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This chapter is the description of a lamentable devastation made of the country of Judah by locusts and caterpillars. Some think that the prophet speaks of it as a thing to come and gives warning of it beforehand, as usually the prophets did of judgments coming. Others think that it was now present, and that his business was to affect the people with it and awaken them by it to repentance. I. It is spoken of as a judgment which there was no precedent of in former ages, Joe 1:1-7. II. All sorts of people sharing in the calamity are called upon to lament it, Joe 1:8-13. III. They are directed to look up to God in their lamentations, and to humble themselves before him, Joe 1:14-20.
1-7
Threatenings of Judgment (720 BC)
简体中文
审判的警告（主前 720 年）
¹ 耶和华的话临到毗土珥的儿子约珥。 ² 老年人哪，当听这话；这地的一切居民哪，都要侧耳而听。在你们的日子，或在你们列祖的日子，曾有这样的事么？ ³ 你们要将这事传与子，让你们的子传与孙，孙又传与下一代。 ⁴ 剪虫剩下的，蝗虫来吃；蝗虫剩下的，蝻子来吃；蝻子剩下的，毛虫来吃。 ⁵ 酒醉的人哪，要醒悟哭泣；一切好酒的人哪，都要为甜酒哀号，因为酒从你们的口中断绝了。 ⁶ 有一民族上来侵犯我的地，强盛不可胜数，其牙齿如狮子的牙齿，它有大狮的獠牙。 ⁷ 它毁坏我的葡萄树，剥了我无花果树的皮，剥尽而抛弃，使枝条露白。
有些犹太人有一种愚妄的臆想，以为这位先知约珥就是撒母耳的儿子约珥（撒上 8:2）；他们中间甚至有一位拉比煞有介事地试图说明，为何此处撒母耳被称为毗土珥。然而这位约珥要比那一位晚得多。他在此处论及一桩因百姓的罪而已经临到、或将要临到犹大的悲惨且严厉的审判。请留意，
I. 这审判之大，在此由两件事表明：—1. 这审判是过去的世代所无法比拟的，无论是在历史记载中，还是在任何活着之人的记忆中，都是如此（珥 1:2）。此处诉诸老年人，他们能记起很久以前所发生的事；不但如此，这地的一切居民都被召来作证，他们中间若有人能记起类似的事。让他们追溯超过任何人的记忆，为自己考问先祖（伯 8:8），他们必在任何记录中都找不到类似的记载。请注意，那些在罪上胜过先辈的人，理当落在比他们的先辈所经历的更大、更重的审判之下。2. 这审判在将来的世代中也不至于被遗忘（珥 1:3）："你们要将这事传与你们的儿女；"让他们知道你们曾处在何等可怕的神怒气的记号之下，好叫他们得着警戒，并从你们所受的苦中学会顺服，因为这审判也是为给他们作警戒的。不但如此，要*让你们的儿女告诉他们的儿女，他们的儿女再告诉另一代；*让他们传讲此事，不仅当作一桩奇事，可作为谈资（正如那些罕见的意外事件被记在我们的年历中——自从瘟疫和火灾以来已过了多少年——自从大霜冻和大风以来已过了多少年），"更是要让他们传讲，为要教导他们的儿女敬畏神和他的审判，并在他面前战兢。"请注意，我们当将神审判的记念与神恩典的记念一同传于后世。
II. 审判本身；乃是犹大地遭受大军的入侵。许多古今解经家将此理解为人的军队，即亚述的军兵，他们在西拿基立率领下夺取了犹大一切坚固城，随后无疑也蹂躏了乡间，毁坏了其中的出产：甚至有人将此处所提的四等虫类（珥 1:4）解为四大帝国，它们轮流压迫犹太百姓，一个吞灭另一个怒中所剩下的。许多犹太解经家认为这是用比喻的笔法描写仇敌的来到及其人数之众，要将一切尽行毁坏。如此，亚兰文意译本在（珥 1:4）提及这些虫类；但随后在（珥 2:25）则以列邦、百姓、方言、语言、权势与复仇之国取而代之。然而更恰当的，是将此按字面理解为成群的昆虫侵袭此地，吃尽其中的果实。蝗灾曾是埃及的灾殃之一。论到那些蝗虫，经上说，前无其匹，后无其类（出 10:14），埃及没有那样的蝗虫，犹大也没有这样的蝗虫——无论论其体形之大，前无先例，论其数目之众与所造成的祸害之深，也无人可比。埃及的蝗灾不过持续数日；此处所记似乎连续了四年之久（如有人所想），因为此处提到了四种虫类（珥 1:4），后一种吞吃前一种所剩下的；但也有人认为它们同在一年之内来到。旧约的历史并未告诉我们此事发生在何时，但我们确知神的话绝不落空；虽然此处首要所指乃是这些昆虫所造成的毁坏，然而所用的语言却极适合用来描述异邦仇敌入侵此地的毁灭，因为百姓若不肯因这一吞灭土地的较轻审判而自卑改过，神必将那更大的审判降在他们身上，吞灭其中的居民；而借着那更大审判的描述，他们在此受命以此为警戒。若这一群虫不能制服他们，必另有别的民族来毁灭他们。请留意，1. 这些被差来攻击他们的活物是些什么——蝗虫与毛虫，剪虫与蝻子（珥 1:4）。我们如今已无法精确描述它们彼此之间的区别；它们都是微小的昆虫，单独一只都微不足道，人用脚或手指便可轻易碾碎；但当它们成群结队、密密匝匝而来时，却极其可畏，将面前的一切尽行吞吃。请注意，神是万军之耶和华，一切受造之物都在他差遣之下；他若愿意，便能借着最软弱、最卑微的活物使骄傲悖逆的百姓降卑受辱。人被称为虫；由此可见人比虫还不如，因为当神愿意时，虫也能胜过他，劫掠他的国土，吞吃他劳碌得来的，毁坏粮草，断绝强盛之国的生计。神所用的器皿越软弱，他的权能就越发显大。2. 它们来势之凶猛。此处称之为民族（珥 1:6），因为它们结队而行，如同有共识，仿佛怀着共同的目标；因为蝗虫没有君王，却分队而出（箴 30:27），此处以此作为它们智慧的一例。软弱的个体明智地联合、共同行动，这乃是审慎。它们是强盛的，因为它们不可胜数。天平上的微尘轻微，易于吹散，但一堆尘土则沉重；一只虫所能为者甚微（然而一只虫就足以毁坏约拿的蓖麻），但众多的虫却能成就奇事。它们被称为有狮子的牙齿，有大狮的牙齿，因它们所行的毁灭极大且可怕。请注意，蝗虫一旦奉了神的差遣，便如狮子一般。我们读到无底坑出来的蝗虫，它们的牙齿好像狮子的牙齿（启 9:8）。3. 它们所造成的祸害。它们吞吃面前的一切（珥 1:4）；一种所剩下的，另一种便吞灭；它们不仅毁坏青草和五谷，也毁坏树木（珥 1:7）：葡萄树毁坏了。这些害虫吃尽本可在果子成熟时为其遮蔽的叶子，于是果子也随之枯萎，归于无有。它们甚至啃食无花果树的皮，以致将其杀死。如此，无花果树不发旺，葡萄树不结果。
