The Pulpit Commentary — Joel — Section 31

Ver. 24 presents a. COllbut to vers. 10-,-12 oha.pter (the third) by thcmsel,ce in the of oh. I.: while the promise of corn 11,nd wine Hebrew t.ext, but in tho LXX. e.nd tha ond oil in ver. 11!, with which the present is Authorizer} Version they ooncludo eh. ii, closely oonneoted, i1 performed. The per- fects exhibit the Di:vine promise 88 actu11,lly In them the prophet passes on to epiritu11l ocoompliahed. (1) The word i:a, from i,:a, t.o blessings. sepn.re.te, denotes the pure grain separated Ven. 28, 29.-And it llhe.ll come to pass from the husk ot cha.ff and atraw. (2) p1el afterward (!acM-,eklMn). This intimates the is" t.orun," and In Hiph.,"10 ce.nseto ran" ea tfflle when the promiiied blessing is to be of fluids, then overflow; and Pilel in Pa. b:.v. bestowed, and must. be read in the light of 10, ahoqeq, "to cause to overl:lnw." (3) ::ip•, New TeMte.ment exposition; for Peter, in equive.Mnt to :ipl, is a veii_sel bored or hewn quoting the words (Acts ii. 17, etc.), vllriee I out, then the ve.t into· 'which the' wine the t>rophet'e note of time by su bKtituting troclden out i_n the wipe'-preas, or •tfi~ oil an expmn_e.tory phra.se, viz;, Iv.,...,, i<rXatr<Mf trodden out in the oil-press, flows; whllci r':J l,µlpai,, "m the Jut days -11.n expression is tbe press in which wine or oil, eepecie.lly which, as is acknowledged, refers to the the former, is trodden out. I will restore days of the Mesaie.h or the last days of the to yon the ye~rs. '!'his 4enotes either (1) old dispensation. The apostle thus defines the g'ree.tnees a\)d _violence of the deatruc- ~re closely the somewhat indefinite expres- tim~ made by _the locusts, or (2) it implies Blon of the Hebrew. After thia specification that; only for tl1e timely interposition of of the time, he proceeds to state the bluwi'fl'] Jehovah in destroying the locusts, the to be beetowed. I will pour oat my Spirit •people would hiite had to ans lain the loss upOII all 11.eah. The word shaphak, employed of t.he hiuvest, not of one year only, bat by the prophet t.o expres!J the outpouring or of several-in other words, the disastrous ~he Spirit, implies the bes!'>wal of the girt effects ef their . ravages would - have been m great abundance, as CalVJn clearly pointed felt for 11 number of years; but (3) not that ont: "For shaphak," he says, "does not the locusts inv!l-<'led the land several euc- mean merely t.o give in drops, but to pour cessi ve years.· ;The absence of the ·copula ont in great abundance. But God did not before yeleq, ·and its presence before the last pon_r out the Holy Spirit so abundantly or two names, viz. ·cnasit aiid gazam, prove that copiously under the Law,e.s he has since the thee~ three n·amee, being thus co-ordinated, m11nifeetation of Christ." The Spirit was are 'elther epithets, Cir ,i!peci:ee of 'arbeh; thus, indeed commu:nice.ted in Old Testament the losses of the years which the locust, or times', but that communication was restricted multitudinot!B one, he.th eaten.:._the. licker in two· ways--in quantity, and in the number a~d the devourer 0:tid the biter (or gnawer) of reoipiente; the former was comparatively -were compensated. Abarbe.nel maintains se&nty e.nd the latte!' few, whereas the word these names of •the locusts to refer t.o the here applied to its communication implies e. fcilll'' •world:pcl\'vers that one after another rich supply, like a copious rainfe.11. After desol\1-~ed Palestine: ... For they,'' he says, the specification of the tilme, 11,nd the mention "were the army· of Jehov11h and the mes- of the blessing, with its implied plentifulneBB, il~:hger~ of hie }.?ovicjence to puni~h brael comes its wide diffusion, or genera.I distribu- by their means. ' The effect of the plentiful tion-" all flesh," or "e.11 mankind,'' as the supply of their wants and of the full satis- Hebrew expression denotes ; e.nd that with- faction enjoyed thereby becomes the occasion out regard to age, or sex, or state. And of devout acknowledgmont of God as their your aona and your daughters shall pro- Protector and Patron, anU of the warmest phesy, your old men sho.ll dree.m dreams, expressions of gre.litude for hie gooclnces, so your young men aha.11 see visions : and also they praise the Ne.me of the Lord their God, upon. the servants and upon. the handmaids that had dee.It wondronsly with them; lite- in those da71 will I pour out my Spirit. rally, had acted towards them e11en tc, the Sons e.nd daughters without distinction of dfiing_ of won_ders. 'fhen follows the pre.c- sex; old men 11nd young men without tice.l conclus1on, very poetically expressed, reference to age; servants and handmaids ancl comprising the aseuranco of the presence without regard to &OCie.l position. Thus it of G~d among hie people, hi.a sole Divinity is with the Spirit of God as with the Son of and sure protection of them, a gue.mntee of God, of whom the apostle ea.ye, "There is his grace to them at all times, freedom from neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor reproach and shamp overruore. Thus oloses uncircumcieion, be.rbe.rie.n, Scythian, bond the promise of tem_poral or rrie.terial bless- nor freo: but Ohri!Jt is e.ll, and iu all." The ings. "Ye shCLll recognize," so.ye Kimchi, blessing of salvation through the Son of "that I 11m in your midst, bee.ring your God and by the Spirit of God is wide as cries." the world in its offer, e.nd free to nil who accept it-without national distinction for Vera. 2fl - 32. -Thcs" v11rsee form e. there is neither Jew nor Greek; without;  28 TB:I!: BOOR or JOEL. [ott. n. 1-82.