Clarke's Bible Commentary - Joel 3:18
Verse 18. In that day] After their return from their captivities. The mountains shall drop down new wine] A poetic expression for great fertility. Happy times: peace and plenty. The vines shall grow luxuriantly on the sides of the mountains; and the hills shall produce such rich pastures that the flocks shall yield abundance of milk.
And all the rivers of Judah] Far from being generally dry in the summer, shall have their channels always full of water.
And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord] See the account of the typical waters in Ezekiel 47., to which this seems to have a reference; at least the subject is the same, and seems to point out the grace of the Gospel, the waters of salvation, that shall flow from Jerusalem, and water the valley of Shittim. Shittim was in the plains of Moab beyond Jordan; Numbers xxxiii. 49; Josh. iii. 1; but as no stream of water could flow from the temple, pass across Jordan, or reach this plain, the valley of Shittim must be considered symbolical, as the valley of Jehoshaphat. But as Shittim may signify thorns, it may figuratively represent the most uncultivated and ferocious inhabitants of the earth receiving the Gospel of Christ, and being civilized and saved by it. We know that briers and thorns are emblems of bad men; see Ezek. ii. 6. Thus all the figures in this verse will point out the happy times of the Gospel: the mountains shall drop down new wine; the hills flow with milk; the thorny valleys become fertile, &c. Similar to those almost parallel words of the prince of poets:- Mistaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.
Ipsae lacte domum referent destenta capellae Ubera: nec magnos metuent armenta leones.
Molli paullatim flavescet campus arista, Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva: Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella.
VIRG . ED. iv. 20.
Unbidden earth shall wreathing ivy bring, And fragrant herbs the promises of spring. The goats with streaming dugs shall homeward speed; And lowing herds, secure from lions, feed. Unlabour'd harvests shall the fields adorn, And cluster'd grapes shall grow on every thorn: The knotted oaks shall showers of honey weep. DRYDEN.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 18. And it shall come to pass in that day , etc.] When antichrist shall be destroyed; the Jews converted; the power of godliness revived, and the presence of God among his people enjoyed. Vitringa, in his Commentary on Isaiah, frequently applies this, and such like prophecies, to the times of the Maccabees; though, he owns, they were but an emblem of better times under the Gospel dispensation; nor does he deny the mystical and spiritual sense of them; [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine ; which, and the following expressions, are to be understood not in a strict literal sense, as Lactantius F91 seems to have understood them; who says, that, in the Millennium, God will cause a rain of blessing to descend morning and evening; the earth shall bring forth all kind of fruit without the labour of man; honey shall drop from the rocks, and the fountains of milk and wine shall overflow: but hyperbolically, just as the land of Canaan is said to flow with milk and honey; not that it really did, but the phrase is used to denote the fertility of it, and the abundance of temporal blessings in it. The literal sense is this, that the mountains shall be covered with vines, on which they are often planted; these vines shall be full of large clusters of grape; and these grapes, being pressed, shall yield a large quantity of new wine; and so, by a metonymy, the mountains are said to drop it down F92 , that is, abound with it, or produce an abundance of it: but the spiritual or mystical sense is, that the churches of Christ in those times, comparable to mountains, and so to hills in the next clause, for their exalted and visible glorious state in which they now will be; and for the rich gifts and graces of the Spirit within them; and for the pasture upon them, and the trees of righteousness that grow thereon; and also for their firmness and stability, their immovableness and perpetual duration; these shall abound with fresh and large discoveries of the love of God and Christ, which is better than wine, ( Song of Solomon 1:2,4); like wine, cheering and refreshing; like new wine, though old as to its original, yet new in the manifestations of it; and which are usually made in the church, and the ordinances of it, to the making glad the hearts of the Lord’s people; also they shall abound with the blessings of grace, the fruits of love, such as pardon, peace, justification, etc. which, like wine, fill with joy, revive and comfort; and though they are ancient blessings, provided long ago, they are exhibited under the Gospel dispensation in a new covenant way; and the application of them is made in the churches, in Zion, where the Lord