Joel Chapter
Two
(http://spiritualbiblestudies.com)
(Verses One - Two)
ҦBlow ye the trumpet in
A day of darkness and of gloominess,
a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning
spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong; there
hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even
to the years of many generations.”
Blow Ye the Trumpet and
Sound an Alarm
We begin chapter two with God declaring an alarm in His Holy Mountain. The word holy, in this particular verse, is also translated as sanctuary and once as saints.
The trumpet represents a warning, perhaps
not a trumpet-like SOUND, but obvious EVENTS, great, historical happenings that
all can see, whether or not they understand them.
The
phrase “blow the trumpet” is
used for various events in the Old Testament., usually a warning of impending
disaster. Let us consider Jeremiah 4:19-29:
19 - ¶My bowels, my bowels! I am pained
at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,
because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound
of the trumpet, the alarm of
war.
<The
following are the results of this blowing of the trumpet and the sounding of
the alarm:>
20 - Destruction
upon destruction is cried; for
the whole land is spoiled:
suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 - How long shall I see the standard,
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 - For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they
have none understanding: they are
wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
<Many
who claim to know God are foolish; they do not truly know God; to do good, they
have no real knowledge. The sounding of
the trumpet is for them.>
23 - I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light.
24 - I beheld the mountains, and, lo,
they trembled, and all the
hills moved lightly.
25 - I beheld, and, lo, there was no
man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 - I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities
thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
<Recall
in our study of Joel chapter one that we read of the fruitful place becoming a wilderness.>
27 - For thus hath the LORD said, The
whole land shall be desolate;
yet will I not make a full end.
<God
will not make a full end, for the sake of His Elect He will create a new heaven
and a new earth, Revelation 21:1.>
28 - For this shall the earth mourn, and the
heavens above be black: because
I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn
back from it.
<The
heavens above will be black. Our study
of Joel 2:2 will teach that the Day of the Lord is a day of thick darkness.>
29 - The whole city shall flee for the
noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up
upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
The
entire length of Jeremiah chapter four ultimately appears to be a description
of the end of time and the Day of the LORD.
Verse Two
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning
spread upon the mountains: a great
people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like,
neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many
generations.
(Joel 2:2)
The Hebrew word day,
as used above, does not necessarily carry the meaning of a twenty-four hour period. This same word is also translated in
Scripture as days, time, ever, long, continually,
full, year, age, yearly, times, always,
life, now, whole, season, space, years,
evermore, and even afternoon.
So we have no idea precisely how long the Day of the LORD will last.
A Day of
Darkness
Strong’s Hebrew
defines this word darkness as:
From H2821; the
dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death,
ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity.
Let us consider
a few passages that use this word darkness
in conjunction with the Day of the LORD:
Amos
5:18 - Woe unto
you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of
the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amos 5:20 - Shall not the day of the LORD be
darkness, and not light? even very
dark, and no brightness in it?
Zephaniah 1:14-16:
14 - ¶The great day of the LORD is near, it is
near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty
man shall cry there bitterly.
15
- That day is a day of wrath,
a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness
and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
<Notice that
this verse uses nearly identical language that we find in Joel 2:2. For example, we find the phrase thick darkness in both accounts
as well as clouds, darkness, and gloominess.>
16
- A day of the trumpet and
alarm against the fenced cities,
and against the high towers.
<Here we have
the trumpet and the alarm being sounded as we read in Joel 2:2. Additionally here in Zephaniah we learn that
it is against the high towers and the fenced cities. The fenced cities and high towers would
require additional studies, however be assured they represent the unsaved of
the world.>
A Day of Gloominess and Thick
Darkness
Gloominess is defined in the Hebrew as: Feminine of H651; duskiness, figuratively misfortune;
concretely concealment: - dark,
darkness, gloominess, X thick.
The word gloominess
in Joel 2:2 is also translated as darkness
in Isaiah 58:10. It is here that we have
much insight on the spirituality of this word.
Isaiah 58:10 - And if
thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then
shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness
<gloominess> be as the noonday:
<God is
showing the contrast between spiritual darkness and spiritual light. If you feed the hungry, and this is the
spiritual hungry, which will satisfy the afflicted soul (not physical but soul
as in spiritual) … then shall your Godly nature rise as does the light at the
noonday. Yes, the darkness that covers the earth at the Day of the LORD is the
Christ-less masses of humanity. This is
not to say that there aren’t physical applications or convulsions of nature as
well, since Scripture also hints at these events.
We find the
same spiritual interpretation as we look at the phrase thick darkness.
Jeremiah 13:16 - Give
glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet
stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into
the shadow of death, and make it gross
<same word as thick> darkness.
Isaiah 60:2 - For, behold,
the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross
<same word as thick> darkness
the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen
upon thee.
<We clearly see in both of the above verses
that this thick or gloss darkness symbolizes man’s spiritually darken heart; it
represents those masses who have not experienced the Gospel message of a new
heart:>
Ezekiel 36:26 - A new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put
within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you an heart of flesh.
A
Day of Clouds
“I have
blotted out, as a thick cloud,
thy transgressions, and, as a cloud,
thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” (Isaiah 44:22)
In the above verse God clearly equates our
transgressions or sins to thick
clouds. Clouds certainly take on
other meanings in Scripture; however it appears accurate to believe that when
God states that the day of the LORD will be a day of thick darkness and a day
of clouds that He is referring to the increased masses of evil humanity that
will dwell on the earth at that time.
Ezekiel
30:3 - For the day
is near, even the day of the LORD is
near, a cloudy day; it
shall be the time of the heathen.
<This verse seems to be reconfirming the
fact that God does equate the masses of unsaved or unregenerate man as thick
clouds (man’s transgressions) at His second coming.>
A Great People and a Strong
“A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day
of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a
great people and a strong; there hath not been ever
the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many
generations.” (Joel 2:2)
The phrase “as
the morning spread upon the mountains: a
great people and a strong” indicates that this entity of great people will
run its course from the morning till the night.
In other words they are here and will fulfill their purpose. The word people is defined as: BDB Definition: 1) nation,
people 1a) people, nation 1b) persons, members of one’s people, compatriots,
country-men 2) kinsman, kindred.
These great people and strong nation can be
identified with what we read in Joel chapter one:
Joel 1:6 - For a nation is come up upon my land,
strong, and without number,
whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great
lion.
<This appears unquestionably as the same people referenced in Joel
2:2. - a great people and a strong.>
These may be
and probably are the locusts of Revelation chapter nine. More of that as we work through this
chapter. As for now, God concludes verse
two by stating: “…there
hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even
to the years of many generations.” This
is an important statement, since we read similar language elsewhere in
Scripture concerning this time of trouble at the end of the age.
Mark 13:19 - For in
those days shall be affliction, such
as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time,
neither shall be.
Matthew 24:21 - For
then shall be great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be.
END OF STUDY