The nations judged
Joel 3
21 verses≈ 4 minBSB
Images are artistic interpretations.
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Where we are
- 1The locustsA ruined land, and a call to cry out
- 2:1–17The Day of the LORDAn army, and ‘return to Me’
- 2:18–32The LORD answersPlenty restored, His Spirit poured out
- 3The nations judgedThe valley of decision, and Zion’s springChapter 3
The LORD Judges the Nations
“Yes, in those days and at that time,
when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from captivity,
I will gather all the nations
and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
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God
There I will enter into judgment against them
concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel,
whom they have scattered among the nations
as they divided up My land.
They cast lots for My people;
they bartered a boy for a prostitute
and sold a girl for wine to drink.
God
Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads. I will sell your sons and daughters into the hands of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans—to a distant nation.” Indeed, the LORD has spoken.
Stylised map · locations approximate
On the map
Tyre, Sidon and the far markets
Tyre and Sidon up the coast, Philistia to the southwest. Javan, the Greek coastlands, lay far across the sea; the Sabeans far to the south in Arabia. Egypt and Edom come back in 3:19.
Reflect
Counted cheap
The LORD notices the children traded away for a drink (3:3). Who is treated as cheap around you, and what would it look like to treat them as His?
Proclaim this among the nations:
“Prepare for war;
rouse the mighty men;
let all the men of war
advance and attack!
God
Beat your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’
Come quickly, all you surrounding nations,
and gather yourselves.
Bring down Your mighty ones,
O LORD.
Let the nations be roused
and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit down
to judge all the nations on every side.
God
Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Question
Quick question
The valley has a name, and the name is a clue.
What does the name Jehoshaphat mean?
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.
Joel
The LORD will roar from Zion
and raise His voice from Jerusalem;
heaven and earth will tremble.
But the LORD will be a refuge for His people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Joel 3:16
Blessings for God’s People
Then you will know that I am the LORD your God,
who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
never again to be overrun by foreigners.
And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
All the streams of Judah will run with water,
and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD
to water the Valley of Acacias.
0:13
Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain
Egypt will become desolate,
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they shed innocent blood.
God
But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
For I will avenge their blood,
which I have not yet avenged.”
For the LORD dwells in Zion.
You’ve experienced
Joel 3
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A verse to carry with you
But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
Joel 3:16
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