Mike Bickle discusses Israel's victory in the Millennial Kingdom as prophesied in Joel 3:17-21, emphasizing that God's relationship with Israel reflects His heart for all people. He highlights the transformation of Jerusalem into a holy city where Jesus will dwell, bringing peace and abundance, and the significance of Israel's national salvation. Bickle explains that the blessings of the Millennial Kingdom will extend to all nations, with a focus on the importance of repentance and the consequences of blood guilt. He reassures that despite Israel's troubled history, God's promises of favor and restoration will prevail, offering hope for both Israel and the nations.

It's uh, the session notes 14 That's because they love it Joel chapter 3 verse 17 to 21 And i'm putting verse 17 In the last class as well as in this one because it's kind of a transition passage Where in the last uh session we looked at the conflict With the nations that god is stirring up and then we found out the devil's stirring it up too and men in their own Greed and ambition and bitterness. They're willingly stirring it up as well But here we see israel's victory And remember the principle that what god does in israel It's a picture of what is in his heart for his people So his people and the nations of the earth. This is the sort of thing that he will do Throughout the millennial kingdom now, we're not going to talk much about the millennial kingdom I'll just make a few references here there But in the notes session 15, which we won't look at in this course, but I have them there Just as a reference for you I have an overview of what the millennial kingdom is And of course on the website we have a quite a bit. I taught a whole 12 Session series on the millennial kingdom. That's the thousand year reign of jesus That's on the earth after he comes that we are involved in but we have physical bodies, but they're resurrected Our resurrected body will be as physical and material as the body We have now is it will just have the added dimension of supernatural abilities So don't think that in your resurrected body On the earth in the age to come you'll be kind of You know in a kind of a ghost-like substance, you know that when you hug each other you kind of pass through like whoa You go back and try it again, and it's not like that You will be as material and physical as you are now And you will actually rule on this earth And when you put your foot down and stomp the ground you will fill the dirt and it will make a noise when you stomp it It's that physical and you will be on the earth Forever and you'll never die You live forever and you'll have a ministry. You'll have friends. You'll be learning. You'll be teaching You will be involved in bringing god's dominion to the earth. You'll have a ministry like you do now You will have the capacity to learn you'll be studying you'll be teaching meeting new friends Introducing yourself to new people learning about new people just like you do not eating food With no negative impact whatsoever I mean no negative None of this and none of that It's like I love it. Allen hood says this, you know when because jesus ate the fish in his resurrected body I mean he he ate the fish and he walked to the wall. Allen says did the fish go to the wall with him? We've never been able to answer that question Because jesus ate physical fish with the disciples But in a resurrected body Etc. And so this is describing in joel 3 17 to 21 some of the key highlights Uh related to how god will dwell with israel But again, the story is bigger this gives us insight as how he will dwell with people in the age to come Now in the age to come there will be people with natural bodies those that survived the uh Tribulation period they they resisted the antichrist and they didn't say yes to jesus So they would they didn't go up in the rapture and they were not killed uh in the antichrist judgments And so, you know, it's life is going to continue on the earth They get converted but they live out their natural life and they have children and they have children and they have children So there are people with natural bodies in the in the age to come you'll have a resurrected body But you will interact with them just like jesus interacted with the 12 Uh with with the apostles when he came rose from the dead in acts 1 for 40 days He met with them with his resurrected body. They didn't have resurrected bodies. He taught them they hugged each other They ate together they they fellowshiped and it's that kind of uh, dynamic We will have with people with natural bodies in the age to come but we will be involved in the affairs of the earth It's a very exciting. Uh, uh reality Because it's not far away no matter what, you know, if you live a hundred more years That's a minute from now either way it goes whether it's you know sooner or later. It's a minute either way it goes So that's the hope that we have here in joel 3 verse 17 You shall know That I am the lord your god in other words israel. You will be now saved as a nation The whole nation will know the lord and it's more than just they'll know the lord there will be intimacy with the godhead Wow, it's not just they will serve the lord. They will actually know him they will have a a a Dynamic family relationship we will be sons and daughters of the father and collectively we will be the bride of christ Which has nothing to do with boyfriend girlfriend type things what that means is He will share his heart And we will be in full partnership with him in governing the earth in a deep connectedness at the heart level You will know the lord your god You will know that I am the lord your god and you will know him are both ideas that are said over and over in The prophets again, this is more than serving god, but you'll know that he is