The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
The verse portrays invaders that look like horses and charge like mounted riders, as part of a nine-verse portrayal of their appearance and work in the day of the Lord. They press forward swiftly and in order in vast numbers, in powerful, disciplined, solemn ranks that no human effort or device can stop. They are a literal plague of devouring locusts of many kinds, whose swarms will devastate the earth in the last days and leave land that was as the Garden of Eden a desolate wilderness. They are also the angelic hosts who follow Christ upon white horses to judge and destroy the wicked, and the great strong people marshaled in battle array on the day of the Lord. The warning belongs to the time just before the great and terrible day of the Lord at Christ's coming, sounding the trumpet alarm for Zion to tremble, discern the signs in sun, moon, and stars, and turn to the Lord with wholehearted repentance and preparation for the latter rain.
Appearance and Movement Described
The appearance is like that of horses, and the running is like that of horsemen, set within a closer and extended account of the agents concerned in the great work of the day of the Lord, with nine verses devoted to describing them and their doings. The comparison belongs to Joel's description of a locust plague, and the surrounding description identifies the invading army as hordes of destructive insects. Those locusts stand for the many kinds of devouring pests that consume crops, not for armies of men, and their vast numbers make them formidable foes. The likeness is apt for locusts as seen in Palestine, advancing in great numbers along roads in regular lines in swift and ordered movement like horsemen running.
That Palestinian advance illustrates a present-day fulfillment of Joel's locust description, while the growing numbers of destructive insects also warn of troubles ahead and call for discerning the signs and being ready. The same horse-like appearance and horseman-like movement describe events before the day of the Lord identified with Christ's coming, with grasshopper plagues as a beginning of the work of Joel's army. Their advance is swift and ordered, in great numbers and regular lines that human efforts and devices cannot stop or prevent. The picture is a vivid one of a devouring insect army presented as a terror that will ravage parts of the earth in the last days.
The agents so described are powerful and disciplined, associated with the great day of the Lord, rather than merely ordinary locusts. They move in irresistible ranks to carry out God's judgment, identified as the angels who accompany Christ at His second coming. Their swift, solemn advance belongs to the execution of God's will and makes the day a time requiring wholehearted repentance and preparation.
Identity of the Invading Army
The horse-like look and horseman-like running belong to a literal plague of devouring locusts, hordes of destructive insects whose vast numbers make them formidable foes. Those locusts stand for the many kinds of crop-consuming insects, not armies of men, with swiftness and form described as part of that pest invasion. They are increasing swarms of destructive insects that will devastate the earth in the last days, a terror that will ravage parts of the earth which human devices cannot prevent. Grasshopper invasions in the prairie states illustrate that coming scourge, which may also include other destructive agencies of that time.
They are the devastating army designated as the locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, and palmerworm, whose unrestrained cavalry-like march betokens the near approach of the great day of the Lord. Where this army comes the land beforehand is as the Garden of Eden but behind it a desolate wilderness, a visitation of the curse as the end approaches. These visitations happen when the earth is defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant so that the curse devours the earth, visible evidences that earth and atmospheric heavens are waxing old as a garment and soon to be folded up and changed. The weight of teaching holds them also to be the angelic hosts who accompany Christ at His second coming and carry out God's work of judgment on the great day of the Lord, in martial array and irresistible ranks. This is the same heavenly army that follows Him upon white horses when He judges and destroys the wicked and the nations, with horse-like appearance and swift running marking that host.
They are the people in the Lord's army, a great, strong force advancing in battle array on the day of the Lord, having the appearance of horses and running like horsemen. They depict calamities in local imagery, including the war and trouble and warring nations that close earth's history, presented as a sign preceding the great day of Jehovah. That warning is addressed to Zion, the church, in the last days in view of destruction overwhelming the world. The calamity came upon Judah and Jerusalem in Joel's day nearly eight hundred years before Christ as an army of pests that is one of the signs of the Lord's coming, and it is typical of far greater calamities when the great day of the Lord is near. There is a double application with a partial fulfillment at an earlier great crisis and a full fulfillment in the world's final crisis, for the last days include the very last day, and this stands first of three things of import alongside the great preparations in the last days for universal war and God's promise in the outpouring of His Spirit.
