John Calvin Commentary Joel 1:1-4

"The word of Jehovah that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and [let] your children [tell] their children, and their children another generation. 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." — Joel 1:1-4 (ASV)

The word of Jehovah which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. He names his father here; it is therefore probable that he was a well-known man of some celebrity. But who this Pethuel was, everyone is now ignorant. And what the Hebrews hold as a general rule—that a prophet is designated whenever his father’s name is added—appears to me frivolous; and we see how bold they are in devising such comments. When no reason for anything appears to them, they invent some fable and allege it as a divine truth. Therefore, when they are accustomed to trifle in this way, I pay no attention to what they hold as a rule. Yet it is probable that when the Prophets are mentioned as having descended from this or that father, their fathers were men of some note.

Now, what he declared by saying that he delivered the word of the Lord is noteworthy. For he shows that he claimed nothing for himself as an individual, as if he wished to rule by his own judgment and subject others to his own fancies, but that he relates only what he had received from the Lord.

And since the Prophets claimed no authority for themselves, except insofar as they faithfully executed the office divinely committed to them and delivered, as it were, from hand to hand what the Lord commanded, we may therefore be assured that no human doctrines ought to be admitted into the Church.

Why? Because to the extent that men trust in themselves, they detract from the authority of God. This preface, then, which almost all the Prophets use, ought to be noticed: namely, that they brought nothing of their own or according to their own judgment, but that they were faithful dispensers of the truth entrusted to them by God.

And the word is said to have come to Joel; not that God intended that he alone should be His disciple, but because He deposited this treasure with him, so that he might be His minister to the whole people. Paul also says the same thing: that to the ministers of the Gospel was committed a message for Christ, or in Christ’s name, to reconcile men to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). And in another place he says, He has deposited with us this treasure as in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7). We now understand why Joel says that the word of the Lord was delivered to him: it was not so that he might be the only disciple, but as some teacher was necessary, Joel was chosen, and the Lord committed this office to him. Then the word of God indeed belongs indiscriminately to all; and yet it is committed to Prophets and other teachers, for they are, so to speak, trustees (depositarii—depositories).

As to the verb היה eie, there is no need of philosophizing so acutely as Jerome does: “How was the word of the Lord made?” For he feared that Christ might be said to be made, as He is the word of the Lord. These are the most puerile trifles. He could not, however, get rid of the difficulty in any other way than by saying that the word is said to be made with respect to man whom God addresses, and not with respect to God Himself. All this, as you must see, is childish. For the Prophet says here only that the word of the Lord was sent to him; that is, that the Lord employed him as His messenger to the whole people. But after having shown that he was a fit minister of God, being furnished with His word, he speaks authoritatively, for he represented the person of God.

We now see what lawful authority ought to be in force in the Church, which we ought to obey without dispute, and to which all ought to submit. This authority exists only when God Himself speaks through men, and the Holy Spirit employs them as His instruments. For the Prophet does not bring forward any empty title; he does not say that he is a high priest of the tribe of Levi, or of the first order, or of the family of Aaron. He alleges no such thing but says that the word of God was deposited with him. Whoever, then, demands to be heard in the Church must necessarily and truly prove that he is a preacher of God’s word; and he must not bring his own devices, nor blend with the word anything that proceeds from the judgment of his own flesh.

But first, the Prophet reproves the Jews for being so stupid as not to consider that they were chastised by the hand of God, though this was quite evident. Therefore, in my judgment, those who think that punishments are denounced here which were still suspended pervert the Prophet's meaning, for they transfer all these things to a future time. But I distinguish between this reproof and the denunciations that follow later. Here, then, the Prophet reproaches the Jews that, after being so severely struck, they did not gain wisdom; and yet even fools, when the rod is applied to their backs, know that they are punished. Since, then, the Jews were so stupid that even when chastised they did not understand that they had to do with God, the Prophet justly reproves this madness. He says, "Hear," and also "ye old men; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land, and declare this to your children." But I will postpone the consideration of this passage until tomorrow.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as almost the whole world gives such free rein to their licentiousness that they do not hesitate either to despise or to regard as of no value Your sacred word—Grant, O Lord, that we may always retain such reverence as is justly due to it and to Your holy oracles. May we be so moved whenever You deign to address us that, being truly humbled, we may be raised up by faith to heaven and by hope gradually attain that glory which is still hidden from us. And may we at the same time so submissively restrain ourselves as to make it our whole wisdom to obey You and to serve You, until You gather us into Your kingdom, where we shall be partakers of Your glory, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

Hear this, ye old men; and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land: has this been in your days, and in the days of your fathers? This declare to your children and your children to their children, and their children to the next generation: the residue of the locust has the chafer eaten, and the residue of the chafer has the cankerworm eaten, and the residue of the cankerworm has the caterpillar eaten. In the last lecture, I already mentioned what I think of this passage of the Prophet.

