Joel 2:18-27

III. THE PURPOSE OF REPENTANCE IMMEDIATE BLESSINGS

TEXT: Joel 2:18-27

18

Then was Jehovah jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.

19

And Jehovah answered and said unto his people, Behold, I will send you grain, and new wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations;

20

but I will remove far off from you the northern army, 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 shall come up, and its ill savor shall come up, because it hath done great things.

21

Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice; for Jehovah hath done great things.

22

Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth its fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.

23

Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month.

24

And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

25

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.

26

And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and shall praise the name of Jehovah your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame.

27

And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Jehovah your God, and there is none else; and my people shall never be put to shame,

QUERIES

a.

Whose army is this northern army which is to be removed?

b.

What is the former rain and the latter rain?

c.

Why is the phrase, and my people shall never be put to shame, repeated so often?

PARAPHRASE

Then Jehovah burned with eagerness to vindicate His name in His land and so He had compassion upon His people in order to uphold His power and trustworthiness. Jehovah said unto His people, Pay attention now, for I am going to bless the land and send you an abundance of grain, fresh vintage from the grape, and oil from the olive tree. There will be enough to satisfy all. In blessing you so I will cause the heathen to cease their ridicule of you. I will remove far away from you the army of locusts which have swooped down upon you from the north. I will drive it into the arid desert-land putting its front part as far east as the Dead Sea and its rear part as far west as the Mediterranean Sea. The stench of its destruction shall be so putrid and vile as to be unbearable. Jehovah has done these great things.
Indeed, there is no reason for fear, O land of my people. Be glad and rejoice and praise His name for your God has done great and marvelous things. You need not be dumbfounded any longer, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness spring forth with new grass. The trees are now bearing their fruit and the fig tree and the vine yield abundance. Be glad then, you children of the covenant promises made to Zion, and rejoice in your covenant God, Jehovah. He is giving you the Teacher unto Righteousness, And He will send down to you rain, the early rain and the late rain in the first month. And the threshing floors shall be full of wheat and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. I will recompense you for the years which the locust and the licker and the stripper and the gnawer have devoured, My great army which I sent among you. You shall have plenty of food to satisfy your hunger and for this you will praise the name of Jehovah your God because He has delivered you in a wondrous way. I will so bless you that you will not be held up to shame by your enemies any more. When this comes to pass you will know of a truth that I am dwelling in the midst of Israel, my covenant people, and that I am Jehovah, your covenant God, and that there is no other god beside Me. When this comes to pass you will not be an object of shame for your enemies any more.

SUMMARY

For the most part (with the exception only of Joel 2:23 b) the prophet predicts (future perfectas if it had already come to pass) the immediate, material blessings with which God is going to bless His covenant people, because they repented.

COMMENTS

Joel 2:18 THEN WAS JEHOVAH JEALOUS. AND HAD PITY: The word translated jealous means literally, to be red, to glow; hence, be fiery, eager, zealous. The reason Jehovah was jealous for His land is due to the fact that it is impossible to separate in any way the covenant God from the covenant land and people. Whatever is done to the land and the people of the covenant is also done to the covenant God. Whatever is done for the covenant land and people is done by the covenant God. He is jealous for the land and the people because He is jealous of His own name and character.

He had promised centuries before to curse them for rebellious sin and to bless them upon their repentance. They had been judged and punished for their sin, by the locust plague and drought. We presume they have now followed the prophet's instructions and manifested their repentance. Now God, in order to fulfill His immutable Word, was eager to vindicate His name and so He had compassion upon them and blessed them. He said, I AM THAT I AM (Exodus 3:13-15). He would cease to be what this name involves if He did not fulfill His word. He must, by His very nature, show His absolute sovereignty (cf. Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 29:18-20; Zephaniah 1:17-18; Zephaniah 3:7-8). He also loves His people as the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:10; Zechariah 2:8) and He is just as eager to vindicate their name when they are in harmony with His will.

Joel 2:19-20 BEHOLD, I WILL SEND YOU GRAIN, AND NEW WINE, AND OIL. AND I WILL NO MORE MAKE YOU A REPROACH AMONG THE NATIONS;. I WILL REMOVE. FROM YOU THE NORTHERN ARMY. The Lord now promises to bless the people with prosperous crops. They will have enough to satisfy the gnawing hunger that came with the destruction of their crops by the locusts and the drought, They will have enough now to eat and plenty left to reinstitute the offerings of grain and wine which had to be stopped earlier (cf. Joel 1:13), In His deliverance of Israel He will prove to the heathen world that Israel is still the people of the Omnipotent God who delivers with a miraculous hand and their reproach would be removed.

We recall an instance when God, by His mighty power through one of His servants and through miraculous providence, brought an emperor to praise His name and cease reproaching the people of God (cf. Daniel 4:1-37).

