John Calvin Commentary Joel 2:30-31

"And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh." — Joel 2:30-31 (ASV)

The Prophet seems here to contradict himself. For he had until now promised that God would deal kindly and bountifully with his people, and everything he has said tended to elevate their spirits and fill them with joy. But now he seems again to threaten them with God’s wrath and to strike miserable men with fear, who had not yet had a breathing time. For at the time the Prophet spoke, the Jews, we know, were in the greatest sorrow.

What then is his purpose in adding a new cause of grief, as though they did not have enough sorrow and lamentation? But it is an admonition rather than a threatening. The Prophet warns them of what would happen, so that the faithful would not promise themselves some happy condition in this world and an exemption from all cares and troubles, for we know how prone men are to self-indulgence.

When God promises anything, they flatter themselves and harbor vain thoughts, as though they were beyond the reach of harm and free from every grief and every evil. The flesh contrives such indulgence for itself. Therefore, the Prophet reminds us that even though God would bountifully feed his Church, supply his people with food, and testify by outward signs his fatherly love—and though he would also pour out his Spirit (a far more remarkable sign)—the faithful would still continue to be distressed with many troubles. For God does not intend to deal too delicately with his Church on earth. When he gives signs of his kindness, he at the same time includes some exercises for patience, so that the faithful will not become self-indulgent or sleep on earthly blessings, but will instead always seek higher things.

So now we understand the Prophet’s design: he does not intend to threaten the faithful, but rather to warn them, so that they do not deceive themselves with empty dreams or expect what will never happen—that is, to enjoy a happy rest in this world.

Besides, the Prophet also considers another point: we know indeed that men are rarely led to seek the grace of God unless they are, so to speak, forcibly drawn. Therefore, spiritual life, and whatever belongs to the celestial kingdom, is neglected when we have all kinds of supplies on earth.

The Prophet then commends here the spiritual grace of which he speaks for this reason: the condition of men would be miserable if the Lord did not gladden their minds and refresh them with the comfort we have already noted. How so? There will be prodigies in heaven and on earth, the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, and all things will be in disorder and in horrible darkness. What then would become of men if God did not shine on them by the grace of his Spirit, support them under such confusion in heaven and on earth, and show himself to be their Father?

We see then that this was added for the fuller commendation of God’s grace, so that men might know that they would be much more miserable if God did not call them to himself by the shining light of his Spirit. And we can learn that this was the Prophet’s design from the discourse of Christ, which he delivered to his disciples a short time before his death.

They asked what would be the sign of his coming when he reminded them of the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:3–25:46). They thought that he would immediately accomplish that triumph of which they had heard, and that they would be made partakers of that eternal beatitude of which Christ had so often spoken to them.

Christ then warned them not to be deluded with such a crude notion. He spoke of the destruction of Jerusalem and then declared that all these things would be only the presages of evils—“These,” he says, “shall be only the preludes; for tumults will arise, wars shall be, and all places will be full of calamities. In a word, there will be an immense mass of all evils.” As Christ then corrected the mistake with which the disciples’ minds were imbued, so the Prophet here checks vain imaginations, so that the faithful would not think that Christ’s kingdom would be earthly and fix their minds on grain and wine, on pleasures and tranquility, on the conveniences of the present life: I will give you, he says, prodigies in heaven and on earth, blood, fire, and dark clouds; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before it shall come—the day of Jehovah, great and terrible.

We now see why the Prophet adds this sad catalogue here, and how well these things harmonize together—that God would testify his fatherly love by the manifestation of Christ, and that he would exhibit signs of his wrath, which would fill the whole world with anxiety and fear.

What he says of blood and darkness is, no doubt, to be taken metaphorically for a disordered state of things, for we know that calamities are often compared to obscurity and darkness. It is as if he said, “So great will be the succession of evils that the whole order of nature will seem to be subverted, and the very elements will take on a new form. The sun, which illuminates the earth, will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. The calamities that will come will take away every sign of God’s kindness. Then nothing will remain but for men, sunk, as it were, in the deepest abyss of all evils, to seek some spark of grace from God and never find it; for heaven will be dark, and the earth will be covered with thick darkness.”

We then see that the Prophet does not express what would happen word for word, nor is he to be understood as speaking literally, as they say. Instead, he uses a figurative mode of speaking by which he describes such a dreadful state of things that the very elements would take on a new appearance, for the sun would no longer perform its office, and the moon would refuse its light to the earth.

As God, then, would take away all signs of his favor, so the Prophet, by blood, by darkness, and by dark clouds, metaphorically describes the sorrows that would necessarily possess the minds of men.

Now, if anyone asks why God’s wrath was more stirred up against men by the coming of Christ (for this may seem to be without reason), I answer that it was accidental, so to speak. For if Christ had been received as he should have been, if all had embraced him with due reverence, he would certainly have been the giver not only of spiritual grace but also of earthly happiness.

The felicity of all, then, would have been made complete in every respect by the coming of Christ, had not their wickedness and ingratitude kindled anew the wrath of God. And we see what a flood of evils burst forth immediately after the preaching of the gospel. Now, when we consider how severely God afflicted his people formerly, we cannot but say that the calamities inflicted on the world since the manifestation of Christ have been much heavier. Why is this?

