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   Title: Commentary on Joel, Amos, Obadiah
   Creator(s): Calvin, John (1509-1564)
   (Alternative)
   (Translator)
   Rights: Public Domain
   LC Call no: BS491
   LC Subjects:

   The Bible

   Works about the Bible
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   COMMENTARIES

   ON THE

   TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS


   BY JOHN CALVIN



   NOW FIRST TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN,

   BY THE REV. JOHN OWEN

   VICAR OF THRUSSINGTON, LEICESTERSHIRE



   VOLUME SECOND


   JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH



   CHRISTIAN CLASSICS ETHEREAL LIBRARY
   GRAND RAPIDS, MI

   [1]http://www.ccel.org
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   Translator's Preface

   This volume contains the Writings of three Prophets. Joel exercised his
   office among the Jews; Amos, though a native of Judea, was yet
   appointed a Prophet of The Ten Tribes; and Obadiah's prophecy refers
   only to Edom.

   The great master of Hebrew criticism, Bishop Lowth, speaking, in his
   twenty-first Prelection, of Joel, says, that though he differs much in
   style from Hosea, he is yet "equally poetical." He represents him as
   "elegant, clear, diffuse, and flowing, and also very sublime, severe,
   and fervid." Admitting the perspicuity of his diction, and the
   clearness of his arrangements, he yet confesses that the matter which
   he handles is sometimes obscure, especially towards the end of his
   Prophecy.

   With regard to the style of Amos, the Bishop differs widely from
   Jerome, who has characterized the Prophet as "unskillful in speech, but
   not in knowledge," (imperitum sermone, set non in scientia.) Lowth, on
   the contrary, regarded him as "not a whit behind the very chiefest
   Prophets, being in elevation of sentiment and nobleness of mind almost
   equal to the very firsts and hardly inferior to any of them in splendor
   of diction and elegance of composition." [1]

   Of Obadiah, nothing more is said by the Bishop than that he left but a
   small monument of his genius, and that a considerable portion of that
   is contained in the prophecy of Jeremiah. Of his composition Dr.
   Henderson says, "Its principal features are animation, regularity, and
   perspicuity."

   There is especially one subject in connection with the present Volume,
   which seems to require particular notice -- The interpretation of those
   prophecies which speak of the future restoration of the Jews to their
   own land. Calvin viewed some passages, as having been already
   accomplished in their return from Babylon, which in the estimation of
   others are yet to be fulfilled; while he interpreted those which
   evidently refer to what is future, in such a way as clearly shows that
   he did not consider that the Jews are to be restored again to their own
   country. That justice may be done to him, we must know and bear in mind
   the principles by which he was guided: for it is not to be supposed,
   that one so versed in Scripture, who had studied it with so much labor,
   and manifested, as it is commonly admitted, so much penetration and
   discernment as an expounder, would have taken such a view of this
   subject on slight grounds, without adopting a rule of interpretation,
   which, according to what he thought, was countenanced by Scriptural
   examples.

   It must first be observed, that Calvin, in common with others, regarded
   the history as well erg the institutions of the people of Israel, as in
   great measure typical of things under the Gospel. Their temporal evils
   and blessings, their temporal oppressions and deliverances, were
   intended to set forth the spiritual state and condition of the
   Christian Church. The free choice of the people by God, their Egyptian
   bondage, their passage through the wilderness and their possession of
   the land of Canaan, were events symbolical of things connected with
   that spiritual community afterwards formed by the preaching of the
   Gospel; and of the same character was the subsequent captivity of that
   people in Babylon, and their restoration afterwards to their own land.

   The next thing to be noticed is, that Promises of Blessings made to the
   people of Israel had in some instances a twofold meaning, and had
   reference to two things -- the one temporal and the other spiritual.
   The restoration, for instance, from Babylon, was a prelude of the
   restoration or redemption by Christ. It was not only typical, but a
   kind of an initiative process, which was to be completed, though in a
   sublimer sense, by the Savior of man. The first was a restoration from
   temporal evils; the second was still a restoration, but from evils of a
   spiritual kind. The performance of the promise, in one case, was the
   commencement of a restorative work, which was to be completed in the
   other: the temporal restoration was eventually succeeded by that which
   is spiritual.

   But the most material point in interpreting the Prophecies is The
   Language which is Used: rightly to understand this language forms the
   main difficulty. There are Promises which, as admitted by Calvin, look
   beyond the restoration from Babylon; and they are couched in terms,
   which, if taken literally, most evidently show that there is to be a
   second restoration. What is there, it may be asked, which can justify a
   departure from the letter of the promises? This is the chief question,
   on which the whole matter depends. Calvin evidently thought that the
   literal sense cannot be taken, as that would be inconsistent with the
   general character of the ancient prophecies; for he considered that
   many of the prophecies, which relate to the Church of the New
   Testament, were conveyed in a language suitable to the institutions
   then existing, and in consistency with the notions which then
   prevailed, as to religion and divine worship. Hence the Temple, Mount
   Sion, sacrifices, offerings, the priests, as well as the restoration of
   the people to their own land, and their perpetual establishment in it,
   are often spoken of in those very promises which incontestably refer to
   the Gospel dispensation. Now, if in some cases, as confessed by most,
   if not by all, the language is not to be taken literally, but as
   representing the success, the extension and the blessings of the
   Gospel, why should it be taken literally in other similar cases? The
   possession of the land of Canaan was to the people of Israel one of
   their chief blessings, and was a signal token of the divine favor.
   Banishment from it was not only a temporal loss, but involved also the
   loss of all their religious privileges. Nothing, therefore, could have
   conveyed to their minds a higher idea of redemption than the promise of
   restoration to their own land, and a perpetual possession of it.

   The foregoing seem to have been the views by which Calvin was guided in
   his interpretation: and the Editor must be allowed to express his
   concurrence, though he is fully aware, that there have been, and that
   there are still, many celebrated men of a contrary opinion.

   There is another idea which Calvin suggests, in connection with this
   subject. He regarded The Promises made in some instances by the
   Prophets as to the future prosperity of the people of Israel, and the
   perpetuity of their institutions and privileges, as Conditional, even
   when no condition is expressed. Instances of the same kind are to be
   found in the writings of Moses and of the earlier Prophets. Promises of
   perpetuity are made, (as for instance, respecting the priesthood,) and
   often unaccompanied by any conditions; and yet they were conditional,
   as the event proved, and in accordance with the tenor of the covenant
   under which the Israelites lived. The same view may also be taken of
   such promises as are found in the later Prophets, that is, such as bear
   on them a national stamp: they were announced unconditionally; but as
   they included blessings which belonged to the people as subjects of the
   Mosaic covenant, they were necessarily conditional, dependent as to
   their accomplishment on their obedience. Hence Jeremiah, who had
   himself announced promises of this kind, says, that the time would come
   when God would establish another covenant; and for this reason, because
   the people of Israel had broken the former covenant.

   The Editor feels it to be his duty to say generally of Calvin's
   Expositions that the more maturely he considers them, after having
   compared them with those of others, both modern and ancient, the more
   satisfied he is with them, and the more he admires the acuteness and
   solid judgment they display. Perhaps no individual, possessing his high
   qualifications, natural, acquired, and spiritual, has ever, either in
   ancient or modern times, exercised himself so much in the study of the
   Holy Scriptures, and produced Comments so original and so valuable.

   What is remarkable in Calvin as an Expositor is his unvarying attention
   to the context. This was his polar star, which enabled him to steer
   clear and safe through many intricacies and ambiguities no to the
   meaning of particular words, and even of sentences. His first object
   seems to have been to ascertain the general drift of a passage or of a
   chapter; and his next, to harmonize its several parts. There are many
   words which have various meanings, and the surest way of ascertaining
   their meaning in any given sentence, is to inquire what comports with
   the context. There is indeed no other way by which we can make a
   choice, when a word admits of different senses. Probably no Commentator
   has ever paid so much attention to this canon of interpretation as
   Calvin did. The ground on which he almost at all times rejects a sense
   given by others to words or to sentences is, that it does not suit the
   place, or, to adopt an expression he frequently uses, that it does not
   square (non quadrat) with the passage.

   It has been often thought that more difficulty attends the Hebrew
   language than other languages, owing to the variety of meaning which
   belongs to some of its words. But this variety exists quite as much,
   and indeed much more, in many other languages, and even in our own.
   What enables us in numberless instances to ascertain the meaning of a
   word, and even often of a sentence, is what stands connected with it,
   that is, the context. It is what goes before and comes after, not only
   in a sentence, but often in a long passage, that explains the precise
   meaning of many words. To transfer the meaning of a word from one
   passage to another, and to say that because it has a certain meaning in
   one place, it must have the same in another, (except the word has but
   one meaning,) is certainly not the way to explain Scripture or any
   other writing. The best expositor in this respect is no doubt the
   context.

   It is well known that these Lectures were delivered extempore, and were
   taken down by some of those who heard them; and we have them now as
   thus taken down, and afterwards corrected by Calvin. This circumstance
   accounts for the occasional defect of order and for occasional
   repetitions. But these drawbacks seem to have been more than
   compensated by the freshness and vigor, the life and animation which
   these spontaneous effusion of his mind exhibit. In none of his other
   writings, as it appears to the Editor, has Calvin shone forth with so
   much lustre as an able, clear, plain, and animated an Expounder, as in
   these Lectures. There is a flow and energy to be found in them not
   equaled in those productions which he composed in private, and finished
   with more careful attention to order and style. When the mind is well
   stored and the memory retentive, as was the case in no ordinary degree
   with Calvin, a public auditory has usually the effect of calling into
   action all the powers of the mind; and, as frequently in the present
   instance, the consequence is, that the finest and the most striking
   thoughts are elicited, and are expressed in a language the most
   energetic, calculated to produce the deepest impressions.

   J.O.
   Thrussington November, 1846.
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   [1] -- Pastoreum nostrum meden husterekenai ton huper lian propheton;
   ut sensuum elatione et magnificentia spiritus prope summis parem, ita
   etiam dictionis splendore et composititonis elegantia vix quoquam
   inferioreum. -- Lowth, Prael. xxi.
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   Calvin's Preface to Joel

   I proceed now to explain The Prophet Joel. The time in which he
   prophesied is uncertain. Some of the Jews imagine that he exercised his
   office in the time of Joram, king of Israel, because a dreadful famine
   then prevailed through the whole land, as it appears evident from
   sacred history; and as the Prophet record a famine, they suppose that
   his ministry must be referred to that time. Some think, that he taught
   under Manasseh, but they bring no reason for this opinion; it is,
   therefore, a mere conjecture. Others think that he performed his office
   as a teacher not only under one king, but that he taught, at the same
   time with Isaiah, under several kings.

   But as there is no certainty, it is better to leave the time in which
   he taught undecided; and, as we shall see, this is of no great
   importance. Not to know the time of Hosea would be to readers a great
   loss for there are many parts which could not be explained without a
   knowledge of history; but as to Joel there is, as I have said, less
   need of this; for the import of his doctrine is evident, though his
   time be obscure and uncertain. But we may conclude that he taught at
   Jerusalem, or at least in the kingdom of Judah. As Hosea was appointed
   a Prophet to the kingdom of Israel, so Joel had another appointment;
   for he was to labor especially among the Jews and not among the Ten
   Tribes: this deserves to be particularly noticed.

   Now the sum of the Book is this: At the beginning, he reproves the
   stupidity of the people, who, when severely smitten by God, did not
   feel their evils, but on the contrary grew hardened under them: this is
   one thing. Then he threatens far more grievous evils; as the people
   became so insensible under all their punishments, that they were not
   humbled, the Prophet declares that there were evils at hand much worse
   than those they had hitherto experienced: this is the second thing.
   Thirdly, he exhorts the people to repentance, and shows that there was
   required no common evidence of repentance; for they had not lightly
   offended God, but by their perverseness provoked him to bring on them
   utter ruin: since, then, their obstinacy had been so great, he bids
   them to come as suppliants with tears, with sackcloth, with mourning,
   with ashes, that they might obtain mercy; for they were unworthy of
   being regarded by the Lord, except they thus submissively humbled
   themselves: this is the third subject. The fourth part of the Book is
   taken up with promises; for he prophesies of the Kingdom of Christ, and
   shows, that though now all things seemed full of despair, yet God had
   not forgotten the covenant he made with the fathers; and that therefore
   Christ would come to gather the scattered remnants, yea, and to restore
   to life his people, though they were now lost and dead.

   This is the sum and substance. But we shall see, as we proceed, that
   the chapters have been absurdly and foolishly divided. He thus begins
   --
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   Chapter 1
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   Lecture Thirty-eighth
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   Joel 1:1-4

   1. The word of the Lord that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

   1. Verbum Jehovae quod fuit ad Joel, filium Pethuel.

   2. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.
   Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

   2. Audite hoc senes, et auscultate omnes incolae terrae, an fuerit hoc
   diebus vestris, et si diebus patrum vestrorum.

   3. Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their
   children, and their children another generation.