commands the blessing, even life for evermore. This may also take in the Gospel, which brings the good news of these blessings, and so is very reviving and cheering; and, though ordained and preached of old, is newly revealed under the present dispensation; and will be more clearly in later times, when all the mountains or churches will abound with it, and even the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of it, ( Isaiah 11:9); likewise the ordinance of the Lord’s supper, that feast of fat things, of wines on the lees well refined, made in the mountain of the Lord, for all his people may be included; and both in that, and in the ministry of the word, the Lord is sometimes pleased, as he may more abundantly hereafter, to give his saints some foretaste of that new wine, which Christ and they shall partake of in his Father’s kingdom; (see Song of Solomon 7:9 Isaiah 25:6 55:1-3) ( Matthew 26:29); and the hills shall flow with milk : that is, there shall be much pasturage upon them, and a great number of cattle feeding thereon, which shall yield large quantities of milk; and so, by the same figure as before, the hills may be said to flow with it F93 . The spiritual meaning is, that the churches of Christ, comparable to hills, for the reasons before given, shall abound with the means of grace, with the sincere milk of the word; to which the Gospel is compared for its whiteness and purity, for every word of God is pure and purifying; for assuaging the wrath the law produces; it being easy of digestion, even to newborn babes; and its salutary nourishing virtue and efficacy; and of this there will be great abundance in the latter day; (see Song of Solomon 4:11) ( 1 Peter 2:2,3); and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters ; that is, the channels in which the rivers run; these, in a time of drought, are sometimes empty, and the bottoms of them to be seen, but now full of water, and flow with it: grace is often in Scripture compared to “water” because of its refreshing, cleansing, and fructifying nature; and “rivers” denote, an abundance of it; and the “channels”, through which it is conveyed to men, out of the fulness of Christ, are the ordinances; (see Zechariah 4:12); and the prophecy suggests, that these should not be dry and empty, but that large measures of grace shall be communicated by means of them to the souls of men, to their great comfort and edification, and for the supply of their wants; (see Ezekiel 36:25 John 3:5 4:10,14 7:37-39); and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord ; not meaning baptism, as some; nor Christ, the fountain of grace, life, and salvation; but the Gospel, the word of the Lord, that fountain full of excellent truths and doctrines; of the blessings of grace; of exceeding great and precious promises; and of much spiritual peace, joy, and comfort: this is the law or doctrine of the Lord, that should come out of Zion, or the church, ( Isaiah 2:3); the living waters that shall come out of Jerusalem, ( Zechariah 14:8); and the same with the waters in Ezekiel’s vision, that came from under the threshold of the house, ( Ezekiel 47:1); it seems to denote the small beginnings of the Gospel, and the great increase and overflow of it in the world, as it does in all the above passages: this is referred by the ancient Jews F94 to the times of the Messiah; and shall water the valley of Shittim ; a plain or valley near Jordan, upon the borders of Moab, at the farther end of Canaan that way, ( Numbers 33:49 Joshua 3:1). Benjamin of Tudela F95 says, that from the mount of Olives may be seen the plain and brook of Shittim, unto or near Mount Nebo, which was in the land of Moab. This valley or plain, as the Targum, was so called, either from the “shittah” tree, ( Isaiah 41:19); of which was the wood “shittim”, so much used for various things in the tabernacle and temple, that grew there; and which Jerom on this place says was a kind of tree that grew in the wilderness, like a white thorn in colour and leaves, though not in size, for otherwise it was a very large tree, out of which the broadest planks might be cut, and its wood very strong, and of incredible, smoothness and beauty; and which grew not in cultivated places, nor in the Roman soil, but in the desert of Arabia; and therefore one would think did not grow in this plain near Jordan, and so could not be denominated from hence: but Dr. Shaw F96 observes, that the Acacia is by much the largest and the most common tree of these deserts (that is, of Arabia), as it might likewise have been of the plains of Shittim, over against Jericho, from whence it took its name; and adds, we have some reason to conjecture that the shittim wood, whereof the various utensils, etc. of the tabernacle, etc. ( Exodus 25:10,13,23), etc. were made, was the wood of the acacia. Or it may be this place had its name from the rushes which grew on the banks of Jordan, near to which it was; for so, is the word interpreted