Saved Out Of Troubles
-- Joel Three --
Not only would God bring His
judgment upon Israel and Judah but the nations or Gentiles would
also be judged. God promised to restore Judah and to bring those nations into
the valley of Jehoshphat for judgment. The valley of Jehoshphat was "Judgment Valley." God was concerned about
the restoration of His land and His people.
The people of God had been scattered
among the nations. There they had been mistreated in a horrible way. They had
"given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine." (Joel 3:3) Now
these nations will bear the consequences of their wicked treatment of God's
people. They had plundered and destroyed the land and had sold God's people as
slaves. The nations would now reap what they had sown against the people of
God. God's unchangeable law says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap." (Galatians 6:7) The nations will now reap the result of their past
sowing.
The nations would become enslaved, but
God would save His people out of trouble. God would save Judah from captivity, return them to
their land and allow them to dwell in rest and peace. True rest and peace comes
to those that serve the Prince of peace. "For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
The valley of Jehoshaphat -- Joel 3:1-5: God promised that at the end of
the captivity that He would make Judah and Jerusalem prosperous again. Judah was the name that identified the two tribe Southern Kingdom and Jerusalem was its capital city. They were
the last of the Jews to go into captivity and now it was time for God to bring
them out. God will bring His people out of captivity and He will also bring the
nations that scatter His people into the Valley of Judgment or the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Those that oppressed God's
people would now face their own judgment.
God's people were treated horribly
by these nations. They cast lots or gambled to see who would get God's people.
The people of Judah were treated as mere personal
property by these godless people. They would sell a boy or a girl to pay for
their prostitute and wine. Tyre and Sidon were two cities that had a part
in mistreating God's people. God told them that even if they thought they could
make matters right with some temporal gift they were very wrong. He said their
worthless sacrifices would be rejected. It is bad enough to steal from other
people but the nations had stolen the precious things from God's land and God's
Temple and used them in idolatrous
worship. Now they face the consequences of their sins.
Recompense
upon the nations -- Joel 3:6-11: These nations kidnapped the young people of Jerusalem from their land and sold them as
slaves to the Greeks. God promised that He would now grant freedom to His
enslaved people. They would be allowed to come home. Judgment would be sent
upon the nations that had mistreated God's people. What they had done to the
Jews would now be done to them. Their sons and daughters would be taken away
and sold as slaves to the Sabeans. These were people
that lived far away.
As he did
in chapter two the prophet Joel returned to the idea of a spiritual return to
God during the gospel age. Even though the destruction to the nations was a
physical one the only hope of the nations and of the Jews is the gospel of
Christ. The nations were to prepare for a war against God that they were sure
to loose. He told them to make swords out of their plows and spears out of
garden tools. These nations would soon learn human weakness without God and His
blessings to help. The nations are invited to come and partake of the blessing
of the Lord through the gospel. They had to know that "the Lord shall
bring down" the mighty.
The
Lord shall roar out of Zion -- Joel 3:12-17: These people are brought to Judgment Valley or the Valley of Jehoshaphat where the Lord will judge the
nations. The only hope the nations had of avoiding sever judgments was to be
gathered by the gospel. These people were to be gathered like ripe grapes from
a world of wickedness. The gathering would be accomplished by divine truth. The
sinful of all nations are called upon to submit to God. "Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision. Will we or will we not submit to
God's will?
The pictures of the changes in the
heavenly bodies identify these events with the church. (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20) "From the heart of Jerusalem the LORD roars like a lion,
shaking the earth and sky. But the LORD is a fortress, a place of safety for
his people Israel." (Joel 3:16) With a strong
and reassuring voice God announces salvation in Christ. The hope of the world
is not in some earthly king. Our hope is in God's unshakable kingdom.
"Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."
(Hebrews 12:28) Christians are citizens of God's spiritual kingdom. This
kingdom will not be destroyed. "There shall no strangers pass through her
any more." Of Christians it can be said, "Now therefore ye are no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the
household of God." (Ephesians 2:19)
Enemy nations face punishment
-- Joel 3:18-21: In Joel three verse eighteen we see figures of (1)
fruitful vineyards, (2) cattle and goats tat graze on the hills and produce a
lot of milk, and (3) streams in Judah that will never run dry. These are actually
pictures of spiritual blessings that are ours through the Christ and His
kingdom. Those that serve God will be blessed. The nations that persecuted
God's people like Egypt and Edom will now become a barren desert.
They would feel God's wrath because of the mistreatment of God's people and the
destruction of His land.
Judah or spiritual Israel will dwell forever. When Daniel
predicted the coming of the kingdom of Christ he said it would stand forever.
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2:44) The Lord cleansed fleshly Israel of idolatry with the punishment.
Those in Christ are cleansed by blood. Those in spiritual Israel have remission of sins. It is a
most wonderful thing when a person can be innocent and have God’s forgiveness
and His defense!
Today is the day when we should
seriously consider God's judgment against the wicked. Will you not receive
Christ as your Lord and Savior this day? To become a Christian you must hear
the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Acts 8:37), and be baptized in order to be
saved. (1 Peter 3:21) After baptism worship and serve God according to His
truth!