Joel 3
OGCJoel 3:1-15
GOD’S VICTORY OVER THE ENEMIES OF HIS PEOPLE FUTURE BLESSINGS (cont-’d)
TEXT: Joe 3:1-15
1
For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2
I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations: and they have parted my land,
3
and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4
Yea, and what are ye to me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head.
5
Forasmuch as ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have -carried into your temples my goodly precious things,
6
and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye may remove them far from their border;
7
behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head;
8
and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
9
Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
10
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11
Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah.
12
Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
13
Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision,
15
The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
QUERIES
a.
When are those days. when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,?
b.
How will God gather all nations. into the valley of Jehoshaphat?
c.
What war does the prophet tell the nations to prepare for?
PARAPHRASE
Behold! In those glorious latter days which are the Messianic days, when I shall make an end to the oppression of My covenant people finally and completely, I will gather all who have been enemies of My people since the beginning of time and bring them into My presence for judgment. I will execute judgment upon them in vindication of My precious saints whom they have despoiled and violated, and shamefully used for their own indulgence. Yes, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia, you are included among those of my enemies! Are you actually daring to oppose Meto do evil to Me? Even as you attempt to do something against Me, I will swiftly and speedily pay back your deeds upon your head! In plundering My people you have plundered Me; in selling My people into slavery to the Greeks you have despoiled My precious heritage. Behold! I will deliver those you have sold into slavery and use them to pay you back in kind. They shall sell your sons and daughters to foreigners. What you have sown you shall reap! Let this proclamation be made among the enemies of God: Prepare for war! Arouse your mighty warriors! Bring on your powerful armieslet them come! Transform all your implements of peace into weapons of war and let even the weak be seized with warlike enthusiasm. Let all this be done with haste. Now, where these are gathered, O Jehovah, cause thy mighty angels to come down and fight against the enemies of your people. So shall it be! Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to war against Me in the place where I have appointed each one and I will sit to judge the nations there. Let My mighty angels fulfill their grim reaping of My enemies for their wickedness is like a harvest which is ripe; let the winepresses of their vileness be trampled for their wickedness is full to overflowing. Throngs upon throngs of these enemies of God’s people surging in a noisy din blindly and wilfully straight unto the judgment of Jehovah. This day of Jehovah will be so terrible that the whole universe trembles and shakes and withdraws at its severity.
SUMMARY
First the prophet makes a general introduction to the effect that God will, in these Messianic days He has spoken of before, bring final judgment upon His enemies. Then the prophet turns to the contemporary enemies of God’s people and announces their judgment. Finally Joel declares the challenge of Almighty God to His enemies that though they do their utmost in war against Him they will still be defeated and judged.
COMMENT
Joe 3:1-3. IN THAT TIME, WHEN I SHALL BRING RACK THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM. I WILL GATHER ALL NATIONS, AND WILL BRING THEM DOWN INTO THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT;. The words in those days, and in that time most definitely refer back to the preceding Messianic prophecy of the pouring out of the Spirit upon all flesh and the great and terrible day of Jehovah of Joe 2:28-32. Therefore, whatever gathering together into the valley of Jehoshaphat and judging to be done will be done in the Messianic age. Furthermore, we must also interpret the bringing back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem as an event to be within the same Messianic age. The phrase translated bring back their captivity could be translated, make an end of their oppressions. The RSV translates it, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. The conclusion of chapter three shows that God, in restoring their fortunes is going to bring on something more glorious than the literal return from the Persian captivity. So, the bringing back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem undoubtedly means that God is going to relieve His covenant people from all oppressions delivering them from all their enemies.
