Joel 3
McGeeCHAPTER 3THEME: Looking at the Day of the Lord (postlude)
Joel 3:1
“For, behold, in those days.” What day? The Day of Pentecost? No, for He says, “when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.” He did not bring them back at Pentecost; in fact, the Lord Jesus reversed the order when He said, “…ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Act_1:8). Instead of bringing the captivity back to Jerusalem, Christ, as head of the church, said to those who now have been born again and are in the body of believers, “Go to the ends of the earth. Take the message out that I am raised from the dead. Tell them that God is gracious and longsuffering and merciful, and that whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” The gospel seems so simple that a lot of smart people miss it today. How wonderful it is! All you do is believe. I want to say that I do not believe in a works salvationthat is obviousbut I do believe in a salvation that works. That is important to see. If you have been saved, you’ll want to get the gospel out. If you don’t want to, my friend, I’d question your faithnot your works, but your faithbecause faith works.
Joel 3:2
“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat"that is there at Jerusalem. “And will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” Before the Lord Jesus comes again to the earth, believers will already have appeared before His judgment seat to see whether or not they are to receive a reward. When He comes to the earth, then He will judge to see who will enter the Kingdom. We have this marvelous prophecy here, but it is not found only in the Book of Joel. Joel is the first of the writing prophets, but all of the prophets mentioned it. One of the last prophets, Zechariah, said the same thing, “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee” (Zec_2:10-11).
This is the same thing Joel told the people at the beginning. This was their great hope, their bright hope, that the Lord will come to establish His Kingdom on the earth and the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh.
Joel 3:3
This is an awful thing that Joel describes here. I get a little provoked sometimes with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals which has come up with some unusual demands as to how we should treat animals. They are opposed to the foxhunt, although the fox generally gets away and they don’t really need to worry about him at all; they also are opposed to all types of hunting and shooting of game. However, they haven’t been down to the stockyards yet to stop the slaughter of cattle, because most of them like their porterhouse and sirloin steaks as well as their prime rib roast. But that is really not my point, because I agree that animals should not be mistreated and that they often suffer because of man’s sin. The greatest cruelty today, however, is cruelty toward children.
It is one of the most appalling things that is happening in our day. I read sometime ago of a mother who had co-habited with some no good, ne’er-do-well man who beat her little boy. A precious little boywhat a beautiful child he was at the beginning. But they also showed a picture of him near the end; he’d been beaten and mistreated and finally killed by that man! Actually, there was not much protest over that. The mistreatment of a dog has caused more furor in our communities than did the mistreatment of that child.
Such cruelty toward children is one of the signs of the end of an age. Why are so many children running away from home in this day? I think any parent who has a runaway child needs to get down on his knees before God and ask Him what he has done wrong. Someone will say, “Well, the child got in with the wrong crowd. We need the help of a psychologist.” My friend, we don’t need thatwe need to read the Word of God. God says the evil day will come when “they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot.” How many fathers today are setting the right example for their sons? “And sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.” How many girls are being plunged into immorality because of liquor in their homes? One young girl, who had become a harlot and was arrested, was asked where she took her first drink.
She said that it had been with her mother. God have mercy on a mother who would do a thing like that! Someone needs to speak out today in this so-called suave and sophisticated age that wants to think we are advancing in civilization. My friend, we are going down the tubes so fast it’s making us dizzy.
Joel 3:4
God says that they have gone past the time and are unable to turn to Him sincerely.
Joel 3:5
Even at this time the children of Israel were being sold into slavery, yet this was before Rome had come to power.
Joel 3:7
God’s judgment of Tyre and Sidon, prophesied also by Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, has all been literally fulfilled.
Joel 3:9
“Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears.” Someone will say, “I thought the Bible said to beat your swords into plowshares.” It does say that, but the time to do that is when the Kingdom is established on the earth (see Isa_2:4; Mic_4:3). When Christ is ruling you can get rid of your sword, but until then you’d better keep your ammunition dry and you’d better be prepared. I do not agree that we should get rid of guns today. I think we need to protect our homes, our loved ones, and our nation. You and I are living in a big, bad world in which there are a lot of wild animals loosethey are human beings and they are two-legged, but they’re mean and ferocious and they will destroy you. Also there are nations which are like that.
In fact, that is the way God describes nations; He calls one a lion, another a bear, another a panther, and another a nondescript beast. Believe me, my friend, the nations of the world are like wild beasts, and we need to keep a few atomic bombs in our arsenal. Paul said, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them …” (1Th_5:3). I am afraid we are going to have our teeth jarred out one of these days by the falling of a bomb, and we won’t be able to retaliate because we have had too many soft-hearted and soft-headed leaders. The United Nations has as its motto the verse in Isaiah which says to beat your swords into plowshares; I think they ought to have this verse from Joel: “Beat your plowshares into swords.” We need to be prepared todaywe live in a bad, bad world.
Joel 3:11
In the Olivet Discourse the Lord Jesus said that He will judge the nations and that He will judge them according to the way they have treated His people. Someone will ask, “Are they peculiar? Are they better?” No. Why, then, will He judge in this way? Because the 144,000 Jewish witnesses are going to be the only witnesses upon this earth after the church is removed. The Lord said that if anyone gave a cup of cold water in His name to one of these witnesses He would reward him. Many people think that that excuses them for giving only a dime or a quarter in the offering plate. However, may I say to you, in that day it would cost you your life to give a cup of cold water to one of the 144,000 who will be witnessing for Christ throughout the world.
Joel 3:13
When he speaks of a “harvest,” he is speaking of the end of the age.
Joel 3:14
Joel identifies this period as “the day of the LORD.” All that Joel says falls within the parentheses of the Day of the Lord which begins after the Rapture of the church with the Great Tribulation and continues through the second coming of Christ to establish His Kingdom and the judgment as to who will enter the Kingdom. Then Christ will reign for one thousand years; there will be a brief period of rebellion when Satan is let loose, then the final judgment at the Great White Throne, and eternity will begin. All of that is included in the Day of the Lord. Again Joel speaks of the disturbance in the heavenly bodies
Joel 3:15
Jerusalem is still being trodden down by Gentiles. The Garden Tomb was so crowded with tourists the last time we were there that we could not get into it. It was not Jews who were there, but it was Gentiles from all over the worldtourists coming and going all the time. The day is coming when the Garden Tomb will not be the tourist attraction in Jerusalem. Someday the Lord Himself will be there! Now we move into the time of the Kingdom
Joel 3:18
“And it shall come to pass in that day"that is, the Day of the Lord. “The mountains shall drop down new wine"this is in the time of the Kingdom. “And the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters.” Israel is short of water today, but they will not be short in that day. “And a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” This is interesting because the valley of Shittim is on the other side of the Jordan River. How could these waters flow from Jerusalem across the Jordan? Zechariah tells us that the mountain will be split in that day. Instead of the great rift running from north of Byblos in Lebanon, down through the Sea of Galilee, through the Jordan valley, through the Dead Sea and into Africa, it is going to run the opposite directionit is going to run east and west.
Joel 3:19
God will judge Egypt and Edom even into the millennial Kingdom. They have always been enemies of the nation Israel.
Joel 3:20
“For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed"the Lord has not yet moved in their behalf. “For the LORD dwelleth in Zion"He doesn’t dwell there today. Jerusalem is as pagan and heathen as any city on topside of the earth, but the day is coming when the Lord will dwell there. Then we will see all these things fulfilled. We would need to see Christ Himself there to say that these things are being fulfilled today. But that is not where we see Him, for at this very moment He is at God’s right hand. It is my prayer that we might be continually conscious of Him and have the reality of His presence in our lives.