Joel 2:21-27

Joel 2:21-27

²¹ Do not fear, O soil; 

be glad and rejoice, 

for the LORD has done great things! 

²² Do not fear, you animals of the field, 

for the pastures of the wilderness are green; 

the tree bears its fruit, 

the fig tree and vine give their full yield. 

²³ O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; 

for he has given the early rain for your vindication, 

he has poured down for you abundant rain, 

the early and the later rain, as before. 

²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of grain, 

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 

²⁵ I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, 

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, 

which I sent against you. 

²⁶ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, 

and praise the name of the LORD your God, 

who has dealt wondrously with you. 

And my people shall never again be put to shame. 

²⁷ You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, 

and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. 

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Joel 2:21-27 is a call for a response from those who benefit from the goodness of the Lord. ²¹ Do not fear, O soil, reversing the conditions to which Joel refers in 1:6-7, 10-12, and 19-20. Rather, be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things!  ²² Do not fear, you animals of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield. ²³ O children of Zion, occuring only here, Lamentations 4:2, and Psalm 149:2, Zechariah 9:13. Zion is the ancient Jebusite stronghold that David captured that symbolized the chosen quality of the city and the people. Joel, who has described the disaster and calls for the people to repent, has also described an announcement of divine pity and deliverance. Further, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God. Such rejoicing is the appropriate response of these children of Zion. For the Lord has given the early rain (from the end of October to the first of December) for your vindication, the Lord has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. The drought referred to earlier shall end. ²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. In the ancient world, the chief duty of deity was to provide the natural resources on which an agricultural society depended. Failure to do so meant the divine had rejected the people, had punished the people, or had become weak. ²⁵ I will repay you, thereby healing them from the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you. The Lord is the source of evil, rather than some other malevolent force of which we read in Genesis 3, I Chronicles 21:1, Job 1-2, Zechariah 3:1-12, Matthew 4, and Revelation 12. Especially among those influence by the Deuteronomistic school, as we learn in 11:26-28, 28:15, 45, misfortune is a sign of divine displeasure. Job challenges this view, as does John 9. ²⁶ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame (as in exile). ²⁷ You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame. The statement reminds us of Exodus 20:2, stressing that restoration means meeting physical needs, genuine worship, and true knowledge.