Some think that a future punishment is denounced, but the context sufficiently proves that they mistake and pervert the real meaning of the Prophet. For, on the contrary, he here reproves the hardness of the people—that they did not feel their plagues. And as men are not easily moved by God’s judgments, the Prophet here declares that God had executed such vengeance as could not be regarded otherwise than miraculous. It is as though he said, “God often punishes men, and they ought to be attentive as soon as He raises His finger. But common punishments usually go unheeded; men soon forget those punishments to which they have been accustomed. God has, however, treated you in an unusual manner, having openly, as it were, put forth His hand from heaven and brought on you punishments nothing less than miraculous. You must then be more than stupid if you do not perceive that you are struck by God’s hand.”

This is the true meaning of the Prophet and may be easily gathered from the words.

Hear, ye old men, he says. He expressly addresses the old because experience teaches men much; and the old, when they see anything new or unusual, must know that it is not according to the ordinary course of things. He who has passed his fiftieth or sixtieth year and sees something new happening which he had never thought of, doubtless acknowledges it as the unusual work of God.

This is the reason why the Prophet here directs his discourse to the old, as if he said, “I will not terrify you about nothing; but let the old hear, who have been accustomed for many years to many revolutions. Let them now answer me, whether in their whole life, which has been an age on the earth, they have seen any such thing?” We now perceive the Prophet’s design, for he intended to awaken the Jews so that they might understand that God had put forth His hand from heaven, and that it was impossible to ascribe what they had seen with their eyes to chance or to earthly causes, but that it was a miracle.

And his object was to make the Jews finally ashamed of their folly in not having until now been attentive to God’s punishments, and in having always flattered themselves, as if God slept in heaven, when yet He so violently thundered against them and intended by an extraordinary course to move them, so that they might at last perceive that they were summoned to judgment.

He later adds, And all ye inhabitants of the land. Had the Prophet addressed only the old, some might seize on some pretext for their ignorance; therefore, he addressed all from the least to the greatest. This he did so that the young might not exempt themselves from blame in proceeding in their obstinacy and in thus mocking God when He called them to repentance.

Hear, he says, all ye inhabitants of the land; has this been in your days or in the days of your fathers? He says first, "Has such a thing been in your days?" For doubtless, what happens rarely deserves greater consideration. It is indeed true that foolish men are blind to the daily works of God; for example, God’s favor in making His sun rise daily is little thought of by us. This happens through our ingratitude.

But our ingratitude is doubled, and is much more base and less excusable, when the Lord works in an unusual manner, and we still with closed eyes overlook what ought to be deemed a miracle. This dullness the Prophet now reproves. "Has such a thing," he says, "happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? You can recall to mind what your fathers have told you. It is certain that for two ages no such thing has happened. Your torpidity, then, is extreme, since you neglect this judgment of God, which from its very rareness ought to have awakened your minds."

He then adds, Tell it to your children, your children to their children, their children to the next generation. In this verse, the Prophet shows that the matter deserved to be remembered and was not to be despised by posterity, even for many generations. It now appears quite clear that the Prophet does not threaten what was to come, as some interpreters think (which would have been puerile). On the contrary, he here expostulates with the Jews because they were so slothful and tardy in considering God’s judgments, especially as it was a remarkable instance when God did not employ usual means but roused and, as it were, terrified men by prodigies.

Of this then tell (for עליה olie means nothing other than ‘tell or declare this thing to your children’), and further, your children to their children. When anything new happens, it may be that we are at first moved with some wonder, but our feeling soon vanishes with the novelty, and we disregard what at first caused great astonishment.

But the Prophet here showed that such was the judgment of God of which he speaks, that it ought not to have been overlooked, no, not even by posterity. Let your children, he says, declare it to those after them, and their children to the fourth generation; it was to be always remembered.

He adds what that judgment was: that the hope of food had disappointed them for many years. It often happened, we know, that locusts devoured the standing grain; and then the chafers and the palmer worms did the same. These were ordinary events. But when one devastation happened, and another followed, and there was no end—when there had been four barren years suddenly produced by insects, which devoured the growth of the earth—this was certainly unusual.

Therefore, the Prophet says that this could not have been chance, for God intended to show the Jews some extraordinary portent, so that even against their will they might observe His hand. When anything trifling happens, if it is rare, it will strike the attention of men, for we often see that the world makes a great noise about frivolous things.

“But this wonder,” says the Prophet, “ought to have produced an effect on you. What then will you do, since you are starving, and the causes are evident? For God has cursed your land and brought these insects, which have consumed your food before your eyes. Since it is so, it is surely the time for you to repent; and you have until now been very regardless, having overlooked God’s judgments, which have been so remarkable and so memorable.”