Joel’s Message and Today’s News

Verses 4-6 were also very interesting in consideration of news from the recent past.

Joel 3:4-6 “Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.”

Again, I will borrow from my journal--I could not find specific evidence of correlation with these verses to the times of Joel’s ministry, but there is intriguing connection to the news of recent years. Tyre, Zidon and the coasts of Palestine (the land of the Philistines) would be referencing modern Lebanon (Hizbollah) and the Gaza strip (Hamas/PLO). Israel has often responded to the terrorists’ attacks of these enemies with swift and devastating payback. I personally believe that the Lord is already using Israel (though still in rebellion) in accordance with His purposes for these times just as He often used the enemies of Israel to act against them in accordance with His purposes of past times. These enemies of Israel have abused their material blessings from God by using them to support their false religion, often at the expense of Israel. They have been very vocal in their goal to destroy the nation of Israel. Their public slogan declares their desire to push Israel into the sea; in other words, they want to “remove them [the Jews] far from their border.”

Verses 9-12 again seem to be in reference to the final battle of Armageddon.

Joel 3:9-12 “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare 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 pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.”

Continuing from my journal-- It’s always confusing yet comforting to me how God is in sovereign control of even the actions of the wicked. In my study of Revelation the call to war is accomplished through demonic spirits sent out from the Antichrist, yet scripture is everywhere clear that this is in accordance with God’s plan.

Revelation 16:12-14 “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”

Note that these events are in connection with the 6th vial/bowl judgment coming from the throne of God. Other prophets declared this same truth.

Ezekiel 28:25-26 “Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God.”

Ezekiel 36:5-7 “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.”

Obadiah 1:15 “For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.”

Zechariah 2:8-9 “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them [the nations], and they shall be a spoil to their servants [the Jews]: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.” [brackets mine]

In verse 13 this battle is compared to cutting down a crop ripe for harvest. In context, the sickle is a reference to a sharp instrument used to reap the harvest of God’s judgment among the heathen nations. Verse 13 is very similar to words recorded by the Apostle John in Revelation.

Joel 3:13 “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.”

Revelation 14:18-19 “And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.”

Verses 16-17 declare that God will emerge on the scene in power and complete authority in deliverance of Israel.

Joel 3:16-17 “The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.”

I really liked the way Chuck Smith expressed it in his commentary at www.blueletterbible.org: “As a lion that has conquered its prey stands over the fallen prey and lets out this blood-curdling roar, it's a roar of absolute mastery and victory. So when Jesus comes again, there's going to be an earth-rending roar as the lion of the tribe of Judah proclaims His absolute mastery and victory to reign over the earth.”

Verse 18 again gives emphasis to the bountiful blessings that Israel will experience in the Messiah’s Kingdom; while verse 20 emphasizes that this time of blessing will be for time without end.

Joel 3:18 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.”

Joel 3:20 “But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.”