   3. Super hoc filiis vestris narrate, et filii vestri filiis suis, et
   filii ipsorum generationi posterae.

   4. That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that
   which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which
   the cankerworm hath the caterpiller eaten.

   4. Residuum locustae comedit (est alia species) bruchus (ita ponamus,
   quoniam non possumus certo scire quaenam fuerint istae species) et
   residuum bruchi comedit locusta et residuum locustae comedit eruca
   (alii primo loco ponunt Erucam, est proprie chenille, et puto potius
   esse hoc posterius. Picardi vocant casee, quasi L+J+S+X+: verisimile
   est deductum fuisse nomen illud vulgare ab Hebraeis, quia est fere
   idem: sed tamen ego non anxie sudo in istis nominibus, quia de sensu
   Prophetae satis constabit. Nunc venio ad inscriptionem libri.)


   The word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. He names
   here his father; it is hence probable that he was a man well known and
   of some celebrity. But who this Pethuel was, all now are ignorant. And
   what the Hebrews hold as a general rule, that a prophet is designated,
   whenever his father's name is added, appears to me frivolous; and we
   see how bold they are in devising such comments. When no reason for any
   thing appears to them, they invent some fable, and allege it as a
   divine truth. When, therefore, they are wont thus to trifle, I have no
   regard for what is held by them as a rule. But yet it is probable, that
   when the Prophets are mentioned as having sprung from this or that
   father, their fathers were men of some note.

   Now what he declared by saying, that he delivered the word of the Lord,
   is worthy of being observed; for he shows that he claimed nothing for
   himself, as an individual, as though he wished to rule by his own
   judgment, and to subject others to his own fancies; but that he relates
   only what he had received from the Lord. And since the Prophets claimed
   no authority for themselves, except as far as they faithfully executed
   the office divinely committed to them, and delivered, as it were from
   hand to hand, what the Lord commanded, we may hence feel assured that
   no human doctrines ought to be admitted into the Church. Why? Because
   as much as men trust in themselves, so much they take away from the
   authority of God. This preface then ought to be noticed, which almost
   all the Prophets use, namely, that they brought nothing of their own or
   according to their own judgment, but that they were faithful dispensers
   of the truth intrusted to them by God.

   And the word is said to have been to Joel; not that God intended that
   he alone should be his disciple, but because he deposited this treasure
   with him, that he might be his minister to the whole people. Paul also
   says the same thing, -- that to the ministers of the Gospel was
   committed a message for Christ, or in Christ's name, to reconcile men
   to God, (2 Corinthians 5:20;) and in another place he says, `He has
   deposited with us this treasure as in earthen vessels,' (2 Corinthians
   4:7.) We now understand why Joel says, that the word of the Lord was
   delivered to him, it was not that he might be the only disciple; but as
   some teacher was necessary, Joel was chosen to whom the Lord committed
   this office. Then the word of God belongs indeed indiscriminately to
   all; and yet it is committed to Prophets and other teachers; for they
   are, so to speak, as it were trustees (depositarii -- depositories.)

   As to the verb H+J+H+eie, there is no need of philosophizing so acutely
   as Jerome does: "How was the word of the Lord made?" For he feared lest
   Christ should be said to be made, as he is the word of the Lord. These
   are trifles, the most puerile. He could not, however, in any other way
   get rid of the difficulty but by saying that the word is said to be
   made with respect to man whom God addresses, and not with respect to
   God himself. All this, as ye must see, is childish; for the Prophet
   says here only, that the word of the Lord was sent to him, that is,
   that the Lord employed him as his messenger to the whole people. But
   after having shown that he was a fit minister of God, being furnished
   with his word, he speaks authoritatively, for he represented the person
   of God.

   We now see what is the lawful authority which ought to be in force in
   the Church, and which we ought to obey without dispute, and to which
   all ought to submit. It is then only that this authority exists, when
   God himself speaks by men, and the Holy Spirit employs them as his
   instruments. For the Prophet brings not forward any empty title; he
   does not say that he is a high priest of the tribe of Levi, or of the
   first order, or of the family of Aaron. He alleges no such thing, but
   says that the word of God was deposited with him. Whosoever then
   demands to be heard in the Church, must of necessity really prove that
   he is a preacher of God's word; and he must not bring his own devices,
   nor blend with the word any thing that proceeds from the judgment of
   his own flesh.

   But first the Prophet reproves the Jews for being so stupid as not to
   consider that they were chastised by the hand of God, though this was
   quite evident. Hence they pervert, in my judgment, the meaning of the
   Prophet, who think that punishments are here denounced which were as
   yet suspended; for they transfer all these things to a future time. But
   I distinguish between this reproof and the denunciations which
   afterwards follow. Here then the Prophet reproaches the Jews, that
   having been so severely smitten, they did not gain wisdom; and yet even
   fools, when the rod is applied to their backs, know that they are
   punished. Since then the Jews were so stupid, that when even chastised
   they did not understand that they had to do with God, the Prophet
   justly reproves this madness. "Hear", he says, "ye old men; give ear,
   all ye inhabitants of the land, and declare this to your children". But
   the consideration of this passage I shall put off till tomorrow.
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   Prayer.

   Grant, Almighty God that as almost the whole world give such loose
   reins to their licentiousness, that they hesitate not either to despise
   or to regard as of no value thy sacred word -- Grant, O Lord that we
   may always retain such reverence as is justly due to it and to thy holy
   oracles and be so moved whenever thou deignest to address us that being
   truly humbled, we may be raised up by faith to heaven, and by hope
   gradually attain that glory which is as yet hid from us. And may we at
   the same time so submissively restrain ourselves, as to make it our
   whole wisdom to obey thee and to do thee service, until thou gatherest
   us into thy kingdom, where we shall be partakers of thy glory, through
   Christ our Lord. Amen.
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   Lecture Thirty-ninth.

   Hear this, ye old men; and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land:
   has this been in your days, and in the days of your fathers? This
   declare to your children and your children to their children, and their
   children to the next generation: the residue of the locust has the
   chafer eaten, and the residue of the chafer has the cankerworm eaten,
   and the residue of the cankerworm has the caterpillar eaten [2] I have
   in the last Lecture already mentioned what I think of this passage of
   the Prophet. Some think that a future punishment is denounced; but the
   context sufficiently proves that they mistake and pervert the real
   meaning of the Prophet; for, on the contrary, he reproves here the
   hardness of the people, -- that they fell not their plagues. And as men
   are not easily moved by God's judgments, the Prophet here declares that
   God had executed such a vengeance as could not be regarded otherwise
   than miraculous; as though he said, "God often punishes men, and it
   behaves them to be attentive as soon as he raises up his finger. But
   common punishments are wont to be unheeded; men soon forget those
   punishments to which they have been accustomed. God has, however,
   treated you in an unusual manner, having openly as it were put forth
   his hand from heaven, and brought on you punishments nothing less than
   miraculous. Ye must then be more than stupid, if ye perceive not that
   you are smitten by God's hand." This is the true meaning of the
   Prophet, and may be easily gathered from the words.

   Hear, ye old men, he says. He expressly addresses the old, because
   experience teaches men much; and the old, when they see any thing new
   or unusual, must know, that it is not according to the ordinary course
   of things. He who has past his fiftieth or sixtieth year, and sees
   something new happening which he had never thought of, doubtless
   acknowledges it as the unusual work of God. This is the reason why the
   Prophet directs here his discourse to the old; as though he said, "I
   will not terrify you about nothing; but let the old hear, who have been
   accustomed for many years to many revolutions; let them now answer me,
   whether in their whole life, which has been an age on the earth, have
   they seen any such thing " We now perceive the design of the Prophet;
   for he intended to awaken the Jews that they might understand that God
   had put forth his hand from heaven, and that it was impossible to
   ascribe what they had seen with their eyes to chance or to earthly
   causes, but that it was a miracle. And his object was to make the Jews
   at length ashamed of their folly in not having hitherto been attentive
   to God's punishments, and in having always flattered themselves, as
   though God slept in heaven, when yet he so violently thundered against
   them, and intended by an extraordinary course to move them, that they
   might at last perceive that they were summoned to judgment.

   He afterwards adds, And all ye inhabitants of the land. Had the Prophet
   addressed only the old, some might seize on some pretext for their
   ignorance; hence he addressed and from the least to the greatest; and
   this he did, that the young might not exempt themselves from blame in
   proceeding in their obstinacy and in thus mocking God, when he called
   them to repentance. Hear, he says, all ye inhabitants of the land; has
   this been in your days or in the days of your fathers? He says first,
   has such a thing been in your days, for doubtless what happens rarely
   deserves a greater consideration. It is indeed true that foolish men
   are blind to the daily works of God; as the favor of God in making his
   sun to rise daily is but little thought of by us. This happens through
   our ingratitude; but our ingratitude is doubled, and is much more base
   and less excusable, when the Lord works in an unwonted manner, and we
   yet with closed eves overlook what ought to be deemed a miracle. This
   dullness the Prophet now reproves, Has such a thing, he says, "happened
   in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Ye can recall to mind
   what your fathers have told you. It is certain that for two ages no
   such thing has happened. Your torpidity then is extreme, since ye
   neglect this judgment of God, which from its very rareness ought to
   have awakened your minds."

   He then adds, Tell it to your children, your children to their
   children, their children to the next generation. In this verse the
   Prophet shows that the matter deserved to be remembered, and was not to
   be despised by posterity, even for many generations. It appears now
   quite clear that the Prophet threatens not what was to be, as some
   interpreters think; it would have been puerile: but, on the contrary,
   he expostulates here with the Jews, because they were so slothful and
   tardy in considering God's judgments; and especially as it was a
   remarkable instance, when God employed not usual means, but roused,
   and, as it were, terrified men by prodigies. Of this then tell: for
   E+L+J+H+ olie means no other thing than `tell or declare this thing to
   your children;' and further, your children to their children. When any
   thing new happens, it may be, that we are at first moved with some
   wonder; but our feeling soon vanishes with the novelty, and we
   disregard what at first caused great astonishment. But the Prophet here
   showed, that such was the judgment of God of which he speaks, that it
   ought not to have been overlooked, no, not even by posterity. Let your
   children, he says, declare it to those after them, and their children
   to the fourth generation: it was to be always remembered.

   He adds [2]what that judgment was, -- that the hope of food had for
   many years disappointed them. It often happened, we know, that locusts
   devoured the standing corn; and then the chafers and the palmer worms
   did the same: these were ordinary events. But when one devastation
   happened, and another followed, and there was no end; when there had
   been four barren years, suddenly produced by insects, which devoured
   the growth of the earth; -- this was certainly unusual. Hence the
   Prophet says, that this could not have been chance; for God intended to
   show to the Jews some extraordinary portent, that even against their
   will they might observe his hand. When any thing trifling happens, if
   it be rare, it will strike the attention of men; for we often see that
   the world makes a great noise about frivolous things. But this wonder,
   says the Prophet, "ought to have produced effect on you. What then will
   ye do, since ye are starving, and the causes are evident; for God has
   cursed your land, and brought these insects, which have consumed your
   food before your eyes. Since it is so, it is surely the time for you to
   repent; and you have been hitherto very regardless having overlooked
   God's judgments, which have been so remarkable and so memorable." Let
   us now proceed.
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   [2] All these are different kinds of locusts. There are in Hebrew ten
   names for them, designative probably of so many kinds. There are four
   here: G+Z+M%, gizam, the young locust; #R+B+H+, arebe, so called from
   their number, one on the wing; J+L+Q+, ilak, one of the hairy bristly
   kind; and lpss', chesil, one unfledged. Following the probable ideal
   meaning of the words, we may give them these names, --the cutter, the
   multiplier, the licker, and the devourer. -- Ed.
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   Joel 1:5

   5. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
   because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

   5. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine,
   because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.


   The Prophet adds this verse for the sake of amplifying; for when God
   sees men either contemptuously laughing at or disregarding his
   judgments, he derides them; and this mode the Prophet now adopts. `Ye
   drunkards,' he says, `awake, and weep and howl.' In these words he
   addresses, on the subject in hand, those who had willfully closed their
   eyes to judgments so manifest. The Jews had become torpid, and had
   covered themselves over as it were with hardness; it was then necessary
   to draw them forth as by force into the light. But the Prophet accosts
   the drunkards by name; and it is probable that this vice was then very
   common among the people. However that might be, the Prophet by
   mentioning this instance shows more convincingly, that there was no
   pretense for passing by things, and that the Jews could not excuse
   their indifference if they took no notice; for the very drunkards, who
   had degenerated from the state of men, did themselves feel the
   calamity, for the wine had been cut off from their mouth. And this
   expression of the Prophet, "Awake", ought to be noticed; for the
   drunkards, even while awake, are asleep, and also spend a great portion
   of time in sleep. The Prophet had this in view, that men, though not
   endued with great knowledge, but even void of common sense, could no
   longer flatter themselves; for the very drunkards, who had wholly
   suffocated their senses, and had become thus estranged in their minds,
   did yet perceive the judgment of God; though drowsiness held them
   bound, they were yet constrained to awake at such a manifest
   punishment. What then does this ignorance mean, when ye see not that
   you are smitten by God's hand?

