The Pulpit Commentary — Joel — Section 60

exorcised with apprehensions lest the storm should bunt over thorn. .A ccor,lingly, he vouchsafes to them promises to secure them against such fears and fortify them for the orrloal. I. Ih: IB THE lloPE or ms PEOPLE, Ile comforts his people 80 that the terrors of a time of great convulsions do not overwhelm them. As God is tbe Ground and Founclor of his people's hopes, so will he be their Crown and Consummation. He is their Ha.rbour of reluge and their Fortress of safety. Fleeing to him, they shall not only bo admitted to, but preserved, in safety. He is tbeir li,)fuge on earth wbile the storm of wrath is sweeping over tbe wicked; he will be their Home in heaven at la.at. "The eaiute in the great day shall arrive at the desired haven, shall put to shore after a stormy voyage; they shall go to be ever at home with God-to their Father's hou11e, tbe house not made with hands." II. HE IS THE HAPPINESS OF HIS PEOPLE. He is the Hope o( his people and the Strength of the children of Israel. We are thua taught that while all are not Israel that are called Israel, so all who are really God's people are the true spiritual Israel ; and that all his spiritual promises to Israel in the past apply in the present, and may be claimed by all those who are Israelites indeed. When other men's hearts fail them, God is the Strength of his people's hearts and their Portion for ever. When the judg- rnents of God are abroad in the earth, and sinners overtaken by them, God is a present Help to his people; and in that time of terror when the vials of wrath shall be poured out upon the wicked, joy and gladness shall be reserved for the righteous, while the joy of the Lord shall be their strength. Thus, amid all the trials of this mortal life, " in all time of our tribulation; in all time of our wealth ; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment," God is the Hope and Happiness of his people, the Support antl Strength of all his true Israel. III. HE IB 'l'HE HOLINESS OF ms PEOPLE. While God is a holy God, heaven a holy place, the angels of God holy angels, even the Church militant is holy, antl the redeemed of the Lord a holy people. But in this world the Church is a mixed society; there are tares among the wheat, chaff as well as good grain. It will not always be so. In millennial times, to which the passage points, thtre shall be higher degrees of holineHs, of purity, of prosperity, and peace, than the Church has yet attained; but in heaven alone holiness shall be perfect and happiness complete. Meantime we are encouraged by the promise that God's presence is enjoyed by his people. He him.self is the Source of holiness ; the Church on earth, like Zion of old, is made holy by bis presence ; the place of his people's habitation, like Jerusalem of old, is a holy place; bis people are a holy people.• Strangers may force or find an entrance to the Church militant, or earthly Jerusalem, and pollute it; but the Jerusalem that is above, that is, the Church triumphant, shall never be trodden by stranger's foot, nor entered by anything that defiles or works iniquity. None but the true citizens of Zion shall be there, and so only those that have a right to be there. Even here and now we have the happy con- sciousness that God, our own God--our own " as much as if possessed by none besitles, filling all with gladness, yet fully possessed by each, as though there were none besides "--dwells with us, and in us, while hereafter we shall have "unvarying, blissful, hallowing presence, never withdrawn, never hidden, never shaded, but ever shining upon us." Vere. 18-21.-The promise of plenty. These verses cont.ain the concluding pro- mises of the closing chapter of this book of Scripture. I. 'l'HERE 18 THE PROMISE QF PLENTY. Some understand the whole of this verse as referring to spiritual blessings, especially in millennial times. "But though the propheey belongs eminently to one time, the imagery describes the fulness of spiritual blessings which God at all times diffuses in and through the Church; and these blessings, hts says, shall continue on in her for ever; her enemies shall be cut off for ever." Others, understanding these blessings as promised to the Jews when restored and converted, understand the last clause of the verse as relating to spiritual, and the preceding to temporal, blessings. In either case the language is beautifully poetic, and conveys the idea of exuberant blessings. The mountains, covered with vineyards, shall yieltl abuu- dance of wine, or, without human tc.il, shall spontaneously pour it forth; the hilli shall be clothed with flocks, or, of their own accord, shall yiel<l abundance of milk;. the rivers. 58 THF. BOOK OF JOEL. (OR, Ill. 1-21.