Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joel 3:18
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
18. in that day ] In the era beginning immediately after the judgement on the nations. Cf. on Amo 9:11.
the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk ] A hyperbolical description of the fertility of the soil (cf. Job 29:6). The words are evidently based upon Amo 9:13 “The mountains shall cause sweet wine to drop down, and all the hills shall melt.” On “sweet wine,” see on Amo 9:13.
rivers ] channels, as Joe 1:20. The streams will then no more dry up through a drought, as they had done recently (Joe 1:20).
and a fountain, &c.] A stream issuing forth from the Temple will water the “Wdy of the Acacias,” which (from the context, as well as probably from the name) must have been some particularly dry and unfruitful Wdy in Judah. The two parallel passages which ought in particular to be compared are Zec 14:8, where it is promised that ‘living’ (i.e. running) waters, flowing alike in summer and winter, shall come forth from Jerusalem in two streams, one going down into the Dead Sea, and the other into the Mediterranean Sea; and Eze 47:1-12, where, in his vision of the territory of the restored people, the prophet sees waters issuing forth from under the Eastern threshold of the Temple, which gradually swelled into a deep stream descending into the Arbah, fertilizing the soil along its banks, and entering finally the Dead Sea, the waters of which it sweetened, enabling fish to live in them. Probably the thought of these passages was suggested by the “waters of Shiloah” (Isa 8:6: cf. Psa 46:4; Joh 9:7), which actually gushed out beneath the Temple hill in a perennial stream, fertilizing (as they do still) the parts of the Wdy of the Kidron in their immediate neighbourhood, though not abundant enough to flow further; and the idea which the three prophets share in common is that these waters should be increased in volume to such an extent as to be capable of fertilizing effectually the barren parts of Judah, especially the Wdy of the Kidron, the deep and rocky gorge which runs down from Jerusalem into the Dead Sea (see the next note).
the valley of Shittim ] the Wdy of Shittim (or of the Acacias). The word is quite a different one from that rendered ‘valley’ in Joe 3:2 ; Joe 3:12 ; Joe 3:14, and means a gorge between hills containing a watercourse, with or without water, as the case might be (see on Amo 5:24). What Wdy is meant, is however uncertain. According to many, the reference is to the ‘Meadow of Shittim ( or of the Acacias)’ part of the broad plain into which the Jordan-valley expands immediately before the river enters the Dead Sea, and now identified generally with the Ghr es-Seisebn which was the last camping-ground of the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan (Num 33:49; also called simply The Shittim, or The Acacias, ib. Num 25:1; Jos 2:1 al.). But the depression through which the Jordan flows has a special name, the Arbah, and is never called a Wdy ( naal); and it is hardly likely that Joel would picture the stream as crossing the Jordan, and fertilizing the soil on the opposite side. Others, therefore (as Credner, Hitzig), prefer to think that the “Wdy of the Acacias” was the Kidron-Wdy itself, which starting (under the name Wdy el-Jz) a little N.W. of Jerusalem, bends round so as to run along the E. of the city, separating it from the Mount of Olives (cf. above on Joe 3:2), and then, as a deep, rocky gorge (now called, perhaps from the “furnace-like” heat of its lower stretches, the Wdy en-Nr or “the Wdy of Fire”) runs down in a S.E. direction towards the Dead Sea, which it joins at about 10 miles from its N. end (see Plate iv. in G. A. Smith, Geogr.): though in winter-time there is sometimes water in the bed of this naal, it is in general quite dry, the soil is rocky, and it runs through the arid and desolate region known as the “wilderness of Judah” (cf. Smith, l.c. p. 511 f.). There is little doubt that this was the naal through which Ezekiel pictured the fertilizing waters as flowing, in his vision, ch. 47. For Acacias on the W. shore of the Dead Sea, see Tristram, Land of Isr., pp. 280, 295. Wellhausen thinks of the Wdy on the S.W. of Jerusalem usually identified with the Wdy of Elah of 1Sa 17:2 which still bears the corresponding name, Wdy es-Sun (or San): this forms part of the direct route from Jerusalem to Tell e-fiyeh (probably Gath), and Ashkelon (cf. G. A. Smith, Plate iv., and pp. 226 f.). The reason why Joel specifies the Wdy of the Acacias is to be found, no doubt, in the fact that the Acacia (as Jerome, on Isa 41:17, already observes) grows in dry soil it is abundant, for instance, in the peninsula of Sinai; and hence the name might well be given to an arid Wdy, such as needed fertilizing. Comp. Rev 22:1-2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
18 20. Israel’s final prosperity. After the judgement upon the nations, the land of Judah will be blessed with preternatural fertility, and will enjoy for ever undisturbed peace, while that of her foes will become a desolate waste.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And it shall come to pass in that Day – After the destruction of antichrist, there will, it seems, still be a period of probation, in which the grace of God will abound and extend more and more widely. The prophet Zechariah, who continues on the image, of the living waters going out from Jerusalem Zec 14:8, places this gift after God had gathered all nations against Jerusalem, and had visibly and miraculously overthrown them Zec 14:2-4. But in that the blessings which he speaks of, are regenerating, they belong to time; the fullness of the blessing is completed only in eternity; the dawn is on earth, the everlasting brightness is in heaven. But though the prophecy belongs eminently to one time, the imagery describes the fulness of spiritual blessings which God at all times diffuses in and through the Church; and these blessings, he says, shall continue on in her for ever; her enemies shall be cut off for ever. It may be, that Joel would mark a fresh beginning and summary by his words, It shall be in that Day. The prophets do often begin, again and again, their descriptions. Union with God, which is their theme, is one. Every gift of God to His elect, except the beatific vision, is begun in time, union with Himself, indwelling, His Spirit flowing forth from Him into His creatures, His love, knowledge of Him, although here through a glass darkly.
The promise cannot relate to exuberance of temporal blessings, even as tokens of Gods favor. For he says, a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. But the valley of Shittim is on the other side Jordan, beyond the Dead Sea, so that by nature the waters could not flow there. The valley of Shittim or acacia trees is a dry valley, for in such the Easten Acacia, i. e., the sant or sandal wood grows. It is, says Jerome (on Isa 12:1-6 :19), a tree which grows in the desert, like a white thorn in color and leaves, not in size. For they are of such size, that very large planks , are cut out of them. The wood is very strong, and of incredible lightness and beauty. They do not grow in cultivated places, or in the Roman soil, save only in the desert of Arabia. It does not decay ; and when old becomes like ebony . Of it the ark of God was made, its staves, the table of showbread, the tabernacle and its pillars, the altar for burnt-offerings, and of incense Exo 25:5, Exo 25:10, Exo 25:13, Exo 25:23, Exo 25:28; Exo 26:15, Exo 26:26, Exo 26:32, Exo 26:37; Exo 27:1, Exo 27:6; Exo 30:1; Exo 35:7, Exo 35:24; Exo 36:20, Exo 36:31, Exo 36:36; Exo 37:1, Exo 37:4, Exo 37:10, Exo 37:15, Exo 37:25, Exo 37:28; Exo 38:1, Exo 38:6; Deu 10:3. The valley is about six miles from Livias , seven and a half beyond the Dead Sea . It was the last station of Israel, before entering the land of promise Num 33:49, from where Joshua sent out the spies Jos 2:1; where God turned the curse of Balaam into a blessling Num. 23; 24; Mic 6:5; and he prophesied of the Star which should arise out of Israel, even Christ Num 24:17; where Israel sinned in Baal Peor, and Phineas turned aside His displeasure Num 25:1, Num 25:7, Num 25:11.
The existence of a large supply of water under the temple is beyond all question. While the temple was still standing, mention is made up of a fountain of ever-flowing water under the temple, as well as pools and cisterns for preserving rain-water. One evidently well acquainted with the localities says , The pavement has slopes at befitting places, for the sake of a flush of water which takes place in order to cleanse away the blood from the victims. For on festivals many myriads of animals are sacrificed. But of water there is an unfailing supply, a copious and natural fountain within gushing over, and there being moreover wonderful underground-receptacles in a circuit of five furlongs, in the substructure of the temple, and each of these having numerous pipes, the several streams inter-communicating, and all these closed up below and on the sides – There are also many mouths toward the base, invisible to all except those to whom the service of the temple belongs. So that the manifold blood of the sacrifices being brought together are cleansed by the gush (of water down) the slope.
This same writer relates that, more than half a mile from the city, he was told to stoop down and heard the sound of gushing waters underground. The natural fountain, then, beneath the temple was doubtless augmented by waters brought from a distance, as required for the divers washings both of the priests and other things, and to carry off the blood of the victims. Pools near the temple are mentioned by writers of the third and fourth century ; and Omar, on the surrender of Jerusalem, 634 a.d., was guided to the site of the ancient temple (whereon he built his Mosk) by the stream of water which issued through a water-channel from it . Whencesoever this water was derived, whether from a perennial spring beneath the temple itself, or whether brought there from some unfailing source without, it afforded Jerusalem an abundant supply of water.
