Joel 2:17, commentary and pictures

The priests as ministers of the Lord are called to take their place weeping between the porch and the altar in burdened intercession, asking Him to spare His people and pleading with deep concern for their salvation. They are to ask Him not to give His heritage to reproach by disgrace and shame before the world, nor to let the heathen rule over them by domination and subjection. That weeping belongs to blowing the trumpet in Zion, sanctifying a fast and calling a solemn assembly of all without exception, in turning to the Lord with all the heart with fasting and weeping and mourning by rending the heart and not the garments. It is His most solemn call in view of the great day of the Lord to arouse from spiritual lethargy, and this intercession is the present duty and present prospect of His people threatened with reproach and heathen rule. Gospel ministers must thus feel a burden for souls, going forth weeping and praying with tears for sinners to be converted, and such faith-filled prayer lays hold of the arm of strength and moves the arm of Omnipotence to overrule the designs of wicked men and restrain darkness until the warning is given.

Words and Setting

The priests are the ministers of the Lord, called to take their station weeping between the porch and the altar in burdened intercession for the people. That weeping is the burden for souls that ministers should carry, going forth with tears praying for sinners to be converted and sowing seed that will bear fruit to God's glory, rather than carrying light responsibilities, shunning care, seeking ease and self-interest, and being careless in example. It separates the few who are in earnest, broken, weighed down and confessing sins from the many in holy trust with little sense of need, no special burden and untouched hearts who must give account for souls.

Their appointed prayer is to ask the Lord to spare His people, pleading with deep concern for their salvation, preservation, and readiness for the day of salvation. They are to ask Him not to give His heritage to reproach, that is to protect His people from disgrace, shame and dishonor before the world. They are to ask Him not to let the heathen rule over them, that is to protect them from domination and subjection under foreign nations. They so plead that the nations will not ask where their God is, which is the reproach of enemies and outsiders questioning whether God is with His people when they are in distress and weakness, feared even by parents whose gravely ill child made them dread that enemies would claim God had not helped them.

The weeping belongs to blowing the trumpet in Zion, sounding the alarm, sanctifying a fast and calling a solemn assembly that gathers all without exception, sanctifies the congregation, and brings the elders, the children, and even the bridegroom from his chamber and the bride from her closet. It means turning to the Lord with all the heart with fasting and weeping and mourning, rending the heart and not the garments, because He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and may return and leave a blessing behind Him. This is a communal, solemn appeal to turn to God with wholehearted repentance in a time of danger.

When this repentance and prayer is made, the Lord will be jealous for His land, pity His people, satisfy them with corn and wine and oil, and no more make them a reproach among the heathen if they work with Him in His way.

Repentance and Mercy

The weeping is earnest prayer in heart-rending anguish, confessing spiritual blindness and backsliding and turning with the whole heart in fasting and mourning by rending the heart and not the garments. That confession names perversity, loss of first love, contention and appeal to outside parties, forsaking God to trust an arm of flesh that cannot save, being wrapped in finite ideas, and believing the testing message only in part. Those who are indifferent and lukewarm would fear and tremble for their own souls and for the souls of others if the curtain were rolled back to show God's purposes and the judgments about to fall on a doomed world and their own true attitude.

Fasting and prayer of this kind do no good without contrition of heart and conversion shown by works. They require humbling the heart, crucifying self, putting away differences, praying with a broken and contrite spirit, learning the science of faith, and seeking the Lord while He may be found before it is everlastingly too late. The mourning commanded is not for lack of means but for lack of the Holy Spirit of God. Ministers stand as representatives of the churches to humble themselves, weep before God, and ask Him not to withhold His Holy Spirit from His people.

The plea is grief and anguish over wrongdoing among God's people that puts the honor of His cause at stake. It laments oppression of one believer by another and profanation of His house through greed and injustice, corruption in the church, and moral failure that brings disgrace no defender can excuse. It intercedes for church members hanging in the balance who accept error and pleasing fables, give heed to deceiving spirits, refuse correction, and by crooked, perverted, sinful ways put the Lord to open shame while asleep to their need with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. When the church backslides it loses God's favor, its sins separate it from God, and outsiders are given cause to ask where its God is. It also voices anguish over the weakness of the people when they fail to claim God's promises and so become a reproach before the nations.

