-red moon are mentioned and that in connection with the day of Jehovah, which, as we have seen is the great theme of Joel's vision. These words have been generally applied to the destruction of Jerusalem, which followed the day of Pentecost. The spiritualizing method has been fully brought into play to overcome the difficulties the 30th and 31st verses raise. The terrible day of Jehovah, it is claimed, is the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus we read in the commentary of Patrick and Lowth: "This (verse 30) and the following verse principally point out the destruction of the city and the temple of Jerusalem by the Romans, a judgment justly inflicted upon the Jewish nation for their resisting the Holy Spirit, and contempt of the means of grace." We quote another leading commentator on Joel ii:30, Dr. Clarke; he states: "This refers to the fearful sights, dreadful portents, and destructive commotions by which the Jewish polity was finally overthrown, and the Christian religion finally established in the Roman empire. See how our Lord applies this prophecy in Matthew xxiv:20 and the parallel texts." And in verse 31 ("the sun shall be turned into darkness") Clarke says "it means the Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be entirely destroyed." Others give these words the same spiritualized meaning. These learned doctors tell us that Joel ii:30 and 31 relates to the destruction of the nation, and the civil and ecclesiastical polity of the Jews! This is a fair example of the havoc which a Bible interpretation makes, which ignores the great dispensational facts revealed in the Word of God. But inasmuch as the 32d verse, the last verse in this second chapter of Joel, reveals that there shall be deliverance in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem after these signs and wonders, and the continuation of the prophecy in the third chapter shows the judgment of the enemies of the people Israel, God's ancient people, such interpretations appear at once as fundamentally wrong.
It is strange that all these expositors use the word "fulfilment" in connection with this prophecy, saying, that Peter said that the day of Pentecost was the fulfilment of what is written by Joel. But the Holy Spirit did not use the word "fulfilment" at all. He purposely avoided such a statement. In so many passages in the New Testament we find the phrase "that it might be fulfilled," but in making use of the prophecy in Acts, chapter ii, this phrase is not used and instead of it we read that Peter said, "but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts ii:16). There is a great difference between this word and an out and out declaration of the fulfilment of that passage. Peter's words call the attention to the fact that something like that which took place on the day of Pentecost had been predicted by Joel, but his words do not claim that Joel's prophecy was there and then fulfilled. Nor does He hint at a continued fulfilment or coming fulfilment during this present age. The chief purpose of the quotation of that prophecy on the day of Pentecost was to point out to the Jews, many of whom were scoffing, that the iniracubus thing which had happened so suddenly in their midst was fully confirmed by what Joel had foretold would be the effect of the outpouring of the Spirit. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit had taken place, but not in the full sense as' given in the Prophecy of Joel. He came for a special purpose, which was the formation of the Church and for this purpose He is still on earth.
Without following the events on Pentecost and their meaning it is evident from the entire prophecy, which precedes this prediction of the outpouring of the Spirit, that these words have never been fulfilled. We might briefly ask, what is necessary according to the contents of this second chapter in Joel, before this prophecy can be accomplished? We just mention what we have already learned before in our exposition. The people Israel must be partly restored to their land, that great invasion from the North, bringing such trouble to the land must have taken place, then there must also have come the intervention of the Lord and He must be jealous for His land and pity His people, then at that time this great outpouring of the Spirit of God will take place. It stands in the closest connection with the restoration of Israel. The promises which are Israel's (Romans ix:4) may be grouped into two classes, those which pertain to the land, earthly blessings and supremacy over the nations, and spiritual blessings, such as knowing the Lord, walking in His ways, being a kingdom of priests and prophets. The earthly blessings are accomplished by the power of Jehovah when He is manifested as their deliverer and the spiritual blessings will be conferred upon them by the outpouring of the Spirit.
The word "afterwards" with which this prophecy is introduced refers to the same period of time as the phrase "in the latter days," that is the days when the Lord will redeem His earthly people and be merciful to His land.
Therefore when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost it was not in fulfilment of Joel's prophecy. This prophecy has never been fulfilled nor will it be fulfilled during this present age, in which the Church is being formed, which is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. After this is accomplished the Lord will begin His relationship with His earthly people, when He appears in His day then they will experience the fulfilment of this great prediction.
That this is the true and scriptural interpretation of these words is learned by looking at some other Scriptures.
We turn first to Numbers xi:20. This chapter relates the event when the Lord put the Spirit who was upon Moses upon the elders so that they prophesied. Even Eldad and Medad, who had not gone out to the tabernacle prophesied in the camp. Then Moses heard of this through Joshua. He then burst forth in the words, "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them." This is exactly the calling of that nation, which God haith chosen. They are called to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. This can only be through the Spirit of God. Moses knew their stiffneckedness and uttered this longing prayer. Some day the Lord will bring this about and He will have foremost among the nations of the earth, the nation He has called and kept as His witness in His wonderful mercy on the earth. This is seen in other Scriptures as well.