Much as Jerusalem suffered in sieges by famine, and its besiegers by thirst, thirst was never any part of the sufferings of those within . The superfluous water was and still is carried off underground, to what is now the fountain of the Virgin , and thence again, through the rock, to the pool of Siloam . Thence it carried fertility to the gardens of Siloam, in Joels time doubtless the kings gardens , still a verdant spot, refreshing to the eye in the heat of summer, while all around is parched and dun. The blood of the victims flowed into the same brook Kidron, and was a known source of fertility, before the land was given to desolation. The waters of Kidron, as well as all the waters of Palestine, must have been more abundant formerly.
Isaiah speaks of it as flowing softly Isa 8:6; Josephus , of the abundant fountain; an official report , of the fountain gushing forth with abundance of water. Still its fertilizing powers formed but one little oasis, where all around was arid. It fertilized those gardens live miles from the city, but the mid-space was waterless , thirsty, mournful . Lower down, the rivulet threaded its way to the Dead Sea, through a narrow ravine which became more and more wild, where Saba planted his monastery. A howling wilderness, stern desolation. stupendous perpendicular cliffs, terrific chasms, oppressive solitude are the terms by which one endeavors to characterize the heart of this stern desert of Judaea .
Such continues to be its character, in the remaining half of its course, until it is lost in the Dead Sea, and is transmuted into its saltness. Its valley bears the name of desolation, Wady en Nar , valley of fire. No human path lies along it. The Kidron flows along a deep and almost impenetrable ravine Psa 46:4, in a narrow channel between perpendicular walls of rock, as if worn away by the rushing waters between those desolate chalky hills. That little oasis of verdure was fit emblem of the Jewish people, itself bedewed by the stream which issued from the Temple of God, but, like Gideons fleece, leaving all around dry. It made no sensible impression out of, or beyond itself. Hereafter, the stream, the Siloah, whose streamlets, i. e., the artificial fertilizing divisions, made glad the city of God Eze 47:1-12, should make the wildest, driest spots of our mortality like the garden of the Lord. Desolation should become bright and happy; the parched earth should shoot up fresh with life; what was by nature barren and unfruitful should bring forth good fruit; places heretofore stained by sin should be purified; nature should be renewed by grace; and that, beyond the borders of the promised land, in that world which they had left, when Joshua brought them in there.
This, which it needs many words to explain, was vivid to those to whom Joel spoke. They had that spot of emerald green before their eyes, over which the stream which they then knew to issue from the temple trickled in transparent brightness, conducted by those channels formed by mans diligence. The eyes of the citizens of Jerusalem must have rested with pleasure on it amid the parched surface around. Fresher than the gladliest freshness of nature, brighter than its most kindled glow, is the renewing freshness of grace; and this, issuing from mount Zion, was to be the portion not of Judea only, but of the world.
The vision of Ezekiel Eze 47:1-12, which is a comment on the prophecy of Joel, clearly belongs primarily to this life. For in this life only is there need for healing; in this life only is there a desert land to be made fruitful; death to be changed into life; death and life, the healed and unhealed, side by side; life, where the stream of Gods grace reacheth, and death and barrenness, where it reacheth not. The fishers who spread their nests amid the fish, exceeding many, are an emblem which waited for and received its explanation from the parables of our Lord.
In the Revelation, above all, the peace, glory, holiness, vision of God, can only be fulfilled in the sight of God. Yet here too the increase of the Church, and the healing of the nations Rev 21:24-26; Rev 22:21, belong to time and to a state of probation, not of full fruition.
But then neither can those other symbols relate to earthly things.
The mountains shall drop down new wine – Literally, trodden out. What is ordinarily obtained by toil, shall be poured forth spontaneously. And the hills shall flow with milk, literally, flow milk, as though they themselves, of their own accord, gushed forth into the good gifts which they yield. Wine ever new, and ever renewing, sweet and gladdening the heart; milk, the emblem of the spiritual food of childlike souls, of purest knowledge, holy devotion, angelic purity, heavenly pleasure. And these shall never cease. These gifts are spoken of, as the spontaneous, perpetual flow of the mountains and hills; and as the fountain gushes forth from the hill or mountain-side in one ceaseless flow, day and night, streaming out from the hidden recesses to which the waters are supplied by God from His treasure-house of the rain, so day and night, in sorrow or in joy, in prosperity or adversity, God pours out, in the Church and in the souls of His elect, the riches of His grace. All the rivers, literally channels, of Judah shall flow with water. Every channel, however narrow and easily drying up, shall flow with water, gushing forth unto everlasting life; the love of God shall stream through every heart; each shall he full according to its capacity and none the less full, because a larger tide pours through others. How much more , in those everlasting hills of heaven, the heavenly Jerusalem, resting on the eternity and Godhead of the Holy Trinity, shall that long promise be fulfilled of the land flowing with milk and honey, where God, through the beatific vision of Himself, shall pour into the blessed the torrent of pleasure, the unutterable sweetness of joy and gladness unspeakable in Himself; and all the rivers of Judah, i. e., all the powers, capacities, senses, speech of the saints who confess God, shall flow with a perennial stream of joy, thanksgiving, and jubilee, as of all pleasure and bliss.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Joe 3:18-21
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine.
The golden age
I. It will be an age in which great temporal prosperity will be witnessed. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters. Here we have set forth the temporal prosperity which the Church of God is destined to enjoy after the destruction of its enemies. The Church is now in great poverty. It does not possess the good things of the material universe. The world itself is barren. It is rendered so by greed and covetousness. But the day is coming when the meek shall inherit the earth, and when the earth shall spontaneously and richly yield her increase. The earth shall yield her harvest responsive to the smile of heaven.
II. It will be an age in which the hallowed moral influences of the sanctuary shall pervade society. And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Thus in the age to come there will issue from the sanctuary of the Lord a moral influence as pure, refreshing, and quickening as a stream of water, which shall be beneficial to the social life of men; indeed, society will be pervaded by the tide of thought, feeling, and praise which takes its rise in the secret place of the Most High. This tide shall reach even to the valley of Shittim; the most distant and barren places of society shall be awakened into moral verdure by the advent of the life-giving stream.
III. It will be an age in which moral goodness will be continuous and progressive. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Then the redemption of the good will be eternal. They shall never again be led into captivity. Their moral condition will be permanent and happy: they shall dwell in it for ever. Sin of every kind is doomed to become a desolate wilderness; but purity, righteousness, truth, and virtuous character shall continue and progress in meaning and splendour through the ages.
IV. It will be an age in which the Divine presence will be richly manifested. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. The men of the age will be made morally pure, and then God will come and dwell in their midst. Lessons:–
1. The world has not yet reached its ideal condition.
2. There are agencies at work seeking to bring the world under Divine influences.
3. Let us derive encouragement from this picture of the future of the race. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
Purified:
These words must be understood in the Christian and spiritual, not in the Jewish and literal sense. The Judah here spoken of is the spiritual Judah; those who are followers of the Lord, by the regenerating grace of God.
I. Vital consecration to god. I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed. Take this strictly in a spiritual sense.
1. Medicinally. Illustrate by the circumstances of the cleansing of the leper. It is said, the priest shall consider; and we may be sure the Great Physician will consider those who seek Him with their sin-disease. And He will cleanse them, even cleanse the blood which is the life.
2. It relates to their citizenship. For nothing that defileth, worketh abomination, and maketh a lie, can enter into the city, can be reckoned a citizen.
II. The presence of the Lord. The Lord dwelleth in Zion.
1. As the strength of Zion. It is strong if salvation be the walls.
2. As the security, or peace, of Zion. The defence of His people.
3. As the source of happiness to His people. (James Wells.)
A happy Church
Three things promised it.
1. Purity. I will cleanse, etc. Put last here, as a reason for the rest.
2. Plenty. The mountains shall drop new wine. Such abundance shall they have of suitable provision.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns the rest.
(1) The Church of Christ shall continue in the world to the end of time. All the living members of that Church shall be established in their happiness to the utmost ages of eternity. (Matthew Henry.)
For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.–
God and the Church
The statement of the prophet amounts to this–that the Lord bears a peculiar relation to the Church.
I. The Church is the greatest Witness of God. The very existence of the Church on earth shows that it is a witness of Gods being, providence, and redemption. This will appear if we consider–
1. The Church of God is decidedly opposed to the principles and practice of the great mass of mankind. Its creed and conduct are thought to be holy, just, benevolent, and productive of happiness.