your god So israel will be saved as a nation Well, it's going to be more than that. Jesus will be dwelling In zion on my holy mountain literally on the physical mountain in israel He will live there his throne of glory will be literally set up as a man Again, he's fully god, but he's fully man literally on a throne on the mount zion on the city of jerusalem in the millennial kingdom then jerusalem shall be holy Instead of like now jerusalem's a sinful city and has been for generations no alien Shall ever pass through her again. In other words, no hostile foreign armies And it will come to pass in that day. The mountains shall drip with new wine The hills will flow with milk All the brooks of judah will be flooded with water instead of being in drought A fountain will flow from the house of the lord and the water and water the valley of the acacias That's the acacia trees Just outside jerusalem Egypt will be a desolation Edom a desolate wilderness. This is during the tribulation judgments because egypt ends up with tremendous blessing in isaiah 19 And a tremendous status in the world in the millennial kingdom And egypt and edom will come under the judgments of god in the in the great tribulation because of the violence They did against the people of judah for they shed innocent blood In their land, they didn't just shed it in the land of israel. They killed the jews in their own homelands Like in egypt and in edom edom is uh, incidentally the land of jordan today but judah shall abide forever because the threat of judah And jerusalem, you know jerusalem's the city obviously that judah is the surrounding area Kind of like the county or the the province so to speak most of you know that so jerusalem's the city judah Is is the area the county plus? That's not what they call it, but that's uh in terms of of our geography here judah shall abide forever in jerusalem for generation to generation the reason that's so big because Jerusalem and judah have been on the verge of annihilation so many times And in the great tribulation in those final three and a half years They will go to the very edge of annihilation But what the prophet says is don't worry They won't be destroyed matter of fact, they'll live under the god favor of god forever and forever and forever They will make it god's plan will work No matter how close a call it gets God's promises will come to pass so even bigger than just judah and jerusalem That principle is true in your life That there may be times where it looks like you're at the end At the very edge and it's over and I tell you you say yes to the lord God will cause there to be a rebound and a recovery and a reinstating of his favor and his blessing on your life That's what judah and jerusalem are a picture of Because if jerusalem could be so wicked and on the verge of extinction and then end up in such favor and blessing and security Then that's a insight into how god deals with human beings Verse 21 for I will acquit them of the guilt of their bloodshed I will acquit them whom I had not acquitted for the lord dwells in zion and what he's saying here is that in jerusalem that uh, and i'll get to this in a few minutes, but jesus in matthew chapter 23 verse 35 to 38 He tells the city of jerusalem I mean this most heavy statement. He says oh jerusalem You will be guilty of all the blood of all the martyrs in the whole world, I mean Something like that. I don't have exactly word for word, but he said I mean this huge statement that he assigned jerusalem with blood guilt And he says you're guilty of my blood and you're guilty of the blood of the martyrs through history But now it's a reversal You will be acquitted of the blood guilt That the messiah pronounced it pronounced over them in matthew 23 verse 35 to 38 He says I had not acquitted you for a season and that's why they'd been through so many judgments but now I live in the city. The land is cleansed. You are my people the blood guilt is now answered You have accepted my blood offering of my life So therefore the price is paid and the blood guilt that was on you when you rejected my blood atonement Now that blood guilt is off of you because as a nation you've accepted my blood atonement So now there is one that pays for your sin What a powerful statement is being made there Okay, let's go to roman number one And again, I go through that just to kind of give you the feel of where the passage is going Starts off You shall verse 17. You shall know that I am the lord your god dwelling in zion my holy mountain Then jerusalem shall be holy and no alien shall ever pass through it And at the heart of this in paragraph a what god wants them to know Is that he wants the knowledge of god to flow between them god wants more than servants He wants them to know I am your god And you will know me and I know you I want relationship Paragraph b jesus will literally dwell in zion in the millennial kingdom Incidentally in zechariah 14 2 that i've looked at that passage several times. It says Israel is jerusalem is surrounded by all the nations and remember zechariah 14 2 and the nations captured her They captured the city well here jesus wins it back and now he captured the city and he and he rules it forever So that's the statement that when jerusalem is surrounded We can tell them with certainty Yes, you are captured but only temporarily There is the captain of the armies of heaven He's going to come and win the city back and live in it forever and pay his blood His pay the price for your sin with his own blood so you don't have to pay the price for your sin with your blood anymore By being under the judgment of god now this is the greatest privilege That a city could have I mean there's nothing like it The son of god lives in your city forever. I mean like what? What an amazing reality because