John Calvin Commentary Joel 3:21

"And I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion." — Joel 3:21 (ASV)

The beginning of the verse is explained in various ways. Some place a stop after cleanse, in this way: “I will cleanse, yet their blood I will not cleanse;” as if God had said that He would forgive Gentile nations all their other wrongs, but could not forgive them the great cruelty they had committed against His elect.

So the meaning would be, “Avarice may be endured, I could overlook robberies; but, since they killed My people, I am in this case completely unforgiving.” Thus, according to this view, God shows how precious to Him is the life of His saints, in that He says He will not be appeased towards those wicked men who have shed innocent blood.

But this meaning seems rather too forced. Others interpret it this way: “Their blood will I cleanse, and will not cleanse,” that is, “I will cleanse the Jews from their defilements, but I will not use extreme severity;” as He also says in Isaiah 48, I will not refine thee as gold or silver, for thou wouldest turn all into dross. Therefore, they think that God promises here such a cleansing of the Church that He would not use extreme severity, but moderate His cleansing, as is necessary with regard to our defilements, of which we are all so full.

But this meaning seems to me simpler: that God would cleanse the blood which He had not cleansed, as if He said, “I have not until now cleansed the pollutions of My people; they have then become, as it were, putrid in their sins; but now I will begin to purify all their wickedness, that they may shine pure before Me.” A relative pronoun is understood, as is often the case in Hebrew.

But נקה neke is taken in Jeremiah 30:11 in another sense, meaning that God will exterminate His Church. However, we cannot in this place derive any other meaning than that God will cleanse His Church from pollutions; for the Prophet undoubtedly means the defilements with which the people were full.

They will not, therefore, be able to enjoy the favor of God while remaining in their filth. Now God, in promising to be a Redeemer, comes to the very source and the first matter—namely, that He will wash away their filth. For how could God be the Redeemer of the people, unless He blotted out their sins?

For as long as He imputes sins to us, He must necessarily be angry with us; we must necessarily be altogether alienated from Him and deprived of His blessing. He therefore does not say in vain that He will be a purifier. For when pollutions are cleansed, another thing follows, which we have already noted regarding this: future redemption, and with this—

He at last concludes and says, And Jehovah shall dwell in Zion. The Prophet again recalls the attention of the people to the covenant, as if He said, “God has willingly and bountifully promised all that has been mentioned, not because the people have deserved this, but because God has seen fit long ago to adopt the children of Abraham, and has chosen Mount Zion as His habitation.” He then shows this to be the reason why God was now inclined to mercy and would save a people who had a hundred times destroyed themselves by their sins.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as we have to fight continually in this world, not only with one kind of enemies, but with numberless enemies, and not only with flesh and blood, but also with the devil, the prince of darkness, — O grant that, being armed with Your power, we may persevere in this contest; and when You afflict us for our sins, may we learn to humble ourselves and so submit to Your authority that we may hope for the redemption promised to us; and though tokens of Your displeasure may often appear to us, may we yet always raise up our minds by hope to heaven, and from there look for Your only begotten Son, until, coming as the Judge of the world, He gathers us and brings us to the fruition of that blessed and eternal life which He has obtained for us by His own blood. Amen.

End of the Commentaries on Joel.

Commentary on Amos

Introduction to Amos

[Exposition continues from previous day's lecture]

He indicates the time when he began to fulfill his office as a teacher, but it does not appear how long he prophesied. The Jews indeed think that his ministry was long; he continued his ministry, as they write, under four kings. But he only mentions here the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam.

His purpose was to mark the time when he began to carry out his office as a Prophet, but not to express how long he served God in that office; and why he mentions only the beginning, we shall note in its proper place. It is indeed certain that he began his work under King Uzziah and King Jeroboam. It should also be noted that he was appointed a Prophet to the kingdom of Israel. For though he came from the tribe of Judah, yet the Lord, as we shall see, set him over the kingdom of Israel. He sometimes directs his discourse to the tribe of Judah, but only incidentally, as it were, and as the occasion arose, for he primarily addressed the Ten Tribes. I now come to his words.