←Joel 3→BSB

In This Chapter 4 people 18 places 18 terms

People

Israel 3 A Man 3 Jacob (Patriarch) Jeshurun (Israel)

Places

    Key Terms

    Pronounce Innocent 5 Refuge (Shelter) 4 Possession 2 Be Holy 2 To Cause to Possess Possession Lot (Object) Holy Holy (Pure) Holy Thing Most Holy Place Holiness Holy (Devout) Hallow Sanctuary Refuge (Asylum) Taking Refuge Exempt

    The LORD Judges the Nations

    ⓘ Joel here foretold divine judgment on the nations,...

    Joel here foretold divine judgment on the nations, particularly those that had oppressed God’s people.
    1“Yes, in those days and at that time,when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,†
    ⓘ The Lord would assemble the armies of the...
    • The Lord would assemble the armies of the world (literally all the nations) in the valley of Jehoshaphat. This valley was not connected with King Jehoshaphat of Judah (1 Kgs 22:41); rather, this description, which means “the valley where the Lord judges,” identifies the site as the place where God would render his decision (see Joel 3:14) regarding the fate of the nations.
    • The sins of the nations include exiling God’s covenant people and victimizing helpless boys and girls in an inhuman slave trade (cp. Ezek 27:13; Rev 18:13).
    2I will gather all the nationsand bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.†There I will enter into judgment against themconcerning My people, My inheritance, Israel,whom they have scattered among the nationsas they divided up My land.3They cast lots for My people;they bartered a boy for a prostituteand sold a girl for wine to drink.
    ⓘ The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon and...

    The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon and the cities of Philistia were guilty of looting the precious treasures of Jerusalem and selling its people as slaves to the Greeks (see Amos 1:6, 9).

    4Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads. 5For you took My silver and gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.† 6You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,† to send them far from their homeland.

    ⓘ The people of Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia had...

    The people of Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia had enslaved Israelites, so the Lord would punish them by selling their sons and daughters into slavery.

    7Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads. 8I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

    9Proclaim this among the nations:

    “Prepare for war;rouse the mighty men;let all the men of waradvance and attack!10Beat your plowshares into swordsand your pruning hooks into spears.Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’11Come quickly, all you surrounding nations,and gather yourselves.Bring down Your mighty ones,O LORD.
    12Let the nations be rousedand advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,for there I will sit downto judge all the nations on every side.13Swing the sickle,for the harvest is ripe.†Come, trample the grapes,for the winepress is full;the wine vats overflowbecause their wickedness is great.
    14Multitudes, multitudesin the valley of decision!For the Day of the LORD is nearin the valley of decision.15The sun and moon will grow dark,and the stars will no longer shine.16The LORD will roar from Zionand raise His voice from Jerusalem;heaven and earth will tremble.But the LORD will be a refuge for His people,a stronghold for the people of Israel.

    Blessings for God’s People

    17Then you will know that I am the LORD your God,who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.Jerusalem will be holy,never again to be overrun by foreigners.
    18And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,and the hills will flow with milk.All the streams of Judah will run with water,and a spring will flow from the house of the LORDto water the Valley of Acacias.†19Egypt will become desolate,and Edom a desert wasteland,because of the violence done to the people of Judah,in whose land they shed innocent blood.
    ⓘ The conclusion of Joel’s prophecy is the antithesis...

    The conclusion of Joel’s prophecy is the antithesis of its beginning. In 1:1–20, Judah’s future seemed in grave doubt. Plague and drought, the signs of divine judgment, threatened Judah’s existence. Now Joel ends with the divine assurance that Judah . . . and Jerusalem will endure through all generations. God’s people in every generation rest secure in the hope that his kingdom will reign over heaven and earth (see also Isa 9:6–7; Dan 2:44; 7:13–14).
    20But Judah will be inhabited forever,and Jerusalem from generation to generation.21For I will avenge their blood,which I have not yet avenged.ӠFor the LORD dwells in Zion.