08: Minor Prophets – Joel 2:25-3:21

[Dunkle] So we're continuing in the Minor Prophets. We're in the book of Joel, and we ended partway through chapter 2. And I hope we have this appreciation for how momentous this is. Right now, I'll say something a little silly and humorous, but I don't want to take away from how important it is when we talk about the Day of the Lord. We don't want to take that lightly. But I like looking past it to the happy ending that God always promises.

So we're in the midst of that, where back in verse 21 God reminded us. He says, “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things” (Joel 2:21). And He talks about providing and not having to be afraid. And He's going to send the former rain and the latter rain.

In verse 25, where we wanted to pick up, He says, “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust” (Joel 2:25).

These are the four types of locusts we covered back at the start of the book, which might make you say, it was a locust plague all along. Forget all this Day of the Lord invading armies. Well, I don't think so. And it still raises the question with these different Hebrew words representing these. I made a case that some scholars say that back in chapter 1 it represents the different stages of development.

So I'll just mention here, they're presented in a different order than they were. So if it is representing different stages of development, for some reason He doesn't put them in that order here. But I don't think that's the most important thing. At the end of this, He calls them My great army. So God can create an army of whatever agency He wants to choose. He certainly can use insects. He often uses humans.

And one of the themes we see often in the Old Testament prophets is God punishing through other nations. It's very clear, especially for Israel. The Northern Kingdom, Israel, was punished by Assyria, the invading Assyrians. The Southern Kingdom, known as Judah, would be punished by the invading Babylonians.

And it makes us wonder, when we suffer today, do we bring punishment on ourselves that God allows to happen? That might be going too far, so let's not explore that too much. But it is still clear at the end of verse 25, God shows it's His purpose and His doing. If it's locusts, He caused them to come. If it's the ancient Babylonian army, He caused them to come.

It reminds us of Daniel revealing the meaning of dreams to Nebuchadnezzar, when he tells Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head of gold. Or he says, God has made you a king of kings. And Daniel also told Nebuchadnezzar that God sets up the lowest of men. So God might use humans, and He might use human governments—not because they're the best people, not because they're righteous and close to God—but because God has a purpose that He's accomplishing.

To move on from there, though, as God is restoring what was lost, in verse 26 He says, “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied” (Joel 2:26). I mentioned these sound fairly millennial.

And, “Praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame” (Joel 2:26).

What a wonderful thing it is. I put a reference here to a similar prophecy that's in Isaiah 62. I'm not going to turn there because I've got the essence of it in my notes, but it's Isaiah 62, verses 8 and 9, where God says, I will no longer give your grain as food to your enemies, but those who gathered it shall eat it and praise the Lord.

God's saying, you planted it, you raised it, you harvested it. I'm not going to let an invading army come and take it. Just thinking, if you go through the Judges, before God raised up Gideon to drive off the Midianites, that was one of the major things of the Midianites. They would wait until harvest time, come in, and take all the food. God would stop things like that from happening.

And I want to call attention to verse 27:

“Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the Lord your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame” (Joel 2:27).

There truly is no other God. I like that phrase, I am in the midst of Israel. If you flip a page back to verse 17, remember the end of that verse was, why should the peoples say, “Where is their God?” I mentioned there's an answer later. Where is God?

Verse 27 says, in the midst of Israel. We could make a connection—and now I'm forgetting where it was—the Apostle Paul wrote in one of his epistles. But at one place Paul refers to the Church as the Israel of God, because God is certainly in the midst of us. And He's in the midst of us because of His Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

Perhaps it's not a coincidence that that's where Joel goes next. If we start in Joel 2:28, it's probably the most familiar part of Joel chapter 2, because it's quoted in the book of Acts. Starting in verse 28:

“And it shall come to pass afterward,” By the way, come to pass afterward often means end-time prophecy. I'm certain this is a dual prophecy, and I'll explain why as we go.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28–29).

I feel like I can't read through this without mentioning the Holy Spirit's not a person. It's something that can be poured out. We don't see that describing God the Father or Jesus Christ. Where do we see this referred to later? It's in the book of Acts, chapter 2.

