Vera. 14-20.-Oalamity removed. I. THE DISCHARGE OIJ' THE DUTIES ENJOINED IN A BIGHT WAY. After the prophet had summoned the ministers of religion to realize their responsibility and humble themselves under a due sense of sin-its sin- fulness in God's eight--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 motives. 1. There was to be a fa11t in all the homestead!I of Judah, and by all the people of the land, with due preparation for its observance. "Sanctify ye a fa.et." 2. 'l'hen a proclamation of a solemn assembly was to follow. 3. The perso11s to be 10 THE BOOK OF JOBL. [OIi. r. 1-20.
convened are specified. They were t,he public office-beareni and -.,ersonR of lnfluonoe and along with them the whole people-high a.nd low, rich and paoi:, young and old; nl!ke. Thus a very promi11euou11 multitude, consisting of the whole bodl of tho people with lhoir rulers, wae 111mmoned to this great convocation. 4. The Jllqce or mooting was the house of God; for if we would worship God acceptably, we muat follow th9 method he has proscribed. 6. And when all this preparation had been duly n1ado- the proclamo.tion m!lde, the persons a880mbled, tho place of convocation thronged-thoro w&11 prayer, solemn, public, earnest, energizing prayer,'° be engaged in-. eimult.anooua upliftin~ of hoart and voice to the Lord, a crying unto the Lord their God. II. CERTAIN WE[GHTY JIOT[VE8 ARE ADDED, APPUCAT[ON. 1. We see in all this the sad effects and rµ.inoue coneequencos of sin. Under it.~ blighting influence the faireet spot on earth becomes a. wilderness, the most frui~ful l1md becomes a desert, and th~ richest region is turned uito a. ba.rrep. waste .by the m1qmty of them that dwell therein. 2. The only way of relief is by returning to God. " Whither should we go with our cries but to him from whom the judgment 'We dread comes? There is no fiying from him but by flying to him; no escaping from t~e Almighty but by making our submission and supplication to. the Almighty; this is t&king hold on his strength that we may make peace." 3. The prophet stimulates those that are backward to engage in this duty_ by his own e:p1.mple. "0 Lprd," ,he says, "to thee will I cry;" BB though he said, " As for others, let them do what th~y y,lcaBe; a.s for myself, I will do that which cooecienoe and God's own Word tell me to be the right thing to do, a.nd the right as well. as only l!Bfe course to take," 4. Our dependence on God both for daily bread and spiritual nounehm,ent.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS; Ver.s. 2, 3.-Traditwn. The generations of mankind succeed one another upon the face uf the earth; but they are not disconnected, isolated, independent. Each receives from those who have gone before, and communicates to those who sha.Jl come after, Ilence the continuity of human hlstory; hence the life of humanity. ' L TRADITION ALO'KE rs AN INBUFPIOIENT BASIS FOB BELI(HON. It is well known that oral tradition is liable to corruption. Inaccuracy creeps in, al\~ the truth ,is dietorte<;I:, by the weakness of memory, the liveliness of imagination, the power of p~ejudice. Ilence the importance of a "book-revelation," w:hich has beeµ. often p,ut unjustly reviled. The Scriptures are a standard by which correctness of belief may be teste_d, by which ignorance may be instructed, and errors avoided. _There were traditions in the apostolic age which originated in misunderstanding, and which were corrected by the evangelists. . II. TRADITION RAS, BOWEVEB, A VALUABLE PLAOE IN RELIGION, 1. Memories of Divine gOOOlle&ii and interposition are .thus preserved. The Passover may be add,uced as an example. The children of a Hebrew family asked, when partaking of the Paschal meal. "What mean ye by this feast?" and an opportunity was thus given for the father iu relate the story of Israel's emancipation from the bondage pf Egypt. 2. Instances of Divine displeasure and wrath following upon human sin were thus handed down. Joel alluded especially in this passage to sach purposes as thes(l ,: Calamities came upon the laud; the people were sorely chastened; and the prop)let enjoins upon_ the o,d to con:ununicate to their pc,st:erity-to . their children's children-the awful even.ta by which Jehovah signalized Lis indignation with national unfaithfulness and disobedience. 3. Piety was thus promoted. One generation would learn from another what are the l.Jivine laws, what the principles and methods of the Divine government. Jn this m.a=er the fear of the Lord. and confidence in his faithfulness, w9uld (lviii!l1;1tly be prumuted e.nd perpetuated.-'.!.'. Ver. 5.-" .Awa.ke 1 " This solemn appeal to those who are designated and denounced w, dnrnkarde is fraught with implicit lessons of wisdom and faithfulness fo~ all devou$ readers of God's Word. I. h IIU'LlE8 ~·uE nrnVALENCE OF SPIBITUAT, SLUHBEB, Buch is .the state of tho&!' wLu arc irmm,rsed in the cares and the eojoyments of thi» e,arthly life, who are de"f to OR, I, 1--20,] THE BOOK OF ,JOEL. 11
the thunder of tho Law and to the p1omiaes of the gospel, who are blind to the visions of judgmont or of graoe that are pa.Hsing before their closed eyes, II. IT D&NOUl'IOIIS,SPIIUTUAL SLUMBER AB BI.N AND ll'OLLY, The body needs 8leep an<l ropoao; but the l!Olll should never be ineensible and indifferent to Divine and eternal realities. Such. a state is one of indifference to the presence and to the revelation of hlm who b!',e the first claim upoD the hearts he has framed. Slumber such as this is fast deepening into <leatb. III. IT OALLB FOIi RF:PENTANOE AND NEWNESS OF LIFE. There is implied a. power to respond to the, Divine summQns. And certainly the first thing for the sinner to do is to Hhakc off sloth and indifference, to look about him, to listen t.o the voice that epeakH from heaven, to_ catch the welcome accentt of the gospel, which is the mesaage of God to the so11Js of men. Blessed be God, this is the appeal : "Awe.li:e thou that eleepest, and.arise from the dea.d, a,nd Christ shall give thee lightl"-T.