   To the same purpose are the words, Weep and howl. Drunkards, on the
   contrary, give themselves up to mirth, and intemperately indulge
   themselves; and there is nothing more difficult than to make them to
   feel sorrow; for wine so infatuates their senses, that they continue to
   laugh in the greatest calamities. But the Prophet says, Weep and howl,
   ye drunkards! What then ought sober men to do? He then adds, Cut off is
   the wine from your mouth. He says not, "The use of wine is taken away
   from you;" but he says, from your mouth. Though no one should think of
   vineyards or of winecellars or of cups, yet they shall be forced,
   willing or unwilling, to feel the judgment of God in their mouth and in
   their lips. This is what the Prophet means. We then see how much he
   aggravates what he had said before: and we must remember that his
   object was to strike shame into the people, who had become thus torpid
   with regard to God's judgments.

   As to the word E+S+J+S+ osis, some render it new wine. E+S+S+ osas is
   to press; and hence E+S+J+S+ osis is properly the wine that is pressed
   in the wine-vat. New wine is not what is drawn out of the bottle, but
   what is pressed out as it were by force. But the Prophet, I have no
   doubt, includes here under one kind every sort of wine. Let us go on.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:6-7

   6. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number,
   whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a
   great lion.

   6. Quia gens ascendit super terram meam, robusta et absque numero,
   dentes ejus dentes leonis, et maxillae (alii vertunt, molares) leonis
   illis (quanquam aliud est nomen: alii vertunt, leunculum.)

   7. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it
   clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

   7. Posuit vineam meam in vastitatem (vel, desolationem) et ficulneam
   meam in decorticationem: nudando nudavit eam et disjecit, albi facti
   sunt rami ejus.


   Of what some think, that punishment, not yet inflicted, is denounced
   here on the people, I again repeat, I do not approve; but, on the
   contrary, the Prophet, according to my view, records another judgment
   of God, in order to show that God had not only in one way warned the
   Jews of their sins, that he might restore them to a right mind; but
   that he had tried all means to bring them to the right way, though they
   proved to have been irreclaimable. After having then spoke of the
   sterility of the fields and of other calamities, he now adds that the
   Jews had been visited with war. [3] Surely famine ought to have touched
   them, especially when they saw that evils, succeeding evils, had
   happened for several years contrary to the usual course of things, so
   that they could not be imputed to chance. But when God brought war upon
   them, when they were already worn out with famine, must they not have
   been more than insane in mind, to have continued astonied at God's
   judgments and not to repent? Then the meaning of the Prophet is, that
   God had tried, by every means possible, to find out whether the Jews
   were healable, and had given them every opportunity to repent, but that
   they were wholly perverse and untamable.

   Then he says, Verily a nation came up. The particle K+J+ ki is not to
   be taken as a causative, but only as explanatory, Verily, or surely, he
   says, a nation came up; though an inference also is not amiss, if it be
   drawn from the beginning of the verse: `Hear, ye old men, and tell your
   children;' what shall we tell? even this, that a nation, etc. But in
   this form also K+J+ ki would be exegetical, and the sense would be the
   same. This much as to the meaning of the passage.

   A nation, then, came up over my land. God here justly claims the land
   of Canaan as his own heritage, and does so designedly, that the Jews
   might more clearly know that he was angry with them; for their
   condition would not have been worse than that of other nations, had not
   God resolved to punish them for their sins. There is here then an
   implied comparison between Judea and other countries, as though the
   Prophet said, "How comes it, that your land is wasted by wars and many
   other calamities, while other countries are at rest? This land is no
   doubt sacred to God, for he has chosen it for himself, that he might
   rule in it; he has here his own habitation: it then must be that there
   is some cause for God's wrath, as your land is so miserably wasted,
   when other lands enjoy tranquillity." We now perceive what the Prophet
   means. A nation, he says, came up upon my land, and what then? God
   could surely have prevented this; he could have defended his own land,
   of which he was the keeper, and which was under his protection: how
   then had it happened that enemies with impunity inundated this land,
   having marched into it and utterly laid it waste, except that it had
   been forsaken by the Lord himself?

   A nation, he says, came up upon my land, strong and without number; and
   further, who had the teeth of a lion, the jaw-bones of a young lion.
   The nations had no strength which God could not in an instant have
   broken down, nor had he need of mighty auxiliaries, for he could by a
   nod only have reduced to nothing whatever men might have attempted:
   when, therefore, the Assyrians so impetuously assailed the Jews they
   were necessarily exposed to the wantonness of their enemies, for they
   were unworthy of being protected, as hitherto, by the hand of God.

   He afterwards adds, that his vine had been exposed to desolation and
   waste, his fig-tree to the stripping of the bark. God speaks not here
   of his own vine, as in some other places, in which he designates his
   Church by this term; but he calls everything on earth his own, as he
   calls the whole race of Abraham his children: and he thus reproaches
   the Jews for having reduced themselves to such wretchedness through
   their own fault; for they would have never been spoiled by their
   enemies, had not God, who was wont to defend then, previously rejected
   them; for there was nothing in their land which he did not claim as his
   own; as he had chosen the people, so he had consecrated the land to
   himself. Whatsoever, then, enlisted in Judea, was, as it were, sacred
   to God. Now when both the vines and the fig-trees were exposed to the
   depredations of the unbelieving, it was certain that God no longer
   ruled there. How so? Even because the Jews had expelled him. He
   afterwards enlarges on the same subject; for what follows, By denuding
   he has denuded it and cast it away, is not a mere narrative; the
   Prophet here declares not simply what had taken place; but as we have
   already said, adduces more proof, and tries to awaken the drowsy senses
   of the people, yea, to arouse them from that lethargy by which the
   minds of all had been seized; hence it is that he uses in his teaching
   so many expressions. This is the reason why he says that the vine and
   the fig-tree had been denuded, and also that the leaves had been taken
   away, that the branches had been made bare and white; so that there
   remained neither produce nor growth.

   Many interpreters join these three verses with the former, as if the
   Prophet now expressed what he had said before of the palmer worm, the
   chafer, and the locust; for they think that he spake allegorically when
   he said that all the fruits of the land had been consumed by the
   locusts and the chafers. They therefore add, that these locusts, or
   chafers, or the palmer worms, were the Assyrians, as well as the
   Persian and the Greeks, that is, Alexander of Macedon and the Romans:
   but this is wholly a strained views so that there is no need of a long
   argument; for any one may easily perceive that the Prophet mentions
   another kind of punishments that he might in every way render the Jews
   inexcusable who were not roused by judgments so multiplied, but
   remained still obstinate in their vices. Let us now proceed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [3] But most commentators consider these two verses as containing a
   more particular description of the devastations produced by the locusts
   mentioned before. That they are called "a nation" is according to
   prophetic style, and what has been done by heathen poets: the wasting
   of the vine and the barking of the fig-tree seem more suitable to this
   view. It is true that N+W+J+, nation, and not W+Z+M% people, as in
   Proverbs 30:25, is here used; but, as Dr. Henderson observes, it seems
   to have been selected on purpose "to prepare the minds of the Jews for
   the allegorical use made of these insects in chapter 2." -- Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:8

   8. Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her
   youth.

   8. Plange tanquam puella, accincta sacco, super marito adolescentiae
   suae.


   The Prophet now addresses the whole land. Lament, he says; not in an
   ordinary way, but like a widow, whose husband is dead, whom she had
   married when young. The love, we know, of a young man towards a young
   woman, and so of a young woman towards a young man, is more tender than
   when a person in years marries an elderly woman. This is the reason
   that the Prophet here mentions the husband of her youth; he wished to
   set forth the heaviest lamentation, and hence he says "The Jews ought
   not surely to be otherwise affected by so many calamities, than a widow
   who has lost her husband while young, and not arrived at maturity, but
   in the flower of his age." As then such widows feel bitterly their
   loss, so the Prophet has adduced their case.

   The Hebrews often call a husband B+E+L+ bol, because he is the lord of
   his wife and has her under his protection. Literally it is, "For the
   lord of her youth;" and hence it is, that they also called their idols
   B+E+L+J+M% bolim, as though they were as we have often said in our
   comment on the Prophet Hosea, their patrons.

   The sum of the whole is, That the Jews could not have continued in an
   unconcerned state, without being void of all reason and discernment;
   for they were forced, willing or unwilling, to feel a most grievous
   calamity. It is a monstrous thing, when a widow, losing her husband
   when yet young, refrains from mourning. Now then, since God had
   afflicted his land with so many evils, he wished to bring on them, as
   it were, the grief of widowhood. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:9

   9. The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house
   of the Lord; the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn.

   9. Succisa est oblatio et libamen e domo Jehovae: luxerunt sacerdotes,
   ministri Jehovae.


   Here, in other words, the Prophet paints the calamity; for, as it has
   been said, we see how great is the slowness of men to discern God's
   judgments; and the Jews, we know, were not more attentive to them than
   we are now. It was, therefore, needful to prick them with various
   goads, as the Prophet now does, as though he said, "If ye are not now
   concerned for want of food, if ye consider not even what the very
   drunkards are constrained to feel, who perceive not the evil at a
   distance, but taste it in their lips -- if all these things are of no
   account with you, do at least look on the temple of God, which is now
   destitute of its ordinary services; for through the sterility of your
   fields, through so great a scarcity, neither bread nor wine is offered.
   Since then ye see that the worship of God has ceased, how is it ye
   yourselves still remain? Why is it that ye perceive not that God's fury
   is kindled against you? For surely except God had been most grievously
   offended, he would at least have had some regard for his own worship;
   he would not have suffered his temple to remain without sacrifices."

   The Jews, we know, daily poured their libations, and offered
   meat-offerings. When, therefore, Joel mentions M+N+X+H+ meneche and
   libation, he doubtless meant to show that the worship of God was nearly
   abolished. But God would have never permitted such a thing, had he not
   been grievously offended by the sins of men. Hence the indifference, or
   rather the stupidity of the people, is more clearly proved, inasmuch as
   they perceived not the signs of God's wrath made evident even in the
   very temple. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:10

   10. The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the
   new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

   10. Vastatus est ager, luxit terra (hoc est, luxerunt terrae incolae;)
   quia vastatum est (idem est verbum vel, quia periit) frumentum, aruit
   (est a verbo J+B+Sh, non a B+W+Sh, quod significat pudefacere: quanquam
   utraque radix significationem hanc admittit apud Hebraeos: quia ergo
   aruit) mustum et exterminatum est (infirmatum ad verbum, ab #M+L+; sed
   significat debilitatum esse) oleum.


   The Prophet goes on here with the same subject, and uses these many
   words to give more effect to what he said; for he knew that he
   addressed the deaf, who, by long habit, had so hardened themselves that
   God could effect nothing, at least very little, by his word. This is
   the reason why the Prophet so earnestly presses a subject so evident.
   Should any one ask what need there was of so many expressions, as it
   seems to be a needless use of words; I do indeed allow that all that
   the Prophet wished to say might have been expressed in one sentence, as
   there is here nothing intricate: but it was not enough that what he
   said should be understood, except the Jews applied it to themselves,
   and perceived that they had to do with God; and to make this
   application they were not disposed. It is not then without reason that
   the Prophet labors here, and enforces the same thing in many words.

   Hence he says, The field is wasted, and the land mourns; for the corn
   has perished, for dried up has the wine, for destroyed has been the
   oil. And by these words he intimates that they seeing saw nothing; as
   though he said, "Let necessity extort mourning from you; ye are indeed
   starving, all complain of want, all deplore the need of bread and wine;
   and yet no one of you thinks whence this want is, that it is from the
   hand of God. Ye feel it in your mouth, ye feel it in your palate, ye
   feel it in your throat, ye feel it in your stomach; but ye feel it not
   in your heart." In short, the Prophet intimates that the Jews were void
   of right understanding; they indeed deplored their famine, but they
   were like brute beasts, who, when hungry, show signs of impatience. So
   the Jews mourned, because their stomach disquieted them; but they knew
   not that the cause of their want and famine was their sins. It
   afterwards follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:11

   11. Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the
   wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.

