Project 119: Joel 3
| Project 119 | Dr. Kely Hatley
“God’s Final Judgement Is Certain”
We finish the book of Joel with the last chapter which mostly contains the judgements upon the nations that have treated Israel badly throughout the years. God has noticed the way the nations around Israel have treated them with contempt and scorn. Their destruction is inevitable, and God will deliver His people from their tyranny. Verses 1-16 deal with the foretelling of what will happen to the nations.
Verses 17-21 then shift focus to the blessings God will give to His people. I love to watch movies and stories of fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, are my favorite. In the third movie of this trilogy, The Return of the King, there is a point where the city of Minas Tirith (the good guys) is under heavy siege from the forces of Sauron (the really bad guy). It looks hopeless for the people of the city, and their forces are being routed right and left. Just when it seems that the city will be totally overrun and will fall, the watcher hears a low horn blow off in the distance. The scene shifts to the east where the sun illuminates thousands of troops on horseback from the nearby kingdom of Rohan who have come to the aid of the city of Minas Tirith. In that moment of the movie (if you are a movie nerd like me) when the army of Rohan sounds forth their horns for the advance, I too want to stand up and shout for victory as they do because they have come to the aid of their friends who have endured great suffering. I envision this same type of scene with God’s army coming to the aid of His people because of the great suffering they have endured at the hand of their neighboring nations. He has not abandoned them and will not leave them alone and desolate.
I love the commentary on this section of verses by Matthew Henry. He states, “…there is a day coming, when everything amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; His sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally” (Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary). Praise God for His faithfulness! Keep up your heads…for the day of the Lord is near and all will be set right.
Joel 3 (ESV):
The LORD Judges the Nations
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for 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 a warrior.”
11 Hasten and come,
all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your warriors, O LORD.
12 Let the nations stir themselves up
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the LORD is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel.
The Glorious Future of Judah
17 “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem shall be holy,
and strangers shall never again pass through it.
18 “And in that day
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and the hills shall flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
shall flow with water;
and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD
and water the Valley of Shittim.
19 “Egypt shall become a desolation
and Edom a desolate wilderness,
for the violence done to the people of Judah,
because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah shall be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem to all generations.
21 I will avenge their blood,
blood I have not avenged,
for the LORD dwells in Zion.”