The Terrible Visitation
aBlow the trumpet in Zion warning of impending judgment,Sound an alarm on My holy mountain Zion!Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble and shudder in fear,For the judgment bday of the LORD is coming;It is close at hand, Ezek 7:2-4; Amos 5:16-20Jer 4:5; Joel 2:15; Zeph 1:16Joel 1:15; 2:11, 31; 3:14; Obad 15; Zeph 1:142 A day of adarkness and gloom,A day of clouds and of thick dark mist,Like the dawn spread over the mountains;There is a pagan, hostile people bnumerous and mighty,The like of which has cnever been beforeNor will be again afterwardEven for years of many generations.Joel 2:10, 31; Amos 5:18; Zeph 1:15Joel 1:6; 2:11, 25Lam 1:12; Dan 9:12; 12:1; Joel 1:23 Before athem a fire devours,And behind them a flame burns;Before them the land is blike the Garden of Eden,But behind them a cdesolate wilderness;And nothing at all escapes them.Ps 97:3; Is 9:18, 19Is 51:3; Ezek 36:35Ex 10:5, 15; Ps 105:34, 35; Zech 7:144 Their aappearance is like the appearance of horses,And they run like war horses.Rev 9:75 Like the anoise of chariotsThey leap on the tops of the mountains,Like the crackling of a bflame of fire devouring the stubble,Like a mighty people set in battle formation. Rev 9:7, 9Rev 9:9Is 5:24; 30:306 Before them the people are in aanguish;All bfaces become pale with terror.Is 13:8; Nah 2:10Jer 30:67 They run like warriors;They climb the wall like soldiers.They each amarch straight ahead in line,And they do not deviate from their paths.Prov 30:278 They do not crowd each other;Each one marches in his path.When they burst through the defenses ,They do not break ranks.9 They rush over the city,They run on the wall;They climb up into the ahouses,They benter at the windows like a thief.Ex 10:6Jer 9:21; John 10:110 The earth aquakes before them,The heavens tremble,The bsun and the moon grow darkAnd the stars lose their brightness. Rev 9:2-4; 16:14Ps 18:7; Joel 3:16; Nah 1:5Is 13:10; 34:4; Jer 4:23; Ezek 32:7, 8; Joel 2:31; 3:15; Matt 24:29; Rev 8:1211 The LORD autters His voice before bHis army,For His camp is very great,Because cstrong and powerful is he who obediently carries out His word.For the dday of the LORD is indeed great and very terrible causing dread;eWho can endure it? Is 26:20, 21; 34:1-4, 8; Rev 6:16, 17Ps 46:6; Is 13:4; Jer 25:30; Joel 3:16Joel 2:25Jer 50:34; Rev 18:8Jer 30:7; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 31; 3:14; Zeph 1:14, 15; Rev 6:17Ezek 22:14; Mal 3:212 “Even now,” says the LORD,“aTurn and come to Me with all your heart in genuine repentance,With bfasting and weeping and mourning until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored;Deut 4:29; Jer 4:1, 2; Ezek 33:11; Hos 12:6Dan 9:313 aRip your heart to pieces in sorrow and contrition and not byour garments.”Now return in repentance to the LORD your God,For He is cgracious and compassionate,Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness faithful to His covenant with His people;And He drelents His sentence of evil when His people genuinely repent.Ps 34:18; 51:17; Is 57:15Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 1:11; Job 1:20; Jer 41:5Ex 34:6Jer 18:8; 42:10; Amos 7:3, 614 Who knows awhether He will relent and revoke your sentence,And leave a bblessing behind Him,Even ca grain offering and a drink offering from the bounty He provides youFor the LORD your God?Jer 26:3; Jon 3:9Hag 2:19Joel 1:9, 1315 aBlow a trumpet in Zion warning of impending judgment,bDedicate a fast as a day of restraint and humility, call a solemn assembly.Num 10:3; 2 Kin 10:20Joel 1:1416 Gather the people, asanctify the congregation,Assemble the elders,Gather the children and the nursing infants.Let the bbridegroom come out of his roomAnd the bride out of her bridal chamber. No one is excused from the assembly.1 Sam 16:5; 2 Chr 29:5Ps 19:517 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD,Weep abetween the porch and the altar,And let them say, “bHave compassion and spare Your people, O LORD,And do not make Your inheritance can object of ridicule,Or a humiliating byword among the Gentile nations.Why should they say among the peoples,‘dWhere is their God?’”2 Chr 8:12; Ezek 8:16Ex 32:11, 12; Is 37:20; Amos 7:2, 5Ps 44:13; 74:10Ps 42:10; 79:10; 115:2
