Joel 3

1 For, behold, in those days and in that time when I shall cause the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem to end,

2 I will gather together all the Gentiles, and will cause them to descend into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and there I will enter into judgment with them because of my people and of my heritage Israel, whom they scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

3 And they have cast lots for my people and have given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine that they might drink.

4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily I will return your recompense upon your own head;

5 because ye have taken my silver and my gold and have carried into your temples my precious and beautiful things

6 and ye have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem unto the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border.

7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place where ye have sold them and will return your recompense upon your own head:

8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD has spoken it.

9 Proclaim this among the Gentiles: Prepare war; wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

10 beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong.

11 Assemble yourselves and come, all ye Gentiles, and gather yourselves together round about; there cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

12 Let the Gentiles be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat for there I will sit to judge all the Gentiles round about.

13 Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe; come, go down for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness 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 shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

16 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 sons of Israel.

17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God, that I inhabit Zion, the mountain of my holiness: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and no strangers shall pass through her any more.

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.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the sons of Judah because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall dwell for ever; and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 For I will cleanse the blood of those whom I have not cleansed; for the LORD dwells in Zion.

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.

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.