God's Final Judgement
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1 “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.
3 They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.
4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.
5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.
6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.
7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.
8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.
9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”
11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!
12 “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.
13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
In this final chapter of Joel, the words of the prophet concentrate on what will happen as the day of the Lord approaches. It will be a day of destruction and deliverance, a day of decision - not by humans, but by God. It will be worldwide, comprehensive and decisive. All nations and people will be involved.
Joel’s perspective is on how the nations surrounding Israel treated them, so we must be careful to simply extend the words all to apply to our day. However, it remains that God will come and will have final judgement on all people and nations world wide. The good news (or bad depending on which side you are looking at it from) is that God has the final judgment in all matters for all people, not any of us. .
I. The Judgment of God’s People (1-3)
Vs. 1
• “In those days” refers to the time when God restores all creation - “new heavens and new earth,” restoring all to its original intent.
o While God is speaking about this time of restoration, I think it is important to note what they are being restored from: that is God’s judgment.
• Vs. 1 captivity – God took them out of their land at the hands of foreign nations (this proves that God’s promise to Abraham was so much more than land).
• Vs. 2 scattered among the nations – God’s people were once scattered all over the globe before the creation of Israel in 1948.
o However this not the restoration that God is talking about here, because a time is coming when they will again be scattered among the nations.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.
18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.
19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
The Message of Joel, Micah and Habakkuk: Listening to the Voice of God 1. Decision (3:1–8)
The initiative, on this day of reckoning for all the nations, lies entirely with God: I will gather and bring them down. Both verbs are words of sovereign action. The nations may feel safe, miles away in the fastnesses of their own territory. Each nation may keep very much to itself, have little or no dealings with any other nation, and be entirely self-sufficient economically, commercially and militarily; but God says, I will gather them. They may be immensely powerful and prosperous, world leaders with world-class cities and a boom economy—but God says, I will … bring them down (the word ‘may mean to “prostrate”, “topple”, or “humiliate” ’).
God will be concerned, as ‘the Judge of all the earth’ (Gn. 18:25), for one issue: I will enter into judgment … on account of my people and my heritage Israel (2). God is not a disinterested third party; he is not an impartial judge: he is concerned for his people and his own heritage. They belong to him and nobody else; no other nation has the right to do what they like with his own possession.
Three charges in verses 2&3:
they have scattered them among the nations - God has spent infinite resources to provide restoration and time and again people have moved the other way.
they have divided up my land - the land is the Lord’s and everything in it - there will be accountability for those that hoard resources and do not serve the least of these.
they have cast lots for my people - The terrible way they were treated not only in captivity, but think in our modern time about the atrocities of the Holocaust, human trafficking, modern-day slavery, attacks on innocent civilians during wartime such as what we are seeing in Ukraine.
The Message of Joel, Micah and Habakkuk: Listening to the Voice of God c. The Third Charge: They Have Cast Lots for My People (3:3)
A nation does not have to be at war for such appalling behaviour to be a common occurrence and to render that country liable to God’s judgment. One wonders what the LORD will have to say on that day to modern nations, not least in the West, who are abusing (or allowing people to abuse) their young people in a plethora of different ways—from abortion, through sexual and physical violence, to child prostitution, drug-pushing and sheer abandonment.
Shall we all be asked questions about the way we may have scattered God’s people in different ways? Will his scrutiny be directed at the way we deal with property and possessions, especially when we treat them as belonging to us and not to God? Shall we be tackled about any dehumanizing, arrogant or callous behaviour towards those whom Jesus called ‘the least of these my brethren’ (Mt. 25:40), and who are, therefore, God’s own children?
• Even in the midst of all this we not only see God’s promise of restoration, but we continue to see how God keeps His hand of protection upon Israel.
II. The Judgment of the Nations (4-14)
Vv. 4-8 - specific example of the theme of God gathering the nations for judgment
• We see the sovereignty of God in these next four verses, and while God calls out Tyre and Sidon specifically, they can be seen as representing all the enemies of Israel.
o God teaches us that we may not understand why things happen or it may seem as if nothing is being done about evil, God not only knows but God is in control and God will ultimately judge.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
• God will pour out His judgment not only for what they have done to Israel, but also because of their arrogance towards God. We will all be judged by God for what we have and have not done.
o Vs. 4 “and what have ye to do with me.”
o Not only did they not have anything to do with God, but their arrogance led them to believe they could bring recompense (payback) on God.
o We see great arrogance towards God today.
• We should take great comfort but also have reverent fear, in that God gets the last say. This should give us hope in God’s promise of new creation.
SPELL OUT DETAILS vs 4-8
Vs. 9
• God begins to describe this final judgment.
• “Prepare war” there is to be a final battle that is played out between God and His enemies.
Vs. 10
• Notice the description here is just the opposite of what is given to the followers of Christ. What did Christ say to Peter when he drew the sword?
4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
3 He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
o Followers of Christ are able to have peace and rest while there is turmoil all around us.
Vv. 11-12
• “Jehoshaphat” means ‘God judges,’ so literally “come up to the valley of God’s judgment.”
Vv. 13-14
• The day of God’s judgment looms ever near, and even though the day and time no man knows; this I guarantee every person who has breathed a breath of life will stand in judgment before God Almighty.
• The question is are you prepared?
INVITE TO RESPOND IN REPENTANCE