The Eschatological Day Of The Lord -- Part 2
Notes
Transcript
God led Joel to use the locust plague as the backdrop for his message to his people. In the first chapter of Joel, he urged the people to pay attention to what God was saying to them through their contemporary circumstances. Joel identified the locust plague as the “day of the Lord.” The “day of the Lord” in Scripture is a day of judgment and blessing. It could refer to either a contemporary day, an impending day, or the future day of the Lord (also known as the eschatological day of the Lord).
In Joel’s day, the people of God repented of their sin of spiritual half-heartedness. So, God wonderfully restored his people because of their genuine repentance.
Moreover, as we shall see today, God explained—through Joel—the sequence of events that will happen surrounding the day of the Lord, that great and ultimate day of God’s judgment for sinners and blessing for his people.
Let’s read about the eschatological day of the Lord in Joel 2:28-3:21:
28 “It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, Your old men will have dreams, Your young men will see visions.
29 “And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 “The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 “And it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Will be saved; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, Just as the Lord has said, Even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.
3 “They have also cast lots for My people, Traded a boy for a prostitute, And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.
4 Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will return your retribution on your head!
5 Since you have taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious treasures to your temples,
6 and sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory,
7 behold, I am going to stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head.
8 I will also sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.
9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors! Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, Lord, Your warriors.
12 Let the nations be awakened And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the wine 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 moon have become dark, And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge for His people, And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, Dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will no longer pass through it.
18 And on that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the Lord dwells in Zion.
Martha E. Garrett tells the story of her daughter’s station wagon that coughed and choked all the way to the Christian bookstore in the mall. While they stood at the bookstore counter, Martha’s daughter Connie moaned, “I’m not sure we can make it home in the station wagon. If only Dave had driven the station wagon and left the Dodge Spirit for us!”
At that moment Connie glanced outside the store and happened to see her husband, Dave, rush by on his way to the restaurant next door.
“Dave! Dave!” she called. “Help! We need the Spirit.”
The clerk came to the counter at that moment. Thinking she had just overheard a devout and desperate prayer, her eyes opened wide—until Connie and Dave exchanged car keys.
That humorous story illustrates that often there is a confusion about the Spirit—not Dave and Connie’s car but the Holy Spirit.
Interestingly, Joel wrote about the Holy Spirit in his book. But, what is even more interesting is that Joel did not write about the First Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, he did write about the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, a day known as the day of the Lord.
Joel 2:28-3:21 gives us the sequence of events that will happen surrounding the day of the Lord.
I. Before the Day of the Lord, the Spirit Is Poured Out (2:28-32)
I. Before the Day of the Lord, the Spirit Is Poured Out (2:28-32)
First, before the day of the Lord, the Spirit is poured out.
James Montgomery Boice writes in his commentary regarding this section of Joel’s prophecy:
It is hard to handle prophecy. This is because the prophecies often seem obscure to us; and even if their meaning is clear, we cannot always be sure to what period of history the words apply. To confuse matters further, the Bible itself sometimes takes the prophecies in more than one way. They can be applied to a current event in Israel, for example; but they can also be referred to a future Day of the Lord.
While recognizing this, we know nevertheless that many Old Testament prophecies are interpreted to us by the New Testament, so that, whatever our problems may be with other passages, these at least are certain. Of these clear passages, none is more certain than Joel 2:28–32, a passage interpreted by the apostle Peter as applying to the events at Pentecost.
Prior to Jesus’ ascension into heaven, he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5). Fifty days after the resurrection, on the Day of Pentecost, as the disciples were waiting together in Jerusalem, we read in Acts 2:2–4:
2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, distributing themselves, and a tongue rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.
When the people of Jerusalem heard the sound, they came to investigate, and Peter preached the first sermon after the resurrection and ascension of Christ to the assembled crowd.
The people of Jerusalem, who were “from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) thought that the disciples were drunk because the people of Jerusalem heard the disciples speaking to each of them in their own language. Acts records this about that day.
15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the third hour of the day;
16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all Mankind; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, And your old men will Have dreams;
18 and Even on My male and female Servants I will pour out My spirit in those days, And they will prophesy.