this is one reason Why the devil and all the nations why the devil i'll just say the devil is striking a battle against jerusalem This is the city of the great king from the very beginning He picked the lord picked the city of jerusalem to govern the earth and to bring his throne from heaven down to the earth to the city of jerusalem That's why there's so much conflict over the city see Then jerusalem will be holy Why will jerusalem will be holy why well number one the presence of god will be in the city Well, the presence of god will be in all the cities of the earth to some measure but in jerusalem In an unprecedented way the the power and presence of god will be in the city Number two the city will be governed by holy laws Well, all the nations will have holy laws, but they will get them from jerusalem The leaders of the earth will go to jerusalem in the age to come they will learn the laws at the big conference The international conferences that jesus is the is the keynote speaker in all the main sessions And they go back home with their syllabus and they Establish the laws in every realm of life not just in the legal system, but in the economy In the education in the media, whatever they learn in jerusalem They from him they go back in all the seven spheres of society and they establish it in their own place But jerusalem is the epicenter of righteous laws and righteous ways Not only that There will be holy gatherings Convocations is what is the term used in the bible a convocation is where they gather from all around And they gather for a holy purpose those convocations will be there in jerusalem. I mean the great Global feasts where the leaders of the nations will come and they'll worship jesus and have worship settings Can you imagine? The worship, I mean because there will really be worship with instruments and all that. Can you imagine what the worship sets will be like? And jesus is leading the ministry time and doing the teaching and and he picked the worship team and the songs. Whoo That's a that's a serious worship gathering And the city will be filled with holy people all everyone that lives in the city of jerusalem will will will be Radically committed to holiness and purity. It will be the city of cities It will be the dream city of of the city that all the nations have dreamed about will be fulfilled in that city Joel says jerusalem shall be holy so we look at jerusalem now Jesus called jerusalem a harlot Isaiah called jesus jerusalem a harlot city the prophets throughout history. You are a harlot city You are a city of murderers You are an evil city a wicked city But no matter how bad jerusalem is god has has become at different times We can always say with the certainty of the word of god the redemption will surpass your failure and your defilement and your sin But the same principle is true in our lives No matter how far we went out because no one has gone out further than jerusalem has gone out in darkness and sin She shall be holy there is recovery I mean I can look at this and think of jerusalem But I can apply this to every city of the earth that will call on the name of the lord But if this is what god does to a city, this is what god has in his heart to do to people He'll do it for you He'll do it for your friend That one person that's so far gone I tell you there can be a recovery it says uh That there will be no aliens paragraph d No aliens will pass through now at first Because the aliens would be gentiles you think wait a second. I'm a gentile I was kind of hoping to hang out a little bit in jerusalem and you know, I can't ever pass through And he's not talking about gentiles. He's talking about uh, uh foreign armies when it says there'll be no invasion There'll be no occupation a military occupation So it's an invasion and an occupation. That's what it's talking about because the bible makes it clear that the gentiles will will Pass through jerusalem many many times Matter of fact paragraph e will look at this Look at zechariah 14 verse 17 it shall be That whatever families of the earth, this is all the gentiles Do not come up to jerusalem to worship The lord of hosts which is jesus there'll be no rain on their nation like there'll be some people this will this is not just a uh, Hypothetical warning there will be some people in the millennium that will say hey i'm competing with natural bodies I'm talking about because those with resurrected bodies there will never be sin This isn't talking about them, but it's talking about the nations will go on another thousand years with natural bodies And they'll have children and they'll have children and have school systems and the whole bit and you again with your resurrected body You'll be interacting with cities and nations In the age to come jesus said some saints will rule them They won't rule them disconnected with the people with natural bodies, but in partnership with the people of natural bodies Like right now that's happening right now In a different way right now. There's angels over cities and nations And those angels are dynamically involved just like there's demons over cities and nations and there's a Conflict between the angels and demons. The only difference is that they're in the spirit realm We can't see them But in the age to come the demons will be in prison And the angels and the saints of the resurrected bodies will be openly seen there'll be no veil between them But those angels are here right now We just don't see them and they're involved in the government of cities if we pray they're more involved If we don't pray the demons are more involved, but those personalities are involved over the natural leaders and so the idea of supernatural beings Being in government in relationship with natural beings has been happening throughout all of all of