Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 3:21
For I will cleanse their blood [that] I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
21. And I will hold as innocent (R.V. marg.) their blood which I have not held as innocent ] By the desolation of Egypt and Edom, Jehovah will shew openly that the murdered Judahites ( Joe 3:19 b) had suffered innocently. So long, namely, as He permitted their blood to remain unavenged, it might be supposed that they had not been slain unjustly: but by the punishment of the murderers (i.e. here, by the desolation of their country) Jehovah declares (implicitly), what He had not declared before, that their blood was innocent ( Joe 3:19 b), and had been unjustly shed. Nih, to hold or declare innocent (Exo 20:7; Job 9:28 al.), is chosen on account of n’, innocent, in Joe 3:19.
and Jehovah dwelleth in Zion ] and is here almost equivalent to as truly as: in corroboration of the promise made in the preceding clause, the prophet appeals to the indisputable truth that Jehovah’s dwelling-place is in Zion. So Hos 12:5 “ and (= as truly as) Jehovah is the God of Hosts, Jehovah is his memorial (= name).”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I will cleanse her blood that I have not cleansed – The word rendered cleansed is not used of natural cleansing, nor is the image taken from the cleansing of the body. The word signifies only to pronounce innocent, or to free from guilt. Nor is blood used of sinfulness generally, but only of the actual guilt of shedding blood. The whole then cannot be an image taken from the cleansing of physical defilement, like the words in the prophet Ezekiel, then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee Eze 16:9. Nor again can it mean the forgiveness of sins generally, but only the pronouncing innocent the blood which had been shed. This, the only meaning of the words, fall in with the mention of the innocent blood, for shedding which, Egypt and Edom had been condemned. The words are the same. There it was said, because they have shed innocent blood; dam naki; here, I will pronounce innocent their blood, nikkethi damam. How, it is not said. But the sentence on Egypt and Edom explains how God would do it, by punishing those who shed it. For in that He punishes the shedding of it, He declared the blood innocent, whose shedding He punished. So in the Revelation it is said, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held, and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Rev 6:10-11. : Then, at the last judgment, when the truth in all things shall be made manifest, He shall declare the blood of His people, who clave to Him and His truth, which blood their enemies thought they had shed justly and deservedly as the blood of guilty persons, to have indeed been innocent, by absorbing them from eternal destruction to which He shall then adjudge their enemies for shedding of it.
For – (literally and) the Lord dwelleth in Zion He closes with the promise of Gods abiding dwelling. He speaks, not simply of a future, but of an ever-abiding present. He who is, the unchangeable God , the Lord, infinite in power and of eternal Being, who gives necessary being to all His purposes and promises, dwelleth now in Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22; add Gal 4:26; Rev 3:12; Rev 14:1; Rev 21:2, Rev 21:10), now by grace and the presence of His Holy Spirit, hereafter in glory. Both of the Church militant on earth and that triumphant in heaven, it is truly to be said, that the Lord dwelleth in them, and that, perpetually. Of the Church on earth will be verified what our Saviour Christ saith, lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world Mat 28:20; and of its members Paul saith, that they are of the household of God, an holy temple in the Lord, in whom they are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit Eph 2:19, Eph 2:21-22. Of the Church triumphant, there is no doubt, that He doth and will there dwell, and manifest His glorious presence forever, in whose presence is the fullness of joy, and at His Right Hand there are pleasures for evermore Psa 16:1-11 :12. It is an eternal dwelling of the Eternal, varied as to the way and degree of His presence by our condition, now imperfect, there perfected in Him; but He Himself dwelleth on for ever. He, the Unchangeable, dwelleth unchangeably; the Eternal, eternally.