2. A great portion of mankind have in every age and clime opposed the Church. You cannot put your finger on a page of ecclesiastical history without discovering this.
3. Still the Church not only has existed, but it has increased. I am not able to account for this unless it be Divine interposition. From these considerations we can confidently say that the Church is a living witness of God in the midst of faithless generations. May it ever be a bold, brave, honest witness against sin in all its forms.
II. The Church is the brightest illustration of God.
1. By publishing Gods own revelations. This was done by writing, translating, and printing. If this had not been done, we should have been to this day under the influence of Druidism. Let the Word of God have free course, and wherever it goes it will cause the wilderness to blossom as the rose, and the parched earth to appear in verdure, fertility, and beauty.
2. By imitating His moral perfections. It not only says such a being as God exists, but in effect says, Look on me, and you shall see Gods character exhibited. One of the servants of Plato said once, very sagaciously, Plato has written a book against anger, and yet he is one of the most angry of men. Christians speak much of Christianity as a system of love, yet they are hating and persecuting one another.
III. The Church is the highest instrument of God.
1. It ameliorates the outward sufferings of the world. I believe that there is throughout the world a favourable disposition towards Christianity, because it is calculated to better the temporal condition of mankind. Let us endeavour not to contradict this impression.
2. It converts the moral heart of the world. What a noble work God has given His Church to do; what a solemn charge! The conversion of the whole world. Let every individual feel his own responsibility. Let us unite in prayer, that we may be baptized with the Holy Ghost. (Caleb Morris.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
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, Eze 47:1-23, 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; Nu 33:49; Jos 3:1; 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 Eze 2:6. 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 Ecl. 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In that day; when afflictions, amidst which they were preserved, from which delivered, and by which they were purified.
The mountains; the vines planted upon the mountains, which were dried up, Joe 1:12, shall now be full of juice and fruit.
Shall drop down, shall come down as the showers or dew, sweetly and plentifully, new wine; sweet and delicious.
The hills shall flow with milk; so fruitful shall the hills be, and keep so many cows, sheep, and goats, that milk shall abound every where, as it were a current that ever runs down.
All the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters: in the great drought rivers dried up, now the rivers shall be full of water and ever flow.
A fountain: the prophet alludes to those waters which were conveyed from some spring through conduit pipes towards the altar, of which Eze 47:1-5, for the use of the temple, in which water the priests washed what was to be washed. This no doubt is a shadow of the purifying blood of Christ, and his sanctifying Spirit and word. And in that it is said to
come from the house of the Lord, it intimateth that these glad tidings, this saving grace, shall be first preached from Jerusalem, and by the church, which is the house of God, shall be published to others.
Shall water, refresh, purge, and make fruitful in all holy works,
the valley of Shittim; it was a place in the plains of Moab, on the borders of Israel towards the south-east, Num 33:49; Jos 3:1, not far from the Dead Sea. These spiritual waters shall flow down to the dry and thirsty, the barren and fruitless Gentiles, and make them fruitful.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. mountains . . . drop . . .winefigurative for abundance of vines, which werecultivated in terraces of earth between the rocks on the sides of thehills of Palestine (Am 9:13).
hills . . . flow withmilkthat is, they shall abound in flocks and herds yieldingmilk plentifully, through the richness of the pastures.
watersthe greatdesideratum for fertility in the parched East (Isa30:25).
fountain . . . of . . . houseof . . . Lord . . . water . . . valley of ShittimTheblessings, temporal and spiritual, issuing from Jehovah’s house atJerusalem, shall extend even to Shittim, on the border between Moaband Israel, beyond Jordan (Num 25:1;Num 33:49; Jos 2:1;Mic 6:5). “Shittim”means “acacias,” which grow only in arid regions: implyingthat even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the blessingfrom Jerusalem. So Eze47:1-12 describes the waters issuing from the threshold of thehouse as flowing into the Dead Sea, and purifying it. Also in Zec14:8 the waters flow on one side into the Mediterranean, on theother side into the Dead Sea, near which latter Shittim was situated(compare Psa 46:4; Rev 22:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it shall come to pass in that day,…. 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 t 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 u, 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, So 1:2; 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, c. 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, Isa 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 So 7:9
Mt 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 w. 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 So 4:11 1Pe 2:2;
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 Zec 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
Eze 36:25;
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, Isa 2:3; the living waters that shall come out of Jerusalem, Zec 14:8; and the same with the waters in Ezekiel’s vision, that came from under the threshold of the house, Eze 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 x 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,
Nu 33:49. Benjamin of Tudela y 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, Isa 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 z 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, c. of the tabernacle, c.
Ex 25:10, &c. 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 a: 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, Eze 47:1; 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, Nu 25:1; 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 Zec 14:8; see Isa 11:9. Some render it, “shall water the valley of cedars” b; 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
Ex 25:10; 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 Nu 24:5; 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
Isa 40:4. It is by Symmachus rendered “the valley of thorns”; and so Quinquarboreus c says the word signifies and designs such who are barren in good works.
t Epitome Divin. Institut. c. 11. Vid. Institut. l. 7. c. 24. u “Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida mella”. Virgil. Eclog. 4. l. 29, 30. w “Flumina jam lactis, jam flumina nectaris ibant, Flavaque de viridi stillabant ibice mella”. Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. x Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2. y Itineranium, p. 44. z Travels, c. 3. p. 444, 459. Ed. 2. a Vid. Relaud. Palestina Illustrata, l. 1. c. 54, p. 351, 352. b “vallem cedrorum lectissimorum”, Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius. c Scholia in Targum in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After the judgment upon all nations, the land of the Lord will overflow with streams of divine blessing; but the seat of the world-power will become a barren waste. Joe 3:18. “And it comes to pass in that day, the mountains will trickle down with new wine, and the hills flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah flow with water; and a fountain will issue from the house of Jehovah, and water the Acacia valley. Joe 3:19. Egypt will become a desolation, and Edom a barren waste, for the sin upon the sons of Judah, that they have shed innocent blood in their land. Joe 3:20. But Judah, it will dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. Joe 3:21. And I shall expiate their blood that I have not expiated: and Jehovah dwelleth upon Zion.” The end of the ways of the Lord is eternal blessing for His people, whilst the enemies of His kingdom fall victims to the curse. This thought is expressed in figures taken from the state of the covenant land of the Old Testament, and those of the bordering kingdoms of Egypt and Edom which were hostile to Israel. If we bear this in mind, we shall not fall into Volck’s error, of seeking in this description for a clear statement as to the transfiguration of the land of Israel during the thousand years’ reign, whilst the rest of the earth is not yet glorified; for it is evident from Joe 3:18, as compared with the parallel passages, viz., Zec 14:6. and Eze 47:1-12, that this passage does not teach the earthly glorification of Palestine, and desolation of Egypt and Idumaea, but that Judah and Jerusalem are types of the kingdom of God, whilst Egypt and Edom are types of the world-powers that are at enmity against God; in other words, that this description is not to be understood literally, but spiritually. “In that day,” viz., the period following the final judgment upon the heathen, the mountains and hills of Judah, i.e., the least fruitful portions of the Old Testament kingdom of God in the time of the prophet, will overflow with new wine and milk, and all the brooks of water be filled, i.e., no more dry up in the hot season of the year (Joe 1:20). Thus will the fruitfulness of Canaan, the land of the Lord, flowing with milk and honey, come forth in all its potency. Even the unfruitful acacia valley will be watered by a spring issuing from the house of Jehovah, and turned into a fruitful land. The valley of Shittim is the barren valley of the Jordan, above the Dead Sea. The name Shittim, acacia, is taken from the last encampment of the Israelites in the steppes of Moab, before their entrance into Canaan (Num 25:1; Jos 3:1), and was chosen by the prophet to denote a very dry valley, as the acacia grows in a dry soil (cf. Celsii, Hierob. i. p. 500ff.). The spring which waters this valley, and proceeds from the house of Jehovah, and the living water that flows from Jerusalem, according to Zec 14:8, are of course not earthly streams that are constantly flowing, as distinguished from the streams caused by rain and snow, which very soon dry up again, but spiritual waters of life (Joh 4:10, Joh 4:14; Joh 7:38); and, in fact, as a comparison of Eze 47:7-12 with Rev 22:1-2 clearly shows, the “river of the water of life, clear as a crystal,” which in the New Jerusalem coming down from God upon the earth (Rev 21:10) proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and on both sides of which there grows the tree of life, that bears its fruit twelve times a-year, or every month, and the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. The partially verbal agreement between the description of this river of water in Rev 22:2, and that in Eze 47:12, overthrows the millenarian view, that the glorification of Judah and Jerusalem, predicted by Joel, Zechariah, and Ezekiel, will be a partial glorification of the earth, viz., of the Holy Land, which takes place before the creation of the new heaven and the new earth.
