Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
The Lord shall roar out of Zion - As in the destruction of Sennacherib, when he was now close upon his prey, and "shook his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, the Lord of hosts lopped the bough with terror, and the high ones of stature were hewn down, and the haughty were humbled Isaiah 10:32-33, so at the end. It is foretold of antichrist, that his destruction shall be sudden, "Then shall that Wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His Coming" II Thessalonians 2:8. And Isaiah saith of our Lord, "He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked" Isaiah 11:4. When the multitudes of God' s enemies were thronged together, then would He speak with His Voice of terror. The terrible voice of God' s warnings is compared to the roaring of a lion. "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord hath spoken, who can but prophesy?" Amos 3:8. Much more, when those words of awe are fulfilled. Our Lord then, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah" Revelation 5:5. Who is here entitled by the incommunicable Name of God, I am, shall utter His awful Voice, as it is said; "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God" I Thessalonians 4:16; and He Himself says, "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the Resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation" John 5:28-29.
And shall utter His voice from Jerusalem - that is, either from His Throne aloft "in the air" above the holy city, or from the heavenly Jerusalem, out of the midst of the tens of thousands of His holy angels Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; II Thessalonians 1:7, and saints Zechariah 14:5; Jude 1:14, who shall "come with Him." So terrible shall that voice be, that "the heavens and the earth shall shake," as it is said, "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" II Peter 3:10; and "heaven shall open for the coming of the saints," and ' hell shall be moved at the coming' Isaiah 14:9 of the evil. : "Nor shall it be a slight shaking of the earth at His Coming, but such that all the dead shall be roused, as it were from their sleep, yea, the very elect shall fear and tremble, but, even in their fear and trembling, shall retain a strong hope. This is what he saith immediately, ' The Lord will be the hope (or place of refuge)' of His ' people, and the strength (or stronghold) of the children of Israel,' i. e., of the true Israel, the whole people of the elect of God. All these He will then by that His Majesty at once wonderfully terrify and strengthen, because they ever hoped in God, not in themselves, and ever trusted in the strength of the Lord, never presumed on their own. Whereas contrariwise the false Israelites hope in themselves, while, ' going about to establish their own righteousness, they submitted themselves not to the righteousness of God.' Romans 10:3. The true Israel shall trust much more than ever before; yet none can trust then, who in life, had not trusted in Him Alone.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Joel 3:16:
Isaiah 13:10
Zephaniah 3:8
Revelation 4:7
Revelation 6:12-17
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
