What is the meaning of Joel 2:20? The northern army I will drive away from you • God Himself promises to act, not merely advise. • The invader comes “from the north,” just as Assyria (Isaiah 10:5–6) and later Babylon (Jeremiah 1:14) marched down on Judah. The direction signals real, historical enemies while hinting at future hostile coalitions (Ezekiel 38:15). • The Lord’s pledge reassures His people that the threat, whether locust plague (Joel 1:4) or literal troops, will be forced to retreat. • Compare Zephaniah 2:13, where God “stretches out His hand against the north,” showing the same decisive protection. banishing it to a barren and desolate land • The army is not only pushed back; it is exiled to sterility. • “Barren and desolate” reflects curses on hostile territory (Isaiah 34:9–10). What was once fertile becomes wasteland, stressing that rebellion leaves nothing but ruin behind. • Job 38:26–27 highlights God’s rule over deserts; here He turns that mastery against the foe. • The scene underlines permanence: the threat will not regroup. its front ranks into the Eastern Sea • The Eastern Sea is the Dead Sea, lowest spot on earth, a symbolic “end of the line.” • Zechariah 14:8 uses the same phrase; everything east of Jerusalem drains there. • Throwing the vanguard into the Dead Sea pictures a swift, inescapable plunge—no chance to circle back. and its rear guard into the Western Sea • The Western Sea is the Mediterranean (Deuteronomy 11:24). • With troops scattered from Dead Sea to Mediterranean, no fragment escapes. • The imagery forms an east-to-west sweep, covering the full width of the land promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18), confirming total security. And its stench will rise; its foul odor will ascend • Even the aftermath testifies to God’s victory; decomposing corpses emit a smell Israelites could not ignore (Isaiah 34:3; Amos 4:10). • The odor rising upward contrasts with incense that should ascend from worship (Exodus 30:8). Here, judgment replaces praise for the enemy. • The detail is literal—dead locusts or soldiers rot—but also moral: sin reeks before a holy God. For He has done great things • The focus swings from the defeated foe to the triumph of the Lord. • Psalm 126:3 echoes, “The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.” • 1 Samuel 12:24 urges, “Consider what great things He has done for you,” nudging hearts toward gratitude, not fear. • Luke 1:49 shows Mary using the same wording, proving that from Joel to the Gospels, God’s acts inspire worship. summary Joel 2:20 promises God’s people that any northern menace—whether swarming locusts or foreign armies—will be driven out, scattered from Dead Sea to Mediterranean, left to rot in barren waste, and remembered only as a sign of the Lord’s overwhelming power. The verse moves from threat, to removal, to praise, assuring believers that the God who judges enemies also secures and exalts His own. |
    |