: Glorious things are spoken of thee, thou city of God Psa 87:3 Jerusalem, our mother, we thy children now groan and weep in this valley of tears, hanging between hope and fear, and, amid toil and conflicts, lifting up our eyes to thee and greeting thee from far. Truly glorious things are spoken of thee. But whatever can be said, since it is said to people and in the words of people, is too little for the good things in thee, which neither eye hath seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man 1Co 2:9. Great to us seem the things which we suffer; but one of thy most illustrious citizens, placed amid those sufferings, who knew something of thee, hesitated not to say, Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2Co 4:17. We will then rejoice in hope, and by the waters of Babylon, even while we sit and weep, we will remember thee, O Zion. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, I do not remember thee, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy Psa 137:1-9.
O blessed longed-for day, when we shall enter into the city of the saints, whose light is the Lamb, where the King is seen in His beauty, where all tears are wiped off from the eyes of the saints, and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor pain, for the former things have passed away Rev 21:23; Isa 33:17; Rev 21:4. How amiable are Thy tabernacle, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God Psa 84:1-2. When shall I come and appear before God? Psa 42:2, when shall I see that Father, whom I ever long for and never see, to whom out of this exile, I cry out, Our Father, which art in heaven? O true Father, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 15:6, …), Father of mercies and God of all comfort! 2Co 1:3. When shall I see the Word, who was in the beginning with God, and who is God? Joh 1:1. When may I kiss His sacred Feet, pierced for me, put my mouth to His sacred Side, sit at His Feet, never to depart from them? O Face, more Glorious than the sun! Blessed is he, who beholdeth Thee, who hath never ceased to say, I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not nigh Num 24:17. When will the day come, when, cleansed from the defilement of my sins, I shall, with unveiled face, behold the glory of the Lord 2Co 3:18, and see the sanctifying Spirit, the Author of all good, through whose sanctifying we are cleansed, that we may be like Him, and see Him as He is? 1Jo 3:2. Blessed are all they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord, they shall ever praise Thee Psa 84:4; forever shall they behold Thee and love Thee.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. For I will cleanse their blood] nikkeythi, I will avenge the slaughter and martyrdom of my people, which I have not yet avenged. Persecuting nations and persecuting Churches shall all come, sooner or later, under the stroke of vindictive justice.
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.] He shall be the life, soul, spirit, and defense of his Church for ever.
THIS prophet, who has many things similar to Ezekiel, ends his prophecy nearly in the same way:
Ezekiel says of the glory of the Church, Yehovah shammah, THE LORD IS THERE.
Joel says, Yehovah shochen betsiyon, THE LORD DWELLETH IN ZION.
Both point out the continued indwelling of Christ among his people.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For, Heb. And.
Cleanse; purge away, both by the Spirit of sanctification, and by free pardon in the blood of the Redeemer; by their sufferings also, by the waters of affliction, as well as by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Their blood; their moral pollutions and sinfulness, compared here unto blood, as also Eze 16:6,9; and so men in sinful state are called flesh and blood, Mat 16:17; Gal 1:16. God will pardon and purify believers, and when they are pardoned and purified, nothing attempted against them shall succeed. That I have not cleansed; which before I had not taken away; what was wanting in their sanctification, or justification and reconciliation, I will make up in them and to them.
