Joel 1:13-15 NIV

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:8-13

The consequence of such ruin and havoc is great and general lamentation. The drunkards were first called on in the preceding verses to mourn, for the distress came first and nearest to them. But now the priests, the Lord's ministers, mourn; things inanimate, by a touching personification, join in the lamentation—the land mourneth; the husbandmen that till the ground mourn. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:9-13

The calamity has fallen upon all, and therefore the wail of woe proceeds from all. All classes are summoned to this sorrowful work; no office in the state is exempt; things animate and inanimate; priests and people—the Lord's priests who ministered at the altar, and the people to whom they ministered; the whole land and the fields into which it was partitioned; the tillers of the soil and the dressers of the vine. I. POVERTY TENDS TO THE DECAY OF PIETY . As a rule neither... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:13

Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. The invitation, or rather exhortation, here is to something more than lamentation and mourning; for, however natural in the circumstances, affliction itself could not avert or remove the calamity. They are urged, therefore, to repentance as well as lamentation. They were to assume the outward signs of the inward grace: they were to gird themselves with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14

Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord. The command is addressed to the priests as the representatives and rulers of the people in all matters of religion; they communicated to the people the commands of Jehovah. This verse directs attention to three things—the duty commanded; the persons called upon to discharge it; and the place of its performance. 1. The duty required... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14

A fast. The afflictions which befell Judah are represented as producing a deep impression upon the whole nation, and as justifying the calling of a general fast. I. THOSE WHO FAST . This is an exercise which cannot be performed vicariously. 1 . All the inhabitants of the land take part in it. 2 . The elders of the people, as representatives and leaders, are especially summoned to attend. II. THE TOKENS OF FASTING . Mere abstinence from food or from delicacies... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14

Religious reformation. In this chapter the prophet gives a graphic description of the devastation of the land of Judah by swarms of locusts. After eating all the green leaves and succulent parts of the trees, they destroyed even the bark ( Joel 1:7 ), so that the effects of this awful visitation would last, not for a single season, but for years. God sent this pest, as he sends other troubles, in order to arouse the sensuous and careless people to thought and to contrition. The... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14-20

After urging the priests to lead the way in the matter, he proceeds to summon all classes of the people, and particularly the elders, to engage in penitence, fasting, and solemn supplications, in order to avert the calamities that were impending, or to escape from them if they had already begun. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14-20

Calamity removed. I. THE DISCHARGE OF THE DUTIES ENJOINED IN A RIGHT WAY . After the prophet had summoned the ministers of religion to realize their responsibility and humble themselves under a due sense of sin—its sinfulness in God's sight—he further intimates its calamitous consequences to a country, to a community both in a temporal and spiritual sense; he then proceeds to point out the proper method of going about repentance and reform, urging the work with suitable... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:15

Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come . Some understand these words as suggested by the prophet to the people, that they might use them in their solemn and sorrowful appeal to the Almighty. This is favoured by the Syriac, which adds, "and say," as if the prophet prescribed to them the substance of their address. We prefer taking them as the prophet's own words, which he era-ploys to justify the urgency of the appeal... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:15

The day of the Lord. This phrase is peculiarly Joel's, and it is apparently used by him in different senses. Of these we notice three. I. THE DAY OF THE LORD IS A DAY OF CALAMITY AND RETRIBUTION . This is plain from its further designation as a day of destruction, and from the prefatory exclamation "Alas]" with which it is introduced. Superstition, no doubt, has often misinterpreted the calamities of human life; yet it would be insensibility and spiritual... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:8-13

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:9-13

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:14-20

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:15

The Pulpit Commentary - Joel 1:15

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