III. 呼吁酒醉的人为这审判哀号（珥 1:5）：醒悟哭泣吧，一切好酒的人。这表明，1. 他们必因这场灾殃而深受其苦。这灾殃要触及他们的痛处；他们所深爱的甜酒必从他们口中断绝。请注意，神将那些被人滥用以致奢侈放纵的安慰收回，乃是公义的；他要收回为巴力所预备的五谷和新酒，因为这些成了卑鄙情欲的粮与燃料。对这样的人，这类审判尤为沉痛。人越是将幸福寄托于感官的满足上，属世的患难在他们身上便越发难当。喝水的人不必在意葡萄树何时毁坏；他们没有葡萄树也能照样度日，一如往常；这对拿细耳人毫无妨碍。但好酒的人却要哭泣哀号。我们越是把更多的享乐当作满足所必需的，就越使自己陷于烦恼与失望之中。2. 这也表明，他们在先前神不悦的记号之下极其麻木迟钝；因此此处才呼吁他们醒悟哭泣。那些不肯因神的话而从安逸中惊醒的人，必因他的杖而被惊醒；那些不肯因远处的审判而警觉的人，必亲自被审判所拘拿；当他们正要享用那禁果时，另一种性质的禁令必临到，在杯到口之间，将酒从他们口中截断。
英文原文
Threatenings of Judgment (720 BC)
¹ The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
² Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
³ Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
⁴ That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten; and that which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.
⁵ Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
⁶ For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
⁷ He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
It is a foolish fancy which some of the Jews have, that this Joel the prophet was the same with that Joel who was the son of Samuel (1Sa 8:2); yet one of their rabbin very gravely undertakes to show why Samuel is here called Pethuel. This Joel was long after that. He here speaks of a sad and sore judgment which was now brought, or to be brought, upon Judah, for their sins. Observe,
I. The greatness of the judgment, expressed here in two things:—1. It was such as could not be paralleled in the ages that were past, in history, or in the memory of any living, Joe 1:2. The old men are appealed to, who could remember what had happened long ago; nay, and all the inhabitants of the land are called on to testify, if they could any of them remember the like. Let them go further than any man's memory, and prepare themselves for the search of their fathers (Job 8:8), and they would not find an account of the like in any record. Note, Those that outdo their predecessors in sin may justly expect to fall under greater and sorer judgments than any of their predecessors knew. 2. It was such as would not be forgotten in the ages to come (Joe 1:3): "Tell you your children of it; let them know what dismal tokens of the wrath of God you have been under, that they make take warning, and may learn obedience by the things which you have suffered, for it is designed for warning to them also. Yea, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation; let them tell it not only as a strange thing, which may serve for matter of talk" (as such uncommon accidents are records in our almanacs—It is so long since the plague, and fire—so long since the great frost, and the great wind), "but let them tell it to teach their children to stand in awe of God and of his judgments, and to tremble before him." Note, We ought to transmit to posterity the memorial of God's judgments as well as of his mercies.