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion; and I am Jehovah dwelling in Zion, whence the law of grace was published, where the wonders of pardoning and sanctifying grace are wrought, that Israel might be a people with whom the holy God might dwell. Now whereas this can be done but in part here on earth, there is a Zion above, whither Jehovah who dwells there will take every saint after the day of judgment, having first vindicated, acquitted, and pronounced them holy and meet for enjoyment of the Holy One.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. cleanse . . . blood . . . notcleansedI will purge away from Judah the extreme guilt(represented by “blood,” the shedding of which was theclimax of her sin, Isa 1:15)which was for long not purged away, but visited with judgments (Isa4:4). Messiah saves from guilt, in order to save from punishment(Mt 1:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For I will cleanse their blood [which] I have not cleansed,…. Which some understand, as the Targum, of the Lord’s, inflicting further punishments on the, enemies of his people, for shedding their innocent blood; and that he will not expiate their sins, nor hold them guiltless, or suffer them to go unpunished; but rather this is to be interpreted in a way of grace and mercy, as a benefit bestowed on Judah and Jerusalem, who are the immediate antecedents to the relative here; and in the words a reason is given why they should dwell safely and peaceably for ever, because the Lord will justify them from their sins; forgive their iniquities; cleanse them from all their pollution, signified by blood; of which grace they will have had no application made to them till this time; but now all their guilt and faith will be removed; and particularly God will forgive, and declare to be forgiven their sin of crucifying Christ; whose blood they had imprecated upon themselves and their children, and which has remained on them; but now will be removed, with all the sad effects of it. Though this may also refer to the conversion of the Gentiles, and the pardon of their sins, and the sanctification of their persons, in such places and parts of the world, where such blessings of grace have not been bestowed in times past for many ages, if ever;
for the Lord dwelleth in Zion; and therefore will diffuse his grace, and spread the blessings of it all around: or “even the Lord [that] dwelleth in Zion” d; he will do what is before promised; being the Lord, he can do it; and dwelling in Zion his church, it may be believed he will do it; and this will be for ever, when his Shechinah shall return thither in the days of the Messiah, as Kimchi observes.
d “even I the Lord”, margin of our Bibles.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The beginning of the verse is in various ways explained. Some make a stop after cleanse thus, “I will cleanse, yet their blood I will not cleanse;” as though God had said, that he would forgive heathen nations all their other wrongs, but could not forgive them the great cruelty they had exercised against his elect. So the sense would be, “Avarice may be borne, I could pass by robberies; but, since they slew my people, I am in this case wholly unforgiving.” Hence, according to this view, God shows how precious to him is the life of his saints, inasmuch as he says, that he will not be pacified towards those ungodly men who have shed innocent blood. But this sense seems rather too forced. Others render thus, “Their blood will I cleanse, and will not cleanse,” that is, “I will cleanse the Jews from their defilements, but I will not use extreme severity;” as he says also in Isa 48:10, ‘I will not refine thee as gold or silver, for thou wouldest turn all into dross.’ They hence think that God promises here such a cleansing of the Church, as that he would not use extreme rigor, but moderate his cleansing, as it is needful with regard to our defilements, of which we are all so full.
But this sense seems to me more simple, — that God would cleanse the blood which he had not cleansed; as though he said, “I have not hitherto cleansed the pollutions of my people; they are then become, as it were, putrid in their sins; but now I will begin to purify all their wickedness, that they may shine pure before me.” There is a relative understood as is often the case in Hebrew. But נקה neke is taken in Jer 30:11, in another sense, that God will exterminate his Church: but we cannot in this place elicit any other meaning than that God will cleanse his Church from pollutions; for the Prophet, no doubt, means the defilements of which the people were full. They will not, then, be able to enjoy the favor of God while lying in their filth. Now God, in promising to be a Redeemer, comes to the very fountain and the first thing, — that he will wash away their filth; for how could God be the Redeemer of the people, except he blotted out their sins? For as long as he imputes sins to us, he must necessarily be angry with us, we must be necessarily altogether alienated from him and deprived of his blessing. He then does not say in vain that he will be a purifier; for when pollutions are cleansed, there follows another thing, which we have already noticed as to this, future redemption, and with this —
He at last concludes and says And Jehovah shall dwell in Zion. The Prophet recalls again the attention of the people to the covenant; as though he said, “God has willingly and bountifully promised all that has been mentioned, not because the people have deserved this, but because God has deigned long ago to adopt the children of Abraham, and has chosen mount Zion as his habitation.” He shows then this to be the reason why God was now inclined to mercy, and would save a people, who had a hundred times destroyed themselves by their sins.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) I will cleanse . . .The LXX. translate this sentence, I will avenge their blood, and not leave it unavengedi.e., the innocent blood mentioned in Joe. 3:19; but the promise seems rather to indicate, as in the English Version, the extension of Gods pardon to those hitherto unpardoned.
