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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joel 2:18-27

See how ready God is to succour and relieve his people, how he waits to be gracious; as soon as ever they humble themselves under this hand, and pray, and seek his face, he immediately meets them with his favours. They prayed that God would spare them, and see here with what good words and comfortable words he answered them; for God's promises are real answers to the prayers of faith, because with him saying and doing are not two things. Now observe, I. Whence this mercy promised shall take... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joel 2:28-32

The promises of corn, and wine, and oil, in the Joel 2:12-27, would be very acceptable to a wasted country; but here we are taught that we must not rest in those things. God has reserved some better things for us, and these verses have reference to those better things, both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory, with the happiness of true believers in both. We are here told, I. How the kingdom of grace shall be introduced by a plentiful effusion of the Spirit, (Joel 2:28, 29). We are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:26

And ye shall eat in plenty ,.... Or, "in eating eat" F14 אכל־תאם אכול "comedetis comedendo", Pagninus, Montanus; "ceras", Vatablus, Piscator, Tarnovius. ; most surely eat, and in great abundance; which Hebraism not only denotes the certainty of a thing, but the increase and abundance of it; see Genesis 22:17 ; there is plenty of spiritual provisions held forth under the Gospel dispensation: much in God, in his goodness, grace, and love, truth and faithfulness; in his covenant,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:27

And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel ,.... The presence of God among his people shall be so manifest, the tokens of it so clear, that it shall be easily known, by the impressions of his love upon them; the teachings of his Spirit in them; the usefulness of the word and ordinances to them; the spiritual and heavenly frame of soul they shall be favoured with, and the savouriness of their conversation; this is the blessing Christ has promised to Gospel ministers and churches, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:28

And it shall come to pass afterward ,.... After the teacher of righteousness has been sent, and a plentiful rain of the Gospel has been let down in the land of Judea, in the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ and his apostles, and such a comfortable enjoyment of the blessings of grace in it, and the knowledge of God by it; and after the wonderful work of redemption wrought by Christ. R. Jeshua in Aben Ezra and Jarchi both say this prophecy refers to time to come; and Kimchi observes, that... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:29

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour my Spirit. Men servants and maidservants should partake of the gifts and grace of the Spirit in great, abundance; and many of them were effectually called by grace, through the ministry of the word; and some servants became ministers of it; all which appears from 1 Corinthians 7:21 ; for that is not true what the Jews F16 T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 92. 1. say, the Shechinah or divine Majesty does not rest but upon... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:30

And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth ,.... This, and what follow, refer to the prodigies seen in the air, and done in the earth, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem F18 Vid. Joseph. De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3. ; when in the air were seen comets and blazing stars, particularly one in the form of a sword, hanging over Jerusalem, and appearances of armies engaged in battle; and, on the earth, a flame was seen in the temple, and a voice heard in it,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood ,.... Not by eclipses, as Aben Ezra; but by the clouds of smoke arising from the burning of towns and cities, which would be so great as to obscure the sun, and through which the moon would look like blood: or all, this may be understood in a figurative sense of the change that should be made in the ecclesiastic and civil state of the Jewish nation, signified by the "heavens" and "earth"; and particularly that their king or... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joel 2:32

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered ,.... Or "saved", as in Acts 2:21 ; from those miseries and calamities before described, from the impending ruin and destruction of the city; and so it was, that those that believed in Christ, that were in the city, had an intimation of it beforehand, and removed from thence to a place called Pella F23 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 5. p. 75. , and so escaped being involved in the common... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:26

Praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you - In so destroying this formidable enemy; and so miraculously restoring the land to fertility, after so great a devastation. read more

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