Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.
Here the Prophet turns his address to the beasts; not that his instruction suited them; but it was a more efficacious mode of speaking, when he invited the very beasts to a participation of the people’s joy; for except the Jews had been made to know that God’s wrath was now nigh at hand, no consolation which the Prophet has hitherto applied would have been of any weight with them.
Mark how swift God is to help His people once they truly humble themselves and seek His face. They prayed for sparing; He answers with comfort and covenant faithfulness. He is jealous for His own land and for their dignity, He will not let them lie open to reproach as a miserable people. His compassion toward the penitent is a great encouragement.
AI summary
Commenting on Joel 2:18-27
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field,.... Which before groaned, and were perplexed for want of pasture, and cried because of the drought, Joe 1:18; perhaps the Gentiles may be here designed, in the mystic and spiritual sense, in distinction from the Jews, the children of Zion, in Joe 2:23; for the pastures of the wilderness do spring; grass in abundance springs up in...