The Lord dwelleth in Zioni.e., over a raging and swelling world, probably unconscious of Him, the Lord nevertheless reigns in the heavenly Jerusalem, and all His redeemed shall dwell securely under His eternal rule. And the name of the city from that day shall be Jehovah Shammah, the LORD IS THERE (Eze. 48:35).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed The meaning is expressed more clearly in margin of R.V., “And I will hold (or, declare) as innocent their blood, that I have not declared innocent.” For [“And”]-Better, And so, that is, by the execution of judgment upon Edom and Egypt and the showering of abundant blessings upon Judah and Jerusalem. “I will declare as innocent” The Hebrew is chosen with reference to the expression “innocent blood” in Joe 3:19 (compare Exo 20:7; Job 9:28). So long as Jehovah permitted the Jews to suffer and their enemies to prosper it might be supposed that the former had deserved all their afflictions; but the judgment sent as punishment upon the oppressors is decisive proof of the latter’s guilt, and so implies the innocence of the Jewish victims. The emendation of Nowack, “and I will avenge their blood, nor will I suffer (the enemies) to go unpunished,” is unnecessary. Jehovah dwelleth in Zion (Joe 2:27; Joe 3:17) This clause does not state the reason why all the promises will be fulfilled namely, because Jehovah is in Zion; nor is it a corroboration of the preceding promise: this shall come to pass as truly as Zion is the habitation of Jehovah; rather a reiteration of the greatest of all promises: The judgment executed, Jehovah will establish himself in Zion forever; never again will he forsake his people so that they become a reproach among their enemies.
The prophecy of Joel opens with a picture of utter hopelessness and despair; it closes with the promise that even the highest hopes of the most optimistic Jews shall be realized in all their fullness.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joe 3:21. For I will cleanse, &c.cleansed For I will avenge, &c. avenged. Houbigant reads, I will avenge their blood, and not spare; and the Lord shall inhabit Zion. The reader will see a variety of different interpretations in Pocock: but none of these, says Dr. Chandler, satisfy me. If we read the former part of the words by way of interrogation, the sense will appear strong and beautiful, and the answer in the latter clause just and striking. “Judah shall dwell for ever; but shall I declare their blood innocent? Shall I declare their enemies innocent who have shed their blood, and suffer it to go unrevenged?I will not declare it innocent. I will not absolve the blood which has been spilled, nor suffer it to go unpunished.” Thus, Exo 34:7 it is said of God, that he will by no means clear the guilty. “Thus be my vengeance executed upon their enemies; and by taking my people under my especial care, it shall be known that Jehovah is present with them, and favours Zion with his peculiar protection.”
REFLECTIONS.1st, The sufferings of God’s faithful people, and the destruction of their enemies, have their appointed periods.
1. In those days of the Messiah, I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem; many of them by the preaching of the Gospel being called into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, from the bondage of corruption, more intolerable than that of Egypt or Chaldea. This also may have respect to their recovery from their present dispersion.
2. Their enemies shall be reckoned with; which some apply to Sennacherib and the Assyrians, and suppose the days spoken of to refer to the recovery of the dispersed Jews, who had fled or been taken prisoners on that invasion. Others apply it to the Romans and neighbouring nations, who had severely wasted God’s heritage: and some imagine that they see in this prophesy the destruction of the Turkish and Papal powers, assembled to make war against the saints of the most High, after all their former persecutions of them, whose quarrel God will now signally espouse, and avenge their wrongs.
3. The charges lying against these enemies of his people are for their cruelty, robbery, insult, and oppression. They scattered them among the nations; seized and sold them for slaves, particularly to the Grecians, removing them far from their own land, which they parted among themselves; either Titus parcelled it out to his soldiers, or the neighbouring nations, each seized that portion which lay contiguous to them: and they have cast lots for my people; in such vast numbers were they taken captive, and their value so small, that their conquerors gave a boy for the hire of a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. Thus in drinking and fornication they squandered the prey that they had taken; the common vices of persecutors. God’s gold and silver they had plundered; what he had given to his people, and regarded still as his own: and his pleasant things, perhaps the vessels or treasures of his sanctuary, they had carried to the temple of their idols, adding sacrilege and impiety to robbery. Well may God, therefore, expostulate with them, What have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? which may be put for all the enemies of Christ’s church and people in every age. What have ye to do with me? how dare you distress my people; what provocation have they given? will ye render me a recompense? Have they done you any injury, which you would thus retaliate? No: they were quiet in the land, and had never justly offended them. Note; (1.) No sweetness of temper, or amiableness of disposition, can soften the enmity of the wicked against the work of God. (2.) We must not think it strange, if we receive the greatest unkindness from those whom we have ever studied to oblige.