Joel's vision of devastation concerns the final visitation of God's wrath in the seven last plagues that precede the thousand years, with the advancing host running like horsemen. It shows the time of Christ's second coming, when the earth faces destruction and desolation before its renewal. That restoration brings the land bearing its precious fruits for people and animals, together with the gathering and deliverance of God's people and the outpouring of God's Spirit at the beginning of the day of the Lord just before the resurrection of the righteous, as part of the prophecy of Israel's deliverance and the restoration of the desolate land.
Day of the Lord Near
The horse-like appearance and horseman-like running belong to events before the great and terrible day of the Lord, identified with Christ's coming and second coming, when the earth faces destruction and desolation before its renewal. The grasshopper plagues are a beginning of the work of that army of Joel. That army is the same heavenly army that follows Christ at His coming upon white horses, when He judges and destroys the wicked and the nations. Joel 2:1-14 foretells signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars showing that the coming of Christ and the end of the world is near, even at the door. Immediately after the tribulation of the persecution from 538 to 1798 the sun would be darkened at midday and become black as sackcloth of hair, the full moon would give no light and have the appearance of blood, and the stars would fall from heaven in a display with no scientific explanation. This was fulfilled on May 19, 1780 when the sun was darkened and the moon gave no light, and on November 30, 1833 in the falling of the stars, and the generation that sees all these signs will not pass till all things including the coming of Christ be fulfilled.
These destructive visitations are among the events that betoken the near approach of the great day of the Lord, in the swift cavalry-like advance and unrestrained march of a devastating army that the Lord designates as the locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, and palmerworm, where the land is beforehand as the Garden of Eden but behind it a desolate wilderness. They happen in the time when the earth is defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant, so that the curse devours the earth. They are visible evidences, with destructive insects and other disturbances, that the earth and atmospheric heavens have grown old and its change is impending, waxing old as a garment and soon to be folded up and changed.
When the day of the Lord is near an alarm should sound and the people should tremble, discerning the signs and being ready, with even the meek urged to seek meekness and righteousness. The locust plague with appearance as horses and swift advance as horsemen running makes the coming day of the Lord a time requiring wholehearted repentance and preparation, and the growing numbers of destructive insects warn of troubles ahead. The vivid picture of warring nations is a sign preceding the day of the Lord, and the warning is addressed to Zion, the church, in the last days in view of the destruction that will overwhelm the world.
The passage stands in Joel's prophecy of the latter rain, the final outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the remnant people of God as wonderful in power and results as the outpouring on the day of Pentecost, bringing refreshing from the presence of the Lord, ripening of the harvest, and the end of the conflict, announced by the trumpet alarm in Zion that the day of the Lord is nigh at hand. It is received on condition of turning to the Lord with all the heart and proving Him by bringing all the tithes into the storehouse, with the rejoicing promise that He has given the former rain and will send the former and latter rain and be in the midst of Israel so His people shall never be ashamed. What is necessary to carry on God's last great work and finish the delayed work in this generation before the soon coming of Christ is the reception of the Holy Spirit in its fulness, the presence in its fulness of the Spirit of Jesus Christ as the one supreme consideration and great requirement, which alone is sufficiency and fits for service in such a way that those fitted finish the service it qualifies them to perform. It calls for a clear, strong, definite message with no weakness or tameness, lifted up and given supreme place in the hearts of those charged with giving it to the world, with the heavenly endowment that would enable every Sabbath-keeper in the United States occupying his privileged position to give the message to the United States within twelve months.
The calamity came upon Judah and Jerusalem in Joel's day nearly eight hundred years before Christ, and it is typical of far greater calamities that will come upon the world when the great day of the Lord is near. It stands as the first of three things of import in Joel, alongside the great preparations made in the last days for universal war and God's promise in the outpouring of His Spirit. The appearance and swift movement like horses and horsemen is applied to the many men and women seeking and finding truth during the latter rain in California.