Joe 3:19 On the other hand, the curse of desolation will fall upon Egypt and Edom, on account of the sin which they have committed upon the sons of Judah. , with the genitive of the object, as in Oba 1:10; Hab 2:8, Hab 2:17, etc. This sin is then more precisely defined, as consisting in the fact that they had shed innocent blood of the sons of Judah, i.e., of the people of God, in their land ( ‘artsam , the land of the Egyptians and Edomites, not of the Judaeans): that is to say, in the Egypt in the olden time, more especially by the command to slay all the Hebrew boys (Exo 1:16), and in the Edom of more recent times, probably when throwing off the dominion of Judah (see at Amo 1:11 and Oba 1:10). These nations and lands had both thereby become types of the power of the world in its hostility to God, in which capacity they are mentioned here, and Edom again in Isaiah 34 and 63; cf. Jer 49:7. and Eze 35:1-15.
Joe 3:20 On the other hand, Judah and Jerusalem shall dwell for ever, – a poetical expression for “be inhabited,” both land and city being personified, as in Isa 13:20, etc. Thus will Jehovah, by means of the final judgment upon the heathen, wipe away the bloodguiltiness that they have contracted in their treatment of His people, and manifest Himself as King of Zion. With these thoughts the prophecy of Joel closes (Joe 3:21). The verb niqqah , to cleanse, with dam , to wipe away or expunge blood-guiltiness by punishment, is chosen with reference to in Joe 3:19; and , which follows, is to be taken in a relative sense: so that there is no need to alter into otni (Ges.); and the latter has no critical support in the Septuagint rendering , which merely reproduces the sense.
Joe 3:21 Joe 3:21 does not contain the announcement of a still further punishment upon Egypt and Edom, but simply the thought with which the proclamation of the judgment closes – namely, that the eternal desolation of the world-kingdoms mentioned here will wipe out all the wrong which they have done to the people of God, and which has hitherto remained unpunished. But Zion will rejoice in the eternal reign of its God. Jehovah dwells upon Zion, when He manifests Himself to all the world as the King of His people, on the one hand by the annihilation of His foes, and on the other hand by the perfecting of His kingdom in glory.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Judgments and Mercies; Promises to the Church. | B. C. 720. |
18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.
These promises with which this prophecy concludes have their accomplishments in part in the kingdom of grace, and the comforts and graces of all the faithful subjects of that kingdom, but will have their full accomplishment in the kingdom of glory; for, as to the Jewish church, we know not of any event concerning that which answers to the extent of these promises, and what instances of peace and prosperity they were blessed with, which they may be supposed to be a hyperbolical description of, they were but figures of better things reserved for us, that they in their best estate without us might not be made perfect.
I. It is promised that the enemies of the church shall be vanquished and brought down, v. 19. Egypt, that old enemy of Israel, and Edom, which had an inveterate enmity to Israel, derived from Esau, these shall be a desolation, a desolate wilderness, no more to be inhabited; they have become the people of God’s curse; so the Idumeans were, Isa. xxxiv. 5. No strength nor wealth of a nation is a defence against the judgment of God. But what is the quarrel God has with these potent kingdoms? It is for their violence against the children of Judah, and the injuries they had done them; see Eze 25:3; Eze 25:8; Eze 25:12; Eze 25:15; Eze 26:2. They had shed the innocent blood of the Jews that fled to them for shelter or were making their escape through their country. Note, The innocent blood of God’s people is very precious to him, and not a drop of it shall be shed but it shall be reckoned for. In the last day this earth, which has been filled with violence against the people of God, shall be made a desolation, when it and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up. And, sooner or later, the oppressors and persecutors of God’s Israel shall be brought down and laid in the dust, nay, they will at length be brought down and laid in the flames.
II. It is promised that the church shall be very happy; and truly happy it is in spiritual privileges, even during its militant state, but much more when it comes to be triumphant. Three things are here promised it:–
1. Purity. This is put last here, as a reason for the rest (v. 21); but we may consider it first, as the ground and foundation of the rest: I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, that is, their bloody heinous sins, especially shedding innocent blood; that filth and guilt they had contracted by sin, which rendered them unfit for communion with God, and made them odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice; this they shall be washed from in the fountain opened, Zech. xiii. 1. That shall be cleansed by the blood of Christ which could not be cleansed by the sacrifices and purifications of the ceremonial law. Or, if we apply it to the happiness of a future state, it intimates the cleansing of the saints from all these corruptions from which they were not cleansed either by ordinances or providences in the world; there shall not be the least remains of sin in them there. Here, though they are washing daily, there is still something that is not cleansed; but in heaven, even that also shall be done away. And the reason is because the Lord dwells in Zion, dwells with his church, and much more gloriously with that in heaven, and holiness becomes his house for ever, for which reason, where he dwells there must be, there shall be, a perfection of holiness. Note, Though the refining and reforming of the church is work that goes on slowly, and still there is something we complain of that is not cleansed, yet there is a day coming when every thing that is amiss shall be amended, and the church shall be all fair, and no spot, no stain in her; and we must wait for that day.
2. Plenty, v. 18. This is put first, because it is the reverse of the judgment threatened in the foregoing chapters. (1.) The streams of this plenty overflow the land and enrich it: The mountains shall drop new wine and the hills shall flow with milk, such great abundance shall they have of suitable provision, both for babes and for strong men. It intimates the abundance of vineyards, and all fruitful; and the abundance of cattle in the pastures that fill them with milk. And, to make the corn-land fruitful, the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, so that the country shall be like the garden of Eden, well-watered every where and greatly enriched, Ps. lxv. 9. But this seems to be meant spiritually; the graces and comforts of the new covenant are compared to wine and milk (Isa. lv. 1), and the Spirit to rivers of living water, John vii. 38. And these gifts abound much more under the New Testament than they did under the Old; when believers receive grace for grace from Christ’s fulness, when they are enriched with everlasting consolations, and filled with joy and peace in believing, then the mountains drop new wine, and the hills flow with milk. Drink you, drink abundantly, O beloved! When there is plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace, then the rivers of Judah flow with water, and make glad, not only the city of our God (Ps. xlvi. 4), but the whole land. (2.) The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take their rise, as those waters of the sanctuary (Ezek. xlvii. 1) from under the threshold of the house, and the river of life out of the throne of God and the Lamb, Rev. xxii. 1. The psalmist, speaking of Zion, says, All my springs are in thee, Ps. lxxxvii. 7. Those that take temporal blessings to be meant in the former part of the verse, yet by this fountain out of the house of the Lord understand the grace of God, which, if we abound in temporal blessings, we have so much more need of, that we may not abuse them. Christ himself is the fountain; his merit and grace cleanse us, refresh us, and make us fruitful. This is said to water the valley of Shittim, which lay a great way off from the temple at Jerusalem, on the other side of Jordan, and was a dry and barren valley, which intimates that gospel-grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach far, even to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions of it, and shall make those to abound in the fruits of righteousness who had long lain as the barren wilderness. This grace is a fountain overflowing, ever-flowing, from which we may be continually drawing, and yet need not fear its being drawn dry. This fountain comes out of the house of the Lord above, from his temple in heaven, flows all that good which here we are daily tasting the streams of, but hope to be shortly, hope to be eternally, drinking at the fountain-head of.
3. Perpetuity. This crowns all the rest (v. 20): Judah shall dwell for ever (when Egypt and Edom are made a desolation), and Jerusalem shall continue from generation to generation. This is a promise, and a precious promise it is, (1.) That the church of Christ shall continue in the world to the end of time. As one generation of professing Christians passes away, another shall come, in whom the throne of Christ shall endure for ever, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (2.) That all the living members of that church (Judah and Jerusalem are put for the inhabitants of that city and country, Matt. iii. 5) shall be established in their happiness to the utmost ages of eternity. This new Jerusalem shall be from generation to generation, for it is a city that has foundations, not made with hands, but eternal in the heavens.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Prophet here declares that God will be so bountiful to his people, that no good things will be wanting to them either in abundance or variety. When God then shall restore his Church, it will abound, he says, in every kind of blessing: for this is the meaning of this language, Distill new wine shall the mountains, and the hills shall make milk to run down; and all rivers also shall have abundant waters, and a fountain shall arise from the house of Judah to irrigate the valley of Shittim. We now perceive the design of Joel. But we must remember that when the Prophets so splendidly extol the blessings of God, they intend not to fill the minds of the godly with thoughts about eating and drinking; but profane men lay hold on such passages as though the Lord intended to gratify their appetite. We know, indeed, that God’s children differ much from swine: hence God fills not the faithful with earthly things, for this would not be useful for their salvation. At the same time, he thus enlarges on his blessings, that we may know that no happiness shall in any way be wanting to us, when God shall be propitious to us. We hence see that our Prophet so speaks of God’s earthly blessings, that he fills not the minds of the godly with these things but desires to raise them above, as though he said, that the Israelites would in every way be happy, after having in the first place been reconciled to God. For whence came their miseries and distresses of every kind, but from their sins? Since, then, all troubles, all evils, are signs of God’s wrath and alienation, it is no wonder that the Lord, when he declares that he will be propitious to them, adds also the proofs of his paternal love, as he does here: and we know that it was necessary for that rude people, while under the elements of the Law, to be thus instructed; for they could not as yet take solid food, as we know that the ancients under the Law were like children. But it is enough for us to understand the design of the Holy Spirit, namely, that God will satisfy his people with the abundance of all good things, as far as it will be for their benefit. Since God now calls us directly to heaven, and raises our minds to the spiritual life, what Paul says ought to be sufficient, — that to godliness is given the hope, not only of future life, but also of that which is present, (1Ti 4:8😉 for God will bless us on the earth, but it will be, as we have already observed, according to the measure of our infirmity.
