Joel 2:16
Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
It is a trumpet summons proclaimed in Zion to call a fast and a solemn assembly that gathers the whole people and sets the congregation apart for God. No age or condition is exempt, for elders are assembled with children and nursing infants, and even bridegroom and bride must leave wedding seclusion and private joy so that ordinary duties and celebration give way to united seeking of God. To gather in this way is to plead together for mercy and protection, with priests and ministers weeping between the porch and the altar for God to spare His people from reproach and enemy rule. It is God's warning call before the great and terrible day of the Lord, summoning all to awake and flee coming wrath by turning with all the heart in fasting and weeping and mourning with rent heart rather than outward form, trusting He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. That turning is worthless as mere fasting without a broken and contrite heart, crucified self, contention put away and conversion shown in works, yet to those who so humble themselves and seek Him together, including children gathered for training in His ways, God promises blessing, recognition by His name, and the outpouring of His Spirit even as law is trampled and judgments are about to fall.
Universal Solemn Assembly
The call is a trumpet summons sounded in Zion to set apart a fast and proclaim a solemn assembly, gathering the people and making the congregation holy. It is a united gathering of the whole people for sanctification, with no one left out or counted as exempt.
The assembly expressly includes the elders alongside the children, even those still nursing at the breast, so that neither age nor condition of life keeps anyone away. From oldest to youngest all are brought into the same consecrated gathering and solemn appeal to God.
Even the bridegroom is to go out from his chamber and the bride from her closet, leaving wedding seclusion behind to join the congregation. Private joy and celebration, ordinary duties and business, and the seclusion properly belonging to marriage give way before the urgency of the united assembly.
To gather and sanctify in this way is to seek God together and plead for mercy and protection as one people. Priests and ministers join the people by weeping between the porch and the altar, crying for God to spare His people and not give His heritage over to reproach and the rule of enemies.
Repentance Before Day of Lord
The verse is God's solemn warning call to His people in view of the great and terrible day of the Lord, to awaken them from spiritual lethargy to seek Him with repentance and humiliation. Those He has appointed are to keep that warning before the people and summon all to flee from the wrath to come and escape the judgments and calamities that must fall upon those who continue to dishonor Him, and whosoever wills may escape. The urgency and breadth of the call are shown in that the whole community without exception is summoned to seek God together, from elders to children and nursing infants, with even bridegroom and bride leaving chamber and closet, joined by the weeping of priests between the porch and the altar pleading for the Lord to spare His people and keep them from reproach.
It applies to a time of crisis and judgment upon a doomed world, when the purposes and judgments of God are about to fall though the time of visitation is not known. That is the time when the world has become as before the flood, the law of God is trampled underfoot, His Sabbath sanctified and blessed in Eden is set aside and polluted for a rival first-day sabbath, and the sins of cities and towns have reached to heaven. In such a crisis no age or household is excluded from the congregation's united appeal for God's mercy and protection, so that private joy and business give way and no one is exempt.
It calls for turning to the Lord with all the heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning, with a rent heart and not garments or mere outward form. That turning is earnest, heart-rending prayer and anguish going up to heaven, confessing spiritual blindness and backsliding and the perversity seen in Israel, and crying, Spare Thy people and give not Thine heritage to reproach and to the reproach of the heathen. The plea rests on trust that He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, to spare His people.
Fasting without contrition of heart does no good to the soul, so the gathering requires humbled hearts, crucified self, contention put away, conversion shown by works, and prayer with a broken and contrite heart and a different spirit. It requires ceasing to forsake Him and to trust in an arm of flesh that cannot save, lest He visit His people with judgments. Ministers especially must weep in that place between the porch and the altar, because many who should be faithful watchmen are wrapped in finite ideas, have lost their first love, and only partially believe the testing message for this time.
Application and Promised Blessing
The charge to gather the children means to bring them together for religious education and missionary training in God's statutes and laws. This gathering stands within God's promises of blessing to Israel, which continue for His people now. When His name is placed upon the children thus taught, they are blessed and recognized as called by His name. They then become a refreshing blessing among the peoples of the earth.
The same call summons ministers and church representatives at the heart of the work to a sacred assembly. They are to humble themselves, fast, and seek God together. They are to plead for mercy and for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.