geneva - Joel:1-3

geneva@Joel:1:1 @ The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. (note:)The Argument - The Prophet Joel first rebukes those of Judah, that being now punished with a great plague of famine, still remain obstinate. Secondly, he threatens greater plagues, because they grow daily to a more hardness of heart and rebellion against God in spite of his punishments. Thirdly, he exhorts them to repentance, showing that it must be earnest, and proceed from the heart, because they had grievously offended God. And in doing this, Joel promises that God will be merciful, and not forget his covenant that he made with their fathers, but will send his Christ, who will gather the scattered sheep, and restore them to life and liberty, even though they seem to be dead.(:note)

geneva@Joel:1:2 @ Hear this, ye (note:)Signifying the princes, the priests, and the governors.(:note) old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath He calls the Jews to the consideration of God's judgments, who had now plagued the fruits of the ground for the space of four years, which was because of their sins, and to call them to repentance. this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

geneva@Joel:1:3 @ Tell you your children of it, and let your children shew to their children, and their children to another generation.

geneva@Joel:1:4 @ That which is left of ye palmer worme, hath the grashopper eaten, & the residue of ye grashopper hath the canker worme eaten, and the residue of the canker worme hath the caterpiller eaten.

geneva@Joel:1:5 @ Awake, ye (note:)Meaning, that the reason for their excess and drunkenness was taken away.(:note) drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

geneva@Joel:1:6 @ For (note:)This was another plague with which God had punished them when he stirred up the Assyrians against them.(:note) 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.

geneva@Joel:1:7 @ He maketh my vine waste, & pilleth off the barke of my figge tree: he maketh it bare, and casteth it downe: ye branches therof are made white.

geneva@Joel:1:8 @ Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the (note:)Mourn grievously as a woman who has lost her husband, to whom she has been married in her youth.(:note) husband of her youth.

geneva@Joel:1:9 @ The meat offering and the drink offering is (note:)The signs of God's wrath appeared in his temple, in so much that God's service was discontinued.(:note) cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.

geneva@Joel:1:10 @ The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: (note:)All comfort and substance for nourishment is taken away.(:note) the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

geneva@Joel:1:11 @ Be ye ashamed, O husband men: howle, O ye vine dressers for the wheate, and for the barly, because the haruest of the fielde is perished.

geneva@Joel:1:12 @ The vine is dried vp, and the figge tree is decayed: the pomegranate tree & the palme tree, and the apple tree, euen all the trees of the fielde are withered: surely the ioy is withered away from the sonnes of men.

geneva@Joel:1:13 @

geneva@Joel:1:14 @ Sanctifie you a fast: call a solemne assemblie: gather the Elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the House of the Lorde your God, and cry vnto the Lord,

geneva@Joel:1:15 @ Alas for the day! for the (note:)We see by these great plagues that utter destruction is at hand.(:note) day of the LORD [is] at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

geneva@Joel:1:16 @ Is not the meate cut off before our eyes? & ioy, and gladnesse from the house of our God?

geneva@Joel:1:17 @ The seede is rotten vnder their cloddes: the garners are destroyed: the barnes are broken downe, for the corne is withered.

geneva@Joel:1:18 @ How did the beasts mourne! the herdes of cattel pine away, because they haue no pasture, & the flockes of sheepe are destroyed.

geneva@Joel:1:19 @ O Lord, to thee will I crie: for the fire hath deuoured the pastures of the wildernesse, and the flame hath burnt vp all the trees of the fielde.

geneva@Joel:1:20 @ The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the (note:)That is, drought.(:note) fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

geneva@Joel:2:1 @ Blow ye (note:)He shows the great judgments of God which are at hand, unless they repent.(:note) 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;

geneva@Joel:2:2 @ A (note:)Of affliction and trouble.(:note) day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a Meaning, the Assyrians. 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.

geneva@Joel:2:3 @ A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of (note:)The enemy destroyed our plentiful country, wherever he went.(:note) Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

geneva@Joel:2:4 @ The beholding of him is like the sight of horses, & like the horsemen, so shal they runne.

geneva@Joel:2:5 @ Like the noyse of charrets in the toppes of the mountaines shal they leape, like the noyse of a flame of fire that deuoureth the stubble, and as a mightie people prepared to the battel.