Remember, of course, the apostles are gathered. It's well after Christ had been resurrected. It's basically 50 days, because now it's Pentecost, and they're gathered together. They hear the sound of a rushing mighty wind. There appear to be tongues of fire.

That's Acts chapter 2. And they start speaking with other tongues. And people say, those guys are drunk. Peter says, we're not drunk. It's only 10 in the morning. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And he quotes this prophecy. I want to make the case that what we saw in Acts chapter 2 was not a complete fulfillment of this prophecy, for one very obvious reason. I hope it's obvious.

Here in Joel 2:28, it says, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.”

This seems to be looking to the time after Christ comes and establishes His Kingdom, when the Holy Spirit won't be limited to those that can only come to Jesus because the Father draws them. As we know, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). After Christ returns, instead of the Holy Spirit being available just to those few called-out ones, it's going to be there for everyone. Right now, it's limited.

And I'll reference Acts 8:18. And you might wonder, what's up with Acts 8:18? That's where it says they realized the Holy Spirit was given by the laying on of the apostles' hands. So in our doctrine about baptism, we always talk about also the laying on of hands, because that's the example we see. And that's going through the ordained ministry. The ministry doesn't have the power to give the Holy Spirit, but they have an authority to ask God to give the Holy Spirit. And I think that's easily understood.

But I wonder, after the time comes when Christ returns with a resurrection, will it take laying on of hands, or will the Spirit just be poured out? I'm saying that as a question, not a statement. Now, it says, all flesh. It's worth noting there are a number of prophecies that indicate Israel being foremost in this—not exclusive, but it's worth turning to look at a couple of those. I'm going to go to Isaiah 44, verse 3, to note one of those.

It says, “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants” (Isaiah 44:3).

Well, whose descendants? To see that, you back up to chapter 44, verse 1, where it says, “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen” (Isaiah 44:1).

This is reminding us that God's not done with Israel. It's not saying that it's exclusive for the descendants of Israel to have the Holy Spirit, but it's almost like He's going out of His way to say they haven't been excluded. They haven't lost that chance.

Turning ahead to Ezekiel 36, verse 27.

It says, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27).

I'm just pulling that one scripture out to show that that's part of why God is pouring out His Spirit—why He will pour it out on all flesh—to make it possible to keep His statutes and judgments. One more—actually the next chapter over—Ezekiel 37, verse 14:

“I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it” (Ezekiel 37:14).

So these are just a few places where God is clear about giving His Holy Spirit to the descendants of Israel, but also to all flesh. Here in Joel 2—“all flesh”—and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. We see three different modes of divine revelation, we could say. These are obvious ways God communicates.

When we started the semester and introduced the Minor Prophets, we talked about what is a prophet. It's someone that God communicates through, and he gives the message. He doesn't descend on Mount Sinai and thunder and speak in an audible voice to millions of people the way He did to ancient Israel, but He will continue to reveal His will to them.

And so we see sons and daughters, young men. Verse 29 says menservants and maidservants. So not just the aristocracy, not just those in charge—and perhaps distinctly directed at youth. You don't have to be old. That's why I think one of the statements Peter made in Acts 2, verse 39—people said, what must we do? Repent and be baptized? He said, “For the promise is to you and to your children” (Acts 2:39).

Maybe when Peter said, and to your children, he was thinking about what it says in Joel. He just quoted it. Young men, menservants, maidservants, sons and daughters. The promise is there. And we've combined that with what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7 to show that our children have a calling, which is very important.

With that, I'll move on, because again, the prophecies aren't always in chronological order. Verse 30 seems to be backing up to remind us of what happens before the Spirit's poured out. Because in verse 30, He says:

“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Joel 2:30–31).

So before the millennial events, the wonderful blessings when Christ returns, we're reminded that there's that Day of the Lord. Again, this matches Matthew 24:29. It matches Revelation 6:12. And that would fit with this being before the Day of the Lord. If we want to get very particular, remember Revelation shows us this framework, and there being more than one time there's darkness. Whereas back in Joel chapter 2, verse 10, that seemed to be during the Day of the Lord.

Now, I don't want to parse this too particularly, because someone will come along and watch this later on video and send me an email saying, Frank, you got this totally wrong. Let me lay it out.

