Old Testament Commentary - Joel 1

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 1 Call a solemn assembly and gather to thehouse of the Lord, for the day of the Lord is at hand.
1 THE word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, ye ^aold men, and give ear, all ye ^binhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 That which the ^apalmerworm hath left hath the ^blocust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is ^acut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without ^anumber, whose ^bteeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 ¶ Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the ^ahusband of her youth. 9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn. 10 The field is wasted, the ^aland mourneth; for the ^bcorn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. 12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because ^ajoy is withered away from the sons of men. 13 ^aGird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
14 ¶ Sanctify ye a ^afast, call a ^bsolemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, 15 Alas for the day! for the ^aday of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come^a.	15^a as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come The fire and burning and destruction at the Second Coming of the LORD will be real and it will be universal. Men must be prepared for a time of famine with food supplies stored and on hand. And while the wicked will be destroyed, even many righteous will pass and be changed in preparation for the Millennial Day. These verses of Joel do set out the effects on lands an animals as well.
16 Is not the ^ameat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the ^agarners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. 18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the ^afire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field. 20 The ^abeasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.