geneva@Joel:2:6 @ Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces (note:)They will be pale and black because of fear, as in (Nah_2:10).(:note) shall gather blackness.

geneva@Joel:2:7 @ They shal runne like strong men, and goe vp to the wall like men of warre, and euery man shall goe forward in his wayes, and they shall not stay in their paths.

geneva@Joel:2:8 @ Neither shall one (note:)For none will be able to resist them.(:note) thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

geneva@Joel:2:9 @ They shal runne to & fro in the citie: they shal runne vpon the wall: they shal clime vp vpon the houses, & enter in at ye windowes like ye thiefe.

geneva@Joel:2:10 @ The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the (note:)Read (Joe_2:31; Isa_13:10; Eze_32:7; Joe_3:15; Mat_24:29)(:note) sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

geneva@Joel:2:11 @ And the LORD shall (note:)The Lord will stir up the Assyrians to execute his judgments.(:note) 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?

geneva@Joel:2:12 @ Therefore also now the Lord sayth, Turne you vnto me with all your heart, & with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning,

geneva@Joel:2:13 @ And (note:)Mortify your affections and serve God with pureness of heart, and not with ceremonies.(:note) 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.

geneva@Joel:2:14 @ Who knoweth [if] he will (note:)He speaks this to stir up their slothfulness, and not that he doubted of God's mercies, if they did repent. For the way in which God repents, {{See Jer_18:8}}(:note) return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [even] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

geneva@Joel:2:15 @ Blowe the trumpet in Zion, sanctifie a fast, call a solemne assembly.

geneva@Joel:2:16 @ Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the (note:)That as all have sinned, so all may show forth signs of their repentance, so that men seeing the children who are not free from God's wrath, might be the more deeply touched with the consideration of their own sins.(:note) children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

geneva@Joel:2:17 @ Let the Priestes, the ministers of the Lord weepe betweene the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and giue not thine heritage into reproche that the heathen should rule ouer them. Wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

geneva@Joel:2:18 @ Then will the LORD be (note:)If they repent he shows that God will preserve and defend them with a most fervent affection.(:note) jealous for his land, and pity his people.

geneva@Joel:2:19 @ Yea, the Lord wil answere and say vnto his people, Beholde, I will send you corne, and wine, and oyle, and you shalbe satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproche among the heathen,

geneva@Joel:2:20 @ But I will remove far off from you the (note:)That is, the Assyrians your enemies.(:note) northern [army], and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the Called the Salt Sea, or Persian Sea: meaning, that even though this army was so great that it filled all from this sea to the Mediterranean Sea, yet he would scatter them. east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

geneva@Joel:2:21 @ Feare not, O land, but be glad, and reioyce: for the Lord wil do great things.

geneva@Joel:2:22 @ Be not afrayde, ye beastes of the fielde: for the pastures of the wildernesse are greene: for the tree beareth her fruite: the figge tree & the vine do giue their force.

geneva@Joel:2:23 @ Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain (note:)That is, such as would come by just measure, and would be sent when God was reconciled with them.(:note) moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first [month].

geneva@Joel:2:24 @ And the barnes shalbe full of wheate, and the presses shal abound with wine and oyle.

geneva@Joel:2:25 @ And I will render you the yeeres that the grashopper hath eaten, the canker worme and the caterpiller and the palmer worme, my great hoste which I sent among you.

geneva@Joel:2:26 @ So you shal eate and be satisfied and praise the Name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt marueilously with you: and my people shal neuer be ashamed.

geneva@Joel:2:27 @ Ye shal also know, that I am in the middes of Israel, and that I am the Lorde your God and none other, & my people shal neuer be ashamed.

geneva@Joel:2:28 @ And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour (note:)That is, in greater abundance, and more broadly than in times past. And this was fulfilled under Christ, when God's graces and his Spirit under the Gospel were abundantly given to the Church; (Isa_44:3; Act_2:17) (Joh_7:38-39).(:note) out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream As they had visions and dreams in ancient times, so will they now have clearer revelations. dreams, your young men shall see visions:

geneva@Joel:2:29 @ And also vpon the seruants, and vpon the maydes in those dayes wil I powre my Spirit.