by some F97 : and Saadiah Gaon says, this valley is Jordan; so called, because Jordan was near to a place called Shittim: however, be it as it will, this can never be understood in a literal sense, that any fountain should arise out of the temple, and flow as far as beyond Jordan, and water any tract of land there; but must be understood spiritually, of the same waters of the sanctuary as in Ezekiel’s vision, ( Ezekiel 47:1,8); at most, the literal sense could only be, that the whole land should be well watered from one end to the other, and, become very fertile and fruitful, by the order and direction of the Lord, that dwells in his temple. The mystical sense is best. Jarchi makes mention of a Midrash, that interprets it of the expiation of the sins of the Israelites, in the affair of Baalpeor at Shittim, ( Numbers 25:1-3); but the true spiritual sense is, that the Gospel shall be carried to the further parts of the earth; that the whole world shall be filled and watered with it, and become fruitful, which before was like a desert; these living waters shall flow, both toward the former and the hinder seas, the eastern and west: era, as in ( Zechariah 14:8); (see Isaiah 11:9). Some render it, “shall water the valley of cedars” F98 ; the shittim wood being a kind of cedar, of which many things belonging to the tabernacle, a type of the church, was made, being firm, sound, incorruptible, and durable; (see Exodus 25:10,23 26:26,32 27:1); saints are compared to cedars for their height in Christ, their strength in him, and in his grace; their large and spreading leaves, branches, and roots, or growth in grace; and for their duration and incorruption; (see Numbers 24:5,6 Psalm 92:13); a valley may signify the low estate of God’s people; or be an emblem of lowly, meek, and humble souls, to whom the Gospel is preached, and who are watered and revived by it, and to whom more grace is given; see ( Isaiah 40:4 61:1 57:15). It is by Symmachus rendered “the valley of thorns”; and so Quinquarboreus F99 says the word signifies and designs such who are barren in good works.
Matthew Henry Commentary
God's judgments. (Joel 2:1-14) Exhortations to fasting and prayer blessings promised. (Joel 2:15-27) A promise of the Holy Spirit, and of future mercies. (Joel 2:28-32)
Joel 2:1-14 The priests were to alarm the people with the near approac of the Divine judgments. It is the work of ministers to warn of the fatal consequences of sin, and to reveal the wrath from heaven agains the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The striking descriptio which follows, shows what would attend the devastations of locusts, but may also describe the effects from the ravaging of the land by the Chaldeans. If the alarm of temporal judgments is given to offendin nations, how much more should sinners be warned to seek deliveranc from the wrath to come! Our business therefore on earth must especiall be, to secure an interest in our Lord Jesus Christ; and we should see to be weaned from objects which will soon be torn from all who now make idols of them. There must be outward expressions of sorrow and shame fasting, weeping, and mourning; tears for trouble must be turned int tears for the sin that caused it. But rending the garments would be vain, except their hearts were rent by abasement and self-abhorrence by sorrow for their sins, and separation from them. There is n question but that if we truly repent of our sins, God will forgiv them; but whether he will remove affliction is not promised, yet the probability of it should encourage us to repent.
Joel 2:15-27 The priests and rulers are to appoint a solemn fast. The sinner's supplication is, Spare us, good Lord. God is ready to succou his people; and he waits to be gracious. They prayed that God woul spare them, and he answered them. His promises are real answers to the prayers of faith; with him saying and doing are not two things. Some understand these promises figuratively, as pointing to gospel grace and as fulfilled in the abundant comforts treasured up for believers in the covenant of grace.
Joel 2:28-32 The promise began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out, and it was continued in the converting grace and miraculous gifts conferred on both Jews an Gentiles. The judgments of God upon a sinful world, only go before the judgment of the world in the last day. Calling on God suppose knowledge of him, faith in him, desire toward him, dependence on him and, as evidence of the sincerity of all this, conscientious obedienc to him. Those only shall be delivered in the great day, who are no effectually called from sin to God, from self to Christ, from thing below to things above __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
והיה 1961 ביום 3117 ההוא 1931 יטפו 5197 ההרים 2022 עסיס 6071 והגבעות 1389 תלכנה 1980 חלב 2461 וכל 3605 אפיקי 650 יהודה 3063 ילכו 1980 מים 4325 ומעין 4599 מבית 1004 יהוה 3068 יצא 3318 והשׁקה 8248 את 853 נחל 5158 השׁטים׃ 7851