   11. Erubescite agricolae, ululate vinitores super tritico et hordeo;
   quia periit messis agri.


   The Prophet says nothing new here, but only strengthens what he had
   said before, and is not wordy without reason; for he intends here not
   merely to teach, but also to produce an effect: And this is the design
   of heavenly teaching; for God not only wishes that what he says may be
   understood, but intends also to penetrate into our hearts: and the word
   of God, we know, consists not of doctrine only, but also of
   exhortations, and threatenings, and reproofs. This plan then the
   Prophet now pursues: Ye husband men, he says, be ashamed, and ye
   vinedressers, howl; for perished has the harvest of the field. The sum
   of the whole is, that the Jews, as we have already said, could by no
   excuse cover their indifference; for their clamor was everywhere heard,
   their complaints everywhere resounded, that the land had become a
   waste, that they were themselves famished that they were afflicted with
   many calamities; and yet no one acknowledged that God, who visited them
   for their sins, was the author. But what remains I shall put off until
   to-morrow.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer

   Grant, Almighty God, that as thou invites us daily by various means to
   repentance, and continues also to urge us, because thou sees our
   extreme tardiness, -- O grant that we may at length be awakened from
   our indifference, and suffer us not to be inebriated by the charms of
   Satan and the world; but by thy Spirit rouse us to real groaning, that,
   being ashamed of ourselves, we may flee to thy mercy, and doubt not but
   that thou wilt be propitious to us, provided with a sincere heart we
   call on thee, and seek that reconciliation which thou daily offerest to
   us by thy Gospel in the name of thy only begotten Son. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:12

   12. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate
   tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the
   field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

   12. Vitis exaruit, et ficulnea infirmata est (vel, periit;)
   malogranatum, etiam palma et malus, omnes arbores exaruerunt: certe
   exaruit gaudium a filiis hominum.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Fortieth

   The Prophet now concludes his subjects which was, that as God executed
   judgments so severe on the people, it was a wonder that they remained
   stupefied, when thus reduces to extremities. The vine, he says, has
   dried up, and every kind of fruit; he adds the fig-tree, afterwards the
   R+M+W+N% remun, the pomegranate, (for so they render it,) the palm, the
   apple-tree, [4] and all trees. And this sterility was a clear sign of
   God's wrath; and it would have been so regarded, had not men either
   wholly deceived themselves, or had become hardened against all
   punishments. Now this anaisthesia (insensibility) is as it were the
   very summit of evils; that is, when men feel not their own calamities,
   or at least understand not that they are inflicted by the hand of God.
   Let us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   [4] Of the three foregoing trees we may add this account:
   The pomegranate, R+M+W+N%, grows about 20 feet high, has a straight
   stem and spreading branches, and bears large red blossoms. Its fruit is
   about the size of an orange, and is delicious and cooling.
   The palm or date-tree, T+M+R+, is sometimes as high as 100 feet, and
   remarkably straight. Its fruit grows in clusters under its leaves, and
   is in taste very sweet. Palm branches were emblems of victory.
   What is called here the apple-tree, T+P+W+X+, was no doubt the
   citron-tree. The word is derived from N+P+H+, to breathe, on account of
   the extreme fragrance it emits. -- Ed.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:13-15

   13. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the
   altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for
   the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house
   of your God.

   13. Accingimini et plangete sacerdotes; ululate, ministri altaris;
   venite, pernoctate cum saccis, ministri Dei mei: quia prohibita est a
   domo Dei vestri oblatio et libamen.

   14. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and
   all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God,
   and cry unto the Lord,

   14. Sactificate jejunium, vocate coetum, congregate senes, omnes
   incoles terrae, in domum Jehovae Dei vestri, et clamate ad Jehovam,

   15. Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a
   destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

   15. Heus Diem! Quia propinquus est dies Jehovae, et tanquam vastitas ab
   Omnipotente veniet.


   Now the Prophet begins to exhort the people to repentance. Having
   represented them as grievously afflicted by the hand of God, he now
   adds that a remedy was at hand, provided they solicited the favor of
   God; and at the same tine he denounces a more grievous punishment in
   future; for it would not have been enough that they had been reminded
   of their calamities and evils, except they also feared in time to come.
   Hence the Prophet, that he might the more move them, says, that the
   hand of God was still stretched out, and that there was something worse
   nigh at hand, except they of themselves anticipated it. This is the
   purport of the whole. I now come to the words.

   Be girded, lament and howl, he says, ye priests, the ministers of the
   altar The verb X+G+R+W+ chegeru may be explained in two ways. Some
   understand it thus "Gird yourselves with sackcloth;" for shortly after
   he says with sackcloth, or in sackcloth. But we may take it as simply
   meaning, gird yourselves, that is, Hasten; for this metaphorical
   expression often occurs. As to the drift of the passage, there is but
   little difference, whether we read, "Gird yourselves with sackcloth,"
   or, "Hasten." And he addresses the priests, though a common and general
   exhortation to the whole people afterwards follows. But as God made
   them the leaders of his people, it behaved them to afford others an
   example. It is the common duty of all the godly to pray for and to
   further the salvation of their brethren; but it is a duty especially
   enjoined on the ministers of the word and on pastors. So also, when God
   calls those to repentance who preside over others, they ought to lead
   the way, and for two reasons; -- first, because they have not been in
   vain chosen by the Lord for this end, that they might outshine others,
   and be as luminaries; -- secondly, because they who bear any public
   office ought to feel a double guilty when the Lord visits public sins
   with judgment. Private men indeed sin; but in pastors there is the
   blame of negligence, and still more, when they deviate even the least
   from the right way, a greater offense is given. Rightly then does the
   Prophet begin with the priests, when he bids the whole people to
   repent. And he not only bids them to put on sackcloth, but commands
   them also, as we shall see, to proclaim a fast, and then to call an
   assembly: ye priests, he says, be girded, and put on sackcloth, wail,
   howl, and pass the night in sackcloth; and then he calls them the
   ministers of the altar and the ministers of God, but in a different
   sense; for the Prophet does not substitute the altar for God, as he
   would thus have formed an idol; but they are called the ministers of
   the altar, because they offered there sacrifices to God. They are
   indeed with strict propriety the ministers of God; but as the priests,
   when they sacrificed, stood in the presence of God, and as the altar
   was to them as it were the way of access to him, they are called the
   ministers of the altar. He calls them, at the same time, the ministers
   of God, and, as it has been stated, they are properly so called.

   But he says here #L+H+J+ alei (my God.) The iod, my, is by some
   omitted, as if it were a servile letter, but redundant. I, however,
   doubt not but that the Prophet here mentions Him as his God; for he
   thus intended to claim more authority for his doctrine. His concern or
   his contest was with the whole people; and they, no doubt, in their
   usual ways proudly opposed against him the name of God as their shield.
   "What! are we not the very people of God?" Hence the Prophet, in order
   to prove this presumption false, sets forth God as being on his side.
   He therefore says, `The ministers of my God.' Had any one objected and
   said, that he was in common the God of the whole people, the Prophet
   had a ready answer, -- "I am specially sent by Him, and sustain his
   person, and plead the cause which he has committed to me: He is then my
   God and not yours." We now then see the Prophet's meaning in this
   expression. He now adds, for cut off is offering and libation from the
   house of our God. He confesses Him at the same time to be their God
   with reference to the priesthood; for nothing, we know, was
   presumptuously invented by the Jews, as the temple was built by Godly
   command, and sacrifices were offered according to the rule of the law.
   He then ascribes to the priesthood this honor, that God ruled in the
   temple; for God, as we have already said, approved of that worship as
   having proceeded from his word: and to this purpose is that saying of
   Christ, `We know what we worship.' But yet the priests did not rightly
   worship God; for though their external rites were according to the
   command of God, yet as their hearts were polluted, it is certain that
   whatever they did was repudiated by God, until, being touched with the
   fear of his judgment, they fled to his mercy, as the Prophet now
   exhorts them to do.

   He afterwards adds, sanctify a fast, call an assembly, gather the old,
   all the inhabitants of the land. Q+D+Sh kodash means to sanctify and to
   prepare; but I have retained its proper meaning, sanctify a fast; for
   the command had regard to the end, that is, sanctification. Then a fast
   proclaim -- for what purpose? That the people might purge themselves
   from all their pollutions, and present themselves pure and clean before
   God. Call an assembly. It appears that there was a solemn convocation
   whenever a fast was proclaimed among the people: for it was not enough
   for each one privately at home to abstain from food, except all
   confessed openly, with one mouth and one consent, that they were guilty
   before God. Hence with a fast was connected a solemn profession of
   repentance. The uses and ends of a fast, we know, are various: but when
   the Prophet here speaks of a solemn fast, he doubtless bids the people
   to come to it suppliantly, as the guilty are wont to do, who would
   deprecate punishment before a judge, that they may obtain mercy from
   him. In the second chapter there will be much to say on fasting: I only
   wish now briefly to touch on the subject.

   He afterwards bids the old to be gathered, and then adds, All the
   inhabitants of the land. But he begins with the old, and justly so, for
   the guilt of the old is always the heaviest. But this word relates not
   to age as in a former instance. When he said yesterday, `Hear ye, the
   aged,' he addressed those who by long experience had learnt in the
   world many things unknown to the young or to men of middle age. But now
   the Prophet means by the old those to whom was intrusted the public
   government; and as through their slothfulness they had suffered the
   worship of God and all integrity to fall into decay, rightly does the
   Prophet wish them to be leaders and precursors to the people in their
   confession of repentance; and further, it behaved them, on account of
   their office, as we have said of the priests, to lead the way. Joel at
   the same time shows that the whole people were implicated in guilt, so
   that none could be excepted, for he bids them all to come with the
   elders.

   Call them, he says, to the house of Jehovah your God, and cry ye to
   Jehovah. We hence learn why he had spoken of fasting and of sackcloth,
   even that they might humbly deprecate God's wrath; for fasting of
   itself would have been useless, and to put on sackcloth, we know, is in
   itself but an empty sign: but prayer is what the Prophet sets here in
   the highest rank, and fasting is only an appendage, and so is
   sackcloth. Whosoever then puts on sackcloth and withholds prayer, is
   guilty of mockery; and no one can derive any good from mere fasting;
   but when fasting and sackcloth are added to prayer, and are as it were
   handmaids, then they are not uselessly practiced. We may then observe,
   that the end of fasting and sackcloth was no other, than that the
   priests together with the whole people, might present themselves
   suppliantly before God, and confess themselves worthy of destruction,
   and that they had no hope except from his gratuitous mercy. This is the
   meaning.

   It now follows, Alas the day! for nigh is the day of Jehovah. Here the
   Prophet, as it was at first stated, threatens something worse in future
   than what they had experienced. He has hitherto been showing their
   torpidity; now he declares that they had not yet suffered all their
   punishments, but that there was something worse to be feared, except
   they turned seasonably to God. And he now exclaims, as though the day
   of Jehovah was before his eyes, and he calls it the day of Jehovah,
   because in that day God would stretch-forth his hand to execute
   judgment; for while he tolerates men or bears with their sins, he seems
   not to rule in the world. And though this mode of speaking is common
   enough in Scripture, it ought yet to be carefully noticed; for all seem
   not to understand that God calls that his own day, when he will openly
   shine forth and appear as the judge of the world: but as long as he
   spares us, his face seems to be hidden from us; yea, he seems not to
   govern the world. The Prophet therefore declares here that the day of
   the Lord was at hand; for it cannot be, but that the Lord must at
   length rise up and ascend his throne to punish men, though for a time
   he may connive at them. But the interjection, expressive of grief,
   intimates that the judgment, of which the Prophet speaks, was not to be
   despised, for it would be dreadful; and he wished to strike terror into
   the Jews, for they were too secure. And he says, The day is nigh, that
   they might not procrastinate, as they were wont to do, from day to day:
   for though men be touched by God's judgments they yet even desire time
   to be prolonged to them, and they come very tardily to God. Hence the
   Prophet, that he might correct this their great slothfulness, says that
   the day was nigh.

   He adds, K+ShD+ M+ShD+J+ J+B+W+# kashed meshadi ibu `as a desolation
   from the Almighty will it come.' The word ShD+J+ shadi signifies a
   conqueror; but it proceeds from the verb ShD+D+ shadad; and this in
   Hebrew means "to desolate," or "to destroy." The powerful and the
   conqueror is called ShD+J+ shadi; and hence they call God ShD+J+ shadi,
   on account of his power. Some derive it from udder: then they call God
   ShD+J+ shadi as though Scripture gave him this name, because from him
   flows all abundance of good things as from a fountain. But I rather
   refer this name to his strength and power, for the Jews, we know,
   gloried in the name of God as one armed to defend their safety.
   Whenever then the Prophets said that God was ShD+J+ shadi, the people
   laid hold on this as a ground for false confidence, "God is almighty,
   we are then secure from all evils." But yet this confidence was not
   founded on the promises: and it was, we know, an absurd and profane
   presumption to have thus abused the name of God. Since then the Jews
   foolishly pricked themselves on this, that God had adopted them for his
   people, the prophet says here, "There will come a desolation from the
   Almighty;" that is, "God is Almighty, but ye are greatly deceived in
   thinking that your safety is secured by his power; for he will, on the
   contrary, be opposed to you, inasmuch as ye have provoked his wrath."
   It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:16-17

   16. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from
   the house of our God?