human history So that's not a new idea The new idea is the veil lifts and we and they'll be able to see The the angels and the saints of the resurrected bodies well, anyway, some of those Some people with natural bodies They haven't died yet. They they don't have a resurrected body. They love jesus. They're born again They they're born in sin. They have to get saved but the all the nations will get saved I mean, they'll just the environment of the earth. There'll be no uh There'll be no pornography. There'll be no drunkenness There'll be no this that and the other and there will be purity in the laws and everything worldwide But people will still have sinful hearts and they still have to choose choose the lord and uh, and the nation's will I mean, uh, uh I mean in a dynamic way in a very dramatic way the vast majority If not, all will say yes to the lord but they will still have pride in their heart and they'll still fall into sin and get tempted and need forgiveness and Have to live in discipline and and they'll talk to you and they say what was it like when you had a natural body? You will actually literally Be involved in ruling the nations by training them in righteousness And you will even use your own story. You won't just use bible verses out, you know, just uh, uh bible verses. Uh, Just by themselves, but you'll actually tell your story to them. That's how I see it It's whatever's true whatever you found to be true in your life as part of what you will use to rule the nations The the testimony of what you experienced when you had a natural body and how you had to appropriate the grace of god well, there will be I went way off the subject on all that but But it was fun. But uh in zechariah 14 17 There will be some families of the earth. They'll say you know what? We don't want to go to jerusalem. It's a long way away And we don't want to go all the way there for the worship festival at the feast of tabernacles And the lord says well, I think you do Because remember i'm the genesis 1 god. I am a man, but I am still god And I have power over the sun. Remember that transition time the great tribulation the sun the stars Remember how I had power. I still have that power And if you don't come if it's not a priority to you, there will be no rain in your geographic area And you can be sure that there's a few families. They're kind of holding out And there's no rain They're going to figure out who those families are and I don't know how it works but some people aren't going to like if there's no rain in their area, but there really is a Dynamic relationship to obedience and to the physical realm. Of course that relationship is actually true right now when nations obey Then there are physical blessings that hit nations, but it will even be more pronounced in the millennial kingdom But the point i'm really making wasn't all that the point i'm making is that the gentiles will pass through jerusalem That's the point i'm i'm making and I went way off the subject here in isaiah 2 The lord's house shall be established. That's the temple of the lord will actually be built in the millennial kingdom And all the nations will flow to it many people will come because out of zion or jerusalem will come forth the laws I mean the ways of god for government for police enforcement because there will be policemen there will be law enforcement There will be just like in society now the sin Manifestation of sin will be far lower and the laws will be the standard will be far higher of what is required But there will be education. There will be economics. There'll be media. There'll be transportation. There'll be all sports There'll be all kinds of just like it is now gardening agriculture Science, I mean media, where will they be with technology 500 years now into the millennial kingdom with jesus teaching them about technology Yeah, wow I mean, where are we going to be in 20 30 40 years? Where's it going to be when the demons are out of the way? And there's righteousness and creative wisdom flowing I mean talk about people with natural bodies where's technology going who knows But all I know is that the gentiles will flow to the city of jerusalem to get that information. That's the point i'm making Okay top of page 142 roman numeral 2 Page, uh, joel 3 verse 18. Now he points to the agricultural blessing the tremendous and he only highlights two dimensions and the uh in the agriculture as well as in the uh livestock it's In the the whole realm of the farming and the food industry so to speak and of course, whatever's true of these two, uh categories would be true of the whole of of Food and whether it's it's it's the cattle Whether it's the milk whether it's the wine whether it's the fruit trees, whatever Shall come to pass in that day That mountains shall drip with new wine joel 3 18 hills will flow with milk And all the brooks of judah Shall be flooded with water And a fountain shall flow from the house of the lord. That's the temple that jesus has his throne in And it shall water the valley of the acacias So paragraph a joel is prophesying here the supernatural blessing on the agriculture and the livestock in israel But this dimension will be happening worldwide as well Won't only be israel. Israel's a prototype of the kind of blessing god will be releasing But remember what god does in that age in fullness he will do in part now So we know it's in his heart to bless these areas And of course the reason the blessing will go to this degree is because jesus personally lives in the land There'll be no demonic interference. All the demons are in prison What he's saying is that there will be Exceptionally large grape harvest. It's what he's talking about in the mountain regions. The mountains shall drip with wine Joel describes them as dripping He means the production