Powerful Vindication

Introduction

Please turn in your Bibles to Joel 3. We will be finishing our time in this wonderful little book together this morning.

READ Joel 3. PRAY.

Over the last few weeks, with a break for Mike Wingfield, we have been making our way through this small book of Joel. We’ve seen the Prophet Joel both prefigure and prophesy the Day of the Lord, this magnificent and terrifying day of Judgment, through a Locust Plague that Israel was experiencing.

He was used by God to call them to Lament in chapter 1.

To Repent, not just outwardly, but inwardly, in chapter 2.

We then saw last week, that the great and terrible Day of the Lord, is no longer judgment, but it becomes a Day of Salvation only to those who call upon the name of the Lord.

After spending several weeks in the Near/Far fulfillment of prophecy, our passage today is firmly fixed in the future, looking towards the coming Day of the Lord.

If you’re anything like me, watching what has been going on in Israel in the last week has been heartbreaking. There hasn’t been a day where I haven’t been weeping while watching the news. It makes me sick to my stomach to see people all over the world, whether Australia, London, Paris, New York, LA, Chicago, Dearborne, celebrate the massacre that took place, and then call for a third intifada, which is essentially the annihilation of any Jew anywhere.

Where do we go for hope? Where do we find the strength to stare this evil face to face and say “not today”? It shouldn’t be surprising to us, but the answer remains, we look to the Lord’s return.

When Christ returns, and sets all things right is the greatest motivation for faithful living. In fact, as we’ll see in Joel’s prophecy, this Great Day was the hope and encouragement that they needed to carry on after the locust plague.

As we look at this text today we’ll see:

The Promise of eventual vindication is great motivation for the People of God to remain faithful and to continue to trust Him. (say it twice and slower).

We’ll break it down in three different movements:

His Righteous Indignation over His Enemies.

His Righteous Judgment Carried Out.

His Righteous Kingdom.

“In those days and at that time”. Here we see that we are talking about a specific time, namely the time of verse 31 and 32 of chapter 2.

His righteous indignation over His enemies (vv. 1-8).

As we look to His indignation, we need to define “the Valley of Jehoshaphat”. In all of biblical archaeology, nothing has been found in Israel to indicate that there has ever been any specific place named “the Valley of Jehoshaphat”. While, I believe it to be a real place (we’ll see this later on), we can define it based on its context within Joel and the meaning of the name “Jehoshaphat”.

Jehoshaphat means “The Lord has Judged”.

We see by verse 2 and verse 12, that the Lord enters into judgment with the nations at this valley.

Many of you probably are already thinking of what it could be, but before we get there, we need to see why the Lord judges the nations.

We see it, then, from verse three that God is entering into judgement with the nations based on how they treat His people and His Land.

Who are His People and His Land?

Beginning with Abraham

Genesis 12:1–3 “The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Genesis 17:8.

Isaac: Genesis 26:3.

Jacob:

Genesis 28:20-22. At Bethel.

Genesis 35:11-12. His return to Bethel.

All the Israelites

Deuteronomy 7:6-8.

Jerusalem.

Deut. 12:11.

1 Kings 8:20, 29.

Even in their disobedience, God promises to bring the Israelites back into the land.

Deuteronomy 30:1–6 CSB

“When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today, then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there. The Lord your God will bring you into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.

The way that the nations deal with them is important to God.

Divided it up. (The People and the Land are connect).

The Israelites were never able to conquer the entire portion of the Land that God had promised them. Their enemies continuously would try and conquer, deport, and divide the land between them. Even now, the world continues to try and divide it up into “so-called” two state solutions. Haven’t we seen how God has taken that off the table?

His Retribution on His Enemies.

We see quite a few of Israel’s enemies over the years here:

Tyre, Sidon, Philistia, and even the Greeks.

Each of these groups either enslaved the Jewish People or were involved in the slave trade throughout the Mediterranean region.

Later on we see Egypt and Edom (v. 19). These two probably being the biggest enemies of Israel.

Egypt and the Exodus. They also made raids along the southern border of Israel multiple times.

Edom, well this is just the descendants of Esau. The Israelites have had issues with the Edomites from the time they left Egypt.

Numbers 20:21 “Edom refused to allow Israel to travel through their territory, and Israel turned away from them.”

While they truly had issues with all of these people groups, because they are a part of poetic prophecy they can be assumed to be representative of Israel’s enemies of the ages.

This is seen by the fact that the LORD says to gather “all the nations” in verse 2 and in verse 11.

Each of these nations would face swift retribution from the Lord.

It seems as though they are trying to exact revenge on the Lord. The Lord quickly turns that around.