The valley of Shittim was nigh the borders of the Moabites, as we learn from Num 25:1, and Jos 2:1. Now when the Prophet says, that waters, flowing from the holy fountains would irrigate the valley of Shittim, it is the same as though he said, that the blessing of God in Judea would be so abundant, as to diffuse itself far and wide, even to desert valleys.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Joe. 3:18.] After judgment upon all nations, the land of Jehovah shall overflow with Divine blessings; but the seat of the world will become barren waste. Drop] Poetic for great fertility, happy times and plenty. Valley of Shittim] Even the arid desert shall be fertilized with blessings from Jerusalem (Zec. 14:8; Rev. 22:2).
Joe. 3:19. Egypt and Edom] Both remarkable for enmity to Jews and emblems of enemies to Gods people. They have been desolate for centuries (Isa. 19:1; Jer. 49:17; Oba. 1:10).
Joe. 3:20. Dwell] Abide; the true Church shall never be destroyed, but all false, persecuting people will be annihilated (Amo. 9:15).
Joe. 3:21. Cleanse] Wipe away blood-guiltiness, the climax of her sin, and for long not purged away, but visited with judgment. Amid extraordinary manifestations of wrath in the destruction of the wicked, Israel will be saved, and learn anew that Jehovah is their holy God and King.
HOMILETICS
THE NEW WORLD.Joe. 3:18-21
In these verses, says Lowth, either the times of the Messiah are described, or we have a description of Jerusalem after its final restoration, when a golden age shall commence among its inhabitants, and when the knowledge of God and his Christ shall a second time be widely diffused from it.
I. The scene of manifold blessings. These blessings are predicted under significant figures. The mountains drop down new wine and the hills flow with milk in rich abundance. Divine influences will attend the preaching of the word, converts shall rapidly increase in number and fruitfulness, the ordinances of religion shall water the land and make it exceedingly productive. All the rivers of Judah shall make glad this world of beauty, and streams of pure water shall quench the thirst and quicken the virtues of its people.
II. The abode of perfect happiness.
1. Freedom from foes. Inveterate enemies, as Egypt and Edom, will be destroyed. All opposition, violence, and cruelty to Gods people will be at an end. They shall be free from injury and perpetuated to the end of time.
2. Freedom from barrenness. A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord to fertilize the most unproductive regions. Temporal blessings shall be accompanied with spiritual blessings without stint or measure. The vivifying and refreshing waters of life shall flow from Christ to bless the capital and the world. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be (Zec. 14:8).
III. The residence of righteous people. The inhabitants will be purged and cleansed from sin. Pollution in general shall be wiped away. Special sins, such as shedding innocent blood, shall be forgiven. Knowledge shall spread, and every one shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest. There will be new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. No strangers will defile nor disturb the peace and prosperity of these happy regions. God will dwell and make his Church a fit residence for his presence and praise. In his presence will be fulness of joy, and at his right hand pleasures for evermore. Seek to be numbered with the saints in glory. While on earth prepare for this glorious era. Help it on by daily effort and incessant prayer.
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.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Joe. 3:18. The glorious fountain. I. Its source. The house of the Lord. All springs of grace, comfort, and glory are in God. These blessings take their rise in the sanctuary, like the waters of Ezekiel (Eze. 47:1), or those from under the threshold of the temple. The ordinances of Gods house are like fountains of joy and refreshment to thirsty souls. II. Its abundance. It is a fountain, not a mere spring. An abundance to fill all the rivers, lit. channels of Judah. Rivers of living water flow from the Spirit (Joh. 7:38). There is no scarcity of gospel blessings to sinners and saints. III. Its fertility. It creates fertility in the kings gardens (2Ki. 25:4; Jer. 39:4). The waters in Christ vivify and refresh the barren spots in the Church. Valleys of Shittim, arid deserts, shall be fruitful. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High (Psa. 46:4).
Or if Zions hill
Delight thee more, or Siloas fount that flowed
Hard by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thine aid to my adventurous song.
Joe. 3:19.
1. The desolation. In contrast to the fruitfulness of the Church, the curse falls upon open enemies and treacherous friends. The low condition of Egypt and Edom for centuries proves the truth of this prediction (Isa. 19:1; Jer. 49:17). So at the second coming of Christ all foes of Israel typified by these nations shall be destroyed.
2. The cause of the desolation. (a) Violence to Gods people (Eze. 25:12-13). (b) Shedding innocent blood. How highly does God esteem the death of his people, the blood of the faithful. The warning is repeated time after time to deter nations from the danger. In every place where his cause and crown have been disregarded ruin has followed. Sin blights nations, destroys their palaces, and desolates their land. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. The three words of Joel, Egypt shall become desolation, are more comprehensive than any prophecy, except those by Ezekiel. They foretell that abiding condition, not only by force of the words, but by the contrast with an abiding condition of bliss. The words say, not only it shall be desolated, as by a passing scourge sweeping over it, but it shall itself pass over into that state; it shall become what it had not been; and this in contrast with the abiding condition of Gods people. The contrast is like that of the Psalmist (Psa. 107:33-35). Judah should overflow with blessing, and the streams of Gods grace should pass beyond its bounds, and carry fruitfulness to what now was dry and barren. But what should reject his grace should be itself rejected [Pusey].
Joe. 3:20. The perpetuity of the Church. Egypt and Edom, all enemies of God, will come to an end. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against her. No enemy can destroy, no ages consume her. She knows no injury, nor decay. The Church of God shall abide in him and by him on earth, and shall dwell with him for ever.
Joe. 3:21. This verse has been interpreted in various ways. God would cleanse, or pronounce the blood which had been shed by the enemies to be innocent. This cleansing or sentence would be accomplished by punishing those who shed it. I will exact full atonement of their enemies for all their oppressions and violence. Or the meaning may be, I will blot out their own transgressions, so far as these have not already been purged away. In one case, the principle is that guilt cannot be cleansed without complete satisfaction. In the other, that security with God can only be enjoyed by removal of all transgression. Hence peace and security with God by atonement for guilt.
1. To the sinner. Guilt must be removed, justice satisfied, and everything taken away which renders him unfit for Gods presence. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.
2. To the Church. The security and happiness of the Church depend upon Gods presence. God will not dwell with a worldly people. Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever. God will not dwell with evil, nor will he tolerate it in the believer, or in his house. Only when cleansed from blood are we fit for the dwelling of the Holy God and King.
The crown and seal. For the Lord dwelleth in Zion.
1. To sanctify.
2. To be praised.
3. To defend. And the nam of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there (Eze. 48:35)
The Church has all her foes defied,
And laughed to scorn their rage;
Een thus for aye, she shall abide
Secure from age to age.
HOMILETICS
THE FINAL SCENE.Joe. 3:1-21
The whole of this chapter may be summed up into two parts, of unequal length and graphic description.
I. Gods judgment upon the nations. Joe. 3:1-16.
1. The verdict pronounced in time and place with its nature and ground (Joe. 3:1-8).
2. The sentence executed (Joe. 3:9-16). The call to hear it (Joe. 3:9-11); the throne from which it is given (Joe. 3:11-12); and the dreadful overthrow which it specifies (Joe. 3:13-16).