4. God threatens to return their wickedness into their own bosom. If ye recompense me, pretending to retaliate wrongs that they had received from God’s people; swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head, and give tribulation to those who troubled them. While God recovered his people from the places whither they had dispersed and sold them, he will sell the children of these his enemies into the hands of the men of Judah; and they, in just retaliation of the wrongs which they have received, shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off. And for this the veracity of God is engaged; the Lord hath spoken it: the accomplishment of which prophet, some refer to the days of the Maccabees; others, to the future destruction of the persecuting powers of Popery or Mohammedism: certain it is, however, that all the enemies of Christ’s church and believing people shall at the last be made their footstool. See the critical notes.
2nd, Commentators greatly differ about the times referred to in the prophesies contained in this chapter from Joe 3:9 to Joe 3:17. Some suppose them fulfilled in the destruction of Sennacherib, or the Assyrians, or Antiochus; others, that they look forward to more distant ages, and foretel the ruin of all the antichristian persecuting powers, whether Pagan, Papal, or Mahometan; and many expressions in the Revelations, which seem to speak of that event, are borrowed from this chapter. Some still carry the accomplishment farther; and read in it the great day of final judgment, when the wicked shall be cast into hell, and the glorified saints of God receive the kingdom of their Father.
1. A defiance is sent to all God’s enemies. Let them collect their forces; muster their armies; furnish themselves with weapons; encourage each other for the conflict; unite their assembled legions; hasten to the field of battle, rouse up their courage, and stand in array. Multitudes, multitudes, innumerable shall be the host in the valley of decision, the same as the valley of Jehoshaphat; which may not mark any particular place, but the end for which they are assembled, Jehoshaphat signifying the judgment of the Lord, who will there plead with, condemn, and destroy his enemies; and the day is near.
They who refer this to the slaughter of the antichristian powers, Rev 16:14; Rev 16:16; Rev 19:18-21 suppose, that they will in the latter day be gathered together in the land of Judaea, to make war on the saints of the Most High, and by some eminent stroke of vengeance from God be utterly consumed.
Applying it to the day of judgment, we may learn, (1.) That it is near, uncertain when, but surely approaching: highly therefore does it concern us to be always ready. (2.) That day will fix our final state, whether for happiness or misery eternal, according to the unerring decisions of the God of truth and judgment.
2. At the prophet’s prayer the executioners of vengeance appear. Cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord; either the holy angels, or the Christian powers under Christ their leader, going down to the valley of decision, to join battle with their foes. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, get ye down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; their enemies are ripe for judgment, see Rev 14:18-20; Rev 19:15-20 and the reason is given, because their wickedness is great.
3. To the impenitent sinner, or antichristian foe, that day will be full of horror. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, according to the description given in scripture of the great day of judgment. Or figuratively it refers to the kings and princes of the earth, that are enemies to the Messiah’s reign, who shall be cast down before the armies of the living God, when the Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; appearing on the behalf of his church and people, and spreading terror and dismay among their enemies: and the heavens and the earth shall shake; the mightiest will tremble before him; or as at the day of final judgment it will be seen, when the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the earth shall be burnt up. Woe to the wicked! who then shall find no shelter, no rock to hide, no mountain to cover their guilty heads.