of the new wine will be so abundant. That's what he's talking about He's using a poetic language to say The grape harvest will be so dynamic on those mountain vineyards That it could be said they're flowing with wine. It doesn't mean that it's flowing down the mountains in an open on an open way That's not the point. He's using a poetic language to talk about the abundance of The uh, the grape harvest but all the other types of harvest as well. They just pointed out the grapes Joel makes the same point when he says the hills will flow with milk He's talking about milk producing animals like cattle and sheep. They will multiply at such a level But instead of having diseased flocks And they're not uh fertile and we're reproducing They're they're producing fast and there's a huge amount of milk supply. That's what he's talking about Those milk producing animals that graze on those hills. That's what uh, joel's talking about unusual large quantities of milk which means Just the livestock the the agriculture all of it will be blessed of god because the other hundred areas That joel could have picked out will be under the blessing of god as well Amos paragraph b. He said the same sort of thing in amos 9 He said behold the days are coming the mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow with it Again it's don't think of it as dripping think of it as the vineyards are so exceptional in their productivity That's what amos is talking about. He's talking about agricultural blessing paragraph d The brooks of judah will flow with water Now that's a powerful reality We don't think that much in this moment in this hour of history and here in america about drought Because there's a modern technology that stores water and transports water Although drought I believe is going to affect this nation and the nations of the earth drought's going to be a problem That technology won't be able to solve But modern technologies reduce the peril of drought because of storage and transportation of water, etc but in israel's day and and even today, uh, they still have a a bigger problem with with a water supply than than uh, Many other nations do but in their history the brooks of judah were often dry because of drought because of judgment And what joel is saying there won't be drought and this was a huge problem That the people faced regularly and they would just they would die. I mean a drought in those days you died Well, just like other parts of the earth particularly places in africa i'm thinking of where there's droughts people really do die of starvation and Because there's there's famine there's disease there's all kinds of things that go with the drought Paragraph e but particularly this will be uh, very important because in the final three and a half years And even the years before the final three and a half years as the birth pangs get become more intense There will be more troubles in the agriculture and in the water, etc but in the final three and a half years In the area of jerusalem and judah look at what John says happen happens in that day revelation 11 6 the two witnesses have power to shut heaven so it doesn't rain For three and a half years, so they're in jerusalem and they do to jerusalem what elijah did Because when elijah was in israel, he commanded and the rain stopped for three and a half years It was actually a picture of what would be happening at the end of the age Well, the two prophets do the same thing. There is so much water problems going on in israel during this period And even when that drought is happening the prophetic Church can say hang in there because in a minute there will be an abundant water supply When the source of life him his himself comes and lives in that city And of course another thing is that the water supply will be defiled by poison and by blood in the uh in the trumpets And the third trumpet and in the third bowl. I have those verses there The the water will become poisoned or the water will become turned to blood. This is literal And so water being pure will be a major issue Because for the final three and a half years the water will be disrupted I mean people will still be able to drink but it will be hard and it will not be a Issue that you that people just take for granted water will be a blessing to have clean water in that hour Okay, let's go to uh top of page 143 Paragraph I joel said this a fountain He says in verse 18 a fountain shall flow From the house of the lord and water the valley of acacias So paragraph I The a fountain of water will flow from the jerusalem temple now, typically, you know water flows from a well or a river But they're good. Jesus is going to build a temple He is going to build it it says in zechariah 6 verse 12 and 13 that he's going to build it I don't know how a man with a resurrected body how that works Does he get people to hammer it? I mean, I don't know how you know, because it's going to be a A temple that has a supernatural and a natural dimension to it on the earth. It'll be the most glorious building ever built And it will be under his leadership But it says it in zechariah 6 12 that he will build the temple talk about in the in the millennial kingdom At the very beginning of it. It will be under his leadership I mean, he won't wave his hand and just produce it But it one will be built because that's his that's the way he likes to lead The earth is through the partnership of his people obeying him and him anointing them Well this building will be the most Dynamic building in history. It will have a supernatural quality This natural building will have a supernatural quality and jesus's throne of glory will be in that building I mean we're talking about the eternal god. He's the uncreated god that became a man on his throne of glory And in matthew 19 verse 28 Jesus