II. The final glory of Gods kingdom. Joe. 3:17-21.
1. The presence of God in it (Joe. 3:17).
2. Its abundant blessings (Joe. 3:18).
3. Its perpetual blessedness (Joe. 3:19-21). This is contrasted with the destruction of its enemies, and all that oppress its subjects. In fine, says a writer, the closing chapter of Joels prophecy is a brief apocalypse, cast in the forms of Hebrew thought and story indeed, and only dimly bodied out, yet setting forth, in language which even the Jews could not and do not mistake, the terrors of the last judgment, the issue of the time long struggle of good with evil, and the golden age of peace and fruitful service, which is to succeed to the conflicts and storms of time.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 3
Joe. 3:19. A French traveller thus describes this desolationInstead of those ancient cultivated and fertile plains, one only finds, here and there, canals filled up, or cut in two, whose numerous ramifications, crossing each other in every direction, exhibit only some scarcely distinguishable traces of a system of irrigation: instead of those villages and populous cities, one sees only masses of bare and arid ruins, remnants of ancient habitations reduced to ashes; lastly, one finds only lagoons, miry and pestilential, or sterile sands, which extend themselves, and unceasingly invade a land, which the industry of man had gained from the desert and the sea.
Joe. 3:20-21. The human mind has ever conceived a reward for the righteous and punishment for the wicked in a future state. Heaven is all the more resplendent by contrast with the dark back-ground of another state.
If theres a Power above us
(And that there is, all Nature cries aloud,
Through all her works), He must delight in virtue,
And they, whom he delights in, must be happy.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(18) The mountains shall drop down new wine.The material prosperity depicted in these verses symbolises the glorious reign of Jehovah when the last enemy has been destroyed, and God is all in all.
A fountain shall come forth.The spiritual fertilising power of the knowledge of the Lord is compared to the life-giving influence of a stream of water, which causes luxuriance to the trees on its banks. This imagery is exemplified by Ezekiel, who traces the course of the waters issuing from under the threshold of the house of the Lord (Ezekiel 47). (Comp. Zec. 14:8; Rev. 22:1.)
The valley of Shittim.Heb., acacias. Shittim, in the land of Moab, is symbolical of the barrenness and sterility of land where there is no water; of the dry places of the world, where there are trees lacking moisture: the heathen, to whom God is not known, shall yet become covered with the knowledge of the Lord.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18-21. After the judgment upon the nations, Judah, under the care and protection of Jehovah, will enjoy the fullness of the divine blessing. The seat of the former world powers will become a barren waste, while in Judah there will be fertility and peace. 18.
In that day The day of judgment upon the enemies and of deliverance for the Jews, and so the beginning of the Messianic age. Now follows a hyperbolical description of extreme fertility.
Mountains hills The territory of Judah was “strewn with limestone rocks. The little soil between yielded only a meager subsistence in return for the most wearisome labor.” But the fertility in the new age will be so great that it will seem as if the mountains and hills themselves were giving forth the wine and milk.
New [“sweet”] wine See on Joe 1:5 (compare Amo 9:13).
Milk Canaan is called a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exo 3:8). The prophet, on the whole adopting the language of Amos, takes the liberty to make the change in accord with the rest of the description.
Rivers (Joe 1:20) shall flow with waters Water was doled out but sparingly in Judah, most of the brooks dried up entirely during the dry season. That will happen no more; water will be plentiful for man and beast.
A fountain of the house of Jehovah There are two other passages speaking of a fountain that shall come forth from Jerusalem or from the temple of Jehovah (Zec 14:8; Eze 47:1-12). All three passages may have been suggested by the fact that there was a spring which came forth from beneath the temple in a perennial stream (Isa 8:6; compare Psa 46:4; Joh 9:7). “The idea which the three prophets share in common is that these waters should be increased in volume to such an extent as to be capable of fertilizing effectually the barren parts of Judah.”
Valley of Shittim R.V. margin, “That is, the valley of acacias.”
Valley Hebrews nahal. Not the same word as in Joe 3:12; Joe 3:14; it corresponds to the Arabic wady, a gorge between hills, through which runs a water course which in the rainy season becomes a rushing torrent, while in the dry season it dries up partly or entirely.
Shittim Literally, acacias The name of the last encampment of the Israelites before their entrance into Canaan (Num 25:1; Jos 3:1); but this does not seem to be the place in the mind of Joel, for “it is hardly likely that the prophet would picture the stream as crossing the Jordan and fertilizing the opposite side.” There is to-day a depression southwest of Jerusalem, Wady-es-Sunt ( Sant), probably identical with the vale of Elah (1Sa 17:2), through which runs the road to Ashkelon. Sunt, the modern name of this wady, is identical with Shittim, and a few scholars (Wellhausen, Nowack) identify the valley mentioned by Joel with this depression. The great majority of scholars, however, think that the prophet uses the name to designate the Kidron valley, or at least a part of the same, now called Wady-en-Nar. It begins northwest of Jerusalem, runs along the east side of the city, separating it from the Mount of Olives, then continues in a southeasterly direction, and finally reaches the Dead Sea about ten miles from its northern end. Acacias still grow on the west shore of the Dead Sea (Tristram, Land of Israel, 280, 295). That Ezekiel has this depression in mind is beyond doubt. Whether it or the Wady-es-Sunt is referred to here cannot be determined. Wherever located, the term was chosen to designate a barren valley, as the acacia grows in dry soil; even the dry, barren soil will, in the new age, become fertile and productive. That fertility and material prosperity are an essential element of the divine blessing in the Messianic age is frequently taught by the prophets (Hos 2:21-22; Amo 9:13; Isa 4:2).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joe 3:18. The mountains shall drop down new wine Chandler paraphrases this verse thus: “The consequence of this happy deliverance shall be the utmost plenty; for at this time the vine shall produce the greatest abundance, so that the mountains shall drop down new wine. The hills shall abound with cattle, and, as it were, flow with the plenty of milk which they shall yield. The course of the rivers shall be no more diverted, but stream down throughout all the land of Judah; and a fountain shall go forth from the house of the Lord, which shall water the distant valley of Shittim, or of choice cedars.” The expressions here are figurative, and highly poetical; there are many similar to them in Virgil’s fourth eclogue, which the heathen poet, I am persuaded, borrowed from our prophet. Calmet observes, that all this is symbolical, and figurative of the doctrine of the Gospel; which was to flow forth from Jerusalem, and to water the Gentile world, as a barren and uncultivated land.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1184
THE MILLENNIUM
Joe 3:18. It shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the House of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
THE return of the Jews to their own land at some future period seems to be predicted so plainly and so frequently, that no reasonable doubt can be entertained respecting it. 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: but their enemies will be defeated with great slaughter: and after that will the long-wished-for period arrive, when all, both Jews and Gentiles, shall turn unto the Lord, and all become one fold, under one Shepherd.
Had the metaphorical expressions of the mountains dropping with new wine, and the hills flowing with milk been used alone, we might have supposed that the prediction related only to temporal prosperity, and the restoration of Canaan to that measure of fertility which it possessed in the days of old: but the fountain coming forth from the House of the Lord must have a spiritual import; and consequently the whole passage must be understood as designating and describing the Millennial period.
From this sublime passage we shall take occasion to consider,
I.
The blessings of that day
The terms under which these blessings are set forth, will lead us to notice,
1.
Their richness and variety
[There are no terms whatever that can give us a sublimer idea of the Gospel than these: its blessings are here represented as most reviving and comforting, most salubrious and nutritious, suited to every age, and every condition of the human race.
Let us contemplate them a moment. Reconciliation with God through the blood of the cross, is the first that obtrudes itself upon our notice: and O! who can tell how refreshing this is to a weary heavy-laden soul? With this, peace is introduced into the conscience, even that peace of God which passeth all understanding. Friendship being thus cemented between God and man, the person who was till lately an enemy to his God, and an object of his everlasting indignation, is now adopted into his family, and enabled to look up with a spirit of adoption, crying Abba, Father! To the Lord Jesus Christ he now looks as his friend and his beloved; and to the Father he draws nigh with confidence, saying O God, thou art my God! Now he has access to God at all times, with a liberty to pour out his heart before him, and an assurance that whatever he shall ask shall be done unto him. Now also he enjoys an union with the Lord Jesus Christ, even such an union as a branch has with the vine, or a member with the head: and, by means of that union, he receives constant communications from the fulness that has been treasured up for him in that living Fountain of all good. The Holy Spirit is now poured out upon him as a Comforter, and is imparted in all his sanctifying operations, to mortify all his corruptions, and to transform him into the Divine image. Assured prospects of glory are now opened to him, so that he has both the earnest and foretaste of his heavenly inheritance. But where shall we end, if we attempt to enumerate one hundredth part of the blessings which the Gospel makes over to us, and which are here characterized as hills flowing with milk, and mountains dropping down new wine? Suffice it to say, that all the blessings of the everlasting covenant, all that Christ has purchased by his blood, and all that are made over to us in the exceeding great and precious promises, all are ours, if we are Christs [Note: The blessings here enumerated should not be treated distinctly and separately, but collectively; and at the close of them, a few observations should be made on their richness and variety.] But to declare fully their richness and variety exceeds the powers of any finite intelligence.]