I'm not trying to lay it out exactly how it will happen. But I do want to say that Joel shows it happening at more than one time, as Revelation does. And we can see it being before the Day of the Lord and during the Day of the Lord, possibly.

Revelation 8:12 mentions the fourth trumpet involving sun, moon, and darkness. I referenced earlier Revelation 16:10. The fifth of the seven last plagues is utter darkness.

Wow. A little bit frightening. Not to mention blood and fire and pillars of smoke. Verse 32 says:

“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32).

I like that. I want to be saved. Now let's stop there, because calling on the name of the Lord—there are many churches in the world that would say, call on the name of Jesus. Just have faith in Jesus. Good, you're going to heaven.

And I say that a little facetiously. I don't mean to make light of it. I don't want to humiliate or make fun of someone. I just believe that people who say that have an incorrect understanding. So what does it mean to call on the name?

We've often said it involves the title, the office, the power. So to call on the name of Jesus Christ means acknowledging who and what He is and submitting to His authority. It would be to know His ways and to obey, I believe. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul quotes this in Romans chapter 10. And I think he shows that there has to be some understanding and submission. So I'm going to go to Romans 10, beginning in verse 13:

“For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’” (Romans 10:13).

He's quoting from what we just read in Joel. But then Paul says—well, what does that mean? He doesn't say that directly, but he seems to be asking it. He says:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14–15).

And he goes on, “As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’” (Romans 10:15).

I believe that's from Isaiah. Verse 16:

“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’” (Romans 10:16).

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. I want to make the point that this is tied together. To call on the name of Jesus Christ implies having faith. And we grow in faith by God's Word. And that implies doing it—living by it. Now, obviously, we could quote James where he says faith without works is dead. So we put it into practice.

This class isn't meant to be apologetic about why we obey God's law, but I think we want to see how that fits together. It's certainly something important. And, you know, whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But calling on the name of the Lord is more than pronouncing something. It involves understanding, building faith, and doing.

And to finish verse 32, it says, “for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance.”

Mount Zion—again, that could be referring to that spot in Jerusalem, but also to the Church. In Isaiah chapter 2, there's a reference to this that perhaps is a reference to a mountain. And it's one of the scriptures we really like to read. So I'm going to turn and read it. Isaiah 2, beginning in verse 2:

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2–3).

Here we tie it again—going to the mountain of the Lord, going to Zion—is tied to God's law. And that's tied to calling on the name of the Lord. And the Lord said, to finish the chapter, among the remnant whom the Lord calls. Now, there's a remnant. That could be described in a number of ways.

I mentioned John 6:44 earlier—“No one can come to Me except the Father draws him.” So one remnant could be considered the Church. Ah, I mentioned the Israel of God. It's Galatians 6:16. It happens to be written in my notes, of all things. So Galatians 6:16—the Church can be considered a remnant. Out of all the world, it's a small remnant that's called, called as the Israel of God.

We also see, though, when Christ returns, there's a mention of part of Israel that we think is physical Israel. In Revelation 7, verses 4 through 8, there are 144,000 described, with 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. For some reason Dan is left out, and that's not our purpose here to describe.

But the remnant whom the Lord calls could be looking at the Church. We could see a remnant of the physical descendants of Israel. We could also talk about a remnant of all the other nations. Along with the 144,000, there's a mention of an innumerable multitude. It's hard to call them a remnant if they're innumerable, but then again, there's a large base to draw from.

The main reason I'm dividing that out is we could be scholarly and look at these different things, but we can also say God's plan doesn't leave anyone out. God's plan is for everyone.

You know, verse 28 said, “I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.” (Joel 2:28)

Peter wrote that God is not slack concerning His promise, but not willing that any should perish. It would be good if I wrote those things down in my notes. So I want to make the point: the remnant that the Lord will call—He'll call some at a certain time when it's right.

That's one of the things that reminds us of 1 Corinthians 15 when we talk about the resurrections. We see a plan. And the Feast of Pentecost helps remind us that each in his own order. So God is going to call everyone, but each in his own order. With that in mind, we can move into the next chapter. We see something about Israel. Chapter 3, verse 1 says:

“For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem” (Joel 3:1).