II. The judgment itself; it is an invasion of the country of Judea by a great army. Many interpreters both ancient and modern understand it of armies of men, the forces of the Assyrians, which, under Sennacherib, took all the defenced cities of Judah, and then, no doubt, made havoc of the country and destroyed the products of it: nay, some make the four sorts of animals here names (Joe 1:4) to signify the four monarchies which, in their turns, were oppressive to the people of the Jews, one destroying what had escaped the fury of the other. Many of the Jewish expositors think it is a parabolic expression of the coming of enemies, and their multitude, to lay all waste. So the Chaldee paraphrast mentions these animals (Joe 1:4); but afterwards (Joe 2:25) puts instead of them, Nations, peoples, tongues, languages, potentates, and revenging kingdoms. But it seems much rather to be understood literally of armies of insects coming upon the land and eating up the fruits of it. Locusts were one of the plagues of Egypt. Of them it is said, There never were any like them, nor should be (Ex 10:14), none such as those in Egypt, none such as these in Judah—none like those locusts for bigness, none like these for multitude and the mischief they did. The plague of locusts in Egypt lasted but for a few days; this seems to have continued for four years successively (as some think), because here are four sorts of insects mentioned (Joe 1:4), one destroying what the other left; but others think they came all in one year. We are not told, in the history of the Old Testament, when this happened, but we are sure that no word of God fell to the ground; and, though a devastation by these insects is primarily intended here, yet it is expressed in such a language as is very applicable to the destruction of the country by a foreign enemy invading it, because, if the people were not humbled and reformed by that less judgment which devoured the land, God would send this greater upon them, which would devour the inhabitants; and by the description of that they are bidden to take it for a warning. If this nation of worms do not subdue them, another nation shall come to ruin them. Observe, 1. What these animals are that are sent against them—locusts and caterpillars, palmer-worms and canker-worms, Joe 1:4. We cannot now describe how these differed one from another; they were all little insects, any one of them despicable, and which a man might easily crush with his foot or with his finger; but when they came in vast swarms, or shoals, they were very formidable and ate up all before them. Note, God is Lord of hosts, has all creatures at his command, and, when he pleases, can humble and mortify a proud and rebellious people by the weakest and most contemptible creatures. Man is said to be a worm; and by this it appears that he is less than a worm, for, when God pleases, worms are too hard for him, plunder his country, eat up that for which he laboured, destroy the forage, and cut off the subsistence of a potent nation. The weaker the instrument is that God employs the more is his power magnified. 2. What fury and force they came with. They are here called a nation (Joe 1:6), because they are embodied, and act by consent, and as it were with a common design; for, though the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands (Pr 30:27), and it is there mentioned as an instance of their wisdom. It is prudence for those that are weak severally to unite and act jointly. They are strong, for they are without number. The small dust of the balance is light, and easily blown away, but a heap of dust is weighty; so a worm can do little (yet one worm served to destroy Jonah's gourd), but numbers of them can do wonders. They are said to have teeth of a lion, of a great lion, because of the great and terrible execution they do. Note, Locusts become as lions when they come armed with a divine commission. We read of the locusts out of the bottomless pit, that their teeth were as the teeth of lions, Re 9:8. 3. What mischief they do. They eat up all before them (Joe 1:4); what one leaves the other devours; they destroy not only the grass and corn, but the trees (Joe 1:7): The vine is laid waste. There vermin eat the leaves which should be a shelter to the fruit while it ripens, and so that also perishes and comes to nothing. They eat the very bark of the fig-tree, and so kill it. Thus the fig-tree does not blossom, nor is there fruit in the vine.
