God Judges the Nations
“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head; because you have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My prized possessions. Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. ”Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them, and will return your retaliation upon your own head. 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 people far off; for the Lord has spoken.”
Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ” Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; dor there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; dor the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.”
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
God Blesses His People
And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Acacias. “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the Lord dwells in Zion.”
If the previous chapters of Joel sounded dire warnings, this chapter is full of magnificent promises. The time is coming when God will judge the nations. God will restore His people and will protect them. Those nations who have sinned against God will be judged harshly. “The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
Next, God is going to heal the land of Israel. The vineyards will be so fruitful that the mountains will literally drip with new wine. The livestock on the hills will be so healthy and plentiful that the hills themselves will practically drip with milk. All the brooks of Judah will be flooded with water, even those water courses that only flow immediately after heavy rains in the mountains. There will even be a fountain of water flowing out of the Temple Mount into the Valley of Acacias. Will water literally flow or is this a figure of speech indicating that the knowledge of God will flow? Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers tells us, “Shittim, in the land of Moab, is symbolical of the barrenness and sterility of land where there is no water; of the dry places of the world, where there are trees lacking moisture: the heathen, to whom God is not known, shall yet become covered with the knowledge of the Lord.” There are many dry areas in Judah, all symbolic of the hearts of those who do now know God.
APPLICATION: “Well,” you say, “this sounds great if you are Jewish, but what if you are not?” God chose the Jews to demonstrate what could happen when a people was totally devoted to Him. God has never excluded anyone who truly longs for Him and who truly seeks Him. Many times, we are seeking God without realizing it; all we know is that we long for true love, for purity, for peace and for rest. The One True Living God is the only One who can give those things.
Many of us have suffered in families where love was conditional and had to be earned. Love that must be earned is not love at all. Many of us have found ourselves in situations in which we were treated as people of little or no worth. But we are of such worth to God that He has sent His only Son Jesus Christ to shed His blood to pay for our sins on the cross.
Jesus told His disciples that He came so that we could have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Why settle for lives of little meaning that leave only dust in our mouths when God is offering abundant life?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that by ourselves we cannot earn our way into heaven. We thank You for sending Jesus to die for our sins. Lord, forgive us our sins and help us to follow You from this day forward. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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