God also promised to remove the northern army (my army Joel 2:25) from the land. This army is none other than the locusts. Usually these locust plagues come from the south but they have also been known to blow in on the winds which come from the north. Facing the rising sun in Palestine, before you is east, behind you is west. God caused some to fall into the Dead Sea, some in the Mediterranean and some in the arid desert of the Negeb. Jerome says of the locusts of Palestine, when the shores of both seas were filled with heaps of dead locusts which the waters had cast up, their stench and putrefaction were so noxious as to corrupt the air, so that a pestilence was produced among men and beasts. Stench is all that is left of the great and powerful enemy of God's people. This enemy had wrecked great destructionit had done terrible things but Jehovah God not only removed it but He also restored what had been destroyed. Yes, God even holds the creatures responsible for their devastation upon the apple of His eye (of. Genesis 9:5; Exodus 21:28-32).

Joel 2:21-22 FEAR NOT, O LAND, BE GLAD AND REJOICE. BE NOT AFRAID, YE BEASTS OF THE FIELD. It is not Strange that God would call upon nature itself to praise His name (cf. also Psalms 65:13; Psalms 98:8; Psalms 148:3). Nature is also represented groaning and travailing in pain together until now (Romans 8:22-23). Just as the fields and the beasts were before called upon to mourn and be confounded at the Majestic Power of God in judgment, so now they are called upon to take comfort and security in His Compassion.

Joel 2:23-24 BE GLAD THEN, YE CHILDREN OF ZION. FOR HE GIVETH YOU THE FORMER RAIN. AND HE CAUSETH TO COME DOWN FOR YOU THE RAIN, THE FORMER AND THE LATTER RAIN. AND THE FLOORS SHALL BE FULL. AND THE VATS SHALL OVERFLOW The term Zion is a covenant-relation term. God speaks to them as children of the covenant here, (cf. Isaiah 40-66; Hebrews 12:22; Romans 11:26), and this is to reach its fulfillment in Christ, King of Zion, the church of the living God! The first phrase, the former rain, should be translated, he causeth to come down for you the teacher unto righteousness, according to Keil and Delitzsch. They make the blessings of the grace of God at this time not to consist merely in material things but also in spiritual (which is undoubtedly true), and both these material and spiritual blessings (especially the spiritual) were a teacher unto righteousness. But, further, just as Moses was a type and the whole law was a type of the Messiah to come (Hebrews 10:1), so these blessings at this time were also a type predicting the coming of the ultimate covenant blessing in The Teacher unto Righteousness, the Messiah. Other commentators think this Hebrew word tsedaqah, which has a definite article, can refer only directly (not indirectly as K & D) to the Messiah.

For the sake of the Messianic people, because they have become such by faith and repentance, and for the sake of the Messiah, God will graciously send the former rain (falling from October to December) and the latter rain (March to April). God will send them, first of all (and this is what is meant by the phrase translated in the first month,) the material blessingsHe will bless the temporal Israel with temporal thingsbut later He will bless spiritual Israel with spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ (cf. Ephesians 1:3 ff). These spiritual blessings are spoken of next in Joel 2:28, Joel 3:21. There will, however, be, first of all, abundance of moisture which brings in turn overflowing abundance of agricultural blessings.

Joel 2:25-27 AND I WILL RESTORE TO YOU THE YEARS THAT THE LOCUST HATH EATEN. AND YE SHALL. BE SATISFIED, AND SHALL PRAISE THE NAME OF JEHOVAH. AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL. God promises to repay or recompense the people of Israel for the years which the various stages of the locust plague took away that is the produce of their fields. See Joel 1:4 for a description of the various names used for the locusts. This repayment will be so gracious and abundant that the people will be caused to praise the name of Jehovah. It will also be another of the many evidences that the God of all the earth dwells in their midstthat He is their God and that He is jealous for them when they repent. The mighty deeds of Jehovah are appealed to time and time again as empirical evidence for His existence and His nature (both of wrath and compassion) in the Old Testament (cf. Isa. 41:45; Romans 1:18 ff; Acts 14:15-17). Ezekiel's most prominent refrain is then shall ye know that I the Lord have done it. or spoken it. The Lord has never left Himself without a witness. He has constantly appealed to man with evidence directed at the senses of man (eyesight, hearing, touching, etc.), And so here Joel tells the people that when God's rich blessings of deliverance from the locusts and His miraculous, providential restoration of the grain and wine is seen and experienced they will have evidence that Jehovah is God and that He is among them, and that there is no other god besides Him. And as Joel has hinted (by the teacher unto righteousness) when the Messianic age (of which Joel will speak more fully next) comes the covenant people of God will know that God has shown even more abundantly the immutability of His purpose (Hebrews 6:17-18) to keep His covenant, for all the promises of God find their yea in Christ (are affirmed) 2 Corinthians 1:20.

QUIZ

1.

Why is God jealous for His land? Give two reasons!

2.

How would God demonstrate His pleasure at their repentance (three ways)?

3.

How should the phrase the former rain be translated and to whom does it refer?

4.

How does God prove the immutability of His purpose (what type of evidence does He give)?