III. A call to the drunkards to lament this judgment (Joe 1:5): Awake and weep, all you drinkers of wine. This intimates, 1. That they should suffer very sensibly by this calamity. It should touch them in a tender part; the new wine which they loved so well should be cut off from their mouth. Note, It is just with God to take away those comforts which are abused to luxury and excess, to recover the corn and wine which are prepared for Baal, which are made the food and fuel of a base lust. And to them judgments of that kind are most grievous. The more men place their happiness in the gratification of sense the more pressing temporal afflictions are upon them. The drinkers of water need not to care when the vine was laid waste; they could live as well without it as they had done; it was no trouble to the Nazarites. But the drinkers of wine will weep and howl. The more delights we make necessary to our satisfaction the more we expose ourselves to trouble and disappointment. 2. It intimates that they had been very senseless and stupid under the former tokens of God's displeasure; and therefore they are here called to awake and weep. Those that will not be roused out of their security by the word of God shall be roused by his rod; those that will not be startled by judgments at a distance shall be themselves arrested by them; and when they are going to partake of the forbidden fruit a prohibition of another nature shall come between the cup and the lip, and cut off the wine from their mouth.
8-13
Threatenings of Judgment (720 BC)
简体中文
审判的警告（主前 720 年）
⁸ 我的民哪，你当像处女腰束麻布，为幼年的丈夫哀号。 ⁹ 素祭和奠祭从耶和华的殿中断绝；事奉耶和华的祭司都悲哀。 ¹⁰ 田野荒凉，地悲哀；因为五谷毁坏，新酒干竭，油也缺乏。 ¹¹ 农夫啊，你们要惭愧；修理葡萄园的啊，你们要为大麦小麦哀号；因为田间的庄稼都灭了。 ¹² 葡萄树枯干，无花果树衰残；石榴树、棕树、苹果树，连田野一切的树也都枯干；众人的喜乐尽都消灭。 ¹³ 祭司啊，你们当腰束麻布痛哭；伺候祭坛的啊，你们要哀号；奉我神差遣的啊，你们要终夜躺在麻布中；因为素祭和奠祭从你们神的殿中断绝了。
此处所描写的审判极为可悲，各色人等均将同受其苦；它不仅夺去酒徒的享乐（若仅止于此，或尚可稍加忍受），更要剥夺他人赖以维生之所需，因此他们被召哀哭（珥1:8），如同处女为其所许配、却尚未完婚的良人哀哭——那人在事实上已是她的丈夫；又如一位新婚的少妇，其幼年的丈夫——她年轻时所嫁的丈夫，或她年少成婚时所许的良人——忽然被死亡夺去。在一对年少结合、因爱成婚、彼此全然相悦相慕的新人之间，情意甚笃，故一旦其中一方被取去，悲痛必深。他们失去五谷新酒，其哀痛亦必如此。注意，我们越是恋慕受造之物所带来的安慰，便越难与之分离。参见平行经文，赛32:10-12。此处引两类人当为这毁坏哀哭，即乡民与祭司。
I. 务让农夫与修理葡萄园之人哀哭（珥1:11）。当为他们照料葡萄园所费的心血与劳力惭愧，因为这一切都必归于徒然，他们不能从中得着任何益处；他们要亲眼看见劳碌的果子被吞吃，却毫无挽救之力。注意，凡为那必坏的食物劳力的人，迟早必因自己的劳碌抱愧。当修理葡萄园的看见他们的葡萄园叶果尽脱、藤蔓枯萎，再也无可收取、无可指望以缴纳租税、养活家眷之时，他们便以哀号表达极度的悲伤。此处特别描述了这毁坏的情形：田野荒凉（珥1:10），凡所出产的尽被吞尽；地悲哀，地面呈现凄凉的景象，状至愁惨；全地的居民皆因所失而流泪，因匮乏而恐惧（赛24:4；耶4:28）。"五谷，即作为生命之粮的麦子，毁坏了；新酒，本该送入酒窖以备陈酒饮尽之后补给之用，如今却干竭了，它因曾呈现丰满的希望而如今却无力兑现，便觉羞愧；油缺乏，或日见减少，因为（如亚兰文译本所言）橄榄已经脱落。"百姓本不当为那强壮人心的粮食、悦人心意的酒和使人面貌发光的油（诗104:14-15）向神存应有的感恩；因此他们受公义的惩治，被引致哀哭、感叹这一切的丧失与匮乏——凡神所赐为养生或为喜乐而用的地上出产尽都失去（此事重复申述，珥1:11-12）——小麦与大麦，即当时制饼所用的两种主要谷物，小麦供富户，大麦供贫民，于是富者与贫者在灾祸中同遭厄运。树木亦遭毁坏，不仅葡萄树与无花果树（如前所述，珥1:7）——这些更为有用、更为必需——即其他为赏心之用的树木也一同遭殃：石榴树、棕树与苹果树，甚至田野一切的树木，果园中之树与林木之材、果树与用材，尽皆枯萎。总而言之，田间一切的庄稼都灭绝了（珥1:11）。由此，众人的喜乐尽都消灭（珥1:12）；那用以形容极大、极普遍欢乐的"收割的喜乐"归于无有，化为羞愧，化为哀号。注意，庄稼的灭尽，便是众人喜乐的枯萎。凡将幸福寄于感官享乐之人，一旦被剥夺，或在享受上遭遇扰乱，便尽失其乐；然而属神的儿女，以圣洁的淡泊与轻看对待感官之乐，深知以神为心中喜乐的滋味，便能在无花果树不发旺之际，仍以他为拯救的神而欢欣——属灵的喜乐不但不至枯萎，反比从前更加丰盛（哈3:17-18）。由此我们可以看见：第一，一切受造之物所带来的安慰是何等易灭、何等无定。我们绝无把握它们能长久持续。在此，天已按时降雨，地已出产丰盈，当收割的定期临近之时，他们原无理由怀疑将得丰盛的收成；然而就在那时，这些未曾料到的仇敌忽然侵入，将一切尽行毁坏，且非借火与刀剑。我们的智慧在于，不可将财宝积聚在如此众多不测之事所累的事物之中。第二，我们何等需要不断倚赖神及其护理，因为我们自己的双手不足以供给我们。当我们看见饱满的穗子，自以为稳妥之时——甚至当我们已收归仓房，他若一吹，不，他若不赐福，我们也未必能从中得益。第三，罪所造成的毁坏何等可怕。乐园化为荒野，那多结果子之地，地上最肥沃之处，因其中居民的罪孽而变为荒凉。
II. 务让祭司——耶和华的仆人——哀哭，因为他们在此灾祸中受害尤深：当以麻布束腰（珥1:13）；事实上他们确已悲哀（珥1:9）。当注意，祭司被称为伺候祭坛的，因他们在此事上服事；又被称为耶和华的仆人（先知说：我神的仆人），因为他们在祭坛前伺候便是事奉他，做他的工，尊荣他。注意，凡从事圣事之人，便是在此事上作神的仆人，在他面前伺候。伺候祭坛的祭司素常在耶和华面前欢喜，并以歌唱为业居多；但如今他们必须哀哭哀号，因为素祭和奠祭从耶和华的殿中断绝（珥1:9），同样的事再次提及（珥1:13），从你们神的殿中。"他在特别的意义上是你们的神；你们与他所处的关系，比其他以色列人更为亲近；因此，凡阻碍他圣所事奉的，你们理当比别人更为关切。"此处暗示：第一，百姓在地上的出产按季收归之时，仍照常向耶和华献上当纳之物，将祭物奉到祭坛，将十分之一归给伺候祭坛的人。注意，一个民族可能正在迅速填满自己罪孽的量器，却仍维持着一连串外表的宗教仪文。第二，当饮食断绝之时，素祭与奠祭自然随之断绝；这乃是这场灾祸中最严酷的一环。注意，凡是拦阻宗教正常进行的公众灾难，正因这缘故——过于任何其他缘故——当令人哀恸，尤其是祭司，即耶和华的仆人。贫穷若导致敬虔衰微、神圣职责被忽略，使宗教事业在一民之中因饥饿而凋敝，那实在是严厉的审判。当饥荒蔓延，神得不着他的祭物，祭司也得不着自己的供养；因此，耶和华的仆人当哀哭。
英文原文
Threatenings of Judgment (720 BC)
⁸ Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
⁹ The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.
¹⁰ The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
¹¹ Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
¹² The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
¹³ Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
The judgment is here described as very lamentable, and such as all sorts of people should share in; it shall not only rob the drunkards of their pleasure (if that were the worst of it, it might be the better borne), but it shall deprive others of their necessary subsistence, who are therefore called to lament (Joe 1:8), as a virgin laments the death of her lover to whom she was espoused, but not completely married, yet so that he was in effect her husband, or as a young woman lately married, from whom the husband of her youth, her young husband, or the husband to whom she was married when she was young, is suddenly taken away by death. Between a new-married couple that are young, that married for love, and that are every way amiable and agreeable to each other, there is great fondness, and consequently great grief if either be taken away. Such lamentation shall there be for the loss of their corn and wine. Note, The more we are wedded to our creature-comforts that harder it is to part with them. See that parallel place, Isa 32:10-12. Two sorts of people are here brought in, as concerned to lament this devastation, countrymen and clergymen.