   16. An non coram oculis nostris cibus excisus est? e domo Dei nostri
   gaudium et exultatio?

   17. The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid
   desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.

   17. Putrefacta sunt grana subtus sulcos suos, desolata sunt
   reconditoria (vel, apothecae desolatae sunt,) diruta sunt horrea, quia
   exaruit frumentum.


   He repeats the same thing as before, for he reproaches the Jews for
   being so slow to consider that the hand of God was against them. Has
   not the meat, he says, been cut off before our eyes? joy and exultation
   from the house of our God? Here he chides the madness of the Jews, that
   they perceived not things set before their eyes. He therefore says that
   they were blind in the midst of light, and that their sight was such,
   that seeing they saw nothing: they surely ought to have felt
   distressed, when want reached the temple. For since God had commanded
   the first-fruits to be offered to him, the temple ought not by any
   means to have been without its sacrifices; and though mortals perish a
   hundred times through famine and want, yet God ought not to be
   defrauded of his right. When, therefore, there was now no offering nor
   libation, how great was the stupidity of the people not to feel this
   curse, which ought to have wounded them more than if they had been
   consumed a hundred times by famine? We see then the design of the
   Prophet's words, that is, to condemn the Jews for their stupidity; for
   they considered not that a most grievous judgment was brought on them,
   when the temple was deprived of its usual sacrifices.

   He afterwards adds, that joy and gladness were taken away: for God
   commanded the Jews to come to the temple to give thanks and to
   acknowledge themselves blessed, because he had chosen his habitation
   among them. Hence this expression is so often repeated by Moses, `Thou
   shalt rejoice before thy God;' for by saying this, God intended to
   encourage the people the more to come cheerfully to the temple; as
   though he said, "I certainly want not your presence, but I wish by my
   presence to make you glad." But now when the worship of God ceased, the
   Prophet says, that joy had been also abolished; for the Jews could not
   cheerfully give thanks to God when his curse was before their eyes,
   when they saw that he was their adversary, and also when they were
   deprived of the ordinances of religion. We now then perceive why the
   Prophet joins joy and gladness with oblations: they were the symbols of
   thanksgiving.

   He shows the cause of the evil, Rotted have the grains in the very
   furrows. For they call seeds P+R+D+W+T+ peredut from the act of
   scattering. He then calls grains by this name, because they are
   scattered; and he says that they rotted in the fields when they ought
   to have germinated. He then adds, The granaries halve become desolated
   and the barns have been pulled down; for there was no use for them.
   Hence we conclude, that sterility had become most grievousand
   perpetual; for if the people had been only afflicted by famine for a
   few harvests or for one year, the Prophet would not have spoken thus.
   The famine must then have been, as it has been already stated for a
   long time. Let us now proceed --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:18

   18. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because
   they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

   18. Quomodo ingemuit bestia? Confusa sunt armenta boum? Quia desunt
   illis pascua: etiam greges ovium desolati sunt.


   The Prophet amplifies his reproof, that even oxen as well as other
   animals felt the judgment of God. There is then here an implied
   comparison between the feeling of brute animals and the insensibility
   of the people, as though he said, "There is certainly more intelligence
   and reason in oxen and other brute animals than in you; for the herds
   groan, the flocks groan, but ye remain stupid and confounded. What does
   this mean?" We then see that the Prophet here compares the stupidity of
   the people with the feeling of animals, to make them more ashamed.

   How, he says, has the beast groaned? The question serves to show
   vehemence; for if he had said in the form of a narrative, that the
   animals groaned, that the cattle were confounded, and that the flocks
   perished, the Jews would have been less affected; but when he exclaims
   and, moved with astonishment, speaks interrogatively, How does the
   beast groan? He, no doubt, wished to produce an effect on the Jews,
   that they might perceive the judgment of God, which they had before
   passed by with their eyes closed, though it was quite manifest. It
   follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 1:19-20

   19. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures
   of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the
   field.

   19. Ad te Jehovam clamabo, quia ignis consumpsit pascua (vel,
   habitacula) deserti: et flamma accendit omnes arbores agri.

   20. And the beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of
   waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the
   wilderness.

   20. Etiam bestiae agri clamabunt ad te (quanquam E+R+G+ proprium est
   cervi, ut dicunt grammatici, sicuti etiam Psalmo 42 habetur: est illic
   idem verbum: clamabunt igitur bestiae ad te,) quia aruerunt decursus
   aquarum, quia ignis consumpsit habitacula (vel, pascua) deserti.


   When the Prophet saw that he succeeded less than he expected, leaving
   the people, he speaks of what he would do himself, I will cry to thee,
   Jehovah. He had before bidden others to cry, and why does he not now
   press the same thing? Because he saw that the Jews were so deaf and
   listless as to make no account of all his exhortations: he therefore
   says, "I will cry to thee, Jehovah; for they are touched neither by
   shame nor by fear. Since they throw aside every regard for their own
   safety, since they account as nothing my exhortations I will leave
   them, and will cry to thee;" which means this, -- "I see, Lord, that
   all these calamities proceed from thy hand; I will not howl as profane
   men do, but I will ascribe them to thee; for I perceive thee to be
   acting as a judge in all the evils which we suffer." Having then before
   declared that the Jews were more tardy than brute animals and having
   reproached them for feeling less acutely than oxen and sheep, the
   Prophet now says, that though they all remained obstinate, he would yet
   do what a pious man and a worshipper of God ought to do, I will cry to
   thee -- Why? Because the fire has consumed the pastures, or the
   dwellings, of the wilderness.

   He here again gives an awful record of God's judgments. Though the heat
   may burn up whole regions, yet we know that pasture-lands do not soon
   wither, especially on mountains; and of such cold pastures he speaks
   here. We know that however great may be the fertility of mountains, yet
   coolness prevails there, and that, in the greatest drought, the
   mountainous regions are ever green. But the Prophet tells us here of an
   unusual thing, that the dwellings of the wilderness were burnt up. Some
   render N+#W+T+ naut pastures; others, dwellings: but as to the meaning,
   we may read either; for the Prophet refers here to cold and humid
   regions, which never want moisture in the greatest heats. Some render
   the word, the beautiful or fair spots of the wilderness, but
   improperly. He doubtless means pastures, or dwellings, or folds. The
   fire then has consumed the dwellings, or pastures of the wilderness.
   This was not usual; it did not happen according to the ordinary course
   of nature: it then follows that it was a miracle. This is the reason
   why the Prophet says, that it was now time to cry to God; for it did
   not appear to be fortuitous, that the heat had burnt up regions which
   were moist and well watered. The flame, he says hath burnt up all the
   trees of the field.

   He afterwards adds The beasts of the field will also cry (for the verb
   is in the plural number;) the beasts then will cry. The Prophet
   expresses here more clearly what he had said before that though the
   brute animals were void of reasons they yet felt God's judgment, so
   that they constrained men by their example to feel ashamed, for they
   cried to God: the beasts then of the field cry. He ascribes crying to
   them, as it is elsewhere ascribed to the young ravens. The young
   ravens, properly speaking, do not indeed call on God; and yet the
   Psalmist says so, and that, because they confess, by raising up their
   bills, that there is no supply for their want except God supports them.
   So also the Prophet mentions here the beasts as crying to God. It is
   indeed a figure of speech, called personification; for this could not
   be properly said of beasts. But when the beasts made a noise under the
   pressure of famine, was it not such a calling on God as their nature
   admitted? As much then as the nature of brute animals allows, they may
   be said to seek their food from the Lord, when they send forth
   lamentable cries and noises, and show that they are oppressed with
   famine and want. When, therefore, the Prophet attributes crying to
   beasts, he at the same time reproaches the Jews with their stupidity,
   that they did not call on God. "What do you mean," he says. "See the
   brute animals; they show to you what ought to be done; it is at least a
   teaching that ought to have effect on you. If I and the other prophets
   have lost all our labor, if God has in vain performed the office of a
   teacher among you, let the very oxen at least be your teachers; to whom
   indeed it is a shame to be disciples, but it is a greater shame not to
   attend to what they teach you; for the oxen by their example lead you
   to God."

   We now perceive how much vehemence there is in the Prophet's words,
   when he says, Even the beasts of the field will cry to God; for the
   streams of waters have dried up, and the fire has consumed the
   dwellings, or the pastures of the wilderness. He again teaches what I
   have lately stated, that sterility proceeded from the evident judgment
   of God, and that it ought to have struck dread into men, for it was a
   sort of miracle. When, therefore the courses of waters dried up on the
   mountains, how could it be deemed natural? #P+J+Q+J+M% aphikim mean
   courses of waters or valleys through which the waters run. The Prophet
   here refers, no doubt, to those regions which, through the abundance of
   water, always retain their fertility. When, therefore, the very valleys
   were burnt up, they ought surely to own that something wonderful had
   happened. On this account, he ascribes crying to herds and brute
   animals, and not any sort of crying, but that by which they called on
   God. What remains we shall defer till to-morrow.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer.

   Grant, Almighty God, that as thou sees us to be surrounded with the
   infirmity of our flesh, and so held by, and, as it were, overwhelmed
   with, earthly cares, that we can hardly raise up our hearts and minds
   to thee, -- O grant, that being awaked by thy word and daily warnings,
   we may at length feel our evils, and that we may not only learn by the
   stripes thou inflictest on us, but also of our own accord, summon
   ourselves to judgment, and examine our hearts, and thus come to thy
   presence, being our own judges; so that we may anticipate thy
   displeasure, and thus obtain that mercy which thou best promised to
   all, who, turning only to thee, deprecate thy wrath, and also hope for
   thy favor, through the name of one Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

   Chapter 2
     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Forty-first
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 2:1-11

   1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain:
   let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord
   cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

   1. Clangite tuba in Sion, et clamate (alii vertunt, tantarizate: sed
   est generale verbum: clamate igitur, vel, clamorem odite) in monte
   sancto meo: contremiscant omnes incolae terrae, quia venit dies
   Jehovae, quia propinquus est.

   2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick
   darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and
   a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more
   after it, even to the years of many generations.

   2. Dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nubis et obscuritatis, sicut
   aurora expanditur super montes, populus magnus et robustus (vel,
   terribilis;) similis ei non fuit a seculo, et post eum, non addet (hoc
   est, non erit amplius) ad annos generationis et generationis (ego cogor
   uno contextu legere haec omnia; dicam postea suo loco rationem.)

   3. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the
   land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate
   wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

   3. Coram facie ejus (coram ipso) devorans ignis, et post eum exuret
   flamma: sicut hortus Eden terra coram ipso (ante faciem ejus ad
   verbum;) et post eum desertum solitudinis (vel, vastitatis;) adeoque
   evasio non erit ei.

   4. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as
   horsemen, so shall they run.

   4. Quasi aspectus equorum aspectus ejus, et tanquam equites current.

   5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap,
   like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a
   strong people set in battle array.

   5. Sicut vocem quadrigarum (sic M+R+K+B+W+T+ interpretes vertunt:
   postea dicam de hoc verbo,) super cacumina montium saltabunt, secundum
   vocem flammae ignis vorantis stipulam, quasi populus robustus (vel,
   terribilis) paratus ad proelium.

   6. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall
   gather blackness.

   6. A facie ejus pavebunt populi, omnes facies colligent nigredinem.

   7. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men
   of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not
   break their ranks:

   7. Quasi gigantes (vel, fortes) discurrent, sicut viri proelii
   ascendent murum, et vir (hoc est, quisque in viis suis ambulabit, et
   non tardabunt gressus suos (alii, non inquirent de viis suis.)

   8. Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his
   path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

   8. Vir fratrem suum (hoc est, quisque socium suum) non premet, quisque
   in viis suis ambulabit: usque in gladium cadent (hoc est, super gladium
   cadent) non vulnerabuntur (alii, non concupiscent.)

   9. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall,
   they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows
   like a thief.

   9. Per urbem gradientur, per murum discurrent, in domos ascendent,
   usque ad fenestras intrabunt tanquam fur.

   10. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the
   sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their
   shining:

   10. Coram eo contremiscet terra, et angentur coeli; sol et luna
   nigrescent, et stellae retrahent splendorem suum.

   11. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is
   very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of
   the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

   11. Et Jehova edet vocem suam coram exercitu suo, quia magna valde
   castra ejus: quia robustus qui facit (vel, exequitur) verbum ejus; quia
   magnus dies Jehovae, et terribilis valde, et quis sustinebit eum?