In addition, He is going to execute His judgment upon all the enemies of His people in that same glorious age of the Messiah. Lange says, This distinctly shows that the object of the day of the Lord is, the deliverance of the people of God. The judgment of the heathen world is simply a means to that end, God’s judgment (His victory over the enemies of His people) is given a contemporary setting. Jehoshaphat, by the miraculous help of God, won a great victory over a Gentile army in a valley which was afterward named for him (2 Chronicles 20). So the prophet’s use of the king’s name and the valley of Jehoshaphat would remind the people of this glorious victory over the enemies of God. Also, the name Jehoshaphat means Jehovah judges. That there is ever going to be a literal gathering of all the nations into this valley near Jerusalem is a geographical impossibility! There is not going to be a literal war there between the literal forces of all the nations of the earth and the literal forces of a millennial kingdom of God. The prophet was led by the Holy Spirit to use the valley of Jehoshaphat in a symbolic or figurative way much the same as we say someone has met his Waterloo. At the end of the Messianic age (which will be the end of all ages) God is going to demonstrate a complete and final victory over all the forces of evil. Actually, God has already won the complete victory over evil in His Son. He despoiled the principalities and the powers. making a show of them openly, triumphing over them in Him (Colossians 2:15). The prince and god of this world has been judged and cast out (John 12:31) (see our comments on Obadiah). But at the end of this age He is going to manifest and vindicate that which He has already revealed in the Biblethat those now who are in Christ are more than conquerors (cf. Romans 8:28-39). And why is God going to judge all nations in a final way if He has already accomplished victory over Satan, sin and death in Christ?for my people and for my heritage Israel! God is jealous for His people. The forces of evil and enmity against God will be shown to be what God said they were all alongeternal death and destruction. At the same time faith and righteousness and obedience to God will be openly shown to lead to what God said they would all alongeternal life and bliss.
Joe 3:4-8 YEA, AND WHAT ARE YE TO ME, O TYRE, AND SIDON. WILL YE RENDER ME A RECOMPENSE. SWIFTLY AND SPEEDILY WILL I RETURN YOUR RECOMPENSE UPON YOUR OWN HEAD. I WILL SELL YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS INTO THE HAND OF THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH. Now Joel turns to a contemporary enemy of God’s peopleTyre and Sidon and the regions of Philistia. These heathen powers had plundered the precious heritage of God. They had carried away the silver and gold from God’s temple and desecrated it in their idolatrous temples. They had even carried away people and sold them as slaves into the far distant lands of Greece. The prophet represents God as almost incredulous at the audacity and brazenness of these heathen powers. Have they no sensibility to the wrath of the Higher Being? Do they dare to go on in their evil in complete disdain of judgment? We are reminded of those of our own age who seem to be completely and unabashedly disdainful of righteousness, justice or judgment. There are even those who would speak happily of the death of God while they hold requiem for Him. But God promises to return to them what they have sown? God’s promises do not fail! This prophecy was fulfilled by Alexander the Great and his successors, under whom many Jewish captives were liberated and restored to their own land, while various parts of Philistia and Phoenicia were brought under Jewish rule.
Joe 3:9-10 PROCLAIM YE THIS AMONG THE NATIONS; PREPARE WAR. BEAT YOUR PLOWSHARES INTO SWORDS. Now the prophet, on behalf of God, throws down the challenge. Let all the enemies of God and His people put forth every effortlet them muster every allylet them turn every resource into a weapon for war and then let them gather themselves together and come with haste against Jehovah God. It is interesting to note in Joe 3:10 the reverse figure of speech to that of Isa 2:4 and Micah 4:3 where the swords are beaten into plowshares and the spears into pruninghooks. There the figure is to depict the peace that the Messianic reign will bring into the hearts of men. Here the figure is used to depict the evil enmity that reigns in the hearts of the unconverted.
Joe 3:11-12 HASTE YE, AND COME, ALL YE NATIONS ROUND ABOUT,. THITHER CAUSE THY MIGHTY ONES TO COME DOWN, O JEHOVAH. LET THE NATIONS BESTIR THEMSELVES, AND COME UP TO THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT; FOR THERE WILL I SIT TO JUDGE ALL THE NATIONS ROUND ABOUT. Joe 3:11 b seems to be a prayer of the prophet in the midst of his pronouncements. He prays that God will send His forces to do battle against the forces of heathendom. The answer to his prayer comes immediately in Joe 3:12 and continues in Joe 3:13. Lange cannot accept the idea that angels are referred to here. However, in the light of all that the Scripture says of angels carrying out the judgments of God and fighting the battles (even literally at times) of the chosen people it would seem that a reference to angels could be the only acceptable meaning. Daniel is told by an angel of the spiritual conflict of angelic beings (cf. Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20-21).