I. Let the husbandmen and vine-dressers lament, Joe 1:11. Let them be ashamed of the care and pains they have taken about their vineyards, for it will be all labour lost, and they shall gain no advantage by it; they shall see the fruit of their labour eaten up before their eyes, and shall not be able to save any of it. Note, Those who labour only for the meat that perishes will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their labour. The vine-dressers will then express their extreme grief by howling, when they see their vineyards stripped of leaves and fruit, and the vines withered, so that nothing is to be had or hoped for from them, wherewith they might pay their rent and maintain their families. The destruction is particularly described here: The field is laid waste (Joe 1:10).; all is consumed that is produced; the land mourns; the ground has a melancholy aspect, and looks ruefully; all the inhabitants of the land are in tears for what they have lost, are in fear of perishing for want, Isa 24:4, Jer 4:28. "The corn, the bread-corn, which is the staff of life, is wasted; the new wine, which should be brought into the cellars for a supply when the old is drunk, is dried up, is ashamed of having promised so fair what it is not now able to perform; the oil languishes, or is diminished, because (as the Chaldee renders it) the olives have fallen off." The people were not thankful to God as they should have been for the bread that strengthens man's heart, the wine that makes glad the heart, and the oil that makes the face to shine (Ps 104:14,15); and therefore they are justly brought to lament the loss and want of them, of all the products of the earth, which God had given either for necessity or for delight (this is repeated, Joe 1:11,12)—the wheat and barley, the two principal grains bread was then made of, wheat for the rich and barley for the poor, so that the rich and poor meet together in the calamity. The trees are destroyed, not only the vine and the fig-tree (as before, Joe 1:7), which were more useful and necessary, but other trees also that were for delight—the pomegranate, palm-tree, and apple-tree, yea, all the trees of the field, as well as those of the orchard, timber-trees as well as fruit-trees. In short, all the harvest of the field has perished, Joe 1:11. And by this means joy has withered away from the children of men (Joe 1:11); the joy of harvest, which is used to express great and general joy, has come to nothing, is turned into shame, is turned into lamentation. Note, The perishing of the harvest is the withering of the joy of the children of men. Those that place their happiness in the delights of the sense, when they are deprived of them, or in any way disturbed in the enjoyment of them, lose all their joy; whereas the children of God, who look upon the pleasures of sense with holy indifference and contempt, and know what it is to make God their hearts' delight, can rejoice in him as the God of their salvation even when the fig-tree does not blossom; spiritual joy is so far from withering then, that it flourishes more than ever, Hab 3:17,18. Let us see here, 1. What perishing uncertain things all our creature-comforts are. We can never be sure of the continuance of them. Here the heavens had given their rains in due season, the earth had yielded her strength, and, when the appointed weeks of harvest were at hand, they saw no reason to doubt but that they should have a very plentiful crop; yet then they are invaded by these unthought-of enemies, that lay all waste, and not by fire and sword. It is our wisdom not to lay up our treasure in those things which are liable to so many untoward accidents. 2. See what need we have to live in continual dependence upon God and his providence, for our own hands are not sufficient for us. When we see the full corn in the ear, and think we are sure of it—nay, when we have brought it home, if he blow upon it, nay, if he do not bless it, we are not likely to have any good of it. 3. See what ruinous work sin makes. A paradise is turned into a wilderness, a fruitful land, the most fruitful land upon earth, into barrenness, for the iniquity of those that dwelt therein.
II. Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, lament, for they share deeply in the calamity: Gird yourselves with sackcloth (Joe 1:13); nay, they do mourn, Joe 1:9. Observe, The priests are called the ministers of the altar, for on that they attended, and the ministers of the Lord (of my God, says the prophet), for in attending on the altar they served him, did is work, and did him honour. Note, Those that are employed in holy things are therein God's ministers, and on him they attend. The ministers of the altar used to rejoice before the Lord, and to spend their time very much in singing; but now they must lament and howl, for the meat-offering and drink-offering were cut off from the house of the Lord (Joe 1:9), and the same again (Joe 1:13), from the house of your God. "He is your God in a particular manner; you are in a nearer relation to him than other Israelites are; and therefore it is expected that you should be more concerned than others for that which is a hindrance to the service of his sanctuary." It is intimated, 1. That the people, as long as they had the fruits of the earth brought in in their season, presented to the Lord his dues out of them, and brought the offerings to the altar and tithes to those that served at the altar. Note, A people may be filling up the measure of their iniquity apace, and yet may keep up a course of external performances in religion. 2. That, when the meat and drink failed, the meat-offering and drink-offering failed of course; and this was the sorest instance of the calamity. Note, As far as any public trouble is an obstruction to the course of religion it is to be upon that account, more than any other, sadly lamented, especially by the priests, the Lord's ministers. As far as poverty occasions the decay of piety and the neglect of divine offices, and starves the cause of religion among a people, it is indeed a sore judgment. When the famine prevailed God could not have his sacrifices, nor could the priests have their maintenance; and therefore let the Lord's ministers mourn.
