Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Joel 2:18-27
Having Accepted His People's Repentance YHWH Promises To Deliver Them from The Plagues Of Locusts By Casting The Locusts Into The Seas On Both Sides Of The Land And That He Will Then Restore The Fruitfulness of Their Land (Joel 2:18).
After the plagues came the deliverance, presumably because the people repented in accordance with Joel's instructions (Joel 2:15). As a consequence of their repentance YHWH was ‘jealous' for His land. He one again recognised it as His own and determined to free it from all adversity, and to make it fruitful once again. He promised that He would cause ‘the northern menace' to be removed far off and to be driven into the wilderness, into the Dead Sea to the east and the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) to the west, where they would rot, and called on the land and the wild animals to be afraid no longer concerning the lack of vegetation. And He called on the land and the people to be glad and rejoice because the rains would come in due season and the land would once again flourish resulting in more than making up for what had been lost. No more would they suffer shame among the nations because they were seen as the people whose God could not save them from the extreme locust devastation, and the consequence would be that they will know that YHWH is in the midst of them, and that there is no other God like Him.
Analysis of Joel 2:18.
a Then was YHWH jealous for his land, and had pity on his people (Joel 2:18).
b And YHWH answered and said to his people, “Behold, I will send you grain, and new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with it, and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations (Joel 2:19).
c But I will remove far off from you the northern (army, menace), and will drive it into a land barren and desolate, its forepart into the eastern sea, and its hinder part into the western sea, and its stench will come up, and its ill savour will come up, because it has done great things (Joel 2:20).
d Do not be afraid, O land, be glad and rejoice, for YHWH has done great things (Joel 2:21).
e Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine yield their strength (Joel 2:22).
d Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in YHWH your God, for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month, and the floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil (Joel 2:23).
c And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the young (hopping) locust, and the infant (devouring) locust, and the adult (swarming) locust, My great army which I sent among you (Joel 2:25)
b And you will eat in plenty and be satisfied, and will praise the name of YHWH your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you, and My people will never be put to shame (Joel 2:26).
a And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am YHWH your God, and there is none else, and my people will never be put to shame (Joel 2:27).
Note that in ‘a' YHWH was jealous for His land and had pity on His people, and in the parallel they will know that He is in their midst, and that He is their God and the only God, while His people will never be put to shame. In ‘b' YHWH will make their land fruitful again, and in the parallel they will eat in plenty and be satisfied. In ‘c' He will remove from their midst the invading ‘army' of locusts, and in the parallel He will restore the years of fruitfulness which the locusts have destroyed, that great ‘army' that He had sent among them. In ‘d' the land is to be glad and rejoice because YHWH has done great things, and in the parallel the children of Zion are to be glad and rejoice because He will give the necessary rains, making the land fruitful. Centrally in ‘e' the beasts of the field are to be unafraid because the pastures of the wilderness will flourish, and the trees will bear their fruit.
‘Then was YHWH jealous for his land,
And had pity on his people.
That Chapter s 1 & 2 refer to a past experience comes out here in that YHWH now acted to deliver His land and His people. He was ‘jealous' for the land (compare how a good father will be ‘jealous' for his family, wanting to ensure that they enjoy the very best). That is, He was determined to rid it of all that marred and spoiled it, because it was His land and His inheritance (see Joel 2:17) and He was responsible for its upkeep and wanted to ensure the very best for it. Furthermore He had compassion on His people. Note the distinction. The people needed compassion because while they were in rebellion He could not be ‘jealous' over them. Once, however, they had turned to Him again it was different. And as a result both would be able to be glad and rejoice at what He was going to do.
‘And YHWH answered and said to his people,
Behold, I will send you grain, and new wine, and oil,
And you will be satisfied with it,
And I will no more make you a reproach among the nations,
He promised that he would once again send them grain, new wine and oil, the three staple products of the land, and he would do it to such an extent that they would be satisfied with it. And in doing so He would remove the reproach that they were experiencing among the nations, as their neighbours declared that their God had been unable to deliver them from the extreme plagues of locusts (see their cry in Joel 2:17, and the Judean appeal for their reproach to be dealt with)., They would no longer suffer under such reproach when their neighbours saw what God had done in removing the locusts and providing such bountiful harvest.
But I will remove far off from you the northern (army or menace),
And will drive it into a land barren and desolate,
Its forepart into the eastern sea,
And its hinder part into the western sea,
And its stench will come up, and its ill savour will come up,
Because it has done great things.'
For He would remove from them the menace that had come from ‘the north'. This need only indicate that the major hatching out of the young locust/grasshoppers had occurred to the north of Jerusalem so that they had approached Jerusalem from the north, or it could signify that they had been blown in from the Syrian desert to the north. Alternatively it may be that the north, from which any major unanticipated enemy came (they had been dealing with their neighbours and Egypt for centuries and saw them as a local problem) was seen as a symbol of all that was bad and unanticipated, so that ‘northern menace' indicated substantial interference from unknown external sources. There may even be the suggestion that the locust plagues were seen as coming from ‘the mountains of the gods' in the north (Isaiah 14:13).