   This chapter contains serious exhortations, mixed with threatening; but
   the Prophet threatens for the purpose of correcting the indifference of
   the people, whom we have seen to have been very tardy to consider God's
   judgments. Now the reason why I wished to join together these eleven
   verses was, because the design of the Prophet in them is no other than
   to stir up by fear the minds of the people. The object of the narrative
   then is, to make the people sensible, that it was now no time for
   taking rest; for the Lord, having long tolerated their wickedness, was
   now resolved to pour upon them in full torrent his whole fiery. This is
   the sum of the whole. Let us now come to the words.

   Sound the trumpet, he says, in Zion; cry out in my holy mountain; let
   all the inhabitants of the earth tremble. The Prophet begins with an
   exhortation. We know, indeed that he alludes to the usual custom
   sanctioned by the law; for as on festivals trumpets were sounded to
   call the people, so also it was done when anything extraordinary
   happened. Hence the Prophet addresses not each individually; but as all
   had done wickedly, from the least to the greatest, he bids the whole
   assembly to be called, that they might in common own themselves to be
   guilty before God, and deprecate his vengeance. It is the same as
   though the Prophet had said that there was no one among the people who
   could exempt himself from blame, for iniquity had prevailed through the
   whole body. But this passage shows that when any judgment of God is
   impending, and tokens of it appear, this remedy ought to be used,
   namely, that all must publicly assemble and confess themselves worthy
   of punishments and at the same time flee to the mercy of God. This, we
   know, was, as I have already said, formerly enjoined on the people; and
   this practice has not been abolished by the gospel. And it hence
   appears how much we have departed from the right and lawful order of
   things; for at this day it would be new and unusual to proclaim a fast.
   How so? Because the greater part are become hardened; and as they know
   not commonly what repentance is, so they understand not what the
   profession of repentance means; for they understand not what sin is,
   what the wrath of God is, what grace is. It is then no wonder that they
   are so secure, and that when praying for pardon is mentioned, it is a
   thing wholly unknown at this day. But though people in general are thus
   stupid, it is yet our duty to learn from the Prophets what has always
   been the actual mode of proceeding among the people of God, and to
   labor as much as we can, that this may be known, so that when there
   shall come an occasion for a public repentance, even the most ignorant
   may understand that this practice has ever prevailed in the Church of
   God, and that it did not prevail through inconsiderate zeal of men, but
   through the will of God himself.

   But he bids the inhabitants of the land to tremble. By these words he
   intimates, that we are not to trifle with God by vain ceremonies but to
   deal with him in earnest. When therefore, the trumpets sound, our
   hearts ought to tremble; and thus the reality is to be connected with
   the outward signs. And this ought to be carefully noticed; for the
   world is ever disposed to have an eye to some outward service, and
   thinks that a satisfaction is given to God, when some external rite is
   observed. But we do nothing but mock God, when we present him with
   ceremonies, while there is no corresponding sincere feeling in the
   heart; and this is what we shall find handled in another place.

   The Prophet now adds threatening, that he might stir up the minds of
   the people: For coming, he says, is the day of Jehovah for nigh it is.
   By these words he first intimates that we are not to wait until God
   strikes us, but that as soon as he shows signs of his wrath, we ought
   to anticipate his judgment. When God then warns us of his displeasure,
   we ought instantly to solicit pardon: nigh, he says, is the day of
   Jehovah. What follows has a regard to the end which we have mentioned;
   for the Prophet paints the terrible judgment of God with the view of
   rousing minds wholly stupid and indifferent.

   And then he says, A day of darkness and of thick darkness, a day of
   clouds and of obscurity, as the dawn which expands over the mountains.
   By calling it a dark and gloomy day, he wished to show that there would
   be no hope of deliverance; for, according to the common usage of
   Scripture, we know that by light is designated a cheerful and happy
   state, or the hope of deliverance from any affliction: but the Prophet
   now extinguishes, as it were, every hope in this world, when he
   declares that the day of Jehovah would be dark, that is, without hope
   of restoration. This is his meaning. When he says afterwards, As the
   dawn which expands, etc., he mentions this to signify the celerity with
   which it would come; for we know how sudden is the rising of the dawn
   on the mountains: the dawn spreads in a moment on the mountains, where
   darkness was before. For the light penetrates not immediately either
   into valleys or even into plains; but if any one looks at the summits
   of mountains, he will see that the dawn rises quickly. It is then the
   settle as though the Prophet said, "The day of the Lord is nigh, for
   the Lord can suddenly stretch forth his hand, as the dawn spreads over
   the mountains."

   He then mentions its character, A people great and strong to whom there
   has not been the like from the beginning, or from ages and after whom
   there will be no more the like, to the years of a generation and a
   generation. Here the Prophet specifies the kind of judgment that would
   be, of which he had generally spoken before; and he shows that what he
   had hitherto recorded of God's vengeance ought not to be so understood
   as that God would descend openly and visibly from heaven, but that the
   Assyrians would be the ministers and executioners of his vengeance. In
   short, the Prophet shows here that the coming of that people ought to
   have been as much dreaded as if God had put forth his hand and executed
   on his people the vengeance deserved by their sins. And by these words
   he teaches us, that men gain nothing by being blind to the judgments of
   God; for God will notwithstanding execute his works and use the
   instrumentality of men; for men are the scourges by which he chastises
   his own people. The Chaldeans and the Assyrians were unbelievers; yet
   God used them for the purpose of correcting the Jews. This the Prophet
   now shows, that is, that God was the avenger in these very Assyrians,
   for he employed them as the ministers and executioners of his judgment.
   We see at the same time that the Prophet describes here the terrible
   wrath of God to shake off from the Jews their tardiness; for he saw
   that they were not moved by all his threatening, and ever laid hold on
   some new flattering pretenses. This is the reason why he gives such a
   long description.

   Before them, he says, the fire will devour, and after them the flame
   will burn. He means that the vengeance of God would be such as would
   consume the whole people: for God has in various ways begun to chastise
   the people, but, as we have seen, without any advantage. The Prophet
   then says here that the last stroke remained, and that the Lord would
   wholly destroy men so refractory, and whom he could not hitherto
   restore to a sound mind by moderate punishments. For he had in a
   measure spared them, though he had treated them sharply and severely,
   and given them time to repent. Hence, when the Prophet saw that they
   were wholly irreclaimable, he says, that it now only remained that the
   Lord should at once utterly consume them.

   He adds, As the garden of Eden the land is before them, and after them
   it is the land of solitude; and so (and also) there will be no escape
   from them. Here the Prophet warns the Jews, that though they inhabited
   a most pleasant country and one especially fruitful, there was no
   reason for them to flatter themselves, for God could convert the
   fairest lands into a waste. He therefore compares Judea to the garden
   of Eden or to Paradise. But such also was the state of Sodom, as Moses
   shows. What did it avail the Sodomites that they dwelt as in Paradise,
   that they inhabited a rich and fertile land, and thought themselves to
   be nourished as in the bosom of God? So also now the Prophet says,
   "Though the land is like Paradise, yet when the enemy shall march
   through it, a universal waste shall follow, a scattering shall
   everywhere follow, there shall be no cultivation, no pleasantness, no
   appearance of inhabited land, for the enemy will destroy every thing "
   His purpose was to prevent the Jews, by confiding in God's blessing,
   which they had hitherto experienced, from heedlessly disregarding in
   future his vengeance; for his wrath would in a moment consume and
   devour whatever fruitfulness the land had hitherto possessed. This is
   the meaning. He therefore concludes that there would be no escape from
   these enemies, the Assyrians, because they would come armed with a
   command to reduce to nothing the whole land.

   He afterwards adds many similitudes, which any one of himself can
   sufficiently understand: I shall not therefore be long in explaining
   them, and many words would be superfluous. As the appearance of horses
   their appearance, and as horsemen, so will they run. This verse sets
   forth again the suddenness of vengeance, as though the Prophet had
   said, that long distance would be no obstacle, for the Assyrians would
   quickly move and occupy Judea; for distance deceived the Jews, and they
   thought that there would be a long respite to them. Hence the Prophet
   here removes this vain confidence, when he says that they would be like
   horses and horsemen. He then adds, --

   Like the sound of chariots. They expound M+R+K+B+W+T+ merecabut,
   chariots, though the Hebrews rather think them to be harnesses or
   saddles as we call them; but yet I prefer to view them as chariots; for
   what the Prophet says, that they shall leap on the tops of mountains
   like the sound of chariots, would not be suitably applied to the
   trappings of horses. They then shall leap on tops of mountains -- but
   how? as chariots, that is, they shall come with great force, or make a
   great and terrible noise. And he speaks of the tops of mountains for
   there we know the noise is greater when there is any commotion. The
   Prophet, therefore, does in every way amplify God's vengeance, that he
   might awaken the Jews, who by their indifference had too long provoked
   the Lord's wrath.

   Like the sound, he says, of the flame of fire, or of a fiery flame,
   devouring the stubble. He compares the Assyrians to a flame, which
   consumes all things; and he compares the Jews to stubble, though they
   thought themselves fortified by many forces and strongholds.

   At length he adds, As a strong people, prepared for battle; their face
   the people will dread, and all faces shall gather blackness. By these
   words the Prophet intimates that the Assyrians at their coming would be
   supplied with such power as would, by report only, lay prostrate all
   people. But if the Assyrians should be so formidable to all people,
   what could the Jews do? In short, the Prophet here shows that the Jews
   would by no means be able to resist enemies so powerful; for they would
   by their fame alone so lay prostrate all people, that none would dare
   to rise up against them. He then compares them to giants. As giants, he
   says, they will run here and there; as men of war they will climb the
   wall, and man (that is, every one) in his ways shall walk. The Prophet
   heaps together these various expressions, that the Jews might know that
   they had to do with the irresistible hand of God, and that they would
   in vain implore assistance here and there; for they could find no
   relief in the whole world, when God executed his vengeance in so
   formidable a manner. He says further, they shall not stop their goings,
   though some render the words, "They shall not inquire respecting their
   ways;" for he had said before, "They shall proceed in their ways:" then
   the meaning is, They shall not come like strangers, who, when they
   journey through unknown regions, make anxious inquiries, whether any be
   lying in wait, whether there be any turnings in the road, whether the
   ways be difficult and perplexed: They shall not inquire, he says; they
   shall securely proceed, as though the road was open to them, as though
   the whole country was known to them. This part also serves to show
   celerity, that the Jews might dread the vengeance of God the same as if
   it was quite nigh them.

   He then adds, A man shall not push his brother. By this mode of
   speaking the Prophet means that they would come in perfect order, so
   that the multitude would create no confusion, as it is mostly the case:
   for it is very difficult for an army to march in regular order without
   tumult, like two or three men walking together. For when a hundred
   horsemen march together some commonly hinder others. When therefore so
   large a number assemble together, it can hardly be possible for them
   not to retard and impede one another. But the Prophet declares that
   this would not be the case with the Assyrians, for the Lord would
   direct their goings. Though then the Lord would bring so large a
   multitude, it would yet be so well arranged and in such order, that no
   one would push his companion, or be any hindrance to him. A man, he
   says, shall in his way proceed, even without any impediment.

   And on swords they shall fall, and shall not be wounded: that is, they
   shall not only be strong men of war, so that they shall intrepidly face
   every kind of danger; but they shall also escape unhurt from all
   weapons; though they may rush on swords like madmen and show no care
   for themselves, they shall not yet be wounded. But this may be taken in
   a still simpler way, "They shall not be wounded" that is, as if they
   could not be wounded. And it seems to me to be the genuine sense of the
   Prophet, that they would not entertain any fear of death, so as
   cautiously to attack their enemies, but would with impunity provoke
   death itself by casting themselves on the very swords: they would not
   then fear any wound, but dare to face swords as if they were wholly
   harmless to them. Some render the word, "they shall not covet;" and
   then the word means as if the Prophet had said, that they would not be
   covetous of money. But this meaning can hardly suit this place; and we
   see that the best sense seems to be, that they would heedlessly rush on
   swords, as though they could not be wounded.