Joe 3:13-15 PUT YE IN THE SICKLE; FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE. MULTITUDES, MULTITUDES IN THE VALLEY OF DECISION. THE SUN AND THE MOON ARE DARKENED. Yes, God answers, I will send my mighty ones to carry out the grim task of reaping a harvest of wrath. God’s angels have carried out such assignments in the past (the death angel in Egypt; the angel of the Lord who slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers), they are carrying out such assignments now as they protect and serve the saints (Hebrews 1:14) and they will in the future (Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, etc.). Both harvest and winepress are figurative descriptions of the fullness of their wickedness and both terms are also used to symbolize judgment.
The term, multitudes, multitudes may be translated tumult, tumult in the valley of decision. The word literally means noisy crowds. The repetition of the word signifies a confused, tumultuous multitude. The picture Joel draws for us is that of throngs upon throngs of these enemies of God in a blind, raging confusion surging headlong and headstrong into a showdown with an Omnipotent Judge. The Psalmist adds to the picture, Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision. Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure: Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalms 2:1-6). Joel says the wrath of God will be so terrible that even the heavenly bodies (the whole universe) tremble at it and withdraw from looking upon it!
God’s judgment of the nations for injuries done to His people here is the final and ultimate judgment of all the enemies of all the elect, both Old Testament and New Testament. Each judgment of God upon each enemy of His people foreshadowed and certified the one which is to come finally. Each judgment also turned into a redemption for the elect of God and so foreshadowed and certified the final redemption. And we have received an immutable oath from God, sealed with the blood of His precious Son (Hebrews 6:17-20), that our redemption has been forever accomplished and awaits only the consummation. It is this fundamental truth prophesied by all the prophets, accomplished by Jesus Christ, which brings hope to our hearts.
QUIZ
What does the prophet mean bring back the captivity of Judah. ?
Will there be a literal battle between God and heathendom in a literal valley of Jehoshaphat? Explain!
How has God already judged the world?
What is God’s way of dealing with his enemies as illustrated with Tyre and Sidon?
Does God send His angels to battle for Him against the forces of evil? Cite Scripture references for your answer.
What is portrayed by the phrase multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision?
What lesson are we to learn from each of the judgments of God upon His enemies in the past?
Joel 3:16-21
III
THE PURPOSE OF REPENTANCE (cont-’d)
GOD’S PRESENCE AMONG HIS PEOPLE
TEXT: Joe 3:16-21
16
And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
17
So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more,
18
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with waters; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20
But Judah shall abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation
21
And I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion.
QUERIES
a.
How will God make Jerusalem free of strangers passing through her forevermore?
b.
What is the fountain coming forth from the house of Jehovah?
c.
What blood has Jehovah not cleansed and how will He then cleanse it?
PARAPHRASE
And from the midst of the redeemed people of Zion God will speak with a mighty revelation of His power and He will shake the principalities and powers of the heavens and the earth; but God will dwell among His Covenant people and be a refuge and a stronghold for them. Then your generations will know from experience that I am Jehovah, the God who keeps His covenant for then I will be dwelling in the midst of Zion, the covenant people; furthermore, the covenant people shall then be a holy people and the unholy shall not be permitted to dwell in their midst. It will come to pass that the redeemed will be supplied blessing upon blessing; and a Fountain shall spring forth from presence of Jehovah and shall refresh with the water of life those thirsting after righteousness. On the other hand, I will make all My enemies arid, impotent and barren like the wilderness because they have done violence and hurt to My people and have shed innocent blood. But my precious elect will dwell secure forever and I will declare their innocence finally and fully for I will be dwelling in the midst of My redeemed people.