And God promised that He would drive the locusts out of the land into the desolate wilderness (the biter bit), partly into the Dead Sea and the desert beyond, and partly into the Great Sea, and that they would die there so that, as their bodies decayed, a great stench would come up. The stench of locusts who had drowned and been thrown up rotting on shore was proverbial. And this would occur to them because they had done ‘great things', i.e. had totally devastated the land, especially to the north of Jerusalem. They had caused as much devastation to the vegetation as an invading and ruthless enemy.
‘Do not be afraid, O land, be glad and rejoice,
For YHWH has done great things.'
In consequence the land need no longer be afraid of any further such activity. It could be glad and rejoice because YHWH had also done ‘great things', but in His case for the benefit of the land. ‘O land' may not only signify the land itself, but also the people of the land.
‘Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness do spring forth,
For the tree bears its fruit,
The fig-tree and the vine yield their strength.'
It is possibly significant that while the wild animals (or the domesticated animals) are told that they need no longer be afraid of a future absence of their food supply, they are not told to be glad and rejoice. It is the people who worship and rejoice. The animals just receive what God gives, even though they are symbolically addressed as though they could understand. The prophetic message was in fact really to the people. Note how this is a reversal of Joel 1:10; Joel 1:12; Joel 1:18. In Joel 1:18 the pastures of the wilderness are emphasised.
Elsewhere in Scripture the wild animals along with the whole of creation are also depicted as praising God and giving Him glory (e.g. Psalms 148:10; Revelation 5:13, and symbolically in the cherubim/living creatures with their fourfold manifestation of man, lion, eagle and ox), but then it is, of course, a use of anthropomorphism, for animals do not worship.
The wild animals (or domesticated animals) are promised that in the very wilderness areas where they dwell, which has been devastated equally by the young locusts, the vegetation will ‘spring forth' (a verb only used elsewhere in Genesis 1:11), the trees will bear their fruit, and the fig tree and vine will ‘yield their strength', although this last will mainly benefit men, which is why the children of Zion are also especially to be glad and rejoice.
‘Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in YHWH your God,
For he gives you the former rain in just measure (or ‘in righteousness'),
And he causes to come down for you the rain,
The former rain and the latter rain,
In the first month.'
The ‘children of Zion', who can now be called this because they have been restored, are also to be glad and rejoice, both because of the promised fruitfulness of Joel 2:22, and because YHWH has promised to them that the rains will come abundantly in due season in the right amounts (in just measure). The ‘former rain' in October/November would soften up the ground and prepare it for sowing, the latter rain in March/April would ensure the full growth of the harvest (the ‘first month' of Abib or Nisan occurring around this time). Both these rains are a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 32:15; Isaiah 44:1; Isaiah 55:10. This is not therefore just a promise of fruitful lands, but of all the spiritual blessing that goes with God blessing His people (see Joel 2:28).
‘In just measure (or ‘in righteousness').' The idea may be that the rains would come in the ‘right' amounts, or that they would come because of the restoration of covenant righteousness resulting from their repentance and turning to YHWH.
‘And the floors will be full of wheat,
And the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
The result of the rains coming in abundance at the proper time will be a huge grain harvest, so that the barns will once again be full of wheat, and the flourishing of vines and olives so that the vats will overflow with wine and olive oil (contrast Joel 1:10).
‘And I will restore to you the years that the locust (swarming locust) has eaten,
The young locust (hopping locust), and the infant locust (destroying locust), and the adult locust (gnawing locust),
My great army which I sent among you.
And you will eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And will praise the name of YHWH your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you,
And my people will never be put to shame.'
Their harvests are to be so plentiful that all that has been lost will be restored, all that has been eaten by the different types of locust. Note the phrase ‘the years that the locusts have eaten'. They had not only destroyed what was on the land, but also what had been stored from past years, although some see the plagues as having continued over a number of years. These words should be a great encouragement as we grow older, for they remind us that He can make up for the failures of past years.
YHWH, however, fully acknowledges His responsibility for the locust plagues. They were His great army which He had sent among them. But now that all has been put right between them, the people will once again have abundance of food. They will eat in plenty and be satisfied. And in consequence they will praise the Name of YHWH their God, the One Who will have dealt so wondrously with them.
And they will no more be subjected to shame before their neighbours. All Israel's neighbours were aware of the great claims that Israel/Judah made concerning their invisible God, and the plagues that had come upon them would undoubtedly have resulted in great shame because their boasts appeared top have been unfulfilled. What the neighbours failed to recognise was that Judah's God, unlike their own gods, was a covenant God Whose covenant included both blessings and cursings. Thus their view had been that His failure was simply due to His inability to do anything.
Note the emphasis (in God's words) on the fact that the damage was done by the locusts already outlined in Joel 1:4. It is as though God wanted to emphasise that this was a real locust invasion, just in case anyone would think otherwise.
‘And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
And that I am YHWH your God, and there is none else,
And my people will never be put to shame.'
And the final result of what has happened will be that Judah/Israel will know that YHWH is among them, sometimes for good and sometimes for ill, and that He is their God and that there is no other god. Thus to look anywhere else than to Him would be foolish. And they could be assured that while they responded to Him and His covenant, they would never be put to shame, because God would never fail them. The repetition of ‘my people will never be put to shame' brings out how deeply Joel felt that shame that had been brought on God's Name because the judgment had been necessary, even if it gave the wrong impression to outsiders.
Note the emphasis on YOUR God and MY people. Because they had repented and returned to Him full covenant relations had been restored.