4. The saints of God will then triumph and rejoice, for the Lord will be the hope of his people; he who had ever been the object of their hope and trust, will not then disappoint them, but will be their refuge in this day of evil: and the strength of the children of Israel; supporting his faithful people through all their conflicts, and crowning them at last with victory. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, by happy experience of his power and grace; dwelling in Zion my holy mountain; in the midst of the church of his faithful saints. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, or holiness; all the saints of God shall be perfect, as their Father who is in heaven is perfect: and there shall no strangers pass through her any more; no enemy being left to hurt them, no hypocrite or ungodly persons being any longer found among them.
3rdly, The great and precious comprized in the conclusion of this chapter, from Joe 3:18 to the end, may refer to the restoration of the Jews, and above all to the universal reign of Christ.
1. There shall be the most abundant plenty, either of temporal good things, or rather of spiritual blessings, diffused among the faithful. The wine and milk of gospel-grace should flow down like torrents from the hills, refreshing, strengthening, comforting the members of Christ’s church; and from him, the ever-flowing, overflowing fountain, shall the healing streams go forth, watering the valley of Shittim, a barren valley beyond Jordan, which may signify the Gentile world, and intimate the fruitfulness which this watering of the sanctuary should produce, and the extent of the Redeemer’s grace, even to the most distant corners of the earth.
2. The inveterate enemies of the church shall be destroyed. Egypt and Edom had often shewn their implacable hatred against Judah, and shed innocent blood in the land; but they shall now be made perpetual desolations. And these nations are the figures of the present persecutors of God’s people, particularly of Rome, called Egypt mystically; Rev 11:8 and red with the blood of saints and martyrs; but blood shall now be given her to drink, together with all the other persecuting powers, Pagan or Mahometan, who will perish together. Or if this be applied to the last great day, then death, sin, and Satan, the most mortal foes of the saints, shall be destroyed together and for ever.
3. The faithful people of God shall in these glorious days enjoy undisturbed repose. Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation; to the end of time the church of Christ shall be preserved safe from all the attacks of the gates of hell: or in the eternal state of bliss, the faithful shall dwell safely in mansions of glory. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed; pardoning all their guilt, saving them from the power of all their sins, and destroying the very being of sin in them: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion, and therefore his faithful people may comfortably and confidently expect to be made partakers of the fulness of this his great salvation.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
READER! every part of God’s word comes in to support the blessed but solemn prophecies contained in this Chapter; when, the Lord shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe, he will come no less to take out of his kingdom all things that offend. That day will burn as an oven, when all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly will be as stubble, and consumed both root and branch. But to the redeemed, Jesus will arise as the sun of righteousness, with, healing in his wings.
My unawakened brother, in our common fallen nature (if peradventure this Commentary should come within your observation) will you suffer me to ask, have you ever duly pondered these things? Have you solemnly thought, equal to the importance of the subject, what you will do, or say, when the Lord shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem? If, in that dreadful day of God, the heavens and the earth shall shake, can the unregenerated, unpardoned sinner, hope to stand in confidence? Is it not important to ask after the way of safety, and to enquire how to escape the wrath to come? If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
Ye people of the Lord! Ye that are followers of Jesus in the regeneration; take to yourselves the sweet promises and rich consolations of this most blessed scripture. Your Jesus is coming, and will come to save you. Hear what he saith, and take to yourselves the full comfort of it. You. shall know, Jesus saith, that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion! You shall enjoy his presence, hear his voice, sit with him on his throne. Jerusalem shall then be holy, and be so forever. Then no more strangers shall pass through. No more the Canaanite shall be in the land. No longer the remains of indwelling corruption shall vex the soul; nor the temptations of Satan, or the persecutors of the world afflict. Jesus will have taken away all the remains, and have cleansed all the blood of his people that had not been cleansed. And He will be their joy, their hope, their glory, their portion forever! Amen.
