A Commented Study Bible With Cross-References - Book 29 - Joel

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It was only in that the mystery of the locust was solved. Prior to this date researchers wondered what became of the locust during the years in which there were no outbreaks. Uvarov demonstrated that the swarming locust was none other than an ordinary species of grasshopper. However, when moisture and temperature conditions favored a large hatch, the crowding, unceasing contact, and jostling of the nymphs begin to stimulate changes in coloration, physiology, metabolism, and behavior, so that the grasshopper nymphs make the transition from solitary behavior to the swarming gregarious and migratory phases of the dreaded plague.

Plagues continue as long as climatic conditions favor the large hatches. Once entering their gregarious phase, swarms, of locusts can migrate great distances and have even been observed twelve hundred miles at sea. The swarms can reach great sizes: If one assumes that Joel was written around BC, then the coming army could be the Assyrians or Babylonians.

The following diagram would depict this view. It will be a utopia. We also have another promise to the Jews. The destruction that locusts can cause is almost unbelievable. They strip all crops and green vegetation. In 15 minutes they can completely strip a tree of its leaves. A Desert Locust swarm that crossed the Red Sea in was estimated to cover square miles.

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Such swarms are like dark clouds dense enough to hide the sun and they contain countless millions of these "grasshoppers. An Even Greater Judgment - God used this locust judgment to point to an even greater judgment that would come in the future. Joel has much to say about this future time of judgment. See also G Campbell Morgan's application of following passages in Joel.

Understanding the Book of Joel. Lewis described pain as God's megaphone. That is true on the personal level and sometimes it is also true on the national level. The story of the Old Testament is a story of the people of God falling away and then being judged for their sins and then coming back in repentance.

It happened again and again in a repeating cycle. If you are a parent, then you understand this process. We went through it when we were raising our daughter. She would be warned of the consequences of disobedience. Then she would disobey. And then would come "the Day of the Father. God warns and sends His prophets and eventually He says, "Enough is enough. And then God took a little bug and demonstrated His power. The event that began Joel's prophecy was a plague of locust. That doesn't mean too much to us today, but in that day this sort of thing could be devastating.

It was an agricultural economy and a locust invasion meant that everyone who starve. If you do not read this chapter through the eyes of faith, then you will only see bugs. But if you look to see what is really happening here, you will learn that these locusts are really the army of God. They are to be a lesson to future generations. I did not live through the Great Depression. But my grandmother and my wife's grandparents did and they told me what it was like. Joel tells people to do the same thing. They are to ask whether there has ever been a time as bad as this. Does not always interpret the Scripture Literally.

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Conservative notes from Dr Morris who approaches the text seeking it's literal meaning in the context. See all devotionals on one page. James Rosscup writes "This work originally appeared in The present publication is set up in two columns to the page with the text of the Authorized Version reproduced at the top. Scripture references, Hebrew words, and other citations are relegated to the bottom of the page.

The work is detailed and analytical in nature. Introduction, background and explanation of the Hebrew are quite helpful. Pusey holds to the grammatical-historical type of interpretation until he gets into sections dealing with the future of Israel, and here Israel becomes the church in the amillennial vein. One needs to be a Berean as these notes do not always render a literal interpretation and in fact "shy away" from mention of the Messianic Age, the Millennium , as shown by comparing Reformation Study Bible RSB Notes on Joel 3: John MacArthur who does accept a literal Millennium.

RSB note on Joel 3: The temple itself will be the source of a life-giving stream Ezek. MSB note on Joel 3: Eze 40—48 at Jerusalem. God has promised a future time when His glory in Judah will not be eclipsed. This time of ultimate peace and prosperity will be experienced after Christ conquers the world and sets up His millennial kingdom on earth cf. MacArthur does not list Revelation If you are not familiar with the great saint Charles Simeon see Dr John Piper's discussion of Simeon's life - you will want to read Simeon's sermons after meeting him!

Charles Simeon lived from and was an excellent, conservative expositor - notice that he interprets the text literally despite preaching in the 's, and thus he stillinterpreted the Millennium as the Millennium! Read his literal interpretation - "THE return of the Jews to their own land at some future period seems to be predicted so plainly Ed: What a contrast with many modern commentators who seem to find this interpretation enigmatic and confusing, primarily because they have replaced Israel with the Church! As for their future conversion to the faith of Christ, that is absolutely certain.