Behold—God is saying, take note of this. It might be because of something I've been telling you. What does it mean to bring back the captives? Now, there are different ways to look at this. Many scholars refer to when Cyrus, the Persian emperor, conquered Babylon and told the Jews, if you want to go back to Jerusalem, go and build up your temple. Pray for me.

Some people have looked further in the future to the Zionist movement of the early 20th century—actually going back into the later 19th century—when, after the Jews had been dispersed by the Romans and were looking for a homeland, many started migrating to their ancient Promised Land.

That's a fascinating story—not only do I not have time to tell it here today, but I'm not well enough qualified in all the details of the history. But I've read accounts of it that are utterly fascinating. So is it that—bringing back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem? Or is it looking at the time after Jesus Christ returns, when He brings back all the Israelites that are alive in what's commonly called the second Exodus?

Since I keep referring to the second Exodus, I'm going to turn to Jeremiah 16 and remind us of the scripture that gives us that title. Jeremiah 16, beginning in verse 14:

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers” (Jeremiah 16:14–15).

There are so many prophecies of this happening in the Old Testament that you just can't turn a blind eye to it. This seems to be referring to that—or it could be.

I'm going to hesitate here, because He usually talks about all of Israel, but here in Joel 3:1 He's talking about the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. So you could make a good case that this is something separate from the second Exodus. It seems to be in the end time, because in verse 2 He refers to:

“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” (Joel 3:2).

You have to say it that way—Valley of Jehoshaphat. He does mention Judah and Jerusalem, but here He mentions Israel being scattered. So knowing we don't necessarily have a correct chronology, we do have a time of bringing back and gathering the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Now, we've got several nice maps here. I know you can't see them very well from back there, but I would invite you later on, if you want to come up and look very closely, you can look for the Valley of Jehoshaphat. But you're not going to find it. There wasn't an actual valley called the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Which leaves us to wonder—what did that mean? There was a King Jehoshaphat in ancient Israel, king of Judah. But is it also—or maybe instead—referring to the meaning of that name?

Jehoshaphat means “the Eternal judges,” or Yahweh is judge. We could put it more commonly: God will judge. Judging could be called making a decision. The reason I mention that is in verse 14 of Joel 3:

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!” (Joel 3:14). By the way, verse 12 also mentions the Valley of Jehoshaphat: “For there I will sit to judge.” So it seems that it's not a proper name. It's a valley where there's judgment—there's decision. What does that mean? Let me throw one other scripture from another prophecy.

Isaiah 66, verse 16:

“For by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many” (Isaiah 66:16).

But there's no valley on the map called the Valley of Judgment. We can't find a feature called the Valley of Decision. So we're left to guess a little bit. What—where is this? What is it talking about? Now, I mentioned we've got the Valley of Decision, and we're going to see it talks about basically armies meeting their fate. Maybe it's tied to what we see in Revelation 14, verse 20. I'm saying a big maybe, but it's worth turning to Revelation 14. Well, that's the end result, because it's talking about harvesting and the people coming down. But verse 20 says:

“And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs” (Revelation 14:20).

That's a lot of furlongs. It comes out, we guess, to about 200 miles. That's a lot of blood. The nation of Israel is not that big. So how do you have 200 miles? Well, some people would say maybe the Greek in Revelation isn't entirely clear. Does it have to be that long? But I'm going to put forward a little bit of speculation and tell you it's speculation. Don't read more into it than it has to be.

We do know there's a valley in northern Israel called the Jezreel Valley. It's where they grow a lot of crops. There's a split through the hill country where you can come in. Toward the western end of that, there's a hill called Megiddo—Har Megiddo—rendered in the Greek as Armageddon. That might ring a bell, because the armies are gathered at Armageddon in Revelation. Some have speculated that this might be a gathering place for the armies, and then they feed down the Jordan River Valley—maybe even eventually going up and into the Kidron Valley near Jerusalem. That way, we might get close to 200 miles, or whatever distance it's meant to be.

But perhaps this Valley of Decision is related to that—where the armies are gathered. They're coming to do what Revelation seems to show Christ is going to stop. By the way, I'll add another valley. In Zechariah 14 it says His feet land on the Mount of Olives. And what does the mountain do? It splits in half. Half goes to the north, half goes to the south. There will be a great valley. Maybe that figures in.