   It afterwards follows, Through the city shall they march; over the wall
   shall they run here and there; into houses shall they climb; through
   the windows shall they enter like a thief. The Prophet here shows that
   the Jews in vain trusted in their fortified cities, for the enemies
   would easily penetrate into them. They shall march, he says, through
   the city, that is, as though there were no gates to it. The meaning
   then is, that though Judea abounded in cities, which seemed impregnable
   and appeared sufficient to arrest the course of enemies, as it had
   happened almost always, so that great armies were forced to desist when
   any strong fortified city stood in their way; yet the Prophet says that
   cities would be no impediment to the Assyrians at their coming to
   Judea, for they would march through the city, as along a plain road,
   where no gates are closed against them. They shall then march through
   the midst of cities as through a plain or open fields. To the same
   purpose is what follows, They shall run here and there over the wall,
   he says. These are indeed hyperbolical words; yet, when we consider how
   slow men are to fear punishment, we must allow that the Prophet in
   these expressions does not exceed moderation. They shall then run up
   and down through the city; that is, "In vain you expect that there will
   be to you any rest or quietness, for ye think that you sill be able for
   a time to sustain the onsets of your enemies: This," he says, "will by
   no means be the case, for they shall run here and there over the wall,
   as though it were a plain. Besides, they shall climb into the houses,
   and enter in through the windows, and do this as a thief; that is,
   though there should be no hostile attack, yet they shall stealthily and
   secretly penetrate into your houses: when there will be a great tumult,
   when the whole regions shall meet in arms, and when ye will think
   yourselves able to resist, they will then as thieves quietly enter into
   your houses and come in through the windows, and ye shall not be able
   to close up the passage against them."

   Then he adds, Before their face shall the earth tremble, and in anguish
   shall be the heavens; the sun and the moon shall become dark, and the
   stars shall withdraw their brightness. The Prophet speaks here more
   hyperbolically; but we must ever remember that he addressed men
   extremely stupid: it then behaved him to speak in an unusual manner,
   that he might touch their feelings; for it avails nothing to speak in
   all ordinary way to perverse men, especially to those who have divested
   themselves of all shame, and whom Satan has fascinated, so that they
   fear nothing and grieve at nothing. When therefore each stupidity lays
   hold on the minds of men, God must thunder that his word may be heard.
   As then the listlessness of the people was monstrous, so it was
   necessary, so to speak, for the Prophet to utter monstrous words. This
   is the reason why he now says, Before their face (namely, that of the
   enemies) shall the land tremble; and then he adds, The heavens also
   shall be in anguish; not that the heavens would fear the Assyrians; but
   the Prophet intimates that such would be the vengeance, that it would
   terrify the whole world; and this he intimates, that the Jews might
   cease to expect any subterfuges, for they flattered themselves, as
   though they could fly on the clouds, or could find for themselves some
   hiding-places or some corners at a distance. The Prophet gives them to
   understand that the whole world would be full of horror, when the Lord
   would come furnished with his army. He speaks also of the sun and the
   moon; as though he said, "There will be no more any hope of aid from
   created things; for the vital light itself shall fail, when the Lord
   shall pour forth the flood of his fury: The sun and the moon, he says,
   shall become dark; and the stars shall withhold their brightness.
   Though then ye lift up your eyes, not even a spark of light will there
   be to comfort you, for darkness on every side will cover you; and ye
   shall know by heaven as well as by earth that God is angry with you.
   Here, in short, he shuts up against the Jews every avenue to hope; for
   not only the Assyrian will rage on earth, but God will also give signs
   of vengeance from heaven, so that the sun will be constrained to show
   such a sign, as well as the moon and all the stars.

   He at last adds, And Jehovah will utter his voice before his army. The
   Prophet seems in this verse to anticipate whatever objection men might
   adduce. "O! thou denounces on us great terrors, and as if the Assyrians
   were not to be counted as men, as if no other people were in the world,
   as if there was no other army, as if there were no other forces, as if
   none else had courage; but if the Assyrians are at this day formidable,
   they have yet neighbors who can gather a force sufficient easily to
   oppose them " And Egypt was then a populous country, and well
   fortified; and who would not have said that the Egyptians were equal to
   the Assyrians? and the Jews also thought themselves safe through a
   treaty with them. And then there was Syria; and there were many
   kingdoms, with which the Jews might have boasted that they were
   surrounded, so that no access to them was open to the Assyrians; for
   however insufficient were the people of Moab or the people of Amman,
   yet they were all joined together, even Edom, and Ammon, and Moab: and
   then Tyrus and Sidon, and the many neighboring kingdoms, might
   certainly have been sufficient to resist the Assyrians. Now, that no
   one might object all this, the Prophet shortly anticipates it by
   saying, that God would be the leader of his army; as though he had
   said, "I have already declared this to be the hand of God: for the
   Assyrians will not come here of their own accord; that is, without
   being stirred up by God: but as this truth has not as yet sufficiently
   moved your feelings, know that God will be the leader of this army: God
   will send forth his voice before his army." Here he distinctly calls
   the Assyrians the attendants of God; they shall not then come as
   soldiers hired by their own king, they shall not come as carrying on
   war for an earthly king, but the Lord himself shall guide them, and by
   his voice encourage them. By this expression the Prophet shows that the
   Jews would not have a contest with one nation only, but also with God
   himself and with all his celestial power.

   He therefore says, God will utter his voice before his army; for very
   great will be his camp. He again repeats that the multitude which was
   to execute the biddings of God would be so great, that the Jews would
   seek forces in vain to resist it. Strong, he says, is he who executes
   his word. He expresses more clearly what I have stated already, that
   though cupidity impelled the Assyrians, that though they were intent on
   rapine and plunder, yet they would not come merely through an impulse
   of their own, but that the Lord would prepare them and use them as his
   instruments: "Powerful, then, is he who does the word of God; that is,
   who executes his command; not that the Assyrians designed to show
   regard to God or to offer to him their service, as the faithful do, who
   willingly devote themselves to Him; but that the Lord by his secret
   providence guided them and employed them to punish his own people.

   He afterwards adds in the last place, For great will be the day of
   Jehovah and terrible, and who will endure it? In this clause he shows
   that the vengeance would be such as would reduce the Jews to nothing,
   and that it was now time to repent, and that if they still turned a
   deaf ear to what the Prophet denounces, God would punish their
   perverseness.

   Now with regard to what he says, that strong is he who does the word of
   God, we have elsewhere reminded you that men serve God in two ways, --
   they either execute his commands willingly, or are led to do so by a
   blind impulse. The angels and the faithful perform God's commands,
   because they are guided by the spirit of obedience; but the wicked
   also, and the devil who is their head, fulfill God's biddings; this,
   however, is not to be imputed to them as obedience, for they are only
   led by their own wicked purposes, and seek to destroy, as far as they
   can, the whole government of God; but they are constrained, willing or
   unwilling, to obey God, not of their own accord or willingly, as I have
   said, but the Lord turns all their efforts to answer the end which he
   has decreed. Whatever, then, Satan and the wicked attempt to do, they
   at the same time serve God and obey his commands; and though they rage
   against God, he yet holds them in by his bridle, and also so guides
   their attempts and their purposes as to answer his own ends. In this
   sense, then, it is, that Joel says, that the Assyrians would do the
   word of God; not that it was their purpose to obey God, not that God
   had commanded them anything, but he puts the word of the Lord here for
   his secret purpose. As, then, the wicked perform no voluntary obedience
   to God, but constrained, when they execute God's commands; so there is
   a twofold command or word of God: there is the command by which he
   teaches his own children and leads them to obey him; and there is
   another, a hidden command, when he deigns not to address men, and shows
   not what pleases him or what he means to do, but suffers them to be led
   by their own sinful desires; in the meantime, he has his own secret
   purpose, which by them he executes though without their intention.
     __________________________________________________________________

   Prayer.

   Grant, almighty God, that as thou invites us daily with so much
   kindness and love, and makes known to us thy paternal goodwill, which
   thou didst once show to us in Christ thy Son, -- O grant, that, being
   allured by thy goodness, we may surrender ourselves wholly to thee, and
   become so teachable and submissive, that wherever thou guidest us by
   thy Spirit thou mayest follow us with every blessing: let us not, in
   the meantime, be deaf to thy warnings; and whenever we deviate from the
   right way, grant that we may immediately awake when thou warnest us,
   and return to the right path, and deign thou also to embrace us and
   reconcile us to thyself through Christ our Lord. Amen.

     __________________________________________________________________

   Lecture Forty-second
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 2:12-13

   12. Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all
   your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

   12. Atque etiam nunc dicet Jehova, convertimini ad me in toto corde
   vestro, et in jejunio, et in fletu, et in planctu.

   13. And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord
   your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great
   kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

   13. Et scindite cor vestrum, et non vestimenta vestra, et convertimini
   ad Jehovam Deum vestrum, quia ipse propitius et misericors, longus ad
   iram, et multus clementia, et poenitebit eum super malo.


   The Prophet, having proclaimed the dreadful judgment which we have
   noticed, now shows that he did not intend to terrify the people without
   reason, but, on the contrary, to encourage them to repentance; which he
   could not do without offering to them the hope of pardon; for as we
   have said before, and as it may be collected from the whole of
   Scripture, men cannot be restored to the right ways except they
   entertain a hope of God's mercy inasmuch as he who has been ungodly,
   when he despairs, wholly disregards himself, observing no restraint.
   Hence the Prophet now represents God as propitious and merciful, that
   he might thus kindly allure the people to repentance.

   He says first, [3]And even now the Lord says, Turn ye to me. The
   Prophet exhorts the people, not in his own name, but speaks in the
   person of God himself. He might indeed have borne witness to the favor
   which he proclaimed; but the discourse becomes more striking by
   introducing God as the speaker. And there is a great importance in the
   words, even now; for when one considers what we have noticed in the
   beginning of the chapter, a prospect of relief could hardly have been
   deemed possible. God had, indeed, in various ways, tried to restore the
   people to the right way; but, as we have seen, the greater part had
   become so void of feeling, that the scourges of God were wholly
   ineffectual; there remained, then, nothing but the utter destruction
   which the Prophet threatened them with at the beginning of the second
   chapter. Yet, in this state of despair, he still sets forth some hope
   of mercy, provided they turned to him; even now, he says. The particles
   W+G+M% ugam are full of emphasis, "even now" that is, "Though ye have
   too long abused God's forbearance, and with regard to you, the
   opportunity is past, for ye have closed the door against yourselves;
   yet even now, -- which no one could have expected, and indeed what
   ought to be thought incredible by yourselves, -- even now God waits for
   you, and invites you to entertain hope of salvation." But it was
   necessary that these two particles, even now, should be added; for it
   is not in the power of men to fix for themselves, as they please, the
   season for mercy. God here shows the acceptable time, as Isaiah says
   (Isaiah 49:8) to be, when he has not yet rejected men, but when he
   offers to be propitious. We must then remember that the Prophet gives
   not here liberty to men to delay the time, as the profane and scorners
   are wont to do, who trifle with God from day to day; but the Prophet
   here shows that we must obey the voice of God, when he invites us, as
   also Isaiah says, `Behold now the time accepted, behold the day of
   salvation: seek God now, for he is near; call on him while he may be
   found.' So then, as I have reminded you, these two particles, even now,
   are added, that men may be made attentive to the voice of God when he
   invites them, that they may not delay till tomorrow, for the Lord may
   then close the door, and repentance may be too late. We at the same
   time see how indulgently God bears with men, since he left a hope of
   pardon to a people so obstinate and almost past recovery.

   Even now, he says, turn ye to me with your whole heart. The Prophet
   here reminds us that we must not act feignedly with God; for men are
   ever disposed to trifle with him. We indeed see what almost the whole
   world is wont to do. God graciously meets us and is ready to receive us
   unto favor, though we have a hundred times alienated ourselves from
   him; but we bring nothing but hypocrisy and disguise: hence the Prophet
   declares here distinctly, that this dissimulation does not please God,
   and that they can hide nothing, who only pretend some sort of
   repentance by external signs, and that what is required is the serious
   and sincere feeling of the heart. This is what he means by the whole
   heart; not that perfect repentance can be formed in men, but the whole
   or complete heart is opposed to a divided heart: for men well
   understand that God is not ignorant; yet they divide their heart, and
   when they bestow some portion on God, they think that he is satisfied;
   and in the meantime there remains an interior and some hidden
   perverseness, which separates them far from God. This vice the Prophet
   now condemns, when he says, Turn with the whole heart. He then shows
   that it is an hypocrisy abominable to God, when men keep the greater
   part of their heart, as it were, closed up, and think it enough, if
   only they bring, so to speak, some volatile feeling.

