Joel 3

The Nations Will Be Judged

1 "For behold, ¹in those days and at that time, When I ²restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will ³gather all the nations And bring them down to the ⁴valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will ⁵enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have ⁶scattered among the nations; And they have ⁷divided up My land.

3 "They have also ⁸cast lots for My people, ⁹Traded a boy for a harlot And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.

4 "Moreover, what are you to Me, O ¹⁰Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of ¹¹Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will ¹²return your recompense on your head.

5 "Since you have ¹³taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples,

6 and sold the ¹⁴sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,

7 behold, I am going to ¹⁵arouse them from the place where * you have sold them, and return your recompense on your head.

8 "Also I will ¹⁶sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the ¹⁷Sabeans, to a distant nation," for the LORD has spoken.

9 ¹⁸Proclaim this among the nations: ¹⁹Prepare a war; ²⁰rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers * draw near, let them come up!

10 ²¹Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; ²²Let the weak say, "I am a mighty man."

11 ²³Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, O LORD, Your ²⁴mighty ones.

12 Let the nations be aroused And come up to the ²⁵valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to ²⁶judge All the surrounding nations.

13 ²⁷Put in the sickle, for the ²⁸harvest is ripe. Come, ²⁹tread, for the ³⁰wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their ³¹wickedness is great.

14 ³²Multitudes, multitudes in the ³³valley of decision! For the ³⁴day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15 The ³⁵sun and moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.

16 The LORD ³⁶roars from Zion And ³⁷utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the ³⁸heavens and the earth tremble. But the LORD is a ³⁹refuge for His people And a ⁴⁰stronghold to the sons of Israel.

17 Then you will ⁴¹know that I am the LORD your God, Dwelling in Zion, My ⁴²holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be ⁴³holy, And ⁴⁴strangers will pass through it no more.

Judah Will Be Blessed

18 And in that day The ⁴⁵mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will ⁴⁶flow with milk, And all the ⁴⁷brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a ⁴⁸spring will go out from the house of the LORD To water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt will become a waste, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the ⁴⁹violence done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

20 But Judah will be ⁵⁰inhabited forever And Jerusalem for all generations.

21 And I will ⁵¹avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the LORD dwells in Zion.

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Joel 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

God's judgments in the latter days. (1-8) The extent of these judgments. (9-17) The blessings the church shall enjoy. (18-21)

Verses 1-8 The restoration of the Jews, and the final victory of true religion over all opposers, appear to be here foretold. The contempt and scorn with which the Jews have often been treated as a people, and the little value set upon them, are noticed. None ever hardened his heart against God or his church, and prospered long.

Verses 9-17 Here is a challenge to all the enemies of God's people. There is no escaping God's judgments; hardened sinners, in that day of wrath, shall be cut off from all comfort and joy. Most of the prophets foretell the same final victory of the church of God over all that oppose it. To the wicked it will be a terrible day, but to the righteous it will be a joyful day. What cause have those who possess an interest in Christ, to glory in their Strength and their Redeemer! The acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will be a day of remarkable vengeance to others: let every one that is out of Christ awake, and flee from the wrath to come.

Verses 18-21 There shall be abundant Divine influences, and the gospel will spread speedily into the remotest corners of the earth. These events are predicted under significant emblems; there is a day coming, when every thing amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; his sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 51

1. Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 38:14
2. Jeremiah 16:15
3. Isaiah 66:18; Micah 4:12; Zechariah 14:2
4. Joel 3:12, 14
5. Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 25:31; Ezekiel 38:22
6. Jeremiah 50:17; Ezekiel 34:6
7. Ezekiel 35:10; Ezekiel 36:1-5
8. Obadiah 11; Nahum 3:10
9. Amos 2:6
10. Isaiah 23:1-18; Amos 1:9, 10; Zechariah 9:2-4; Matthew 11:21, 22; Luke 10:13, 14
11. Isaiah 14:29-31; Jeremiah 47:1-7; Ezekiel 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8; Zechariah 9:5-7
12. Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 59:18
13. 2 Kings 12:18; 2 Chronicles 21:16, 17
14. Ezekiel 27:13
15. Isaiah 43:5, 6; Jeremiah 23:8; Zechariah 9:13
16. Isaiah 14:2; Isaiah 60:14
17. Job 1:15; Psalms 72:10; Ezekiel 38:13
18. Jeremiah 51:27
19. Jeremiah 6:4; Ezekiel 38:7; Micah 3:5
20. Isaiah 8:9, 10; Jeremiah 46:3, 4; Zechariah 14:2, 3
21. Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3
22. Zechariah 12:8
23. Ezekiel 38:15, 16
24. Isaiah 13:3
25. Joel 3:2, 14
26. Psalms 7:6; Psalms 96:13; Psalms 98:9; Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 3:13
27. Revelation 14:14-19
28. Jeremiah 51:33; Hosea 6:11
29. Revelation 14:19, 20; Revelation 19:15
30. Isaiah 63:3; Lamentations 1:15
31. Genesis 18:20
32. Isaiah 34:2-8
33. Joel 3:2, 12
34. Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1, 11, 31
35. Joel 2:10, 31
36. Hosea 11:10; Amos 1:2
37. Joel 2:11
38. Ezekiel 38:19; Joel 2:10; Haggai 2:6
39. Psalms 61:3; Isaiah 33:16; Jeremiah 17:17
40. Jeremiah 16:19; Nahum 1:7
41. Joel 2:27
42. Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 56:7; Ezekiel 20:40
43. Isaiah 4:3; Obadiah 17
44. Isaiah 52:1; Nahum 1:15
45. Amos 9:13
46. Exodus 3:8
47. Isaiah 30:25; Isaiah 35:6
48. Ezekiel 47:1-12
49. Obadiah 10
50. Ezekiel 37:25; Amos 9:15
51. Isaiah 4:4

Footnotes 12

[a]. Ch 4:1 in Heb
[b]. I.e. YHWH judges
[c]. Lit "Given"
[d]. Lit "goodly things"
[e]. Lit "sons of Javan"
[f]. Or "Lend aid"
[g]. I.e. YHWH judges
[h]. I.e. God's verdict
[i]. I.e. God's verdict
[j]. Lit "freshly pressed out grape juice"
[k]. Or "acacias"
[l]. Lit "of the sons"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 3

This chapter, which some make the fourth, contains a prophecy of God's judgments on all the antichristian nations at the time of the Jews' conversion, and the reasons of them, Joe 3:1-3; a threatening of Tyre and Zidon, by way of retaliation, for carrying the riches of the Jews into their temples, and selling their persons to the Greeks, Joe 3:4-8; an alarm to prepare for the battle of Armageddon, or the destruction that shall be made in the valley of Jehoshaphat, Joe 3:9-15; and after that an account of the happy state of the church of Christ, their safety and security, plenty, prosperity, and purity, to the end of the world, Joe 3:16-21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible