CRITICAL NOTES.
Joel 3:13.] The judgment compared to a double figure.
Joel 3:14.] A description of the streaming of nations into the valley of judgment. Multitudes, multitudes] Heb. immense multitudes; akin to our hum, noisy crowds (2 Kings 3:16).
Joel 3:15-17.] Dreadful commotions will happen before that day. Out of Zion Jehovah will destroy his enemies, protect his people, and purify his sanctuary.
THE TERRIBLE OVERTHROW.—Joel 3:13-16
The prophet earnestly besought God to call his “mighty ones” in the final scene. God responds, brings his messengers, and bids them put in the sickle, for all things, good and evil, are ready for judgment. Three things are to be noted in the description of this judgment.
I. It is a moral result. As ripe corn is ready for harvest, and full vats and winepresses for treading out, so men prepare for judgment.
1. Sin ripens men for destruction. It unfits the soul for the enjoyment of God, creates many horrors and foretastes of hell, and renders men ready for destruction.
2. Holiness ripens men for glory. It fits the soul for the society of the blessed, makes meet for the heavenly inheritance, and will be consummated in God’s presence. Thus judgment is only a harvest for which men are ripening in the present life. The wicked are filling up the measure of their iniquity (Genesis 15:16); the righteous are reserved for degrees of holiness which will perfect their character (Ephesians 4:7-13). Both will reap as they sow. “For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
II. It is universal. The prophet seems amazed at the great throng assembling together. “Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision.” It is one living, surging mass, an innumerable army, rushing blindly on to their own destruction. Or, to take the figure of the text, vast numbers are ripe for judgment. Angels and wicked spirits, good men and bad, will be present. None will be forgotten, none can escape. “We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.”
III. It is awful. It is attended and followed by convulsions, in which the framework of society shall be shaken, and by symbolic signs in heaven and earth. Countless multitudes assemble in the valley, the heavens above darken with the frown, and the earth beneath trembles at the thunder of God. “The wickedness” of men “is great,” and ripe for harvest. The day of judgment, the day of decision and separation, has come. The grain must be gathered into the garner, and the wine into the vats; the worthless chaff consumed, and the wheat preserved. “Thrust in thy sickle and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe” (Revelation 14:15).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joel 3:13. May be taken literally as a harvest sermon, in proving
(1) the power,
(2) the providence, and
(3) the goodness of God. We think nothing of God’s mercy, because the effects of it are common. How faithful to the promise, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,” &c. Every harvest should remind us of the truth of God. The harvest a type of final judgment, I. The ripening process The righteous and the wicked, growing together like tares and wheat for their proper end. II. The state of maturity.
1. Wilful ignorance, sin against conviction, and total insensibility, in some.
2. Growing likeness to Christ, and sincere desire to be with him, in others. III. The reaping. Not before the corn is ripe, is the sickle put in. There are stages of growth in sin and grace. In gradual law and due season judgment comes. Every act and every day promotes maturity. “The harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels.”
Consider the text as addressed—First, to ministers of the Word. We are allowed such an application. “The harvest truly is plenteous,” &c. Means of usefulness and opportunities are intended by harvest; by labourers, those whose office it is to make use of them. When the grain is ripe, if not gathered in, it is liable to perish. The season for saving it is short and uncertain. Men therefore forego ease, and endure fatigue, to secure it. What is the safety of grain to the salvation of souls! How many destroyed for lack of knowledge! We have religious freedom, means and opportunities for doing good. There are loud calls to preachers, parents, and Christians generally. But the time for work will not continue. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do,” &c. Secondly, as addressed to public judgments. The people spoken of were ripe for ruin. So with the Canaanites, when their iniquity was full, and Joshua and his army were the reapers. So with the Jews, when Nebuchadnezzar was called to punish and the Romans to destroy them. So with many nations and communities since. We have reason for apprehension if we estimate our condition by our guilt, and our guilt by our privileges. God is never at a loss for instruments. Hearts, events, elements, are all his; but threatenings are mercifully conditional. “If that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil I thought to do them.” Thirdly, as addressed to the messengers of death—accidents, diseases, whatever can bring us to the grave. This regards individuals. We know our own destiny, whatever be that of nations. It is appointed unto each once to die. But when men are ripe it is not easy to decide. It is certain that sin ripens for hell, but the most grossly and openly vicious are not always the most guilty before God. It is wise to keep from every approximation to such a dreadful state. Surely when a man is insensible under the word; incorrigible under the rebukes of providence; when conscience ceases to reprove, and he can turn Divine things into ridicule, he must be “nigh unto cursing.” Holiness ripens for glory, but when matured and meet for it we cannot ascertain. We should think favourably of one dissatisfied with himself, and who esteemed the Lord Jesus; who was anxious to resemble him and trusted to him in all things. But God knows them that are his; chooses the proper time for removing them; the wheat for the barn, and the chaff for the burning. But the end of all things is at hand. Fourthly, God thus addresses his angels at the last day. We are sure of the event if ignorant of the period. Then cometh the end; his purposes will be accomplished, his promises and threatenings verified, and all will be ripe. Time will be no longer. The earth will be cleared of all the produce, and the fields in which it grew will be destroyed. “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” [Jay].
Joel 3:14. The day of the Lord.
1. Near; comes suddenly, and may find many unprepared.
2. Decisive; cannot be repeated. Every one’s doom will be fixed, and the struggle between Satan and God end. “The valley of decision.”
Joel 3:16. The different aspects of the day to men. I. A terror to God’s enemies. “The Lord shall roar.” Now he speaks in mercy, then his terrible voice will be like a roaring lion (Isaiah 42:13-14; Jeremiah 25:30; Amos 1:2). II. A hope to God’s people. The material universe may be destroyed, but God will be the refuge of his people. “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Psalms 146:5; Jeremiah 14:8; Jeremiah 17:7).
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Joel 3:12-14. Judgment day. Spencer says that two soldiers entered the valley of Jehoshaphat, when one of them said, “In this place shall be the general judgment, and I will now take my place where I shall then sit.” He then sat down upon a stone, and looked up to heaven as if to receive his sentence; when such dismay overwhelmed him, that he fell to the earth trembling, and ever after remembered the day of judgment with horror.
Joel 3:15-16. How sublime is this description! How should we adore the God before whom the unconscious earth and sky do reverence, and act as if they knew their Maker! Though the solid world is convulsed at God’s presence, saints do not fear. God is their refuge and strength (Psalms 46:1). The enemy will be destroyed, but the Church shall be saved. “She shall not be removed; God shall help her.”
The heavens and earth shall pass away,
And be to dissolution brought,
But Zion’s strength shall ne’er decay,
For her Redeemer changeth not.