John Trapp on Joel 3:17

Verſe 17. So ſhall ye know that I am the Lord your God] you ſhall experiement that, which, during your deep afflictions, ye made ſome doubt of: and were ready to ſay as Gideon did to the Angell, If the Lord be for us, why is it thus with us? or, as your unbeleeving forefathers in the wilderneſſe, Is God amongſt us? as if that could not be, and they athirſt.

dwelling in Zion] Defending my people, and diſpenſing my beſt bleſſings to them. The Lord that made heaven and earth bleſſe thee out of Zion. Pſal. 134.[illegible: 1 letter]. The bleſſings that come out of Zion, are farr beyond thoſe that otherwiſe come out of heaven and earth.

then ſhall Ieruſalem be holy] with a double holineſſe, Imputed and Imparted: the profane being purged out here in part, but heareafter in all perfection. This our Saviour ſweetly ſets forth in thoſe 2. parables of the tares, and of the draw-net. Mat. 13. Or, It ſhall be holy, that is deare to God, and under his care, favour and protection from the dominion, direption, and poſſeſſion of profane Heathens.

and there ſhall no ſtrangers paſſe through her any more] either to ſubdue her and prejudice her (as the proverb runs of the great Turk, that wherever he ſets his foot, no graſſe growes any more, ſuch havock he makes) or to faſten any filth or contagion upon her See Rev. 21.27. where St. Iohn alludeth to this text: as all along that book he borroweth the elegancies and flowers of the old Teſtament to ſet out the ſtate of the New, in ſucceeding ages. If this promiſe be not ſo fully performed to us as we could wiſh, we muſt lay the blame upon our ſins, whereby the Reformation is enſnarled, and our proſperity hindred. Behold, the Lords hand is not ſhortned that it cannot ſave: neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have ſeparated betwixt you and your God: and your ſins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear Eſay. 59.1, 2. Nothing intricates our actions more then ſin: this is that devill in the ayre, that hinders our happineſſe: this is that Make-bate Hell-hag, Trouble-town: charme this devill, and make him fall from his heaven (which is to do hurt) and we ſhall inherit the promiſes. The godly man only proſpers. Pſal. 1.3.