In Isaiah we read the promise of the Spirit for Israel, the seed of Abraham. One of the most striking passages is the one in the xxxii chapter. "Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers, yea upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. Because the palaces shall be forsaken, the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be dens forever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks" (Verses 13-14). This is a prediction of judgment, which was to come and has come upon the land of Isaiah's people and upon the joyous city, Jerusalem. It corresponds to the condition of the land and the people as described by Joel. But this is not the entire prophecy. God never stops with judgment when revealing His dealings with His people. The next verse is a prophecy like the one before us here in the second chapter of Joel. "Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high" (Verse 15). The condition of the people, the land and the city will remain under judgment until the Spirit is poured upon them as a nation. Now this outpouring of the Spirit predicted here cannot be the outpouring on the day of Pentecost, because after that event the greatest dispersion of the people and devastation of their land took place. This outpouring of which Isaiah speaks is future and is identical with that of Joel. The word "pour" in this passage has a special significance. It is also used in Isaiah liii:12. It means "to empty out altogether." In Isaiah Iiii:12 we read "He shall divide the spoil with the strong because He poured out His soul unto death." He poured out His whole soul. So then the Spirit will be completely, altogether poured out, in a measure as it has never yet been. All the results of the outpouring of the Spirit are mentioned by Isaiah (Read verses 1520).
Another unfulfilled prediction is found in chapter xliv:3-4. "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy offspring." Then we read in Isaiah lix:19-21 another promise. The time predicted is the time of the end; then the enemy comes in like a flood, while the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. The Redeemer will come ; this means His second coming (See Romans xi:26). It is written concerning the nation "As for me this is my covenant with thee, saith the Lord. My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord from henceforth and forever" (verse 21). This is the same promise, to be realized when the Lord comes to turn away ungodliness from Jacob. In Isaiah liv:13 we find still another of the many promises which are Israel's which up to the present time has never been true. "And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children." To accomplish this the Spirit of God is needed. In the prophecies of Ezekiel we find the same promises. "And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Ezek. xxxvi:27-28 ). This prediction stands in connection with their future restoration. It has never been fulfilled. The same is true of chapter xxxvii:14. "And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live ; and I shall place you in your own land ; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." The entire chapter shows the time when this will be, when the dry bones of the house of Israel receive national and spiritual life. Up to the present time this has never been.
But stronger still is Ezek. xxxix:29. "Neither will I hide my face any more from them ; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." Now His face is still hid from them. But the day is coming when the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon them as a nation and then the restoration of the nation to the favor of God will take place and He will never hide His face from them again.
All these passages harmonize with the one in Joel. There is then in store for the people Israel, for the remnant which is left after the great tribulation, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The promise here in Joel will be fulfilled in Israel to the extent as given here. Even the lowest among them, the man servant and the maid servant, will share in it. The whole nation will be filled with the Spirit and will possess the Spirit with all His attending gifts and blessings. Then Moses' earnest prayer will at last be answered, the Lord's people will be prophets and they will be possessed by His Spirit.
What will that be for the world when at last His chosen people has been restored and this marvelous outpouring of the Spirit upon them has taken place? Romans xi gives us an answer.
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Rom. xi:i2-i5).
But the term "all flesh" goes beyond Israel. The other nations will share in the outpouring of the Spirit and no doubt even creation will reap its great benefits and blessings from it. In the hour of darkness and chaos (Gen. i:2) He hovered over the waters. Through His power as the Spirit of power and the Spirit of life, He will bring about the conditions in creation, which will forever end the groaning of that fair and good creation of God, which has suffered under man's sin and the curse of sin.
VI. Salvation in Jerusalem and in Zion for the residue whom the Lord shall call (Verse 32).
And now verses 30, 31 and 32 are not difficult to understand. We need not resort to spiritual applications and other strained methods to understand them. Before the terrible day of the Lord comes there will be wonders in the heavens and on the earth. Blood, fire, pillars of smoke, the sun turning into darkness, the moon into blood are mentioned. All these words denote judgment, and it is the description of the judgment of an ungodly world, of another Egypt in that day when the Lord arises to shake the earth. Blood, fire, pillars of smoke (darkness) were some of the judgment put upon Egypt, the type of the world and its coming judgments. God will then deal with the world in judgment and the many passages in His holy Word, too numerous to mention here, in which that judgment is described, will then become a fearful reality. Of the day of Jehovah we shall hear more in the last chapter and then we hope to bring out some of the details. The thirty-second verse with which this great chapter in Joel closes tells us of salvation. This great outpouring of the Spirit will result in salvation. It is blessedly true now that "whosoever (the great Gospel word) shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved," but it will be more true in that day. Salvation will go forth from Jerusalem once more. The word "Salvation is of the Jews" will then find its largest fulfilment. There will be the remnant of His people and the ends of the earth will likewise know the salvation of God. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion ; for lo I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people" (Zech. ii:11).
1. The recent young Turk movement favors Zionism and has pledged itself to support it.
2. The reader will find a chapter in our "Harmony of the Prophetic Word" devoted to these different persons and the part they will play in the end-time.
3. Compare also with Rev. ix.
4. See our exposition of Acts iii in "Our Hope."
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