Joel 3

1 "In those days and at that time, when I will make things better for Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all the nations together and bring them down into the Valley Where the Lord Judges. There I will judge them, because those nations scattered my own people Israel and forced them to live in other nations. They divided up my land

3 and threw lots for my people. They traded boys for prostitutes, and they sold girls to buy wine to drink.

4 "Tyre and Sidon and all of you regions of Philistia! What did you have against me? Were you punishing me for something I did, or were you doing something to hurt me? I will very quickly do to you what you have done to me.

5 You took my silver and gold, and you put my precious treasures in your temples.

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks so that you could send them far from their land.

7 "You sent my people to that faraway place, but I will get them and bring them back, and I will do to you what you have done to them.

8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabean people far away." The Lord said this.

9 Announce this among the nations: Prepare for war! Wake up the soldiers! Let all the men of war come near and attack.

10 Make swords from your plows, and make spears from your hooks for trimming trees. Let even the weak person say, "I am a soldier."

11 All of you nations, hurry, and come together in that place. Lord, send your soldiers to gather the nations.

12 "Wake up, nations, and come to attack in the Valley Where the Lord Judges. There I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

13 Swing the cutting tool, because the harvest is ripe. Come, walk on them as you would walk on grapes to get their juice, because the winepress is full and the barrels are spilling over, because these people are so evil!"

14 There are huge numbers of people in the Valley of Decision, because the Lord's day of judging is near in the Valley of Decision.

15 The sun and the moon will become dark, and the stars will stop shining.

16 The Lord will roar like a lion from Jerusalem; his loud voice will thunder from that city, and the sky and the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a safe place for his people, a strong place of safety for the people of Israel.

17 "Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, live on my holy Mount Zion. Jerusalem will be a holy place, and strangers will never even go through it again.

18 "On that day wine will drip from the mountains, milk will flow from the hills, and water will run through all the ravines of Judah. and give water to the valley of acacia trees.

19 But Egypt will become empty, and Edom an empty desert, because they were cruel to the people of Judah. They killed innocent people in that land.

20 But there will always be people living in Judah, and people will live in Jerusalem from now on.

21 Egypt and Edom killed my people, so I will definitely punish them."

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.