September 22, 2020
A lot of us might tend to avoid spending time in the prophetic literature of the Bible, mainly because a lot of it is obscure and difficult to understand. But we find in these texts so much about who God is, who we are, what God has done and is doing to save us, and how we are to respond to Him in obedience! As we spend the next 3 days together in the book of Joel, ask the Lord to help you understand what He is trying to communicate through these visions of destruction, judgment, mercy, and restoration. Ask Him to help you to see the bigger picture of His Kingdom that He is trying to paint for us in this book!
In this chapter Joel describes the great Day of the LORD, the ultimate fulfillment of all days of the LORD that have come before. God will pour out his full wrath and judgment against human evil. The imagery here is graphic and dramatic: we usually think of God’s harvest in terms of those who are being saved, but here Joel uses it in terms of God’s judgment. You do not want to be on the receiving end of God’s wrath on that day.
But this chapter, this final Day of the LORD, does not only describe God’s judgment on evil, but also God’s salvation and restoration for His people! God’s judgment against the wicked nations is a vindication for His people, because those nations were the same ones that oppressed and persecuted them. God’s judgment on evil means rescue for His people.
The picture we see in the book’s ending goes beyond even the salvation of God’s people. It envisions human evil dealt with once and for all, God’s people living in everlasting peace and flourishing, and creation itself restored and renewed. This is God’s Kingdom, this is where all of history is heading! In this short book we see so much about God’s plan for the redemption of His people and the renewal of all that He has made.
We know that this plan has been set in motion in a new way in Christ Jesus and that its final fulfillment is coming soon when Jesus returns!
Joel 3
The Lord Judges the Nations
3 “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.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- Why is it significant that God’s final salvation includes all of creation and not just God’s people themselves? What does that indicate for what heaven will be like for us? What is the most significant thing to you that the book of Joel teaches us about God and His work in history?
Dear Heavenly Father,
I find comfort in Your Word and knowing You are here for me…every day , every hour I live. Thank You Lord Jesus for Your love and steadtfast presence in my life. May I forever glorify Your name and be a be a sweet song to Your ears. I need thee, oh Lord, I need thee, every hour I need thee. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
Good morning, Heavenly Father. What do you have planned for me today?
I surrender my all into your hands, place me under your arm of protection. Watch my goings and let me not slide into the pit.
Father, be with my family and friends, strengthen them, bless them, guide them. With your presence this day, grant them hope and peace and healing.
Father, you honored the humble prayer of a man named Jabez. He prayed a simple yet profound prayer: Bless me indeed. Enlarge my territory. May your hand be with me. Help me to see evil and to avoid it so as not to cause pain.
May you hear and honor my prayer for today as I endure the race you have before me.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and purposefully seek one more to share the gospel. Prepare their hearts today.
As the sun sets today, may angels be rejoicing over the salvation of one more soul as the fruit of our labor together.
Amen
The Lord is a refuge and a stronghold.
Without judgment, salvation would be unnecessary. Thank you Lord for sending Jesus, so that your perfect judgment could be perfectly paid for through Jesus’, and satisfy God’s wrath so that I could be reconciled to God.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the rain and praying for protection for all that are experiencing flooding and destruction from this storm. Help us to see your hand the same way in the book of Joel that you are all knowing, all powerful and in complete control. Continue to draw all of us closer to you and continue to use us believers in Christ to share your love and word that are planted in our hearts. Thank you for for our daily bread and forgive us of things thought or said that are not from you. Help us to love like you love and see good in all God’s children as you died for us all. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen
Thank You GOD for ALL Your Many Blessings ????Amen ?