14-20
Threatenings of Judgment; A Proclamation for a Fast (720 BC)
简体中文
审判的警告；宣告禁食（主前 720 年）
¹⁴ 你们要分定禁食的日子，宣告严肃会，招聚长老和国中的一切居民，进入耶和华你们神的殿，向耶和华哀求。 ¹⁵ 哀哉那日！因为耶和华的日子临近，好像毁灭从全能者来到。 ¹⁶ 粮食不是在我们眼前断绝了吗？是的，欢喜快乐不是从我们神的殿中止息了吗？ ¹⁷ 谷种在土块下朽烂，仓廪荒凉，廪房拆毁；因为五谷枯干。 ¹⁸ 牲畜哀鸣！牛群混乱，因为无草可吃；羊群也受罚。 ¹⁹ 耶和华啊，我向你求告；因为火烧灭旷野的草场，火焰烧尽田野的树木。 ²⁰ 田野的走兽也向你呼求；因为溪水干涸，火烧灭旷野的草场。
我们已看见因蝗虫毁坏地上出产而流了许多眼泪；如今这些眼泪被引入正当的渠道——即在神面前的悔改与谦卑。审判极其沉重，此处他们受指示要承认神在其中之手——他的大能之手——并在此之下自卑。此处有——
I. 颁布的全国禁食令。祭司奉命择定一日；他们不仅自己当哀痛，也当召别人同哀：你们要分定禁食的日子；当从一切世俗事务中分别一段时间，用于宗教的操练，用于悔改的表达以及别的特殊敬虔之举。注意，在公众的审判之下，理当有公众的 humiliation；因为主神呼唤悲哭泣。当以一切忧愁与羞愧的记号承认罪、哀悼罪，承认神的公义，恳求他的恩惠。当注意一国在这样的时刻当行何事。第一，当为此指定一日——禁戒之日（旁注如此读），即百姓当从其他日常事务中禁戒之日（以便更紧密地专心事奉神），也从一切身体的享乐中禁戒；因为，第二，它必须是禁食，即宗教性地在肉食与饮料上克制，只及于绝对必需为止。尼尼微王曾下令禁食，其中他们什么也不尝（拿3:7）。藉此我们承认自己不配得所需用的食物，承认我们已失丧、理当完全被剥夺；我们惩罚自己、治死那曾作犯罪之缘由的身体，使其处于合宜服事灵魂事奉神的状态；并且因食欲渴求食物，灵魂向那比生命更宝贵之事、并生命一切支持的渴慕便被激发。当神正剥夺他们的饮食之时，这格外合时；因为藉此他们与所受的苦难相调适。当神说你们当禁食之时，便是说我们要禁食的时候了。第三，必须有严肃会。长老与百姓，官长与百姓，都当招聚，甚至国中的一切居民，好使神因他们公开的 humiliation 而得尊荣，使他们因此更加自取羞愧，并使他们彼此激发、鼓舞当日宗教的本分。众人都对全国的罪愆有所贡献，众人也都同受全国的灾祸，因此他们必须同在悔改的表白中有分。第四，他们当在殿中——耶和华他们神的殿——聚集，因为那是祷告之殿，在那里他们可以盼望遇见神，因为那是他选择立他名的地方，在那里他们可以盼望通达，因为那是基督及其中保之工的预表。如此他们将自己联于所罗门的祷告——求神悦纳一切奉上、或朝向此殿的祈求，其中特别提到他们眼前的处境。王上8:37（参7:37），若有蝗虫，若有毛虫。第五，他们当分别为圣此禁食，当以宗教的严肃、以真诚的敬虔遵守。禁食若不分别为圣，有何价值？第六，他们当向耶和华哀求。当向他陈述苦情、献上恳求。当我们在苦难中呼求之时，必须向耶和华呼求；这才是向他禁食（亚7:5）。
II. 此处提出一些理由，以促使他们颁布此禁食并严格遵守。
1. 神正开始与他们争论。是向耶和华哀求的时候了，因为耶和华的日子临近了（珥1:15）。或指他们现在所看见只是初露端倪的眼前审判的延续与后果，或指这不过是序曲的更大审判。无论如何，他们受教以此作为哀恸的内容：哀哉那日！因为耶和华的日子临近了。 所以当向神呼求。因为，（一）"他审判之日已甚近，临近了；它不致耽延，因此你们也不当耽延。是禁食祷告的时候了，因为你们回转的时间已所剩无多。"（二）那将极其可怕，无可逃脱，无可抗拒：好像毁灭从全能者来到。 参赛13:6。那不是管教，而是毁灭；并且是从全能者——不是从软弱的受造物——的手而来；谁能晓得（不，谁不晓得）他怒气的权能呢？我们所惧怕的审判既从他那来，我们除了向他，还能向谁呼求呢？除了逃向他，无以逃离他；除了向全能者归服、向他恳求，无以逃脱全能者的毁灭；这正是以他的力量保护自己，得以和好（赛27:5）。
2. 他们看见自己已经在他不悦的记号之下。是禁食祷告的时候了，因为他们的困境甚大（珥1:16）。（一）让他们查看自己的家，那里岂不如常没有丰盛吗？向来席丰者如今不得不削减：粮食不是在我们眼前断绝了吗？ 若神伸手之时人不肯看见，他手加身之时他们必看见。粮食岂不是许多次在我们眼前断绝吗？那么让我们为那不在我们眼前、不能断绝的属灵之粮劳力吧。（二）让他们查看神的殿，看看审判在那里所造成的果效；欢喜快乐从神的殿中断绝了。注意，我们神的殿本是欢喜快乐之所；当大卫赴神的祭坛，是到神我极大的喜乐那里；然而当欢喜快乐从神的殿中断绝——或因圣物之腐化，或因圣民之遭迫——当严肃的敬虔衰微、爱心冷淡之时，便是向耶和华呼求的时候，便是呼求哀哉！ 的时候。
3. 先知回过头来描述这场灾祸的某些细节如何惨重。五谷与牲畜是农夫的主要商品；如今这两样他都被剥夺了。（一）毛虫吞尽了五谷（珥1:17）。素来装满五谷的仓廪荒凉，廪房拆毁，因为五谷枯干——主人见无物可装、也不指望再有什么，便觉不值得花费修缮；因为谷种在土块下朽烂，或因雨水过多，或因（这在迦南地更为常见）缺雨，或也许是地下的一些虫子将它吃尽了。一次收成失败，农夫还盼望下次可以补偿；但此处他们对那也绝望了，因为播种与收割一样糟。（二）牲畜也因无草可食而死（珥1:18）：牲畜怎样哀鸣！ 先知特别留意此事，为要使百姓受感动，将审判放在心上。牲畜的哀鸣当软化他们刚硬不悔改的心。牛群——大牲畜（我们所谓的黑牛）——混乱；甚至羊群，能在公共牧地上生活、满足于极矮牧草的，也受罚。在此看见低等的受造之物为我们的过犯受苦，在双重重担之下叹息——既服事人的罪，又因此服在神的咒诅之下。地必为你的缘故受咒诅。
III. 先知以所赐的榜样激发他们向神呼求。
1. 他自己的榜样（珥1:19）：耶和华啊，我向你求告。 他不愿叫他们去行他自己不愿决心去行的事；不，无论他们行不行，他都要行。注意，神的仆人若不能感动别人因神怒气的启示而受感动，他们自己仍当受感动；若不能领别人呼求神，他们自己仍当多祷告。在患难之时，我们不仅当祷告，更当哀求，当恳切而不倦地祷告；而向那毁灭之灾与拯救之恩都从他而出的神，当常是我们的呼求所归。促使他向神呼求的，并非任何个人的苦难，而是全国的灾祸：火烧灭旷野的草场，似乎是指太阳酷热如火烧尽了地上的出产；它将一切都吞尽。注意，当神借火呼叫相争之时，凡在天上有任何分的人都当竭力向他呼求解脱。参民11:2，摩7:4-5。
2. 低等受造之物的榜样：田野的走兽不仅哀鸣，更是向你呼求（珥1:20）。它们按着自己的能力向你的怜悯申诉，仿佛虽然它们不能有理性和启示的宗教，却凭天然本能对神有所倚靠。至少，当它们因苦难而哀鸣之时，他乐意将之解作向他的呼求；更何况他必以恩慈解释他自己儿女的叹息——尽管有时软弱得说不出来（罗8:26）。走兽在此被说成向神呼求，因为狮子从他那里寻求食物（诗104:21），幼鸦也然（伯38:41）。走兽在此的苦情是缺水（溪水干涸，因酷热所致），以及缺草，因为火烧灭旷野的草场。那些除了五谷新酒之外从不向神呼求、除了感官之乐的缺乏之外无所怨言的人，比走兽好在哪里呢？然而它们在那些情形中向神呼求，正显出那些在任何情形中都不向神呼求之人的愚顽。
英文原文
Threatenings of Judgment; A Proclamation for a Fast (720 BC)
¹⁴ Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
¹⁵ Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
¹⁶ Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
¹⁷ The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
¹⁸ How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
¹⁹ O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
²⁰ The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