called it my throne of glory so it's It's a pretty dynamic throne. I mean, it's not just thrown with some, you know, some You know expensive gold. It's called the throne of glory. I don't know what's involved with it, but it's pretty intense In matthew chapter 25 also in verse 31, he again called it the throne of glory, but it will be there and There will be a supernatural water supply coming out of that throne And it will water the valley of the acacias which is right next to it in the kidron valley That's that's the valley right there And we'll see in a moment. It will reach out far beyond that Paragraph j Zachariah talks about this water this supernatural this water that has a supernatural quality and it's natural But it has a supernatural quality as well It says in zechariah 14 verse 8 in that day It shall be that living waters will flow from jerusalem. Now. We know it flows from the temple of jerusalem from jesus's throne It's that living water That flows from the throne of god in heaven. It's related to that Because in heaven and the new jerusalem water flows the water of life flows out of the throne through the city Well on the millennial kingdom down here on the earth That's there will be a supernatural quality of the water that comes out of the temple the throne of god There's a bit of mystery to it. We don't know how it all works, but we just know what happens And that day there will be living water or water with a property of life That is unusual property of life the ability to to uh to impart life and to bring life. It shall flow from jerusalem Half of it will flow towards the dead sea and the other half will flow towards the Mediterranean sea That's just an interesting and a reality and when that water flows to the sea It heals the sea and heals everything in the sea Now that's good water Look at ezekiel 47 the famous passage that many of us have read through the years of This is the passage where the water flows in the millennial kingdom This is talking about actual physical water that has a supernatural quality to it flowing from jesus's Throne to the earth I mean first it goes through the land of israel, but it affects the earth There it says in verse 1 Here it says, uh, there will be water flowing from under the threshold of the temple Then this angel said to ezekiel This water will flow towards the eastern region. It will enter the dead sea And when that water reaches the dead sea The dead sea the with the stagnant dead water will be healed because this new water will heal the old water And everything shall be living And it shall be that every living thing that moves Wherever the rivers go wherever this water goes it will create life There will be a great multitude of fish again. This is natural fish Because these waters go there for they will be healed and everything will live where this physical Water with supernatural quality goes and it goes on and on My point is Telling you that what joel is talking about he only gives a sentence He says a fountain will flow from the house of the lord, which means the temple and that fountain will go out but Zechariah and ezekiel go far beyond and they develop that river to far greater way But the point i'm wanting you to get that river is real It's not figurative. You'll read some commentaries and you'll say this is symbolic of no, it's not it's a real river Jerusalem that that River of life flows in the throne right now up in heaven in the new jerusalem The new jerusalem is coming down to earth. Jesus's throne will have Water flowing out of it and it's and the reason that's so exciting It just tells us more about how dynamic this man is and how great his plan is to restore the whole earth When I read this it just makes me like him more I read this I go you are so awesome. I mean you're brilliant You're powerful. You're scary. You're cool. You're everything look at you That's what these verses do to me And it's not just me Psalm 46 verse 5 there is a river will make glad everybody i'm not just the only one glad Everybody will be glad when they understand the power of this river and the man that this river Comes from or the man that's responsible for this river And when it says there's a river that makes streams Of the I mean there's a river whose streams make glad the city of god that's talking about the ezekiel 47 river that joel says comes out of the house of god out of the temple. It's a real river. That's not figurative roman number three Now he goes on. What about the enemies and he only highlights two enemies two of the enemies Enemies Because there are many many nations that are enemies, but they're they're they're different types of enemies Egypt and edom again edom is in uh modern day jordan During the great tribulation They will be a desolation But so is jerusalem and so are many nations of the earth And what the lord is talking about is that he is going to confront sin, wherever it Where whatever nation refuses to repent of it, there will be national consequences for that nation now Egypt and edom are very different Because egypt is a picture of a nation that resists the antichrist in isaiah 19 And and reveille, I mean in daniel 11 verse 43 and 44 The egypt says no to the antichrist the egyptians don't want the antichrist they resist him and cause him trouble and they make him very mad Edom is in favor of the antichrist So these are nations two very dramatically different categories. They both hated israel throughout history But one of them resists the antichrist and gets completely saved egypt And the other one edom is for the antichrist and gets totally desolate So it's two very different categories that joe highlights here and the reason That there's desolation national desolation is because of blood guilt Blood guilt is so serious And the nations do not take seriously