Farewell Joel! servant of our gracious God! farewell until that blessed day when thou, and all the Lord’s heritage, come to enjoy the fulfilment of thy prophecies, and enjoy them forever. Thanks for thy ministry, in the short, but precious gospel truths thou hast from thy master, the Lord God of the Prophets, here given us. It is thine honor thus to have been employed, while it is the Church’s happiness, to be thus ministered unto. But, blessed forever, blessed be the Lord who hath sent thee with his message! Precious Jesus! give both to him that writes, and to him that reads, grace to improve by thy servant’s labors; that that blessedness may be in the lot of both, who hear and keep the words of our God, as the time for the accomplishment draweth nearer. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joe 3:21 For I will cleanse their blood [that] I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
Ver. 21. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed ] i.e. I will clear their consciences from dead works, from the stain and sting of all sin, that they may not question their right to these precious promises, but boldly take the comfort of them. I will say unto them, Such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are justified, but ye are sanctified. Be of good cheer, therefore, since your sins, your bloody sins, are forgiven you. Or thus, “I will cleanse their blood,” that is, I will declare that the blood of the godly, which the world thought to have been justly spilt, was indeed innocent blood, and that they were slain without cause. This I will do, partly by rooting out and damning their enemies, and partly by clearing their innocence, and crowning their constancy. Thus Mercer, Levely, &c.
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
cleanse . . . cleansed = clear . . . cleared. This could be done only by avenging it; for God will “by no means clear the guilty” (Exo 34:7. Num 14:18); and Egypt, Edom, &c., were guilty (Joe 3:19), and are not to be cleansed”, but punished for shedding Judah’s blood. The Hebrew nakah is not used of cleansing, naturally or ceremonially. Not the same word as Isa 4:4. The Septuagint and Syriac render it “make inquisition for” in 2Ki 9:7; and evidently read nakam = to avenge (akin to nakah). This would be a vivid reference to Pent in Deu 32:42, Deu 32:43, the parallel event. Compare Rev 6:10, Rev 6:11.
have not = had not.
dwelleth in Zion = is about to make His dwelling in Zion. Thus ending like Ezekiel (Eze 48:35), Jehovah Shammah. Compare Joe 3:17. Psa 87:3. Rev 21:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
will: Isa 4:4, Eze 36:25, Eze 36:29, Mat 27:25
for the Lord: or, even I the Lord that, Joe 3:17, Eze 48:35, Rev 21:3
Reciprocal: 1Ch 23:25 – that they may dwell in Jerusalem Psa 132:14 – here will Jer 8:19 – the Lord Jer 33:8 – General Dan 2:11 – whose Zep 3:13 – not Zep 3:15 – is in Zec 8:3 – dwell Zec 12:1 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
CHRIST IN HIS CHURCH
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Joe 3:21
The preceding verses graphically describe the destruction of the enemies of the Church of God. These enemies among the nations are to gather together their mighty men, and convert the instruments of peace into weapons of war. All their mighty ones are to assemble in great multitudes in the valley of decision, the place of Gods judgment. Brought together in all their forces, as if for war, they are to be reaped in one harvest of destruction: Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. But, amid all this, the Lord will be the hope of His people, and He will have His dwelling-place in Zion.
I. The Lords abiding Presence with His Church on earth.The Church is this Mount Zion, this city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. (1) The purposes of His Presence are: (a) He is the centre of its Unity. We are one in Him. The sun is the centre of the solar system, and Christ is this to His whole Church. There is nothing Christ so much desired, and nothing now so much needed, as the visible unity of the Church of God. (b) For its security. The boat on the Galilean Lake could not sink with Christ on board: nor can His Church fail while He is in the midst. (c) For its guidance. Lo, I am with you always, etc. His promise has not failed. He is at the helm. (d) For its triumph. He still leads forth the valiant hosts who follow the standard of the cross. (2) The method of His Presence. (a) By His sacraments. (b) By His Spirit.
II. The Lords Presence with His Church in Heaven.Where I am there ye may be also. He is, then, the centre of the concourse of the redeemed. It is God of which the text speaks, and our Saviour is the eternal God. There His Church is perfected in Him, and He is perfected in it. There bride and bridegroom are for ever united.