   He afterwards adds, fasting, and weeping, and mourning; and by these
   words he shows how grievously they had sinned; as though he said, that
   they deserved not only one kind of destruction, but were worthy of
   hundred deaths; that God therefore would not now be content with any
   common repentance, and except they came suppliantly and deeply felt
   their own guilt. It is indeed true, that we ought daily and even
   constantly to sigh, because we continue almost every hour to provoke
   God's wrath against us; but the Prophet here speaks of solemn fasting,
   because the people had so grievously offended God that there was
   required some extraordinary confession, such as he here describes. Come
   then to me with fasting, and weeping, and wailing" that is "Show at
   length that you are guilty and submissively deprecate the vengeance
   which ye have through your wickedness deserved." He speaks like a
   judge, when he tells the criminal, not to act dissemblingly, but simply
   to confess his fault. The guilty are indeed wont to weave many excuses
   to avoid punishment; but when the judge deems a man guilty, and he is
   abundantly proved to be so, he says, "What good can you do? for these
   your shuffling and subterfuges make your case worse: for now I hold you
   bound, and you cannot escape by these shifts, and will only the more
   provoke my displeasure. If then you wish me to show you favor, own how
   grievously you have offended, and without any coloring; confess now
   that you are worthy of death, and that nothing else remains for you,
   except I mercifully pardon you: for if you try to extenuate your crime,
   if you attempt by some excuse to seek reprief, you will gain nothing."
   So now does the Lord deal with this people: Turn to me, he says; first,
   sincerely; then with fasting, with weeping, and with wailing; that is,
   "Let it appear that you suppliantly deprecate the destruction which ye
   have deserved, for moderate repentance will not do, inasmuch as ye are
   guilty before me of so many crimes." We now apprehend the Prophet's
   meaning.

   He then subjoins, Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to
   Jehovah your God. The Prophet again repeats that we ought to deal
   sincerely with God; for all those ceremonies, by which men imagine that
   they discharge their duties, are mere mockeries, when they are not
   preceded by a pure and sincere heart. But as they were wont under
   mournful circumstances to rend their garments, he therefore says, "God
   has become now insensible to these customs; for with regard to men, ye
   are ceremonious enough, and more than enough: ye indeed rend your
   garments, and thus draw pity from men, and yet your heart remains
   whole, there is no rending, no opening; Rend then your heart," that is,
   "Leave off thus to mock God, as ye have been wont to do, and begin with
   your heart." It is indeed certain that the orientals were given to many
   ceremonies; but the vice the Prophet here condemns in the Jews is
   natural as it were to all men; so that every one of us is inclined to
   hypocrisy, and has need of having his attention drawn to the sincerity
   of the heart. We must then remember that this truth is to be set forth
   at all times and to all nations. Let any one search himself and he will
   find that he labors under this evil, -- that he would rather reed his
   garment than his heart. And since the Jews usually observed this
   custom, the Prophet does not without reason deride it, and say, that it
   was of no account with God except they rent their hearts. But when he
   bids them to rend their hearts and not their garments, though he seems
   to repudiate that external practice, he does not yet distinctly condemn
   it, but intimates that it was a lawful thing, provided the heart was
   rent. Now this expression, Rend the heart, ought not to be deemed
   harsh, for it is to be referred to the external practice: when they
   rent the garments, they made themselves naked before God and put off
   all ornaments; but he wished them to be displeased with themselves, and
   rather to make bare the heart itself. The heart of hypocrites, we know,
   is wrapped up, and they ever have recourse to hiding places, that they
   may avoid the presence of God. Then the similitude is most suitable,
   when the Prophet bids them to rend the heart. Besides, the passage is
   clear enough, and needs not many remarks; it means, that God regards
   the real feeling of the heart, as it is said in Jeremiah [4:14]; he is
   not content with ocular obedience, such as men exhibit, but he would
   have us to deal with him in sincerity and truth.

   Hence he repeats again, Turn to Jehovah your God. Here the Prophet
   shows, from what God is, that men foolishly and grossly deceive
   themselves when they would please God with their ceremonies: "What!" he
   says, "have you to do with a child?" For the import of the words is
   this, -- "When an offense against man is to be removed, ye anxiously
   come to him: now when ye perceive that God is angry with you, ye think
   that he will be propitious to you, if ye only trifle with him; can God
   bear such a reproach?" We hence see what the Prophet means when he
   says, Turn to Jehovah your God; that is, "Remember that you have not to
   do with a block of wood or with a stone, but with your God, who
   searches hearts, and whom mortals can by no crafts deceive " The same
   is said by Jeremiah, `Israel, if thou turnest, turn to me,' (Jeremiah
   4:1;) that is, "Pretend not to turn by circuitous courses and windings,
   but come in a direct way, and with a real feeling of heart, for I am he
   who calls thee " So also now the Prophet says, Turn to Jehovah your God

   Then follows the promise of pardon, [4]For he is propitious and
   merciful. We have already said that repentance is preached in vain,
   except men entertain a hope of salvation; for they can never be brought
   to fear God truly, unless they trust in him as their Father, as it is
   stated in Psalm 130:4 `With thee is propitiation that thou mayest be
   feared.' Hence, whenever the Prophets were anxious to effect anything
   by their doctrine, while exhorting the people to repentance, they
   joined to the invitation "Come," the second part, "Ye shall not come in
   vain." This "Come," comprehends all exhortations to repentance; "Ye
   shall not come in vain," includes this testimony respecting God's
   grace, that He will never reject miserable sinners, provided they
   return to him with the heart. The Prophet then now engaged on this
   second head; God, he says, is propitious and merciful. And this
   connection is to be observed by us; for as Satan fills us with
   insensibility when God invites us, so also he draws us away into
   despair when God denounces judgment, when he shows that it is not time
   for sleep. "What good will you gain?" Thus Satan by his craft
   disheartens us, that we may labor in vain, when we seek to be
   reconciled to God. Hence, whenever Scripture exhorts us to repentance,
   let us learn to join this second part, "God invites us not in vain." If
   then we return to him, he will be instantly inclined to grant
   forgiveness; for he wills not that miserable men should labor in vain
   or be tormented. This is the benefit of which the Prophet speaks when
   he says that God is propitious and merciful.

   He afterwards adds, that he is slow to wraths and abundant in goodness.
   These testimonies respecting God occur often in other places; and all
   the Prophets, as well as David, have borrowed these declarations from
   Exodus 34:6; where the nature of God is described; and He is said there
   to be propitious and merciful, slow to wrath, and abundant in goodness.
   Though there is no need of dwelling longer on these words, as we
   perceive the Prophet's design; yet more extended remarks will not be
   superfluous since the Prophet so much at large recommends the mercy of
   God. Though men too much indulge themselves in security, yet when God
   calls them to himself, they are not able to receive his favor; though
   he may testify twice or thrice that he will be propitious to them, yet
   he cannot persuade them but with great difficulty. This is the reason
   why the Prophet, after having said that God is propitious and merciful,
   adds, that he is slow to wrath, and abundant in goodness; it was, that
   the Jews might overcome their distrust, and that however much despair
   might keep them back, they might not yet hesitate to come to God,
   seeing that he declares himself to be so merciful.

   He at last adds, He will repent of the evil. The Prophet here not only
   describes the nature of God, but goes further and says, that God, who
   is by nature placable, will not remain fixed in his purpose, when he
   sees people returning to him in sincerity; but that he suffers himself
   to be turned to show favor, so as to remit the punishment which he had
   previously denounced. And it is a mode of speaking which often occurs
   in Scripture, that God repents of evil; not that he really changes his
   purpose, but this is said according to the apprehensions of men: for
   God is in himself immutable, and is said to turn from his, purpose,
   when he remits to man the punishment he has previously threatened.
   Whatever proceeds from God's mouth ought to be regarded as an
   inviolable decree; and yet God often threatens us conditionally, and
   though the condition be not expressed it is nevertheless to be
   understood: but when he is pacified to us and relaxes the punishment,
   which was in a manner already decreed according to the external word,
   he is then said to repent. And we know, that as we do not apprehend God
   such as he is, he is therefore described to us in such a way as we can
   comprehend, according to the measure of our infirmity. Hence God often
   puts on the character of men, as though he were like them; and as this
   mode of speaking is common, and we have spoken of it elsewhere, I now
   pass it by more briefly. It follows --
     __________________________________________________________________

   Joel 2:14

   14. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing
   behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord
   your God?

   14. Quis novit an revertatur et poeniteat eum, et relinquat post se
   (alii vertunt, post eum; ego tamen malo sic transferre, Relinquat post
   se) benedictionem, oblationem et libamen Jehovae Deo vestro?


   The Prophet seems at first sight to leave men here perplexed and
   doubtful; and yet in the last verse, as we have seen, he had Offered a
   hope of favor, provided they sincerely repented. Hence the Prophet
   seems not to pursue the same subject, but rather to vary it: and we
   have already said, that all exhortations would be frigid, nay, useless,
   by which God stirs us up to repentance, except he were to testify that
   he is ready to be reconciled. Seeing then that the Prophet here leaves
   the minds of men in suspense, he seems to rescind what he has before
   alleged respecting God's mercy. But we must understand that this is a
   mode of speaking which often occurs in Scripture. For wherever God is
   set forth to us as one hardly willing to pardon, it is done to rouse
   our slothfulness, and also to shake off our negligence. We are at first
   torpid when God invites us, except he applies his many goads; and then
   we act formally in coming to him: it is hence needful that both these
   vices should be corrected in us, -- our torpor must be roused, -- and
   those self-complacences, in which we too much indulge ourselves, must
   be shaken off. And this is the object of the Prophet; for he addresses,
   as we have seen, men almost past recovery. If he had only said, God is
   ready to pardon, if he had used this way of speaking, they would have
   come negligently, and would not have been sufficiently touched by the
   fear of God: hence the Prophet here, as it were, debates the matter
   with them, "Even though we ought justly to despair of pardon, (for we
   are unworthy of being received by God,) yet there is no reason why we
   should despair; for who knows" which means "God is placable and we must
   not despair."

   The Prophet then sets forth here the difficulty of obtaining pardon,
   not to leave men in suspense, for this would be contrary to his former
   doctrine; but to create in them a desire for the grace of God, that
   they might by degrees gather courage, and yet not immediately rise to
   confidence, but that they might come anxiously to God, and with much
   deliberation, duly considering their offenses. We now understand the
   purpose of the Prophet.

   But this will be easier understood by supposing two gradations in
   repentance. Then the first step is, when men feel how grievously they
   have offended. Here sorrow is not to be immediately removed after the
   manner of impostors, who cajole the consciences of men, so that they
   indulge themselves, and deceive themselves, with empty self-flatteries.
   For the physician does not immediately ease pain, but considers what is
   more necessary: it may be he will increase it, for a thorough clearing
   may be needful. So also do the Prophets of God, when they observe
   trembling consciences, they do not immediately apply soothing
   consolations, but on the contrary show that they ought not, as we have
   already said, to trifle with God, and exhort them while willingly
   running to God, to set before them his terrible judgment, that they may
   be more and more humbled. The second step is, when the Prophets cheer
   the minds of men, and show that God now willingly meets them, and
   desires nothing more than to see men willing to be reconciled to him.

   The Prophet is now urging them to take the first step, when he says,
   Who knows whether the Lord will turn? But some may object and say,
   "Then the Prophet has spoken inconsistently; for first he has described
   God as merciful, and has spoken of his goodness without any reserve;
   and then he throws in a doubt: he seems here to observe no
   consistency." I answer, that the Prophets of God do not always very
   anxiously hold to what seems consistent in their discourses; and
   farther, that the Prophet has not spoken here in vain or
   inconsiderately; for he, in the first place, generally sets forth God
   as merciful, and afterwards addresses particularly a people who were
   almost past recovery, and says, "Though ye think that it is all over
   with you as to your salvation, and ye deserve to be rejected by God,
   yet ye ought not to continue in this state; rather entertain a hope of
   pardon " This is what the Prophet had in view; he throws in no doubt,
   so as to make the sinner uncertain, whether or not he could obtain
   pardons; but as I have said, he wished only to rouse torpidity, and
   also to shake off vain self-flatteries.

   He then adds, And leave after him a blessing. We here see more clearly
   what I have already said, that the Prophet, considering the state of
   those whom he addressed, states a difficulty; for the Jews were not to
   escape temporary punishment, and the Prophet did not intend to dismiss
   them in a secure state, as though God would inflict on them no
   punishment; nay, he wished to bend their necks that they might receive
   the strokes of God, and calmly submit to his correction. But all hope
   might have been lost, when the Jews saw, that though the Prophet had
   declared that God would be propitious, they were yet not spared, but
   suffered severe punishment for their sins, -- "What does this mean? Has
   God then disappointed us? We hoped that he would be propitious, and yet
   he ceases not to be angry with us." Hence the Prophet now subjoins,
   [5]Who knows whether he will leave behind him a blessing?

   What is this -- behind him? What does it mean? Even this, that as God
   was to be a severe judge to punish the people's wickedness, the Prophet
   now says, "Though God beats you with his rods, he can yet relieve you
   by administering comfort. Ye indeed think that you are beaten almost to
   death; but the Lord will temperate his wrath, so that a blessing will
   follow these most grievous punishments " We now, then, understand the
   purpose of the Prophet: for he does not