They receive exactly what they gave to God’s People (v. 8).

The Regathering of Israel coincides with the judgment of the nations (v.7).

Signifies to the Enemies of God that their judgment is coming (v.7).

So the nations should have taken note in 1948.

Deuteronomy 30:7 “The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.”

So what is God going to do with His enemies?

His Righteous Judgment Carried Out (vv. 9-16).

We see that God tells the readers of Joel’s prophecy to “Proclaim this among the nations...” Because this is speaking of a prophetic future that we have yet to experience, the application remains for us. It can be uncomfortable, at best, to proclaim the Lord’s judgment even when we are proclaiming the Gospel, but it is necessary.

We live in a world where everyone is set up as their own god. They do everything to live their own truth. As Romans says, “professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God, for that of the creature.”

God’s judgment is coming.

We catch a glimpse at what this judgement is based on the fact that God calls them out for a “holy war” in verse 9.

Your translation may say “prepare for war”. While that is there, that may not be the entire thrust of the Hebrew.

the wording is “Kadosh Milhamah”.

Kadosh means “Holy” or “sanctify”.

This also points out something that we don’t necessarily understand in the West as much as they do in the Middle East.

Conflicts between people groups, as we see in the Bible, are often seen as conflicts between gods.

This is why when people act a certain way that seems irrational or purely evil, it doesn’t make sense to us.

We’ve become “secular minded” in our “separation of church and state” age, so much so that we don’t realize that just because we separate God from our politics in our minds, there is always a spiritual conflict going on.

The older cultures and societies in our world get this.

I think we as Christians need to recover that mindset when we look at any conflict in this world, be it COVID or Abortion, So called “Social Justice” or LGBTQ+. Nothing is excluded from having spiritual implications.

This Holy War, conflict between gods, maybe seen in how the enemies of God’s People are trying to “pay back” God in verse 4.

This is why Muslims won’t let anything be built higher than their Mosques. If something is, they’ll build a spire or a taller building.

As we said earlier this “Holy War” takes place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Notice that Joel uses the Kingdom language that Isaiah uses but in reverse.

Isaiah 2:4 “He will settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.”

Joel 3:10 “Beat your plows into swords and your pruning knives into spears. Let even the weakling say, “I am a warrior.””

Here, God is saying “get ready for war. You are fighting against my people and my land. I am coming.”

This valley is likely the Kidron Valley. That is the valley in all of the beautiful pictures of the Old city of Jerusalem. Looking from the Mount of Olives over to the Temple Mount where the Dome of the Rock is.

We see this war take place in several places:

Its main battle field will be Jerusalem and the Kidron.

Zechariah 12:1-9.

Zechariah 14:1-9.

In reality, this battle is going to be huge.

Revelation 14:19–20 “So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.”

Revelation 16:16 “So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.”

Megiddo is in the north of Israel and following the 180 miles, it goes all the way passed the Dead Sea in the south of Israel.

Holy Refuge for the Faithful (vv. 15-16).

All those who call on Him (v. 32), can rest assured that they will be safe during the Day.

The Coming Signs in the heavens.

Jesus talks about these: Matthew 24:29-31.

His Righteous Kingdom (vv. 17-21).

His Kingdom is Holy.

The Lord dwells there!

Zechariah 14:9 “On that day the Lord will become King over the whole earth—the Lord alone, and his name alone.”

Revelation 20:4-6.

His Kingdom is Plentiful.

the Curse of the Ground is abated.

Familiar words about the land (v.18).

Exodus 3:8 “and I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.”

Numbers 14:8 “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us.”

Deuteronomy 31:20 “When I bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant.”

I can’t help but to think that this stands in stark contrast with the devastation of the locust plague. What hope do you think that provided?

The Kingdom Age will be an age of plenty

Isaiah 11:6-9.

Isaiah 65:17-25.

Amos 9:11-15.

Through His Kingdom, God’s People are Vindicated.

In verses 19-21, we see that Israel’s enemies’ lands will be desolate because of the violence (“Hamas” in Hebrew), and shedding innocent blood.

Ezekiel 35.

But Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever.

The Lord will avenge His People.

Conclusion.

What a special way to end? Not only did we see the beauty of Christ’s Kingdom, but God’s People are encouraged that the LORD dwells in Zion, in His Land, with His People.

There is a song that I want to play for you. The lyrics will be on the screen.

Listen for these words: “So we pray for the peace, but look to the East, for the Sun rises sudden and fierce. Every prophet and priest, and King in the city will look on the one they have pierced. We will mourn for the one we have pierced.”

Pray.