The call is to have sins dealt with before judgment, because the investigative judgment takes place before Christ comes, and this is a matter of life or death. It was illustrated at Shittim, where while plague was killing the people and the magistrates were punishing the offenders, the priests and leaders grieved, humbled themselves, wept and prayed even as open defiance continued. It means asking God for mercy with aching heart when a great work is still to be done. That aching is grief over many unready to meet the Lord, over wasted time passed into eternity, over grown men and women acting like little children, and over strife and alienation among God's people for which there is not a particle of excuse.

Warning of Final Crisis

It is God's most solemn and impressive call to His people in view of the great day of the Lord, to arouse them from spiritual lethargy and to seek His face with repentance and humiliation. The weeping of the priests, the ministers of the Lord, between the porch and the altar belongs to blowing the trumpet in Zion and sounding an alarm in His holy mountain, sanctifying a fast and calling a solemn assembly. That assembly gathers the people without exception, sanctifies the congregation, assembles the elders and the children, and brings the bridegroom from his chamber and the bride from her closet. It means turning to the Lord with all the heart, with fasting and with weeping and with mourning, rending the heart and not the garments, because He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and may return and leave a blessing behind Him.

It is God's appointed warning to flee from coming wrath and from the judgments and calamities that must fall on those who continue to dishonor Him. Judgments are about to fall upon a doomed world, and men know not the time of their visitation. Whoever will may escape by heeding this warning kept before the people, for it is a communal, solemn appeal to turn to God with wholehearted repentance and return to Him. When this repentance and prayer is made, the Lord will be jealous for His land, pity His people, satisfy them with corn and wine and oil, and no more make them a reproach among the heathen. The plea asks Him to spare His people and to protect His heritage from disgrace, shame and domination by the nations and from foreign rule, so that other peoples will not ask where their God is, and it accompanies the call to receive the truth and prepare others for the day of salvation.

The prospect of reproach and heathen rule now threatens God's people, making this weeping intercession their present duty and present prospect. It calls for sounding the trumpet in Zion to sanctify a fast and call a solemn assembly in preparation for the final crisis. This is the prayer God's servants, pastors and laymen, must offer now before the great final crisis during the gracious moment of respite. It is to be prayed in view of Christ's coming when the world is absorbed in pleasure and appetite, with humble, earnest intercession crying out for God to spare His people and keep His heritage from reproach and disgrace before the world.

It applies to a decisive time of danger when God's law is made void and trampled, His faithful people face persecution for obeying it, and the designs of wicked men and enemies of the church threaten mercy, justice and liberty of conscience. In that extremity, when there seems least hope that ruin can be averted, God holds wicked designs subject to His power and overruling providence and always works for His people. Prayed in faith, this prayer laying hold of the arm of strength moves the arm of Omnipotence. In answer God works for His truth, overruling the designs of wicked men, moving upon the hearts of statesmen, turning aside the wrath of haters of His truth and people as a river is turned, and with the same power that orders the stars and controls the sea restraining the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for His coming and the conflict. This must be joined with using every heaven-given power without delay to sound the warning message in all parts of the world and overcome obstacles for those perishing in ignorance.

Ministers Burden for Souls

Gospel ministers must feel a burden for the salvation of souls, going forth weeping and praying with tears for sinners to be converted and sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit to God's glory. This burden means carrying deep responsibility and jealousy for God's cause and pleading for the preservation of His people through self-sacrificing, faithful labor. It stands opposite carrying light responsibilities, shunning individual care and burdens, neglecting pastoral duties, caring more for self than for the flock, seeking ease and self-interest, and being careless in example and deportment.

Faithful workers plead earnestly for the perishing, asking that they be spared and not made a reproach, with persistent, faith-filled travail that does not give up on those sought for the truth. They chasten their souls before God with self-denial and self-sacrifice, giving up ease, worldly gain and every earthly inducement, and accepting reproach, suffering, self-abasement, wearing labor and anguish of spirit when people oppose God's counsel against their own souls. In this they become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men, in order to stand acquitted in the day of God, free from the blood of souls. This weeping ends when Christ returns, when the faithful under-shepherds behold with Him the redeemed saints saved through their efforts in Christ, review their travail and labor with satisfaction, receive the crown of glory from the Chief Shepherd, and enter into the joy of their Lord.