geneva@Joel:2:30 @ And I will shew (note:)He warns the faithful what terrible things would come, with the intent that they should not look for continual quietness in this world: and yet in all these troubles he would preserve them.(:note) wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

geneva@Joel:2:31 @ The (note:)The order of nature will seem to be changed because of the horrible afflictions that will be in the world; (Isa_13:10; Eze_32:7; Joe_3:15; Mat_24:29).(:note) sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

geneva@Joel:2:32 @ And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call (note:)God's judgments are for the destruction of the unbelievers, and to exhort the godly to call upon the name of God, who will give them salvation.(:note) on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the Meaning the Gentiles by this; (Rom_10:13). remnant whom the LORD shall call.

geneva@Joel:3:1 @ For, behold, in (note:)When I will deliver my Church, which consists of both Jews and Gentiles.(:note) those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

geneva@Joel:3:2 @ I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the (note:)It appears that he alludes to the great victory of Jehoshaphat, whom God used without man's help to destroy the enemies, (2Ch_20:20-26); also he is referring to this word Jehoshaphat, which signifies pleading or judgment, because God would judge the enemies of his Church, as he did there.(:note) valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

geneva@Joel:3:3 @ And they have cast lots for my people; and have (note:)That which the enemy received for the sale of my people, they bestowed upon harlots and drink.(:note) given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

geneva@Joel:3:4 @ Yea, and (note:)He takes the cause of his Church in hand against the enemy, as though the injury were done to himself.(:note) what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me Have I done you wrong, that you will render me the same? a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly [and] speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;

geneva@Joel:3:5 @ For ye haue taken my siluer and my golde, and haue caried into your temples my goodly and pleasant things.

geneva@Joel:3:6 @ The children also of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem haue you solde vnto the Grecians, that ye might send them farre from their border.

geneva@Joel:3:7 @ Beholde, I will rayse them out of the place where ye haue sold them, and will render your reward vpon your owne head,

geneva@Joel:3:8 @ And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they (note:)For afterward God sold them by Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander the Great, because of the love he had for his people, and by this they were comforted, as though they themselves had sold them.(:note) shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken [it].

geneva@Joel:3:9 @ Publish this among the Gentiles: prepare warre, wake vp the mightie men: let all the men of warre drawe neere and come vp.

geneva@Joel:3:10 @

geneva@Joel:3:11 @ Assemble your selues, and come all yee heathen and gather your selues together round about: there shall the Lord cast downe the mightie men.

geneva@Joel:3:12 @ Let the heathen be wakened, and come vp to the valley of Iehoshaphat: for there will I sit to iudge all the heathen round about.

geneva@Joel:3:13 @ Put ye in the (note:)In this way he will encourage the enemies when their wickedness is completely ripe to destroy one another, which he calls the valley of God's judgment.(:note) sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.

geneva@Joel:3:14 @ O multitude, O multitude, come into the valley of threshing: for the day of the Lorde is neere in the valley of threshing.

geneva@Joel:3:15 @ The sunne & moone shalbe darkened, and the starres shall withdrawe their light.

geneva@Joel:3:16 @ The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD [will be] the (note:)God assures his own against all trouble, that when he destroys his enemies, his children will be delivered.(:note) hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

geneva@Joel:3:17 @ So shall ye know that I [am] the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass (note:)The strangers will no longer destroy his Church: and if they do, it is the fault of the people, who by their sins make the breach for the enemy.(:note) through her any more.

geneva@Joel:3:18 @ And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall (note:)He promises to his Church abundance of graces, {{See Eze_47:1}}, which would water and comfort the most barren places; (Amo_9:13).(:note) drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

geneva@Joel:3:19 @

geneva@Joel:3:20 @ But Iudah shall dwell for euer, and Ierusalem from generation to generation.

geneva@Joel:3:21 @ For I will (note:)He had allowed his Church before this to lie in their filthiness, but now he promises to cleanse them and to make them pure unto himself.(:note) cleanse their blood [that] I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

geneva@Acts:2:16 @ But this is that which was spoken by the (note:)There is nothing that can dissolve questions and doubt except testimony taken out of the Prophets: for men's reasonings may be overturned, but God's voice cannot be overturned.(:note) prophet Joel;

geneva@1Peter:1:12 @ Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost (note:)He alludes to the prophecy of Joel, which was exhibited upon the day of Pentecost, in the Apostles, as it were in the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, which this same prophecy Peter declares; (Act_2:6)(:note) sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.