We have observed abundance of tears shed for the destruction of the fruits of the earth by the locusts; now here we have those tears turned into the right channel, that of repentance and humiliation before God. The judgment was very heavy, and here they are directed to own the hand of God in it, his mighty hand, and to humble themselves under it. Here is,
I. A proclamation issued out for a general fast. The priests are ordered to appoint one; they must not only mourn themselves, but they must call upon others to mourn too: "Sanctify a fast; let some time be set apart from all worldly business to be spent in the exercises of religion, in the expressions of repentance and other extraordinary instances of devotion." Note, Under public judgments there ought to be public humiliations; for by them the Lord God calls to weeping and mourning. With all the marks of sorrow and shame sin must be confessed and bewailed, the righteous of God must be acknowledged, and his favour implored. Observe what is to be done by a nation at such a time. 1. A day is to be appointed for this purpose, a day of restraint (so the margin reads it), a day in which people must be restrained from their other ordinary business (that they may more closely attend God's service), and from all bodily refreshments; for, 2. It must be a fast, a religious abstaining from meat and drink, further than is of absolute necessity. The king of Nineveh appointed a fast, in which they were to taste nothing, Jon 3:7. Hereby we own ourselves unworthy of our necessary food, and that we have forfeited it and deserve to be wholly deprived of it, we punish ourselves and mortify the body, which has been the occasion of sin, we keep it in a frame fit to serve the soul in serving God, and, by the appetite's craving food, the desires of the soul towards that which is better than life, and all the supports of it, are excited. This was in a special manner seasonable now that God was depriving them of their meat and drink; for hereby they accommodated themselves to the affliction they were under. When God says, You shall fast, it is time to say, We will fast. 3. There must be a solemn assembly. The elders and the people, magistrates and subjects, must be gathered together, even all the inhabitants of the land, that God might be honoured by their public humiliations, that they might thereby take the more shame to themselves, and that they might excite and stir up one another to the religious duties of the day. All had contributed to the national guilt, all shared in the national calamity, and therefore they must all join in the professions of repentance. 4. They must come together in the temple, the house of the Lord their God, because that was the house of prayer, and there they might be hope to meet with God because it was the place which he had chosen to put his name there, there they might hope to speed because it was a type of Christ and his mediation. Thus they interested themselves in Solomon's prayer for the acceptance of all the requests that should be put up in or towards this house, in which their present case was particularly mentioned. 1Ki 7:37, If there be locust, if there be caterpillar. 5. They must sanctify this fast, must observe it in a religious manner, with sincere devotion. What is a fast worth if it be not sanctified? 6. They must cry unto the Lord. To him they must make their complaint and offer up their supplication. When we cry in our affliction we must cry to the Lord; this is fasting to him, Zec 7:5.