The call describes personal, earnest pastoral care alongside visiting families, teaching them the Bible, praying with them, and leading them tenderly to Christ. When the work of truth faces obstacles and seems slow, servants carry their trials to God in earnest prayer, weeping and interceding and asking Him to spare His people and keep His heritage from reproach and dishonor. Weeping between the porch and the altar is burdened intercession for the impenitent and unbelieving in the home and in the church, asking that they not be left exposed to shame. Such supplication was missing from most ministers, and its absence separates the few who are in earnest, broken in calling upon the Lord, weighed down as a cart beneath sheaves, humbling the soul, sensing need of Christ, confessing sins and seeking His presence by living faith, from the many standing in holy places of trust with little sense of great need, no special burden to get near the Lord and untouched hearts, who must give account for having little or no burden for souls.

Ministers pray in soul-anguish for the Lord's presence to be with them, because without that presence they cannot stand before the people. They know their own efforts cannot sustain them, while all heaven looks upon them and scrutinizes and records their words, conduct, deportment and spirit. They need transformation of character, feeling that if their works are not wrought in God they are of all men most miserable, yet Christ is with every imperfect minister earnestly seeking to become Christlike. The verse exposes lack of interceding power with God and calls for humiliation of soul and seeking God with all the heart for an awakening from sleep to full realization of the situation. The unfinished work gives urgency, with home work only begun, vast numbers in other fields reaching out for help, many fields still untouched, and everywhere need for efficient, earnest, God-fearing laborers, since the blessing of God waits to be demanded and received without groping in doubt and darkness.

Both pastors and laymen, all who have access to God through Christ, are to take this position between the porch and the altar, laying hold of the arm of strength and praying earnestly for one another and for others to be made ready for the day of salvation. As Christ's messengers they plead for the salvation of souls while warning people and facing opposition, and without delay they use every heaven-given power to sound the warning in all parts of the world and overcome obstacles for those perishing in ignorance. The prayer applies to leaders bearing the burden of neglected duties and the weakened, spiritually inactive condition of the churches. It identifies those who cherish elevated principles and remain as true as steel to principle rather than cherishing fanciful ideas and foolish extremes, keeping the great principles of the third angel's message clear and distinct and the great pillars of faith holding all weight placed upon them, with help and blessing for those in America who do this interceding work. It applies also to feeling responsibility for the souls of youth in writing moved by Christ's Spirit, pleading for God to protect His people from harm, and to prayer for the success of missionary work and for the people reached by it.

In this solemn time ministers and people should not be self-sufficient or contend for supremacy, but should confess their sins before God and one another. Their intercession accompanies a plain, pointed testimony that does not soften reproof or oppose severe censure of individual wrongs and sins, but uses influence to bring that testimony home while God purifies His people. The call to weep and intercede is for ministers praying earnestly for the people they serve and joining Christ's intercession for sinners, awakening people and seeking God's mercy for them until pity comes and reproach is removed. In decisive danger those waging spiritual warfare remain vigilant, pray for wisdom, resist Satan, and plead that God spare His people and keep His heritage from reproach, so God's name is not dishonored before the world.

Power of Intercessory Prayer

The weeping between the porch and the altar is laying hold of the arm of strength, and when offered in faith it moves the arm of Omnipotence. In answer God works in behalf of His truth, overruling the designs of wicked men and enemies of the church, moving upon the hearts of statesmen and turning aside the wrath of those who hate Him, His truth and His people as rivers of water are turned, and with the same infinite power that marshals the stars in their order and controls the waves of the sea restraining all the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for His coming and the conflict. He always works for His people in their greatest extremity when there seems least hope that ruin can be averted, holding wicked designs subject to His power under His overruling providence.

Such earnest prayer belongs to vigilant spiritual warfare with prayer for wisdom and resisting Satan in a decisive time of danger, pleading for Him to spare His people and keep His heritage from reproach. It helps prevent His name from being dishonored before the world and keeps the enemy from triumphing over His people and reproaching Him by attacking them as they present His truth.

The cry over where their God is expresses the reproach feared when His people are seen in distress and weakness. Parents with a gravely ill child dreaded that enemies would claim He had not helped them, and their prayer for the child's life was answered.