Commentary on Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah and Nahum John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
sacrifices, `They shall come and bring frankincense and gold; they shall lead camels laden with the wealth of the land.' In short, in their prophecies they raise altars and build a temple: and yet no such things were seen after Christ appeared: for the Gentiles came not to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices; nay, shortly after the temple was destroyed, there was no altar among them, and the whole legal worship ceased.
What then is to be understood by such expressions, as --- that people shall come from all places to sacrifice together? Even this --- They set forth under a visible form the spiritual worship of God. It is so in this place; as it was the usual way among the ancients that God manifested himself by dreams and visions to the Prophets, so he says, your old men shall dreams dream, and your young men shall visions see: but the Prophet no doubt sets forth under these forms of speech that light of knowledge in which the new Church excelled after Christ appeared: he indeed compares the light of faith to prophecy, as we have already stated; but he accommodates his manner of speaking or his discourse to the comprehension of his people, for he knew whom he addressed. All the Prophets have followed the same rule; `There shall be offered a sacrifice,' says Malachi, `from the rising to the setting of the sun.' What is this sacrifice? The Papists take this for the mass; ``Then under the kingdom of Christ there is to be some sacrifice; and we do not now offer to God sheep and calves; it therefore follows, that there is to be the sacrifice of bread and wine:'' and this is said, as though the Prophet had thus refinedly philosophized on the word, sacrifice, while he was teaching a rude people according to what they could bear. But what he meant was, that the worship of God would be universal among all nations. The same thing is intended by Joel when he says, I shall pour forth my Spirit upon all flesh: your old men shall dreams dream, and your young men shall visions see. We now see the whole meaning of the Prophet. Now it follows ---
Joel 2:29
29. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
29. Atque etiam super servoset super ancillas in diebus illis effundam Spiritum meam.
As the particle {}גםgam amplifies in Hebrew, it seems singular that the Prophet now limits to a few a gift common to all; for he had previously said, ``Upon all flesh will I pour out my Spirit;'' and now, ``Upon servants and handmaids;'' and he puts down ``Also''. If he had simply said ``Upon servants and handmaids will I pour out my Spirit,'' there would have been no inconsistency, for it would have been the explanation of his former statement; for we know that what the Prophet says of all men must be taken with exception, inasmuch as many who were unbelievers were without this gift, and even those who before excelled in some sort of divine knowledge; we indeed know that the Jews were blinded, and we also know that not all among the common people were partakers of this excellent gift. There is no doubt, therefore, but that this which is said of ``all flesh,'' must be limited to the Church. It would not, then, have appeared strange, had the Prophet now added, ``Upon servants and handmaids;'' but the particles {}וגםugam, ``And also,'' create difÏculty: it is a way of speaking to enlarge on what has been said, but here it seems not to enlarge; for