SUMMARY
God’s presence among a people prepared for Him by repentance will mean protection, holiness, blessing and vindication.
COMMENT
Joe 3:16 AND JEHOVAH WILL ROAR FROM ZION. AND THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH SHALL SHAKE: BUT JEHOVAH WILL BE A REFUGE UNTO HIS PEOPLE. This closing hymn is the completion of the first section of chapter three showing that the end result of the future covenant fulfillment is not judgment but redemption and victory and blessing from a new and personal relationship with God. The Lord roaring from Zion will proclaim judgment. In the latter days of the Christian age the Lord will cause the message to go forth, The time of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31). This message will not only come from His covenant people, whom Joel represents as Zion and Jerusalem (where the presence of God abides), but Christ says that the prophets foretold its going forth literally from Zion and Jerusalem first (cf. Luke 24:44-49). When God established His kingdom on earth (the church), He shook down all other kingdoms, both those in the heavenly places and those on earth (cf. Daniel 2:44-45; Ephesians 1:18-23; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 12:18-29). Paul, in Hebrews chapter twelve, points out that those who had become Christians had then come to Mount Zion, the kingdom that shall never be shaken, but that those who rejected Christ and held on to Judaism belonged to that which was about to be (70 A.D.) shaken.
Jehovah, when He should become Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) (God with us), would be a refuge to His people. Incidentally, this same idea of being a refuge and protection to the covenant people with the coming of the Messiah is exactly what Isaiah was foretelling. Hebrews 6:18-19 is the fulfillment of this prophecy by Joel.
Joe 3:17 SO SHALL YE KNOW THAT I AM JEHOVAH YOUR GOD, DWELLING IN ZION. THEN SHALL JERUSALEM BE HOLY, AND THERE SHALL NO STRANGERS PASS THROUGH HER ANY MORE, That Zion means the church ought to be evident from Hebrews 12:22. But it is even more evident that Joel is writing of the church when we see Paul referring to the church as the Jerusalem that is above in Galatians 4:26. The word above as Paul uses it here does not mean high up in the heavens, that is, he is not referring to heaven, but above is used in the sense of preeminence, Paul’s allegory is between the two covenants, Old and New Testaments, and so the Jerusalem that is above is the New Dispensation. It is on mount Zion that the Lord was going to make a feast of fat things. destroy the covering that is cast over all peoples. and swallow up death forever (Isaiah 25:1-12), And Isaiah is also the one who spoke of the Messianic age as the Holy Way where the unclean would not pass over it. but the redeemed would walk there and the ransomed of the Lord would return and come to Zion with singing. (Isaiah 35:1-10),-’ So it seems to us that Joel is looking at the Messianic age. He is looking at the future (exactly when even he does not know) fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. It may even be that he is compressing the whole Messianic age (from beginning to end) into a few verses here. But he is not interested in pinpointing a schedule of times and seasons but in graphically proclaiming the certainty of God’s fulfillment of His promises to the people if they repent.
Joe 3:18 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY,. THE MOUNTAINS SHALL DROP DOWN SWEET WINE,. AND A FOUNTAIN SHALL COME FORTH FROM THE HOUSE OF JEHOVAH. As we have mentioned above, the prophets used contemporary terms of agricultural prosperity to depict in a figurative way the blessings of God in the Messianic age (cf. Isaiah 25; Isaiah 55; etc.) Jesus depicted the kingdom like a feast again and again. Paul calls the Christian life a feast (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
As for the fountain flowing from the presence of God we have a number of indications that this must be the Living Water, the Messiah (cf. Ezekiel 47:1 ff; Zechariah 13:1; John 4:13-15; John 7:37-39; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4). And so God, in fulfilling His covenant promise in sending the Christ, has sent a cleansing, refreshing, life-giving Fountain to satisfy those who thirst after righteousness, lost in the arid deserts of sin. And the consummation will come when the redeemed are gathered at the river of the water of life (Revelation 22:1 ff).