The verse portrays invaders that look like horses and charge like mounted riders, as part of a nine-verse portrayal of their appearance and work in the day of the Lord. They press forward swiftly and in order in vast numbers, in powerful, disciplined, solemn ranks that no human effort or device can stop. They are a literal plague of devouring locusts of many kinds, whose swarms will devastate the earth in the last days and leave land that was as the Garden of Eden a desolate wilderness. They are also the angelic hosts who follow Christ upon white horses to judge and destroy the wicked, and the great strong people marshaled in battle array on the day of the Lord. The warning belongs to the time just before the great and terrible day of the Lord at Christ's coming, sounding the trumpet alarm for Zion to tremble, discern the signs in sun, moon, and stars, and turn to the Lord with wholehearted repentance and preparation for the latter rain.
Appearance and Movement Described
The appearance is like that of horses, and the running is like that of horsemen, set within a closer and extended account of the agents concerned in the great work of the day of the Lord, with nine verses devoted to describing them and their doings. The comparison belongs to Joel's description of a locust plague, and the surrounding description identifies the invading army as hordes of destructive insects. Those locusts stand for the many kinds of devouring pests that consume crops, not for armies of men, and their vast numbers make them formidable foes. The likeness is apt for locusts as seen in Palestine, advancing in great numbers along roads in regular lines in swift and ordered movement like horsemen running.
That Palestinian advance illustrates a present-day fulfillment of Joel's locust description, while the growing numbers of destructive insects also warn of troubles ahead and call for discerning the signs and being ready. The same horse-like appearance and horseman-like movement describe events before the day of the Lord identified with Christ's coming, with grasshopper plagues as a beginning of the work of Joel's army. Their advance is swift and ordered, in great numbers and regular lines that human efforts and devices cannot stop or prevent. The picture is a vivid one of a devouring insect army presented as a terror that will ravage parts of the earth in the last days.
The agents so described are powerful and disciplined, associated with the great day of the Lord, rather than merely ordinary locusts. They move in irresistible ranks to carry out God's judgment, identified as the angels who accompany Christ at His second coming. Their swift, solemn advance belongs to the execution of God's will and makes the day a time requiring wholehearted repentance and preparation.
Identity of the Invading Army
The horse-like look and horseman-like running belong to a literal plague of devouring locusts, hordes of destructive insects whose vast numbers make them formidable foes. Those locusts stand for the many kinds of crop-consuming insects, not armies of men, with swiftness and form described as part of that pest invasion. They are increasing swarms of destructive insects that will devastate the earth in the last days, a terror that will ravage parts of the earth which human devices cannot prevent. Grasshopper invasions in the prairie states illustrate that coming scourge, which may also include other destructive agencies of that time.
They are the devastating army designated as the locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, and palmerworm, whose unrestrained cavalry-like march betokens the near approach of the great day of the Lord. Where this army comes the land beforehand is as the Garden of Eden but behind it a desolate wilderness, a visitation of the curse as the end approaches. These visitations happen when the earth is defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant so that the curse devours the earth, visible evidences that earth and atmospheric heavens are waxing old as a garment and soon to be folded up and changed. The weight of teaching holds them also to be the angelic hosts who accompany Christ at His second coming and carry out God's work of judgment on the great day of the Lord, in martial array and irresistible ranks. This is the same heavenly army that follows Him upon white horses when He judges and destroys the wicked and the nations, with horse-like appearance and swift running marking that host.
They are the people in the Lord's army, a great, strong force advancing in battle array on the day of the Lord, having the appearance of horses and running like horsemen. They depict calamities in local imagery, including the war and trouble and warring nations that close earth's history, presented as a sign preceding the great day of Jehovah. That warning is addressed to Zion, the church, in the last days in view of destruction overwhelming the world. The calamity came upon Judah and Jerusalem in Joel's day nearly eight hundred years before Christ as an army of pests that is one of the signs of the Lord's coming, and it is typical of far greater calamities when the great day of the Lord is near. There is a double application with a partial fulfillment at an earlier great crisis and a full fulfillment in the world's final crisis, for the last days include the very last day, and this stands first of three things of import alongside the great preparations in the last days for universal war and God's promise in the outpouring of His Spirit.
