II.
(1) BLOW YE THE TRUMPET. — The preaching of the prophet increases in
its intensity. Behind the locusts, exemplified by them, there is a
still more terrible visitation. He sees on the horizon a mustering of
the nations hostile to his people, bent on destroying them. Let the
priests stir up the p... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MORNING SPREAD UPON THE MOUNTAINS. — The Hebrew word here used
for morning is derived from a verb, _Shachar,_ which has for one
meaning “to be or become black,” for the second “to break
forth” as light. From this latter signification is derived the word
for morning — dawn; from the former comes... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE THEM... BEHIND THEM. — As with the locusts, so with the
invading hosts of enemies: the country is found a paradise, and left a
desert.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE APPEARANCE OF HORSES. — So also are locusts described in the
Revelation: “And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses
prepared unto battle” (from this likeness the Italians call a locust
cavalletta)... “and the sound of their wings was as the sound of
chariots, of many horses running... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL FACES SHALL GATHER BLACKNESS. — There are different explanations
of this Hebrew phrase, which expresses the result of terror. Some
translate it “withdraw their ruddiness,” _i.e.,_ grow pale;
others, “draw into themselves their colour;” others, “contract a
livid character.” The alternative render... [ Continue Reading ]
(7-9) THEY SHALL RUN LITE MIGHTY MEN. — The onward irresistible
march of the invaders is graphically described by the illustration of
the advance of locusts. They appear on the mountains which environ the
city, they mount the walls, they rush through the streets, they enter
the houses, they are in p... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EARTH SHALL QUAKE BEFORE THEM. — Some commentators call this
description “a specimen of the highly-wrought hyperbolical features
of Hebrew poetry,” but it is the presence and judgment, the voice of
the Lord in the thunder, which causes this trepidation. The signs in
the heavens will be manifeste... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS ARMY. — “In every stage of their existence these locusts give
a most impressive view of the power of God to punish a wicked world”
(_The Land and the Book,_ p. 417).... [ Continue Reading ]
SAITH THE LORD. — The word _saith_ is here no common word in the
Hebrew. It implies an authoritative and most weighty utterance, as in
Psalms 110:1, “The Lord _said_ unto my Lord.” “The word is used
in almost every instance of the immediate utterance of God Himself;
more rarely of that of the prophe... [ Continue Reading ]
REPENTETH HIM OF THE EVIL — _i.e.,_ in the sense that of His own
will He would not the death of a sinner. The judgments of God, like
His mercies, are conditional. As the “Lord repented (_i.e.,_
grieved) that He had made Saul king over Israel,” and revoked the
appointment, so now He repenteth Him of... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN A MEAT OFFERING. — The returning favour of the Lord will enable
the daily sacrifices to be restored, which had failed through the
visitation (Joel 1:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
SANCTIFY A FAST. — The prophet renews, therefore, his summons to the
priests to proclaim a day of humiliation, on which all, without
distinction of age or circumstances, are to be required to present
themselves before the Lord. There was no room for the plea, “I have
married a wife, and therefore I... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE HEATHEN SHOULD RULE OVER THEM. — All mention of the locusts
is dropped. The lesser calamity is swallowed up in the apprehension of
the greater.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL NO MORE MAKE YOU. — The reply of the Lord is directed to
remove the fear that by reason of the destruction of the fruits of the
land the people would be at the mercy of the invading nations.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NORTHERN ARMY. — Literally, _him of the north._ “This is an
exception to the usual direction of the flight of locusts” (Stanley,
_Jewish Church_)_,_ but it may be literally applied to the Assyrian
hordes, whom the Jews generally spoke of as dwelling in the north. In
Jeremiah 1:13 the symbolical... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR NOT, O LAND... — The sentence of the reversal of judgment has
gone forth, and all nature — animate and inanimate, rational and
irrational — which had been included in the curse is summoned to
rejoice in the blessing vouchsafed by the Lord.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE CHILDREN OF ZION — _i.e.,_ they were called upon to manifest
their rejoicings in the place where the trumpet had been sounded for
the proclamation of the fast.
THE FORMER RAIN MODERATELY. — St. Paul adduces the gift of the rain
as a witness to the people of Lystra of the existence and beneficenc... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL RESTORE TO YOU THE YEARS — _i.e.,_ the years which would have
been necessary in the ordinary course of nature for the land to
recover from the ravages of the “great army.”... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL. — This Divine assurance, similar to
that with which the book ends, prepares the way for the spiritual
blessings about to be announced.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH. — Holy Scripture is itself
the interpreter of this most weighty promise. St. Peter’s quotation
and application of it in the Acts is its commentary. “Afterward “
— LXX., after these things becomes in the apostle’s mouth —
“in the last days” — _i.e.,_ in the C... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALSO (better, _even_) UPON THE SERVANTS.... — The result of
which promise, according to St. Peter’s interpretation, is “They
shall prophesy.” “The promise is to you and to your children, and
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call” (Acts 2:39).... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SUN... AND THE MOON. — These words, recalling some of the
portents in the ancient history of the Jews (especially as instanced
in some of the plagues of Egypt) are taken up by our Lord Himself, as
ushering in the great day of judgment; and they are echoed again by
St. John in the vision of the o... [ Continue Reading ]
DELIVERANCE. — Or, perhaps better, _those that escape._ St. Paul
quotes from this verse (Romans 10:13), transferring the reference to
the Messianic advent, to prove the universality of the deliverance
effected by our Lord, who abolished the difference between Jew and
Greek. In His Church, the heaven... [ Continue Reading ]