2.
Their universality and abundance
[These blessings will not be so limited as they now are, either in the measure of their communication, or the objects on whom they are bestowed: they will flow in all the abundance of the most majestic rivers, and that even to the valley of Shittim; which being situated on the borders of Moab, and the shores of the Dead Sea, may well be considered as characterizing the most distant and barren places of the earth. There shall not be a human being to whom its blessings do not extend: for all flesh shall see the salvation of God. The high and the low, the rich and the poor, shall equally be partakers of them; for all shall know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. Kings will be the nursing-fathers of the Church, and queens her nursing-mothers: and with the lofty firs and pines shall be united the humble box, to glorify the house of Gods glory, and to make the place of his feet glorious [Note: Isa 60:13.]. So universal shall be the reign of Christ on earth, that holiness to the Lord shall be written upon the bells of the horses which the peasants use in agriculture: the smallest vessel in the sanctuary shall be as highly sanctified as the largest; and there shall no more be the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hosts [Note: Zec 14:20-21.]. All in that day will be righteous; and so righteous as to need no addition to their happiness from any creature-comforts: The sun shall be no more their light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto them; but the Lord shall be unto them an everlasting light, and their God their glory [Note: Isa 60:19-22.]. It is not in respect of universality only that the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, but of depth also; for the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound [Note: Isa 30:26.].
O glorious period! May the Lord hasten it, in His time!]
Whilst we behold such a period predicted, it becomes us to consider,
II.
Our duty in the prospect of it
This is doubtless,
1.
To help it forward by all possible means
[God works by means: and, however fixed the times and the seasons may be in the Divine mind, it is by the use of means that he will accomplish these most glorious events. The first advent of Christ was proclaimed by his Forerunner, John the Baptist, who by his ministrations made ready a people prepared for the Lord. And we in like manner are to act as heralds and harbingers of the Messiahs second advent. As pioneers, we are to prepare his way. By us must his path be levelled, to facilitate his march: we must go before him, to prepare his way, to make strait in the desert a highway for our God. Through the instrumentality of men shall every valley be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low; and the crooked be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord be revealed, and all flesh see it together: yes, by a voice crying in the wilderness shall all this be done: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it [Note: Isa 40:3-5. with 62:1012.].
Is it asked then, What shall we do to advance this glorious work? I answer, God has already gone out before us, and shewn us what to do. The Societies which, by his gracious providence, have already been established, shew in what line we may direct our efforts to the best advantage. The Bible is now translating into the different languages of men, and circulating to the ends of the earth: that is obviously the first and most important method of diffusing the knowledge of of salvation through the world. Mission Societies also are in full activity, sending forth pious men to preach the everlasting Gospel, and to explain to the benighted nations of the earth the glorious mysteries which are there revealed. At last, too, attention begins to be paid to that people, wonderful from their beginning hitherto, the lost sheep of the House of Israel. They are the people spoken of more especially by the prophet, in the preceding context; and they are the people whom God will make use of for the bringing in the period described in our text: the fulness of the Jews will be the riches of the world; and the receiving of the Jews will be to the whole world as life from the dead [Note: Rom 11:12; Rom 11:15.]. To aid these Societies, therefore, and to unite our efforts with them, and especially by prayer to bring down the Divine blessing upon them, is the most effectual way we can take to accelerate the arrival of that glorious day. And, if we should not live to see the temple raised ourselves, we shall at least have the satisfaction of having provided materials for it, and contributed towards it to the utmost of our power.]
2.
To seek the foretaste of it in our own souls
[All these blessings are to be enjoyed now, as well as at the period before referred to. They are all promised to us under the very same images: Ho! every one that thirsteth, come to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk, without money, and without price [Note: Isa 55:1.]! This invitation is given to all without exception: Whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life freely [Note: Rev 22:17.]. Nor is it in small measure only that these blessings may be now possessed: for our Divine Master says, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink; and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water [Note: Joh 7:37-38.]. Let those who desire these blessings be in as unfavourable a state as the vale of Shittim, they have no need to be discouraged on that account: for God will open for them rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: he will make the wilderness a pool of water, and dry land springs of water [Note: Isa 41:17-18.]. What hinders then, but that we should partake of all those mercies ourselves? If we really believe, as all profess to do, that the enjoyment of them will exalt man so highly in the latter ages of the world, and bring down, as it were, a heaven upon earth, surely we should now aspire after a foretaste of that heavenly feast; and not give rest unto our God [Note: Isa 62:1; Isa 62:7.], till he bring us to his banquetin-house, and till his banner over us be love [Note: Son 2:4.]. To entertain an idea of the Millennium being a state of inconceivable felicity, and not to seek those graces and consolations which constitute its happiness, is a grievous inconsistency. Let all then be consistent: and now take their portion at that glorious feast which is spread for them in the Gospel, even the feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined [Note: Isa 25:6. The particulars of pardon, peace, &c. may be here again touched upon.] ]
Address
1.
To those who think of religion as a source of melancholy
[Does it wear that aspect in the passage before us? or can language be found to depict it in more lovely colours? Verily, if the transformation of a wilderness into the garden of the Lord be a joyful change, then is religion a source of unmingled joy and blessedness. But it may be said, that repentance and mortification of sin are painful works. True; but whence do they proceed? not from religion, but from sin, which must be repented of, and must be mortified. We are diseased, and must be cured, before we can enjoy health in our souls. If we were diseased in body, and needed a painful course of medicine, or the amputation of a limb, would any one ascribe our pains to health? Health would supersede the necessity of such a process: and when the soul is brought to the enjoyment of Gods presence, and the possession of his image, it shall have beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness Let this erroneous notion then be put away; and let religion be regarded in its true light, as an anticipation and foretaste of the heavenly bliss.]
2.
To those who profess to regard religion as a source of joy
[You are correct in your sentiments on this momentous subject; but you must remember, that religion is a source of joy to those only who live nigh to God, and devote themselves unreservedly to his service. To those who give to God only a divided heart, it can administer no solid comfort. Indeed they are less happy than the ignorant ungodly world; for, whilst their profession keeps them from enjoying the vanities of the world, their distance from God prevents them from having any delight in him: so that there is nothing but an aching void, or a corroding anguish, in their hearts. O ye professors of godliness, either follow not the Lord at all, or follow him fully. Live nigh to him, and walk with him, as Enoch did, and you shall never be disappointed of your hope: you shall never find that he is a wilderness to you; but you shall have the light of his countenance lifted up upon you, and your mouth shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, whilst you are praising him with joyful lips.
But we trust that many do really experience all the blessedness of true piety: and they will need no exhortation to diffuse the blessings which they themselves enjoy. The wine and milk which they find so nutritious and comforting to their own souls, they will gladly impart to others. Combine then, brethren, your energies for that purpose. The whole world, except a small inclosure, is at this hour a wilderness. The Jewish people, with all their advantages, have reduced themselves almost to a level with the Gentile world: for whilst the Gentiles are without God, the Jews are without Christ, and therefore without hope of ultimate acceptance before God. They believe not that Jesus is their Messiah; and therefore, as Jesus has said, they die in their sins. O! rise ye as one man, and hold out to them the cup of salvation; and labour by all possible means to lead them to the living Fountain of waters, that they may drink thereof, and live for ever.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Ver. 18. The mountains shall drop down new wine ] By these hyperbolic expressions is promised plenty of all things pertaining to life and godliness, such a golden age as the poet describeth (Ovid. Metam.),
“ Flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant,
Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella. ”
Where it must be observed that spiritualy good things are promised under the notion of temporal, as of must, milk, &c., ob populi infantiam,
And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters
And a fountain shall come forth
And shall water the valley of Shittim
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joe 3:18-21
18And in that day
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
And the hills will flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;
And a spring will go out from the house of the LORD
To water the valley of Shittim.
19Egypt will become a waste,
And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,
Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah,
In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20But Judah will be inhabited forever
And Jerusalem for all generations.
21And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged,
For the LORD dwells in Zion.
Joe 3:18 it will come about in that day This metaphor of a special day dominates Joel. In Joe 1:1 to Joe 2:17 it is a day of invasion and destruction because of Israel’s sin, but in Joe 2:28 to Joe 3:21 it becomes a day of renewal and restoration. This fluctuation illustrates that the coming of YHWH can be for judgment or blessing. Believers’ lifestyle faith determines which one! YHWH wants a holy people to reflect His character to the world. In the end-time this redemptive purpose will be fulfilled and God’s people will be changed and prepared for an eternal fellowship with the one and only creator, redeemer, covenant-making God!
the mountains will drip with sweet wine This end-time restoration is also seen in Isaiah 35; Amo 9:13-15; and Ezekiel 47. On sweet wine, see Special Topic: Biblical Attitudes Toward Alcohol and Alcoholism .
