Joel 2:28-32

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 2:28

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 2:28

Shall come to pass afterward - כן אחרי acharey ken , "after this;" the same, says Kimchi, as in the latter days, which always refers to the days of the Messiah; and thus this prophecy is to be interpreted: and we have the testimony of St. Peter, Acts 2:17 , that this prophecy relates to that mighty effusion of the Holy Spirit which took place after the day of pentecost. Nor is there any evidence that such an effusion took place, nor such effects were produced, from the days of this... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:29

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids - The gifts of teaching and instructing men shall not be restricted to any one class or order of people. He shall call and qualify the men of his own choice; and shall take such out of all ranks, orders, degrees, and offices in society. And he will pour out his Spirit upon them; and they shall be endowed with all the gifts and graces necessary to convert sinners, and build up the Church of Christ on its most holy faith. And this God has... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:30

Wonders in the heavens and in the earth - This refers to those dreadful sights, dreadful portents, and destructive commotion, by which the Jewish polity was finally overthrown, and the Christian religion established in the Roman empire. See how our Lord applies this prophecy, Matthew 24:29 ; (note), and the parallel texts. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joel 2:31

The sun shall be turned into darkness - The Jewish polity, civil and ecclesiastical, shall be entirely destroyed. Before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come - In the taking and sacking of Jerusalem, and burning of the temple, by the Romans, under Titus, the son of Vespasian. This was, perhaps, the greatest and most terrible day of God's vengeance ever shown to the world, or that ever will be shown, till the great day of the general judgment. For a full view of this subject, I... read more

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