Notice I said maybe. But Joel 3 seems to be talking about the same thing that we see in Revelation and in some other places—of armies gathering and God rendering a judgment, a verdict upon them. And it's not in their favor. The blood will flow. “I will enter into judgment with them,” as it says in verse 2. That could be translated pass judgment.

And part of the reason we saw—“My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up My land.” God punished Israel, but there is more than once that He says the nations went too far. That's my words. It's like He’s saying, I wanted to punish Israel, but you became proud and vain, and you were excessive. And so it brings punishment on them. And we see some of what happened in verse 3:

“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” (Joel 3:3).

This is referring to slavery—merchandising human beings. That comes up in Revelation 18, by the way, where there's a list of items that are sold and shipped, and it includes the bodies and souls of men. Revelation 18, verses 11 through 13 seems to be referring to live bodies and dead corpses, which is gruesome to consider.

But so is giving a boy as payment for a harlot. I don't have money to pay for this prostitute, but I'll give you this little boy. Or a girl for wine. If that sounds totally unbelievable and horrible, I'm glad. But I'll tell you a case where I was counseling with a man who was being called into the Church while he was in prison. He was a person with not a spectacular past. It was a pretty sad past.

As I counseled with him—because he came in contact with the Church, read our literature and his Bible, and wanted to be baptized—I went through the process with him. He told me about his past. He admitted that he deserved to be in prison. He had committed crimes, including selling drugs.

He told me at one point in his past, a woman offered to give him her two children in exchange for a pound of marijuana.nAnd I thought—how terrible to debase and devalue human beings that much, let alone your own children. It shows the power that drugs and addiction can have on people. So I'm bringing this in because God is citing human behavior as doing that kind of thing. And that's why this punishment comes—why He's calling people to the Valley of Decision. He goes on in verse 4:

“Indeed what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?” So He's calling out some of the nations. Of course, Tyre and Sidon are up on the coast. He'll refer later to the Greeks and others. “Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head” (Joel 3:4).

So He's calling out some of the nations. Of course, Tyre and Sidon are up on the coast. He'll refer later to the Greeks and others. I can't help but wonder if the Hebrew has some colorful imagery that we miss in English. But it's kind of powerful there. 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” (Joel 3:5–6).

Of course, pagans would overrun a temple, take the gold and silver, take their idols, and put them in their own temples. Here it also talks about selling the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks—removing them far from their borders.

These nations—some scholars believe—might be representative of a wider variety. So the Greeks could refer to others. But it certainly talks about selling people. So you have some of the surrounding nations perhaps cooperating with the invading army to their benefit.

We see other examples where God will especially call out the nation of Edom, saying you cooperated when the Assyrians came down and you didn't help your brother. I'm trying to remember if it's in Isaiah or Jeremiah where God calls out one of the nations and says, you said “Aha!” when Jerusalem was overrun. Saying “Aha” doesn't sound so bad, but it's not exactly commiserating and helping.

So we have this—the Greeks—so that you may remove them far from their borders. Let’s go on. Verse 7 says:

“Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them, and will return your retaliation upon your own head” (Joel 3:7).

You people that weren't helping My people—you sold them. God says, I’m going to bring them back, and I’ll 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” (Joel 3:8).

I'm guessing Sabeans is probably more symbolic than literal, but it could be referring to a people far off. So you want to sell My people for a drink of wine, for a prostitute? I’m going to retaliate back to you on your own head.

It's like God saying, what goes around comes around. That’s not to deny God's ultimate mercy. I feel like I should interject that, because God sometimes puts judgment in different places, but there's still always the happy ending. And as I said earlier, God's plan and purpose is for all people—not just the descendants of Israel, not just Judah.

So these people of Tyre and Sidon and Philistia, the Greeks—God's plan is for them at their time. But they might have to suffer some before then.

Looking at verse 9, it says, “Proclaim this among the nations, prepare for war.” (Joel 3:9) Now, the Hebrew there actually could be translated as sanctify a war. Some say, is it referring to making a sacrifice before you go to battle, or is it because it's war involving God? But either way, God is saying, get ready.

You know, it's as if He’s saying, okay, you wanted to fight? Here I am. Bring it to Me. Wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up.

