The Pulpit Commentary — Joel — Section 46

forsake sin, to be helped out of it instead of being helped in it. He ia <YTTIITlliacient; therefore thoroughne88 in confession is required, for he knows u11 so perfectly that we dare not dissemble, nor cloke our sins before him. And he is almighty-well able to give us the pardon and deliverance we need. Hie "name" is "Je1J1UJ," for be shall save hie ,people from their sins. Add to faith in his character faith in his nean-ne/18, It is use1ess to cry to one who is out of hearing. He is a God near, and not far off. 3. Prayer may be a simple call. It is a cry rather than a statement. The Pharisee told God much, but he did not pray. The publican smote upon his breast and cried for mercy; and God heard his prayer, and he went down to his house justified. Ill. THE PROMISE TO TBE 0ONTBITE. 1. They shall be delivered: (1) Fr()'111, the fore- bodings of doom. (2) From the terrors nf an awakened CC'TUJcience. (3) From vadn efforts at self-reform. (4) From the power and from the fove of sin. 2. Ddive:rance will come through faith m the crtJ,C,ified &uiowr. To this the Jews were brouaht on the Day of Pentecost. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be ~ved." 3. Deliverance will follow on the cry for mercy. All are encouraged to call upon the Lord-the backslider, the wned=ted, the chi1d, the degraded and abandoned. " As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth; wherefore tum yourselves, and live ye."-A. R. Vers. 1-11.-The ministry of alarm. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion," etc. Zion was the meeting-place for the people of God, and may be fairly taken as a type of the true Church in all ages. We may take these verses as setting forth one aspect of the Church's ministry, namely, the ministry of alarm. I. IT HAS TO ANNOUNCE A JUDGHENT THAT IS TERRIBLE. How graphically and appallingly does the prophet set forth the tremendoUBDess of the calamity that was about being inflicted on Judah! It was a day of "darkness and gloominess," a day of "clouds" and of "thick darkness," etc. We have here : 1. The executors of the judg- ment. Whom did the Almighty Governor of the world now employ to execute his judgments ? The magnates of the earth, or the illustrious legions of b'.eaven ? No ; locusts. He brings them out by millions, and marshals them as his battalions, to fight against sin and crush the sinner. So dense are their crowds, that they darken the sun and conceal the stars. So rapid their movement, and so closely do they jostle together, that their noise is like" the noise of chariots on the top of the mountains." The sun- beam falleth on their glazed wings, so that they appear as a "fire that falleth before them, and behind them as a flame that burneth." They move with such order and force that their appearance is like "horses" and "horsemen." The meanest insect is God's messenger; the little locust he employs as an officer of his justice. 2. The effects of the fudgment. "The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them as a desolate wilderness." Note the power of combination. These little insects singly were comparatively powerless; in combination they moved with a resistless energy. Unity is strength. This terrible judgment, however, is but a faint shadow of that more terrible judgment that awaits this wicked world, " when the Son of man shall come in a.11 his glory, with his holy angels," etc. "I saw, and, behold, a great white throne," etc. II. IT HAD TO ANNOUNCE A JUDGMENT THAT WAS A.PPROA0HING. "The day of the Lord cometh; it is nigh at hand." 'l'his terrible army of insects was now in the course of formation, and was gathering together for the fearful work of destruction. The Church now has to give warning of a judgment that is coming. " The day of the Lord will come as ii, thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away," etc. Yes, it is coming. Its dim rays of dawn a.re seen on the tops of the distant hills; the terrible sun will break forth in the heavens ere long: it will indeed be" the day of the Lord." The Church's work is to warn every man, to blow the trumpet of alarm, give it a blast that shall startle the thoughtless generation.-D. T. Vers. 12, 13.-Soul-'l'e/ormatirm. "Therefore also now,D etc. Observe here three things in relation to soul-reformation. I. ITS PRO0ESS. Turning to the Lord. "Tum ye unto the Lord your God." The unregenerate man is an a.lien from God. Like the prodigal sou, he has left hi~ Father's house and gone into the " far country" of carnality and sin. Reform is turning and  THE BOOK OF JOEL. [oR, tl, 1-32,