But previous to their final settlement in their own land, there will be a violent contest with them in Palestine: James Rosscup writes "Though old this is well-written and often cited, with many good statements on spiritual truths. Users will find much that is worthwhile, and sometimes may disagree , as when he sees the Jonah account as allegorical Ed: For centuries men have been looking for the principle upon which all the events of history turn, and ever since the dawn of history there have been many guesses about what that controlling principle is.

Long ago, the great Greek philosophers came up with the idea that history moves in cycles; and a leading modern historian, Arnold Toynbee, agrees with that. Aristotle also said that history follows this kind of course.

King James Version (KJV)

He said that first a tyrant rises, a man of iron, who seizes control of a nation or a group of people and rules until his dynasty ends. Then control gradually passes to a ruling family of aristocracy. And gradually their power deteriorates until control passes down to the people, and this is what he calls a democracy. But a democracy also deteriorates and gradually yields to the breakdown of all power, and anarchy ensues.

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Out of anarchy a tyrant again seizes control, and on goes the cycle of history. And there is a lot of truth in that theory. Through the centuries other men have contributed guesses about the controlling principle of life. Thomas Jefferson thought it was political, and when he wrote the Declaration of Independence he incorporated that idea in the prologue -- that human governments recognize that certain inalienable rights are granted to men, and that to preserve these rights, governments are instituted among men.

He felt that the forces that shape human history and form the nations of earth are political in nature. Back in the last century, Karl Marx dipped his pen into the acid of his own embittered spirit and wrote the great work that has dramatically influenced our modern times.

His idea was that the controlling force of history was economics, that it is the need to meet the material demands of life that shapes the course of history. He called this force dialectical materialism -- the principle of materialism arrived at through debate, through discussion of these issues. And this idea has so seized the minds of men today that all over the earth are millions who feel that economics is the controlling interest of life.

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Others have said that the principle is sociological. Wells, for instance, was one of a great number of thinkers who said that evolution shapes the course of human destiny. It is often taught in schools today that behind all the events of human history recorded in our daily newspapers and by historians there is an evolutionary principle always trending higher and higher, making life better and better. But the Bible says that all these are wrong. The Bible says that behind the whole course of human history is God.

Key Verses and Themes Cross Reference in the Twelve Prophets | Bible Commentary | Theology of Work

The hinge on which history turns is spiritual -- God's Spirit is at work among men, and you cannot understand human events if you do not first recognize that fact. One of the most meaningful statements ever written in the scriptures and one of the most terrifying things that can ever be heard by men was said at the time of the flood when God told Noah, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever.

For God's Spirit strives with man by patiently restraining evil so that human life can go on. God tries to win men to himself by holding back the destructive forces in human events. But at last God's patience reaches an end and there comes a time -- repeated throughout human history -- when God says either to an individual or to a nation, "My Spirit shall not always strive with men.

That is when catastrophe occurs and judgment strikes. And that is essentially the message of the book of Joel. This young man Joel was a prophet to the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom. He was probably a contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos. We don't know much about Joel, but he was one of the most far-sighted men who have ever written, even in the pages of the word of God. Joel saw clear to the end of human history, far past our own day to the final stages of God's dealing with human events; and he links it all to a great dramatic occurrence in his own day.

Once again mention is made of the terrible judgments of the great day of the Lord: For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining" Joel 3: But the final scene is one of beauty and glory: As we have already seen, this is the way Ezekiel's great vision ends, with a river flowing out from under the threshold of the altar and watering the land.

It is apparent from Joel that the future is in God's hands and not man's. It is in the hands of One who is preparing something which is beyond anything eye has ever seen or ear has ever heard or has ever entered into the heart of man. God deals with us in judgment that He may capture our attention and wake us up to reality; but through these difficult things God in grace is simply saying: I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the Lord dwells in Zion" Joel 3: Again, this is where Ezekiel ended his prophecy, with a picture of the restored city under its new name "the Lord is there.

Millennium ; Israel of God. The specific prediction of invasion is recorded in chapter 2. Jun 22, Pastor Matt rated it liked it.

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Then the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month.

The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. Is there any seed left in the barn? Do the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still yield nothing? From this day on I will bless you. My cities shall again overflow with prosperity. Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. But they refused to listen. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Just as, when I called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear.

Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.

When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not wrong? I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in the flock and vows to give it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished; for I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name is reverenced among the nations.

The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will count you happy, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. Thanks to everyone who has donated to the Theology of Work Project! Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you.