Deliverance Promised
18 Then the LORD awill be jealous for His land ready to defend it since it is rightfully and uniquely HisAnd will have bcompassion on His people and will spare them.Zech 1:14; 8:2Is 60:10; 63:9, 1519 The LORD will answer and say to His people,“Behold, I am going to asend you grain and new wine and oil,And you will be satisfied in full with them;And I will bnever again make you an object of ridicule among the Gentile nations.Jer 31:12; Hos 2:21, 22; Joel 1:10; Mal 3:10Ezek 34:29; 36:1520 “But I will remove the anorthern army far away from you,And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,With its forward guard into the beastern sea And with its rear guard into the cwestern sea .And its dstench will arise and its foul odor of decay will come up this is the fate of the northern army in the final day of the LORD,For 1He has done great things.” Is 34:1-4, 8; Amos 4:10Interpreters are divided as to whether it is the northern destroyer who has done “great things,” or the Lord. The latter view is supported by v 21.Jer 1:14, 15Zech 14:8Deut 11:24Is 34:3; Amos 4:10
21 aDo not fear, O land; be glad and rejoice,For the LORD has done bgreat things! Zech 12:8-10Is 54:4; Jer 30:10; Zeph 3:16, 17Ps 126:3; Joel 2:2622 Do not be afraid, you animals of the field,For the apastures of the wilderness have turned green;The tree has produced its fruit,And the fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.Ps 65:12, 1323 So rejoice, O achildren of Zion,And bdelight in the LORD, your God;For He chas given you the early autumn rain in vindicationAnd He has poured down the rain for you,The early autumn rain and the dlate spring rain, as before.Ps 149:2Is 12:2-6Deut 11:14; Is 41:16; Jer 5:24; Hab 3:18; Zech 10:7Lev 26:4; Hos 6:3; Zech 10:124 And the threshing floors shall be full of grain,And the vats shall aoverflow with new wine and oil.Lev 26:10; Amos 9:13; Mal 3:1025 “And I will compensate you for the yearsThat the swarming alocust has eaten,The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust—My great army which I sent among you.Joel 1:4-7; 2:2-1126 “You will ahave plenty to eat and be satisfiedAnd bpraise the name of the LORD your GodWho has cdealt wondrously with you;And My people shall dnever be put to shame.Lev 26:5; Deut 11:15; Is 62:9Deut 12:7; Ps 67:5-7Ps 126:2, 3; Is 25:1Is 45:1727 “And you shall aknow without any doubt that I am in the midst of Israel to protect and bless you,And that I am the LORD your God,And there is bno other;My people will never be cput to shame.Lev 26:11, 12; Joel 3:17, 21Is 45:5, 6Is 49:23
The Promise of the Spirit
28 “aIt shall come about after thisThat I shall bpour out My Spirit on all cmankind;And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,Your old men will dream dreams,Your young men will see visions.Acts 2:17-21Is 32:15; 44:3; Ezek 39:29; Zech 12:10Is 40:5; 49:2629 “Even on the amale and female servantsI will pour out My Spirit in those days.1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:28
The Day of the LORD
30 “I will ashow signs and wonders displaying My power in the heavens and on the earth,Blood and fire and columns of smoke.Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24, 25; Luke 21:11, 25, 26; Acts 2:1931 “The asun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into bloodBefore the bgreat and terrible day of the LORD comes. Is 13:6, 9-11; 24:21-23; Ezek 32:7-10; Matt 24:29, 30; Rev 6:12-17Is 13:10; 34:4; Joel 2:10; 3:15; Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25; Acts 2:20; Rev 6:12, 13Is 13:9; Zeph 1:14-16; Mal 4:1, 532 “And it shall come about that awhoever calls on the name of the LORDWill be saved from the coming judgmentFor bon Mount Zion and in JerusalemThere will be those who cescape,As the LORD has said,Even among the dremnant of survivors whom the LORD calls. Acts 2:17-21; Rom 10:13Jer 33:3; Acts 2:21; Rom 10:13Is 46:13; Rom 11:26Is 4:2; Obad 17Is 11:11; Jer 31:7; Mic 4:7; Rom 9:27