2. The occasion of this Prophecy, the drought of the land. The Argument of the Prophecy.
The occasion for the writing of this prophecy was furnished to Joel by imminent drought, and by an abiding famine in the land, of which the sent insects gave the first indication. Therefore, thus the Prophet warns that the day of the Lord threatens with all evils; as the east-north-east wind draws clouds with itself, so the day brings with it war, the sum of all evils: and he especially urges the tribe of Judah to a sense of the present evil, and to a sense of their misdeeds and to earnest repentance; he promises that God, after He will have been zealous for His land, is going to spare the people, and restore the land and temporal blessings, tying to it blessings, like the fulfillment connected in time of the Prophecy concerning the giving of a new covenant through Christ, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh; and describing the signs antecedent to the coming of the Lord, and the promise of the salvation of believers from all nations. Finally, he describes that great day of the Church’s deliverance and the nations’ judgment.