Learn: (1) The unspeakable privilege of your membership in His Church. Into this privilege you were introduced at your baptism. (2) The unspeakable necessity of a holy membership in His Church. Only by this can you be transferred, through Christ, from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.
Illustrations
(1) Gods dwelling-place. With this the description begins and ends (Joe 3:17; Joe 3:21). His present home is in the heart of those whom He has redeemed (Joh 14:23; Eph 3:17). But the glory of Zion in the Millennial age is that God will dwell there (Eze 48:35). Numerous blessings result from His indwelling. He makes holy every place where He abides (Eze 48:17; Eze 48:21); assures of unfailing security (Eze 48:17; Eze 48:20); and makes rich provision (Eze 48:18). The history of Israel has shown that national judgments result from national sins. The future will prove that all blessings, temporal and spiritual, result from holiness.
(2)Jesus, Thy Church with longing eyes
For Thy expected coming waits:
When will the promised light arise,
And glory gleam from Zions gates?
Teach us in watchfulness and prayer
To wait for the appointed hour;
And fit us by Thy grace to share
The triumphs of Thy conquering power.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Joe 3:21. Cleanse their blood means the cure of idolatry if applied to fleshly Israel, and to the remission of sins when applied to spiritual Israel.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joe 3:21. I will cleanse their blood, &c. The word blood seems here to signify pollution in general; and the promise implies, that God would perfectly purge away the guilt and defilement of all the sins of his people, by a free pardon and entire sanctification. Calmet, who applies this to the times of the gospel, thus interprets the verse: Jesus Christ cleanses, by the new law, the blood which remained unclean under the old. We find in the sacrament of the new law that real purity, of which the legal ceremonies and purifications were only a figure. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion
And his presence shall be a source of purity, as well as of consolation to his people. It is uncertain, says Archbishop Newcome, whether we have the key to this difficult chapter; which may not be fully understood till Jerusalem is rebuilt, and till the prophecies, Eze 39:5; Eze 39:11; Rev 20:8-9, are accomplished.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:21 For I will {n} cleanse their blood [that] I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
(n) He had allowed his Church before this to lie in their filthiness, but now he promises to cleanse them and to make them pure unto himself.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God’s final promise through Joel was that He would avenge the blood shed by these enemies of Israel, which He had not yet avenged in the prophet’s day. He promised to do this because He dwelt in Zion, that is, He had a special covenant relationship with Israel (cf. Eze 43:1-12; Zec 2:10-13).
"Joe 3:1-21 [Joel 4:1-21] became the classic passage for the rest of the OT on God’s final judgment on all nations. It also became the classic statement for the blessed result for the people of God." [Note: Kaiser, p. 190. The reference in brackets in this quotation appears in Kaiser’s book and represents the versification in the Hebrew text. In the Hebrew text, there are four chapters in Joel: Joe 1:1-20; Joe 2:1-27; Joe 3:1-5; and Joel 4:1-21.]
The prophecy of Joel unfolds in chronological sequence. It begins with reference to a severe locust invasion that had come as a judgment on the Judahites for their covenant unfaithfulness to Yahweh (Joe 1:2-20). Even though it is impossible to date this plague, it happened in the fairly recent past from Joel’s perspective. The Lord used this severe judgment to call His people, through His prophet, to anticipate an even worse devastation coming in the near future, not from insects but from foreign invaders. He called on the Jews to repent and promised that if they did He would forgive them and save them from this invasion. This would be a day of deliverance in which they would learn that He was at work for them. This is what happened when the Assyrians under Sennacherib’s leadership attacked Jerusalem unsuccessfully in 701 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 18-19; Isaiah 36-37). If this is the near invasion that Joel predicted, he must have written in the early pre-exilic period (ninth century B.C.). Yet another similar day was coming farther in the future in which they would again experience an invasion by foreigners who hated them (in the Tribulation). Nevertheless Yahweh promised to deliver them in that day and to restore them to unprecedented blessing because He was their covenant-keeping God (in the Millennium).