Joe 3:19 EGYPT SHALL BE A DESOLATION. FOR THE VIOLENCE DONE TO THE CHILDREN OF JUDAH. When God shall make Christ the yea of all His promises (2 Corinthians 1:20) He will render His enemies impotent. He has destroyed him who has the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14); He has destroyed the works of the devil (1 John 3:8); and by His power in us we are able to conquer our enemies (Romans 8:31-39) and protect ourselves (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Joe 3:20-21 BUT JUDAH SHALL ABIDE FOR EVER,. AND I WILL CLEANSE THEIR BLOOD, THAT I HAVE NOT CLEANSED: FOR JEHOVAH DWELLETH IN ZION. So God’s elect shall be justifiedthey shall not be condemned. If God justifies, who can condemn? (Romans 8:31-39). The phrase … I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed probably means that when God ushers in the consummation of the Messianic age He will vindicate completely His precious saints. Justice, which in some cases on this earth is left undone, will be carried out by the Just Judge ofall the earth. It might, on the other hand, refer to the fact that when the blood of Christ is shed all those sins of the Old Testament saints which were purged only potentially (Hebrews 10:1-4) will be once for all cleansed (Hebrews 10:5-18; Romans 3:21-26; Hebrews 9:15-17).
Joel’s prophecy ends on the same glorious note of triumph and complete victory as Obadiah’S. Ezekiel prophesied that the New dwelling place of God, the church, the habitation of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22), the name of the city henceforth shall be, The Lord is there (Ezekiel 48:35). Yes, Christians form God’s holy temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
Joel’s closing chapter has a certain eschatological element to it but this is primarily because Joel is looking forward with eager anticipation to that day when God will consummate His covenant. The prophets all predict the future; but they do so primarily because God has directed them to foretell of the eventual fulfillment of His covenant promises. The prophets are not interested in giving us a literal picture of some future millennial war or a national restoration of carnal Israel because, as the New Testament so specifically points out, the covenant blessings were never intended to be fulfilled in their final sense in any carnal nationality (Galatians 3:16-17; Galatians 3:29; Ephesians 2:11; Ephesians 2:13; Ephesians 2:19).
We quote here from Prophecy Interpreted by John P. Milton, … because God is active in redemptive history this history is moving towards a divinely appointed goal. The prophets picture that goal in terms of the covenant fulfilled. In speaking of this fulfillment they employ much of the times-coloring of their own age, with the emphasis in the actual fulfillment seen to be upon the fundamentals rather than upon the times-coloring. In the conviction of the prophets the goal of the covenant becomes the goal of history. Simeon’s prophecy in Luke 1:68-75 is a good example to show how the prophets spoke in a language contemporary with their times and yet intended it to refer to what the Messiah would accomplishHe would save Israel from her enemies. and perform the mercy promised to their fathers. and remember his holy covenant., etc.
If we take these frequent references like the one here in Joel which imply a final redemptive act of God and divest them of the local times-coloring then we have in essence the prophetic message of hope which the N.T. confirms: a hope fulfilled in Christ, yet moving forward to the day of the great Restoration of which Christ is God’s own guarantee for the faith of His people. Indeed, as the prophets often see history, the past and the present blend into the future (or as Milton has said their perspective is shortened). The prophets are never concerned with the past for its own sake, but rather with its relation to the present and to the future; for in their concept of history the present moment is unintelligible apart from the past, and meaningless apart from the future covenant fulfillment of God in all the various stages of that fulfillment,
QUIZ
How has God roared from Zion?
What Zion is Joel speaking of?
Show how the New Testament is the fulfillment of Joel here.
How does Joel’s use of figurative language compare to that of Isaiah respecting the Messianic age?
What other scriptures speak of the fountain from Jehovah?
What two possible interpretations may there be for Joe 3:21?
How do the prophets consider and write of the far distant future?