Wesley Corpus

Chapter II A farther description of the desolation of the land, ver. 1 - 11. An earnest call to repentance, ver. 12 - 17. A promise of all good things to the penitent, ver. 18 - 27. A prophecy of the Messiah's kingdom, ver. 28 - 32. Blow ye - The prophet continues his exhortation to the priests, who were appointed to summon the solemn assemblies. A day of darkness - A time of exceeding great troubles and calamities. And this passage may well allude to the day of judgment, and the calamities which precede that day. As the morning - As the morning spreads itself over all the hemisphere and first upon the high mountains, so shall the approaching calamities overspread this people. A great people - This seems more directly to intend the Babylonians. A fire - The Chaldeans, as a fire shall utterly consume all things. Behind them - What is left behind is as burnt with a flame. As Eden - Fruitful and pleasant. Blackness - Such as is the colour of dead men, or the dark paleness of men frightened into swoons. Their ranks - This skill in ordering and the steadiness in keeping under, exactly like trained soldiers, foretells the terror and strength of both the armies signified by these locusts, and of the locusts themselves. The sword - The sword shall not be a weapon to destroy them; literally verified in the locusts, and verified in the strange preservations in the most desperate adventures made by the Assyrians or Babylonians. Runs to and fro - This seems not proper to these insects, but it well suits with soldiers, that conquer a city and search all places for plunder. Run upon the wall - To clear the wall of all the besieged. The houses - Either forsaken by the inhabitants, or defended by such as are in them. Like a thief - Suddenly, unexpectedly, to spoil if not to kill. The earth - A divine hyperbole. But this also may have a reference to the great day. Utter his voice - Summon them in and encourage them as a general doth his soldiers. His army - Of locusts and insects, and of Chaldeans signified by these. And repenteth him - He turneth from executing the fierceness of his wrath.