Joel's vision of devastation concerns the final visitation of God's wrath in the seven last plagues that precede the thousand years, with the advancing host running like horsemen. It shows the time of Christ's second coming, when the earth faces destruction and desolation before its renewal. That restoration brings the land bearing its precious fruits for people and animals, together with the gathering and deliverance of God's people and the outpouring of God's Spirit at the beginning of the day of the Lord just before the resurrection of the righteous, as part of the prophecy of Israel's deliverance and the restoration of the desolate land.
Day of the Lord Near
The horse-like appearance and horseman-like running belong to events before the great and terrible day of the Lord, identified with Christ's coming and second coming, when the earth faces destruction and desolation before its renewal. The grasshopper plagues are a beginning of the work of that army of Joel. That army is the same heavenly army that follows Christ at His coming upon white horses, when He judges and destroys the wicked and the nations. Joel 2:1-14 foretells signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars showing that the coming of Christ and the end of the world is near, even at the door. Immediately after the tribulation of the persecution from 538 to 1798 the sun would be darkened at midday and become black as sackcloth of hair, the full moon would give no light and have the appearance of blood, and the stars would fall from heaven in a display with no scientific explanation. This was fulfilled on May 19, 1780 when the sun was darkened and the moon gave no light, and on November 30, 1833 in the falling of the stars, and the generation that sees all these signs will not pass till all things including the coming of Christ be fulfilled.
These destructive visitations are among the events that betoken the near approach of the great day of the Lord, in the swift cavalry-like advance and unrestrained march of a devastating army that the Lord designates as the locust, cankerworm, caterpillar, and palmerworm, where the land is beforehand as the Garden of Eden but behind it a desolate wilderness. They happen in the time when the earth is defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant, so that the curse devours the earth. They are visible evidences, with destructive insects and other disturbances, that the earth and atmospheric heavens have grown old and its change is impending, waxing old as a garment and soon to be folded up and changed.
When the day of the Lord is near an alarm should sound and the people should tremble, discerning the signs and being ready, with even the meek urged to seek meekness and righteousness. The locust plague with appearance as horses and swift advance as horsemen running makes the coming day of the Lord a time requiring wholehearted repentance and preparation, and the growing numbers of destructive insects warn of troubles ahead. The vivid picture of warring nations is a sign preceding the day of the Lord, and the warning is addressed to Zion, the church, in the last days in view of the destruction that will overwhelm the world.
The passage stands in Joel's prophecy of the latter rain, the final outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the remnant people of God as wonderful in power and results as the outpouring on the day of Pentecost, bringing refreshing from the presence of the Lord, ripening of the harvest, and the end of the conflict, announced by the trumpet alarm in Zion that the day of the Lord is nigh at hand. It is received on condition of turning to the Lord with all the heart and proving Him by bringing all the tithes into the storehouse, with the rejoicing promise that He has given the former rain and will send the former and latter rain and be in the midst of Israel so His people shall never be ashamed. What is necessary to carry on God's last great work and finish the delayed work in this generation before the soon coming of Christ is the reception of the Holy Spirit in its fulness, the presence in its fulness of the Spirit of Jesus Christ as the one supreme consideration and great requirement, which alone is sufficiency and fits for service in such a way that those fitted finish the service it qualifies them to perform. It calls for a clear, strong, definite message with no weakness or tameness, lifted up and given supreme place in the hearts of those charged with giving it to the world, with the heavenly endowment that would enable every Sabbath-keeper in the United States occupying his privileged position to give the message to the United States within twelve months.
The calamity came upon Judah and Jerusalem in Joel's day nearly eight hundred years before Christ, and it is typical of far greater calamities that will come upon the world when the great day of the Lord is near. It stands as the first of three things of import in Joel, alongside the great preparations made in the last days for universal war and God's promise in the outpouring of His Spirit. The appearance and swift movement like horses and horsemen is applied to the many men and women seeking and finding truth during the latter rain in California.