locusts descrihed in ~h. i.\ cann?t well be doubted. The names, drough plaoed ln a d1fforent order, are identical wtth thoB8 there specified. "ltfy greo.C army." 'l'hey am called God's great army, a name ■till gi.Ten to them by the .Arab,. Though n, soour~e lasted only one year, yet, u they not only destroyed the whole produce of that year, but also what wa~ laid up in store for future years, the calamity wa■ great. '!'ho los~ of theBe God promises t.o reco~penBO or make good by not only furniehlng thom with_ an abundance of temporal enJoymenta_ but affording them a delightful experience of his preeeooe and favour u their covenant God. This prorniae is amplifiod ln vera 26, 2i. Restoration in God's peculiar work. Who can reatore the earth but him? An ineei:t m_ay des1troy a giant; but God Alone can restore the life of a dying dower. !te~torat10n 1s Gods. oonstan_t wor~. From dea.th he brings life to all nature. Spring 1s the wand annual 1llustrat1on of 1t. God l'Cllt.ores lost temporal blossings to his people in two ways. 1. By !J',fMlfl back tlui aame in kind, as in the case of Job. 2. By bestowing that w~h 01TU1wer1 t1ui aame purpoae. JI. TrrF. RF..STORA TION OF LOST BELTClIO'IJ'S PBIVILEGEB. What are these? 1. wor- ship. "And ye shall ea.tin plenty, and be 1&tisfied, and praise the Name of the Lord your God, that hath dwelt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be as~amed." True "".ors_hip is one of man's greatest and most original privileges qf his bemg. True worship 1s supreme love for the supremely good. The loss of this has been man's crime and ruin; the restoration of this is hie salvation. When men come to praise the Lord u they ought to, they reach the heaven of their being. 2. 0<>111- mu.nion. " And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else." Loving fellowship with the infinite Father is also another privilege which we have lost. The restoration of this is the consummation of blessedneBS. "In thy presence ie fulness of joy." This last restoration is the most urgent and the most glorious one. The restoration of lost material mercies t.o a man, commUDity, or country, is a Divine work for which gratitude should be cherished and practically exemplified; but the restoration of lost religious privileges, the true worship of God and true fellowship with him, is the transcendent restoration. When this is realized, the world's redemption is completed.-D. 'I.'. Vere. 28-32.-The gospel age. "And it shall come to pass afterwa.rd, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh," et.c. Peter quotes this passage, but not with literal accuracy. Divine inspiration secures not uniformity of phraseology, but uniformity in facts and principles. We ace authorized in regarding the passage as pointing to the goRpel age; or, as Peter 11ays, to the last days. The days of the Messiah are indeed the last days of the world. The paauge teaches four things in relation to these last days: this gospel age as connected- L WITB AN EXTRA.OBnIKA.BY EFFUSION OF THE SPIBIT. "I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." Flesh here stands for humanity. Under the gospel dispensation, the influence of the Spirit would be: 1. Unive:rsal, not limited to sex. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Not limited to age. "!oil! young men shall see visions; your old men shall dream dreams.'' The redemptive rnfluences of the gospel are like the rolling atmosphere and the shining sun-universal in their aspect. 2. Jllwminatimg. It would bring the light of God's thoughts upon the soul. They "saw visions and dreamed dreams and prophesied.'' That is, men under its influence would receive and reflect God's eternal truths. II. WITH PRODIGIOUS B.EVOLUTlOJll8. "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.'' 'l'hese words may perhaps be properly regarded as a highly poetic representation of that revolution in governments, Churches, and all other human illltitutiow, which would inevitably follow the working out of the Divine ideas and spiritual induences of these last days (Isa. xiii. 10; x:uiv. 4). When Christianity enters with all its renovating power the individual soul, what a. revolution I What wonders in heaven, what signs on earth, what blood, fire, a.nd vapour of smoke I It is so also when it enters a community; then it shakes the heavens and the earth of liOCi.e.l and political life. Ill. WITH A TERRIBLE DAY, Peter calls it a notable day. The primary rd'ercnce in all probability ie to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. It was indeed a terrible day (see Josephus; see also first edition of' Genius of the Gospel,' p. 606). But thero OJI, Ill, 1-21.] THR BOOK OJ/' JOEL. 41
11111.nothor terrible £111.y still before us, 11. day of which the destruction of Jern11alem is but 11. faint 11hadow and type-the day of general judgment-the day when the heaven11 ahall pBBB away with II great noi11e, What a day will that day i,_" day of judgment, day of wonrlors," etc. I IV. WITH THE P0881B11.ITY OJI' BALVATJON TO ALL. "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered;" or, BB Peter has it, "&ball be 1111.ved "-saved from tho thraldom, the guilt, the damnation, of sin. "Wlw=or"-thank God for thie " whosoever" 1-D. 'f.
EXPOSITION.