And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water There will be seasonal and abundant rain (cf. Joe 2:23), which is the opposite of chapter 1.
And a spring will go out from the house of the LORD This is a common eschatological motif (cf. Psa 46:4; Psa 65:9-13; Eze 47:1-12; Zec 14:8; Rev 22:1-2). Water is a sign of the blessings and presence of God (e.g., Psa 36:5-9; Isa 12:3).
To water the valley of Shittim This means wadi of Acacias (BDB 1008). Shittim is a place name, but it is on the eastern side of the Jordan River opposite Jericho and, therefore, cannot be the focus of this passage. Therefore, this is another metaphor of agricultural abundance; even the deserts will be well watered and bloom!
Joe 3:19 Egypt. . .Edom will become a desolate wilderness There has been much discussion as to whether this was to have been fulfilled historically or if these countries are simply traditional enemies used in an eschatological end-time sense (God’s people blessed, unbelievers cursed). It is my opinion that they are traditional enemies used in a symbolic way.
The specific mention of Edom, a much smaller nation than Egypt, probably relates directly to Obadiah (esp. Joe 3:10).
Joe 3:20 Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem for all generations This has not been fulfilled historically, which seems to make it eschatological (i.e., Amo 9:15). There is some wonderment today whether the current state of Israel is God’s fulfillment of ancient prophecy. I must admit that I have some doubts. However, God uses who and what He wants to accomplish His redemptive purposes!
My doubts about the modern state of Israel being the fulfillment of OT national prophecies are:
1. The modern state of Israel is made up mostly of proselyte Jews, not ethnic Jews (i.e., Russian and European Jews are from the European Kahzar conversion in the Middle Ages (740 A.D.). Therefore, the promises to Abraham and his seed of Genesis 12, 15, 17 cannot be racial, but must be a faith issue (cf. Rom 2:28-29).
2. The OT covenantal promises are made to a believing, faithful remnant. They are conditional promises! If the NT is God’s revelation and Jesus is God’s Messiah, then modern Israel is not believing Israel (e.g., Zec 12:10; Romans 9-11; Galatians 3). See Special Topic: Why are OT Covenant Promises so Different from NT Covenant Promises? .
Joe 3:21
NASBAnd I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged
NKJVFor I will acquit them of bloodguilt, whom I had not acquitted
NRSVI will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty
TEVI will avenge those who were killed, I will not spare the guilty
NJBI shall avenge their blood and let none go unpunished
LXXI will make inquisition for their blood, and will by no means leave it unavenged
PESHITTAFor I will avenge their blood, and I will not absolve the offenders
REBI shall avenge their blood, the blood I have not yet avenged
JPSOAThus I will treat as innocent blood which I have not treated as innocent
This is a very difficult verse to translate (cf. The Bible in Twenty-six Translations for a multiplicity of English translations of this ambiguous Hebrew phrase).
The MT Hebrew text has the VERB (BDB 667, KB 720, Piel PERFECT) meaning
1. hold innocent or acquit, cf. Job 9:28; Job 10:14; Psa 19:13
2. leave unpunished, cf. Exo 20:7; Deu 5:11; Jer 30:11; Jer 46:28
Some translations prefer (BDB 667, KB 721) the meaning avenge, cf. 2Ki 9:7; Jer 51:36. In context, the shed innocent blood of Joe 3:19 must relate to Joe 3:21. Either the Israelites will be forgiven or the invading armies will be held accountable. Whichever it is, Israel is restored and established!
For the LORD dwells in Zion (cf. Joe 2:27). The term dwells (BDB 1014, KB 1496, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) is from the same root as Shekinah. God dwelling with His people is the emphasis of Genesis 1 and also Rev 21:3 (also note Isa 7:14; Mat 1:23; Joh 14:23).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Has this restoration already occurred or is it future?
2. Is this restoration referring to racial Jews only, or is the Church somehow included?
3. When, where and how will the end-time battle occur?
4. Why has there been so much disagreement and controversy over this subject?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
that day. Compare Joe 3:1.
mountains . . . hills. Compare Amo 9:13.
drop down = distil.
new wine = sweet wine, or mead. Hebrew. ‘asis. App-27.
rivers. Hebrew. ‘aphikim. See note on “channels”, 2Sa 22:16.
Judah. The country; not the People.
a fountain, &c. Eze 47:1. Zec 14:8. Rev 22:1. See App-68.
Shittim = the acacias. Reference to Pentateuch (Num 33:49). App-92.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the mountains: Job 29:6, Isa 55:12, Isa 55:13, Amo 9:13, Amo 9:14
and all: Isa 30:25, Isa 35:6, Isa 41:17, Isa 41:18
flow: Heb. go
and a: Psa 46:4, Eze 47:1-12, Zec 14:8, Rev 22:1, Rev 22:2
the valley: Num 25:1, Mic 6:5
Reciprocal: Gen 49:11 – he washed Num 24:6 – as gardens Jos 5:6 – a land Psa 72:3 – mountains Isa 2:11 – in that day Isa 4:2 – the fruit Isa 43:20 – to give Isa 44:3 – pour water Isa 45:8 – Drop down Isa 49:9 – They shall feed Isa 66:11 – ye may suck Jer 31:12 – wheat Eze 20:40 – in mine Eze 36:9 – General Eze 36:11 – will do Joe 2:24 – General Zec 9:17 – corn Mar 14:25 – new Act 1:5 – but Act 11:16 – but Rev 21:6 – the fountain
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Joe 3:18. All of these figures of speech refer to the spiritual blessings to be given through the kingdom of Christ. They were to he as water in a thirsty land, and their fountain will reach even to the valley of Shittim. Funk and Wagnails Standard Bible Dictionary says the following of this place: Some dry, thirsty valley where acactas (a desert plant) were known to flourish is meant. The point is that the fountain of the water of life will be so full that it will flow and reach even, to the regions formerly very dry.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joe 3:18. The mountains shall drop down new wine Namely, the vines planted upon the mountains. The hills shall flow with milk So fruitful shall the hills be, that milk shall abound everywhere. And all the rivers, &c. These expressions are all figurative, and highly poetical, and, according to Calmet, symbolical of the doctrine of the gospel; which, accompanied by the Spirit of grace, was to flow forth from Jerusalem, and to water the Gentile world, which had been as a barren and uncultivated land.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Joe 3:18-21. The Future Felicity of Judah Contrasted with the Desolation of her Oppressors.In that golden age when Yahweh shall dwell in Zion miraculous fertility shall transform the land, covering it with vineyards and pastures. The watercourses, now treacherous because in the heat they become dry beds of sand, shall then be brimming with perennial streams. From the Temple shall issue a spring which shall pass through the Wady of the Acacias. Egyptthe oldest of Judahs oppressorsand Edommost bitterly hated of her later foesshall be destroyed and become desert; but Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Yahweh shall dwell eternally (so render dwelleth) in Zion.
Joe 3:18. valley of Shittim: rather, Wady of the Acacias. Probably not the name of a definite gorge, but typical; the place-names of this chapter are of the same kind as those used by Bunyan. Acacias grow in arid regions. Cf. for the whole conception, Eze 47:1-12, upon which it is based.
Joe 3:19. because . . . land: a gloss.
Joe 3:21. Possibly we should read, And I will avenge their blood (which) I have not avenged, but the clause seems to be a gloss.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall {l} drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
(l) He promises to his Church abundance of graces, see Geneva “Eze 47:1”, which would water and comfort the most barren places; Amo 9:13 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
C. Israel’s ultimate restoration 3:18-21
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Joel continued describing the future day of the Lord, but now he passed from the judgments of the Tribulation to the blessings of the Millennium. The mountains of Israel would be so full of grapevines that they could be described as dripping with wine. There will be so many milk-yielding animals feeding on the luxuriant hills that the hills could be said to flow with milk. Instead of the wadis that have water in them only a few days each year, the streams of Judah would flow with abundant, life-giving water. All these descriptions recall conditions in paradise (cf. Joe 1:5; Joe 1:18; Joe 1:20). A spring will flow out from the millennial temple that will water the valley of acacia trees, evidently between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea (cf. Eze 47:1-12; Zec 14:8). This will also be a visual reminder that Yahweh is the source of all provisions and fruitfulness.
"Jerusalem is the only city of antiquity that wasn’t built near a great river. Rome had the Tiber; Nineveh was built near the Tigris and Babylon on the Euphrates; and the great Egyptian cities were built near the Nile. But in the kingdom, Jerusalem will have a river that proceeds from the temple of God." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 340.]