TEXT [Commentary]

black diamond   3.   A call for worship (2:15-17)

15 Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!

Announce a time of fasting;

call the people together

for a solemn meeting.

16 Gather all the people—

the elders, the children, and even the babies.

Call the bridegroom from his quarters

and the bride from her private room.

17 Let the priests, who minister in the LORD’s presence,

stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.

Let them pray, “Spare your people, LORD!

Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.

Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,

‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

NOTES

2:15 Announce a time of fasting. Lit., “sanctify a fast.” The time of fasting was to be observed out of genuine holiness (2:12-14), not merely empty ritual. Once again, Joel piled up the imperatives in these verses to emphasize the urgency of the situation.

2:16 Gather all the people. Lit., “sanctify an assembly.” Like the fast, the people assembled in solemn meeting were to have come as a holy and repentant people.

elders . . . children . . . babies. The total population was to come; none was exempted from the call. Crenshaw (1995:141) calls attention to just such an assembly in the late second-century BC book of Judith (Jdt 4:9-13).

bridegroom . . . bride. Even newlyweds, who would not ordinarily be expected to participate in the ceremonies or would be exempted from such observances (Deut 20:7; 24:5), were summoned to this solemn occasion. A case of total mobilization for war that brought the bridegroom from his chamber is recorded in the tale of Keret in the ancient Ugaritic literature: “Even the new husband came out” (see Coogan 1978:60, 62-63; for the text itself, see Gordon 1965:250-251).

2:17 stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar. The priests were to take their place between the entrance hall to the Temple (1 Kgs 6:3) and the brazen altar of burnt offering situated within the inner (or priests’) court (1 Kgs 8:64). The people were to stand in the outer court, which lay beyond that of the priests (2 Chr 4:9). Later in Israel’s history, 25 priests would blasphemously turn their backs on the vestibule and the Temple and worship the sun (Ezek 8:16).

your people . . . your special possession. A basic premise of OT theology was that Israel was God’s particular possession (Deut 9:26, 29; 14:2; 32:9; 2 Sam 14:16; Pss 74:2; 135:4; Isa 40:1; Hos 2:23; Joel 3; etc.). Though all the earth was his, Israel would have a unique place among the nations.

Don’t let them become a joke. The psalmists express a similar concern with emphasis on God’s own reputation (Pss 74:10; 79:9-10; cf. Ps 44:9-16).

Has the God of Israel left them? Joel is fond of using interrogative sentences to express his point (cf. 1:2; 2:11, 14; 3:4). The spirit of Joel’s question, which had been asked by Moses earlier (Exod 32:11-12; Deut 9:26-29), is reechoed by the psalmist (Ps 115:2).

COMMENTARY [Text]

Once again, the trumpet blast is to be heard (cf. 2:1). This time it is to convene a solemn assembly (cf. 1:14). Joel bids all to come—from the eldest to the youngest. Not even newlyweds would be exempt. Priests and people were to stand facing the vestibule of the Temple and pour out their pleas to God from hearts moved by real repentance. They were to ask God to spare his people, not just for their benefit, but for the sake of God’s sacred name and reputation (cf. 2:17 and 2:26). His name ought not to be ridiculed and brought into disrepute because of Israel’s sin.

The name of God is often referred to in the Scriptures to signify his character, attributes, and activities (e.g., Exod 34:5-7; Ps 7:17; Isa 29:23; 42:8; Hos 12:5). The name of the Lord came to represent God in all his revealed nature and reputation (Isa 63:14; Ezek 36:22-23; Dan 9:18-19; Zeph 3:12). So much did “the name” become identified with the Lord that “the name” (hashem [TH1886.1/8034, ZH2021/9005]) became an accepted pronunciation for the tetragrammaton (yhwh [TH3068, ZH3378]).

God’s saints went forth in the assurance of the power and authority of God’s name (Deut 18:20; 1 Sam 17:45; Ps 118:26; Jer 15:16). It was prophesied that God’s servant the Messiah would both go in the name of the Lord (Mic 5:4) and would himself be given the name depicting his essential nature (Isa 9:6-7; Jer 23:5-6). So it was that the Lord Jesus went about in the name of the Lord (Matt 21:9; Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38), having been endowed with a special name designating his task of saving people from their sins (Matt 1:21-23; Luke 1:31-33). Indeed, like God in the Old Testament (Lev 24:11) Jesus could be referred to as “The Name” (3 John 1:7). Because of his redeeming work, his is the only name to be called on for salvation (John 3:16-18; Acts 4:12) in order that people may become members of God’s family (John 1:12). At his name every knee shall one day bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord (Phil 2:9-11).

Jesus’ name, like that of God the Father (Ps 119:55), may be called on in prayer (John 14:13-14). Believers should be pleased to bear Christ’s name, whatever the cost (Acts 5:41), and live so as not to bring disrepute upon him (Col 3:17; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 1 Tim 6:1). Indeed, as believers we need to remind ourselves that whatever we do reflects upon the name of the Lord. Likewise, parents would do well to instruct their children to exercise caution in their lives. For whatever they do reflects not only upon their own reputation and that of the family, but their church and, above all, the Lord himself.

Keeping God’s name and reputation in mind may be facilitated by remembering that as believers under the old covenant were enjoined to practice God’s holy standards in every area of their lives (Deut 7:6-11; 14:1-2; 26:16-19), so also believers under the new covenant have been made God’s particular possession (1 Pet 2:9-10) and, as such, are to live so as to be a credit to him who loved them and gave himself for them (Gal 2:20; cf. Eph 2:4-10; Titus 2:14).

Joel’s concern was genuine. More than Israel’s existence was at stake. Where sinful attitudes and practices mar the testimony of God’s people, God will adopt firm measures. Joshua understood that (Josh 7:6-26), as did the New Testament church (Acts 5:1-11). Although such drastic actions as those of biblical times are not practiced in today’s churches, it is certainly true that the good name of Christ’s church and his holy reputation still ought to be guarded carefully (1 Cor 5:1-13; Gal 6:1-10; Eph 4:17-32; Phil 4:8-9). Likewise, nations (and communities) would do well to remember that “sin is a disgrace to any people” (Prov 14:34).