blood guilt One of the reason israel's had 2 000 years of desolation is because of blood guilt And they haven't received the atonement of the only one that can offer it But at their national salvation when the lord returns they finally as a nation receive his blood So they don't have to pay the judgment of their sin And egypt will do the same thing And edom does not do it Edom is is a part. It's not the whole nation of jordan. It's just a part of it Ancient edom was just a section of modern day. Jordan today And so we don't know how far this uh, uh judgment About edom, uh goes in the age to come. We don't know that but the real point That joel is making is that blood guilt really matters God remembers the blood Blood has to be answered the blood cries out from the ground Lou angle has one of the best messages on blood guilt i've ever heard And the reason lou gives it Is because america is in big trouble with god because of blood guilt It is it is terrifying to me That 50 million babies have been killed in america. That is just like This is not okay. This is a terrifying fact Because the righteous and the unrighteous will be troubled when a nation where the righteous and the unrighteous live in That nation will be shaken whenever there's blood guilt at this level I am convinced that the civil war Was the fruit of the blood guilt of the americans against the african slaves and so the americans for 300 yay 400 years depending on how you trace it back killed the slaves or shed their blood And god finally said america the day is coming And you will answer in blood because you have not cried out in repentance And asked for my blood to cover your national sins and there was great revivals. There are a lot of believers But a lot of believers died in the civil war many believers died in the civil war The righteous and the unrighteous are troubled when a nation is shaken because of blood guilt And so this is what it's saying that their blood guilt has a memory It doesn't go away unless there's repentance and the claiming of the blood of jesus our national government must Face this reality or trouble is coming And and maybe we're at the at the level you never want to uh, just uh conclude We're at the level where the trouble's already coming because because of blood guilt I think there's already trouble in the land, but I think we can minimize it By continuing to cry out against this And then it goes on and he says, uh, but I have acquitted what about israel because israel has killed Not as many people but israel killed the holy people through history. They killed the prophets The other nations as a rule, they just killed people They didn't kill the servants of the lord that god had specially put his spirit on And that had a message But israel did that they killed the messiah And the lord says how far will the blood guilt go I will acquit a nation if they will turn to me because israel I will forgive her for the blood guilt but for a season yay 2 000 years I had not Acquitted her but now she is acquitted because she's accepted in me And so a two of israel's most fierce long-term enemies edom And egypt again two different categories completely Their agriculture becomes desolate Because of national sins, even though there are godly people in those lands Just like every other nation the righteous and the wicked are troubled when there's national shakings Now just so you get the egyptian, uh, uh Right perspective just write this verse down isaiah 19 verse 16 to 25 verse 6 Tells you it's 10 verses isaiah 19 16 to 25 10 verses about how glorious god is going to redeem egypt It is a very dynamic passage. I spent many hours in that passage because It's not just about egypt. It's the it gives you insight into what god will do To a sinful gentile nation how far he will go in redemption So I look at and I say that's the kind of god you are you can do it in other nations But that's the kind of god you are you'll do it for individuals as well So when I hear that somebody has gone too far I go. I don't know Look at how god treats these wicked nations He gives them another chance and another chance another chance and then suddenly reverses all of the negative and makes it positive paragraph d Egypt is a prototype of other nations In other words god says what i'm doing to egypt i'm i'm showing you it's a picture of what I will do to gentile nations And then and he shows that what happens to egypt is going to happen to other nations if they Disobey like egypt or obey like egypt and so that you can read that verse on your own Egypt and edom serve as prototypes as witnesses to other nations that jesus must be obeyed Okay, we come to the fight at the end here He answered this glorious verse 21 this great 20 and 21 this great crescendo But judah shall abide forever. You think she's on the brink of destruction? She's been there many times over history. She made it and it's forever. Ah That's what that's what the jews do. They read that and they go. Oh, this is a great verse Why Because the messiah lives in there In that land forever and there will be nothing but favor for billions and billions and billions and billions of years favor Is israel's history I have a although israel's history is filled with judgment and military conflict Joel assures them they will survive they will prosper forever in the favor of god so we can comfort israel Isaiah 40 says comfort ye comfort ye israel comfort them we can tell israel Though the trouble is real and though your blood guilt is real as is the blood guilt of our nation's real but Goodness is coming call on the name of the lord turn to him and goodness will come your way We need to prophesy these things to egypt to edom to israel these prototype nations That give us insight on how god will deal with nations Amen, and amen the book of joel