And then there's an interesting phrasing in verse 10: “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.” (Joel 3:10) This is the opposite of Isaiah 2:4. That famous prophecy talks about beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. God is saying, before we get to that point, it's going to be the other way around. Let me say that slower. It will be the other way around.

And at the end of verse 10: “let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”

Some have speculated—and I think there might be something to it—that when He says, let the weak say, “I am strong,” it could be indicating that at this end-time cataclysm, the Day of the Lord, no nations are left out. In World War II there were several nations that sat on the sideline. They said, we don’t want to be involved in this. This might be a time when no one is exempt. Everyone is drawn in and going to be a part of it.

Verse 11: “Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.” (Joel 3:11)

Let the nations be awakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. God is, in a sense, making a play on words. There it’s all nations. He’s very clear in judging Israel in other places. Here, judge all the nations. And there’s this vivid imagery.

Verse 13: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.” (Joel 3:13)

I had us turn there a little bit ago, but I want to remind us of Revelation 14.

Verse 15: “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe’” (Revelation 14:15).

Exact same imagery.

Verse 17: “Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle” (Revelation 14:17).

Verse 18: “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe” (Revelation 14:18).

Joel 3:13: “put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.” 

Verse 19 in Revelation 14: “So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God” (Revelation 14:19).

And verse 20: “And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs” (Revelation 14:20).

Joel 3:13: “The winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.”

That’s why I turned there earlier. Maybe I jumped the gun.

Verse 14: “Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision.”

If you’re getting 1,600 furlongs worth of blood, that’s a lot of multitudes. In the Valley of Decision—which seems to be the same as the Valley of Jehoshaphat—for the Day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision. I said the theme is the Day of the Lord. God intervenes.

The way this fits with Matthew 24 and with the book of Revelation, as I said, shows us this isn’t just about a plague of locusts coming. God is revealing through Joel an understanding of great events to happen at the very end of the age—at the end of mankind’s rule. That time will come.

It’s powerful. It’s a little frightening. It’s a little disheartening. That’s why we always want to remember, like I said, the millennial prophecies we saw earlier, where He talks about providing and lots of food and the former and the latter rain. We want to get to that.

We’d like to speed through what we see in verse 15: the sun and the moon will grow dark, the stars will diminish their brightness. We saw that earlier in chapter 2. We saw it in Revelation 8:12. We saw it in Revelation 16:10. If you’re a person who likes to write scriptures in your margin, you get a lot of that in Joel.

In verse 16 it says, “The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem.” (Joel 3:16)

The heavens and the earth will shake. I’ve got a list of about half a dozen scriptures in Revelation describing earthquakes. I’m not going to turn to all of them because they’re easy to find. But again, we see this tie. The heaven and earth will shake. I wanted to note in verse 16 where it says, “The Lord will roar from Zion.” That’s harder to say than you think—Lord roar Zion. Just a couple pages in my Bible, Amos 1:2 says something very similar:

“The Lord roars from Zion, and utters His voice from Jerusalem” (Amos 1:2).

This is describing God’s way of taking action. At times, He roars. He’s not to be trifled with. That’s the word I was looking for. He’s not to be trivialized. God is a God of power and majesty. He will enforce obedience. He will protect His people.

So when it says He’s roaring from Zion, of course that could be in Jerusalem. But I’ll remind us again that it could be referring to being in His Church. And I like to tie that to the latter part of verse 16: “the Lord will be a shelter for His people.” The Lord will be a shelter for His people. I want to tie that to Proverbs 18:10. It’s long been a favorite of mine to think of this:

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

It reminds us of God’s protection. The righteous run to it and are safe. Another scripture I won’t turn and read is Nahum 1:7:

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble” (Nahum 1:7).

Now there are a couple ways to look at that. One is God’s personal protection for us throughout our lives. But many wonder if this is a reference to an actual place, because we’re at end-time events in the Day of the Lord. I do want to read Isaiah 26:20, one of the references that doesn’t use that term, but we tie it to our thoughts of what we call a place of safety:

“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past” (Isaiah 26:20).

We think of that, and then also Revelation 12:14:

“But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time” (Revelation 12:14).

It doesn’t say place of safety, but it does say to her place in the wilderness.

