16 Come quickly, all you nations round about, and get yourselves together there: make your strong ones come down, O Lord.
And he said, The Lord will give a lion's cry from Zion, his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the fields of the keepers of sheep will become dry, and the top of Carmel will be wasted away.
The earth is troubled before them and the heavens are shaking: the sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining: And the Lord is thundering before his forces; for very great is his army; for he is strong who gives effect to his word: for the day of the Lord is great and greatly to be feared, and who has strength against it?
For this is what the Lord of armies has said: In a short time I will make a shaking of the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land;
They will go after the Lord; his cry will be like that of a lion; his cry will be loud, and the children will come from the west, shaking with fear;
So, as a prophet, give out these words among them, and say to them, The voice of the Lord will be sounding like a lion from on high; he will send out his voice from his holy place, like the loud voice of a lion, against his flock; he will give a cry, like those who are crushing the grapes, against all the people of the earth. A noise will come, even to the end of the earth; for the Lord has a cause against the nations, he will give his decision against all flesh; as for the evil-doers, he will give them to the sword, says the Lord.
He will have a place on high: he will be safely shut in by the high rocks: his bread will be given to him; his waters will be certain.
For you have been my secret place, and my high tower from those who made war on me.
And there were flames and voices and thunders; and there was a great earth-shock so that never, from the time when men were on the earth, had there been so great an earth-shock, so full of power.
And the house of God which is in heaven was open; and the ark of his agreement was seen in his house, and there were flames and voices and thunders and an earth-shock and a rain of ice.
Whose voice was the cause of the shaking of the earth; but now he has made an oath, saying, There will be still one more shaking, not only of the earth, but of heaven.
And the families of Judah will say in their hearts, The people of Jerusalem have their strength in the Lord of armies, their God. In that day I will make the families of Judah like a pot with fire in it among trees, and like a flaming stick among cut grain; they will send destruction on all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem will be living again in the place which is hers, that is, in Jerusalem. And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the family of David and the glory of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah. In that day the Lord will be a cover over the people of Jerusalem; and he who is feeble among them in that day will be as strong as David, and the family of David will be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
And I will make the children of Judah strong, and I will be the saviour of the children of Joseph, and I will make them come back again, for I have had mercy on them: they will be as if I had not given them up: for I am the Lord their God and I will give them an answer.
The cry of the lion is sounding; who will not have fear? The Lord God has said the word; is it possible for the prophet to keep quiet?
And I have put my words in your mouth, covering you with the shade of my hand, stretching out the heavens, and placing the earth on its base, and saying to Zion, You are my people.
Suddenly will my righteousness come near, and my salvation will be shining out like the light; the sea-lands will be waiting for me, and they will put their hope in my strong arm. Let your eyes be lifted up to the heavens, and turned to the earth which is under them: for the heavens will go in flight like smoke, and the earth will become old like a coat, and its people will come to destruction like insects: but my salvation will be for ever, and my righteousness will not come to an end.
But there the Lord will be with us in his glory, ... wide rivers and streams; where no boat will go with blades, and no fair ship will be sailing.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the upright man running into it is safe.
<To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah; put to Alamoth. A Song.> God is our harbour and our strength, a very present help in trouble. For this cause we will have no fear, even though the earth is changed, and though the mountains are moved in the heart of the sea; Though its waters are sounding and troubled, and though the mountains are shaking with their violent motion. (Selah.) There is a river whose streams make glad the resting-place of God, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. God has taken his place in her; she will not be moved: he will come to her help at the dawn of morning. The nations were angry, the kingdoms were moved; at the sound of his voice the earth became like wax. The Lord of armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. (Selah.) Come, see the works of the Lord, the destruction which he has made in the earth. He puts an end to wars over all the earth; by him the bow is broken, and the spear cut in two, and the carriage burned in the fire. Be at peace in the knowledge that I am God: I will be lifted up among the nations, I will be honoured through all the earth. The Lord of armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. (Selah.)
The Lord will give strength to his people; the Lord will give his people the blessing of peace.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joel 3
Commentary on Joel 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
In the close of the foregoing chapter we had a gracious promise of deliverance in Mount Zion and Jerusalem; now this whole chapter is a comment upon that promise, showing what that deliverance shall be, how it shall be wrought by the destruction of the church's enemies, and how it shall be perfected in the everlasting rest and joy of the church. This was in part accomplished in the deliverance of Jerusalem from the attempt that Sennacherib made upon it in Hezekiah's time, and afterwards in the return of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon, and other deliverances wrought for the Jewish church between that and Christ's coming. But it has a further reference, to the great redemption wrought out for us by Jesus Christ, and the destruction of our spiritual enemies and all their agents, and will have its full accomplishment in the judgment of the great day. Here is a prediction,
These promises were not of private interpretation only, but were written for our learning, "that we, through patience and comfort of this scripture, might have hope.'
Joe 3:1-8
We have often heard of the year of the redeemed, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion; now here we have a description of the transactions of that year, and a prophecy of what shall be done when it comes, whenever it comes, for it comes often, and at the end of time it will come once for all.
Joe 3:9-17
What the psalmist had long before ordered to be said among the heathen (Ps. 96:10) the prophet here will have in like manner to be published to all nations, That the Lord reigns, and that he comes, he comes to judge the earth, as he had long been judging in the earth. The notice here given of God's judging the nations may have reference to the destruction of Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, and to the Antichrist especially, and all the proud enemies of the Christian church; but some of the best interpreters, ancient and modern (particularly the learned Dr. Polock), think the scope of these verses is to set forth the day of the last judgment under the similitude of God's making war upon the enemies of his kingdom, and his gathering in the harvest of the earth, both which similitudes we find used in the Revelation, ch. 19:11; 14:18. Here we have,
Joe 3:18-21
These promises with which this prophecy concludes have their accomplishments in part in the kingdom of grace, and the comforts and graces of all the faithful subjects of that kingdom, but will have their full accomplishment in the kingdom of glory; for, as to the Jewish church, we know not of any event concerning that which answers to the extent of these promises, and what instances of peace and prosperity they were blessed with, which they may be supposed to be a hyperbolical description of, they were but figures of better things reserved for us, that they in their best estate without us might not be made perfect.