Joel 2 1-11 Gods Judgments Reviewed

An Army 

Blow the trumpet in Zion;

    sound the alarm on my holy hill.

Let all who live in the land tremble,

    for the day of the Lord is coming.

It is close at hand—

a day of darkness and gloom,

    a day of clouds and blackness.

Like dawn spreading across the mountains

    a large and mighty army comes,

such as never was in ancient times

    nor ever will be in ages to come.

Before them fire devours,

    behind them a flame blazes.

Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,

    behind them, a desert waste—

    nothing escapes them.

They have the appearance of horses;

    they gallop along like cavalry.

With a noise like that of chariots

    they leap over the mountaintops,

like a crackling fire consuming stubble,

    like a mighty army drawn up for battle.

At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;

    every face turns pale.

They charge like warriors;

    they scale walls like soldiers.

They all march in line,

    not swerving from their course.

They do not jostle each other;

    each marches straight ahead.

They plunge through defenses

    without breaking ranks.

They rush upon the city;

    they run along the wall.

They climb into the houses;

    like thieves they enter through the windows.

Before them the earth shakes,

    the heavens tremble,

the sun and moon are darkened,

    and the stars no longer shine.

The Lord thunders

    at the head of his army;

his forces are beyond number,

    and mighty is the army that obeys his command.

The day of the Lord is great;

    it is dreadful.

    Who can endure it?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Joel 2

"The priests were to alarm the people with the near approach of the Divine judgments. It is the work of ministers to warn of the fatal consequences of sin, and to reveal the wrath from heaven against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The striking description which follows, shows what would attend the devastations of locusts, but may also describe the effects from the ravaging of the land by the Chaldeans. If the alarm of temporal judgments is given to offending nations, how much more should sinners be warned to seek deliverance from the wrath to come! Our business therefore on earth must especially be, to secure an interest in our Lord Jesus Christ; and we should seek to be weaned from objects which will soon be torn from all who now make idols of them."