The Church has long had a teaching that we’ve used the term place of safety. I think in the past we were more specific than maybe Scripture supported. Not to say that we were wrong in some of those things, but we didn’t always say the same thing.

What I will say—as I try to find my way back to Joel chapter 3—is that God promises to be a shelter for His people. We might have differing opinions of how He’ll do that, but it’s in Scripture that He says He’ll provide protection—shelter.

If there’s a place of safety during the end time when the moon has turned to blood and there’s the Valley of Decision and blood coming out to the horses’ bridles, I’d like to be in a place of safety. Wherever that is—if there's more than one, or however you get there—I'll just say I'm willing to do that. I'm willing to be in a place of safety.

The harder part is to say, am I willing to be a martyr if that's my fate? Because Scripture also indicates that that will be the fate of some of us. We need to be prepared for martyrdom, but also be ready to go to a place of safety or be in one if God prepares—if God chooses. And of course, it's His decision. Not something for us to worry about.

And my personal thought is it's not worth arguing. I believe there's good evidence for a place of safety in Scripture, but I don't think it's worth arguing exactly what it means and how. So with that, I'm going to move ahead.

Verse 17:

“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain” (Joel 3:17).

You’ll know when I’m doing all these things, when these prophecies are fulfilled. Now, if we interpret this both ways, Jerusalem will become the capital of Jesus Christ’s world government. But we could also see Him dwelling in the Church through His Holy Spirit. “Jerusalem shall be holy. No aliens shall ever pass through her again.” This doesn’t mean little green men from outer space. Probably also not undocumented immigrants. We’re going to be past that.

The word for aliens here can mean foreigner, but it also can mean a profane person or someone who’s ceremonially unclean. My personal opinion is that would have been a better translation. At the time when God is ruling, unclean people won’t be coming to Jerusalem. Of course, we could say God will cleanse people. Uncleanness and profaneness is going to vanish away. And we get to the happy millennial prophecies again.

“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” (Joel 3:18).

That’s a metaphor—probably not literal wine and milk. But it says at the end of verse 18, “A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord.”

Just reading this, I might think, oh yes, it’s metaphor—mountains drip with wine, hills flow with milk. But in Ezekiel 47 there’s a description of the water of life flowing out from the temple, and Ezekiel gives a very vivid description. Also, Revelation 22:1:2, “The river of the water of life flows, and the tree of life grows on both sides, and the leaves are for healing.”

In three different places, there’s a reference to water flowing. So I believe this is going to be literal water, but also symbolic.

In verse 19:

“Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah” (Joel 3:19).

It doesn’t necessarily say these nations will be permanently destroyed, but they’re going to go through devastation leading up to this time and have to be rebuilt.

If we tie this into Zechariah 14, there’s a mention there that during Christ’s rule, everyone’s going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Egypt is called out specifically. If Egypt won’t keep the Feast, they’re going to have a drought until they do. So this seems to be something similar. And in verse 20:

“But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation” (Joel 3:20).

And verse 21:

“For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted. For the Lord dwells in Zion” (Joel 3:21).

This seems to be referring to the penalty for our sins being paid for by Christ’s blood, which we know is what it’s all about. It’s how we can approach Him and how we can have the hope of eternal life. The end is, “For the Lord dwells in Zion.”

I’ll remind us of those dual meanings. Christ will establish His throne in Jerusalem. It will be a world capital. Matter of fact, the very end of the book of Ezekiel—Ezekiel 48, verse 35—describing a city that we believe is Jerusalem, says the name of the city will be, “The Lord Is There.” Yahweh Shammah. He’s there. What a cool name. But there’s also that other meaning—“The Lord dwells in Zion.”

You know, Galatians 2:20—the life that I live, I live through faith, because Christ dwells in me. I’ve quoted that scripture probably hundreds of times, and I often say it wrong. But Christ dwells in me—that I got right.

So if we are Zion, the Lord dwells in us. And that’s the last thing that He put in this prophecy. It could be a bottom line for us. That’s the purpose of all the rest of that. Well, I filled the time. I wasn’t planning to go this fast, so I hope I didn’t give anybody whiplash or motion sickness. But we’ll end it there. I look forward to starting the book of Amos next time.