It is because the world’s ingratitude had reached its highest point, as indeed it has today. For the light of the gospel has gone out again, and God has shown himself to the world as a Father. And we see how great the wickedness and perversity of men are in rejecting the gifts of God. We see some contemptuously rejecting the Gospel, and others impelled by satanic fury to resist the doctrine of Christ. We see them making a boast of their blasphemies, and we see them kindled with cruel rage and breathing slaughter against the children of God. We see the world full of ungodly men and despisers of God. We see a terrible contempt of God’s grace prevailing everywhere. We see such unrestrained licentiousness in wickedness that it ought to make us ashamed of ourselves and weary of our life.

Since, then, the world is so ungrateful for such a favor, is it any wonder that God should show more dreadful signs of his vengeance? For certainly today, when we closely examine the condition of the world, we find that all are miserable—even those who applaud themselves and whom the world admires as demigods.

How can it be otherwise? The common people, undoubtedly, groan under their miseries, and this is because God thus punishes the contempt of his grace, which he has again offered to us and which is so unworthily rejected.

Therefore, since such base ingratitude on the part of men has provoked God’s wrath, it is no wonder that the sound of his scourges is everywhere heard. For, as Christ declares, the servant who knows his lord’s will and does not do it, is worthy of heavier stripes (Luke 12:47).

And what happens throughout the whole world is that after God has shone by his gospel, after Christ has everywhere proclaimed reconciliation, they now openly fall away and show that they prefer having God angry rather than propitious to them. For when the gospel is rejected, what else is it but to declare war against God, and to scorn and refuse the reconciliation which God is ready to give and which he offers to men of his own accord?

It is then no wonder that the Prophet says here that the world would be full of darkness after the appearance of Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness and who has shone upon us with his salvation. But it was accidental, so to speak, that God showed himself with so much severity to the world, when it was yet the acceptable time, when it was the day of salvation and of goodwill. For the world did not allow what God had promised to us by the Prophet Joel to be fulfilled, nor did it receive the Spirit of adoption when they might have safely fled to God—indeed, when God was ready to cherish them in his own bosom.

But since they were rebellious and intractable, it was necessary for God to punish such perverseness in an unusual manner. It is no wonder then that the Prophet says that in those days there shall be prodigies in heaven and on earth, for the sun shall be turned into darkness, etc., before it shall come—the day of Jehovah, great and terrible.

It may be asked what day the Prophet refers to, for he has until now spoken of the first coming of Christ, and there seems to be some inconsistency here. I answer that the Prophet includes the whole kingdom of Christ, from the beginning to the end. This is well understood, and in other places we have stated that the Prophets commonly speak in this manner. For when the discourse concerns Christ’s kingdom, they sometimes refer only to its beginning, and sometimes they speak of its end. But they often describe in one portrayal the whole course of the kingdom of Christ, from its beginning to its end, and such is the case here.

The Prophet, by saying, ‘After those days I will pour out my Spirit,’ no doubt meant that this, as we have explained, would be fulfilled when Christ would begin his kingdom and make it known through the teaching of the gospel. Christ then poured out his Spirit.

But as the kingdom of Christ is not for a few days or for a short time, but continues its course to the end of the world, the Prophet turns his attention to that day or that time and says, “In the meanwhile, there shall be the greatest calamities. Whoever does not flee to the grace of God shall be very miserable; they shall never find rest nor comfort, nor the light of life, for the world shall be sunk in darkness. And God shall take away from the sun, the moon, the elements, and all other aids, the signs of his favor; and he will show himself everywhere to be angry and offended with men.”

The Prophet further shows that these evils of which he speaks would not be for a few days or a few years, but perpetual. ‘Before,’ he says, ‘the day of Jehovah, great and terrible, shall come.’ In short, he means that all the scourges of God, which he had until now mentioned, would be, so to speak, preparations to subdue the hearts of men, so that they might receive Christ with reverence and submission.

As, therefore, men are naturally proud and cannot bend their neck to receive the yoke of Christ, the Prophet therefore says here that they were to be subdued by severe scourges, when God would remove all signs of his love and fill heaven and earth with dread.

Thus, then, God would in a way change the hardness and contumacy which is innate in men, so that they might know that they had to deal with God. And, at the same time, the Prophet reminds them that unless they were corrected by these scourges, something more dreadful awaited them: the Judge would at last come from heaven, not only to clothe the sun and moon in darkness but also to turn life into death.

It would, indeed, be far better for the reprobate to die a hundred times than always to live and thus sustain eternal death in life itself.

The Prophet then means that men persisting in their obstinacy will meet with something more grievous and more ruinous than the evils of this life, for they must all at last stand before the tribunal of the celestial Judge: for the day of Jehovah, great and terrible, will come.

In this sentence, he refers to unbelievers and rebels against God. For when Christ comes, he will be a Redeemer to the godly; no day in their whole life will shine on them so pleasantly. So far will this day be from bringing terror and fear to them, that they are bidden, while expecting it, to lift up their heads, which is a sign of cheerfulness and joy.

But as the Prophet Joel’s object was to humble the confident pride of the flesh, and as he addressed the refractory and the rebellious, it is no wonder that he presents to them what is terrifying and dreadful.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we are now surrounded on every side by so many miseries, and as our condition is such that amidst groans and continual sorrows, our life could hardly be sustained without being supported by spiritual grace—O grant that we may learn to look on the face of your Anointed and seek comfort from him. May this comfort be such that it does not engross our minds, or at least not retain us in the world, but instead raises our thoughts to heaven and daily seals to our hearts the testimony of our adoption. And grant that, though many evils must be borne by us in this world, we may yet continue to pursue our course, to fight, and to strive with invincible perseverance, until, having at length finished all our struggles, we reach that blessed rest which has been obtained for us by the blood of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.