II. Some considerations suggested to induce them to proclaim this fast and to observe it strictly.
1. God was beginning a controversy with them. It is time to cry unto the Lord, for the day of the Lord is at hand, Joe 1:15. Either they mean the continuance and consequences of this present judgment which they now saw but breaking in upon them, or some greater judgments which this was but a preface to. However it be, this they are taught to make the matter of their lamentation: Alas, for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand. Therefore cry to God. For, (1.) "The day of his judgment is very near, it is at hand; it will not slumber, and therefore you should not. It is time to fast and pray, for you have but a little time to turn yourselves in." (2.) It will be very terrible; there is no escaping it, no resisting it: As a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. See Isa 13:6. It is not a correction, but a destruction; and it comes from the hand, not of a weak creature, but of the Almighty; and who knows (nay, who does not know) the power of his anger? Whither should we go with our cries but to him from whom the judgment we dread comes? There is no fleeing from him but by fleeing to him, no escaping destruction from the Almighty but by making our submission and supplication to the Almighty; this is taking hold on his strength, that we may make peace, Isa 27:5.
2. They saw themselves already under the tokens of his displeasure. It is time to fast and pray, for their distress is very great, Joe 1:16. (1.) Let them look into their own houses, and was no plenty there, as used to be. Those who kept a good table were now obliged to retrench: Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? If, when God's hand is lifted up, men will not see, when his hand is laid on they shall see. Is not the meat many a time cut off before our eyes? Let us then labour for that spiritual meat which is not before our eyes, and which cannot be cut off. (2.) Let them look into God's house, and see the effects of the judgment there; joy and gladness were cut off from the house of God. Note, The house of our God is the proper place of joy and gladness; when David goes to the altar of God, it is to God my exceeding joy; but when joy and gladness are cut off from God's house, either by corruption of holy things or the persecution of holy persons, when serious godly decays and love waxes cold, then it time to cry to the Lord, time to cry, Alas!
3. The prophet returns to describe the grievousness of the calamity, in some particulars of it. Corn and cattle are the husbandman's staple commodities; now here he is deprived of both. (1.) The caterpillars have devoured the corn, Joe 1:17. The garners, which they used to fill with corn, are laid desolate, and the barns broken down, because the corn has withered, and the owners think it not worth while to be at the charge of repairing them when they have nothing to put in them, nor are likely to have any thing; for the seed it rotten under the clods, either through too much rain or (which was the more common case in Canaan) for want of rain, or perhaps some insects under ground ate it up. When one crop fails the husband man hopes the next may make it up; but here they despair of that, the seedness being as bad as the harvest. (2.) The cattle perish too for want of grass (Joe 1:18): How do the beasts groan! This the prophet takes notice of, that the people might be affected with it and lay to heart the judgment. The groans of the cattle should soften their hard and impenitent hearts. The herds of cattle, the large cattle (black cattle we call them), are perplexed; nay, even the flocks of sheep, which will live upon a common and be content with very short grass, are made desolate. See here the inferior creatures suffering for our transgression, and groaning under the double burden of being serviceable to the sin of man and subject to the curse of God for it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake.
III. The prophet stirs them up to cry to God, with the consideration of the examples given them for it.
1. His own example (Joe 1:19): O Lord! to thee will I cry. He would not put them upon doing that which he would not resolve to do himself; nay, whether they would do it or no, he would. Note, If God's ministers cannot prevail to affect others with the discoveries of divine wrath, yet they ought to be themselves affected with them; if they cannot bring others to cry to God, yet they themselves be much in prayer. In time of trouble we must not only pray, but cry, must be fervent and importunate in prayer; and to God, from whom both the destruction is and the salvation must be, ought our cry to be always directed. That which engaged him to cry to God was, not so much any personal affliction, as the national calamity: The fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, which seems to be meant of some parching scorching heat of the sun, which was as fire to the fruits of the earth; it consumed them all. Note, When God calls to contend by fire it concerns those that have any interest in heaven to cry mightily to him for relief. See Nu 11:2, Am 7:4,5.
2. The example of the inferior creatures: "The beasts of the field do not only groan, but cry unto thee, Joe 1:20. They appeal to thy pity, according to their capacity, and as if, though they are not capable of a rational and revealed religion, yet they had something of dependence upon God by natural instinct." At least, when they groan by reason of their calamity, he is pleased to interpret it as if they cried to him; much more will he put a favourable construction upon the groanings of his own children, though sometimes so feeble that they cannot be uttered, Ro 8:26. The beasts are here said to cry unto God, as from him the lions seek their meat (Ps 104:21) and the young ravens, Job 38:41. The complaints of the brute-creatures here are for want of water (The rivers are dried up, through the excessive heat), and for want of grass, for the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. And what better are those than beasts who never cry to God but for corn and wine, and complain of nothing but the want of delight of sense? Yet their crying to God in those cases shames the stupidity of those who cry not to God in any case.
本章描述了犹大地的庄稼遭受蝗虫与毛虫之灾的可悲毁坏。有人认为先知是将此事作为未来的事来讲，像众先知对待将临之审判通常所做的那样，事先发出警告。另有人认为这场灾难当时已经发生，先知的职责在于使百姓受其触动，并借此唤醒他们悔改。I. 此灾被视为前代未有先例的审判（珥 1:1-7）。II. 各种在灾难中受苦的人都蒙呼吁为之哀号（珥 1:8-13）。III. 他们在哀号中受指引仰望神，并在他面前谦卑自己（珥 1:14-20）。