19 ‘And I will display wonders in the sky above And signs on the earth below, Blood, fire, and vapor of smoke.
20 ‘The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 ‘And it shall be that Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Clearly, Peter and the other disciples with him viewed that Day of Pentecost as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. A new era started on that day. A era in which the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers. Just as the disciples started speaking and witnessing about Jesus Christ, we too are expected be witnesses.
Dr. Boice makes the fascinating observation that “in each of nine cases [in the book of Acts] in which it is said that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, the consequence of that filling was a witness to Jesus Christ.”
Since that Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on believers which have enabled them to repent from sin. The clear mark of a person receiving the Holy Spirit is witnessing to the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is in this sense that the words spoken by Joel that “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” must be taken. Prophecy in this sense means “to forthtell” rather than “to foretell.”
So, before the day of the Lord, the Spirit is poured out on all those who become believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
II. On the Day of the Lord, Judgment Is Poured Out (3:1-16)
II. On the Day of the Lord, Judgment Is Poured Out (3:1-16)
Second, on the day of the Lord, judgment is poured out.
Judgment is poured out on unbelievers. I want to look at the setting of the judgment, and the summons to the judgment.
A. The Setting for the Judgment (3:1-8)
A. The Setting for the Judgment (3:1-8)
First, look at the setting for the judgment.
On that great day of the Lord, Joel said in Joel 3:1-2:
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.
It appears that there will be several fulfillments
First, in the return of the Jews after the exile; second, in the redemption brought by Jesus Christ at his coming; and third, it will reach its climax in that great and final day of the Lord when the curse for sin is totally removed from God’s people and judgment will be poured out on unbelievers.
God’s judgment on unbelievers, Joel says, will take place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. O. Palmer Robertson writes, “The phrase literally means, ‘the valley where the Lord will judge.’ No particular place in Palestine is known as the ‘Valley of Jehoshaphat.’” However, it is clear that on that great and final day of the Lord, there will be a judgment on unbelievers where the Lord will judge them in a place known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
B. The Summons to the Judgment (3:9-16)
B. The Summons to the Judgment (3:9-16)
And second, look at the summons to the judgment.
God issues a summons to all the unbelieving nations of people to come for judgment. It comes in the form of a call for a holy war. God does not summons unbelievers to judgment when they believe themselves to be adequately prepared to defend themselves. In fact, God is mocking them by encouraging them to take up arms against him. He says in verses 9-11:
9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for holy war; stir up the warriors! Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, Lord, Your warriors.
God then uses the imagery of harvesting as the setting for the final judgment. He knows when the season is ready to harvest the judgment of unbelievers.
He says in verses 12-13:
12 Let the nations be awakened And come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I will sit to judge All the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
Joel goes on to say”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
At times, evangelists and preachers will use this verse to encourage sinners, the unrepentant, to turn from their sins and turn to the Lord.
This verse does not say this at all. It is not a valley of decision where sinners have a chance or even a last chance to repent.
As Dr. Boice says, “This is not the decision of the evangelistic meeting. It is the decision of the court, and the one making the decision is not the one who has rejected Christ but the Christ he or she has rejected. This is God’s decision, a decision that will determine people’s destinies forever.”
Joel goes on to say:
15 The sun and moon have become dark, And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge for His people, And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
This is what the day will look like for those who will experience this day of God’s judgment.
For those who have repented and trusted God, their experience will be vastly different.
16 The Lord roars from Zion And utters His voice from Jerusalem, And the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge for His people, And a stronghold for the sons of Israel.
So, on the day of the Lord, judgment is poured out on unbelievers. There will be no second chance for them to turn to Jesus in faith and repentance.
III. After the Day of the Lord, Blessing Is Poured Out (3:17-21)
III. After the Day of the Lord, Blessing Is Poured Out (3:17-21)
And third, we see blessings poured out after the day of the Lord.
Joel mentions four blessings that will be poured out on believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
A. There Will Be a Holy City (3:17)
A. There Will Be a Holy City (3:17)
First, there will be a holy city.
Verse 17 reads:
17 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, Dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, And strangers will no longer pass through it.
After that day of the Lord, God’s dwelling place will be Zion, His holy mountian. Zion refers to Jerusalem which will be holy. We see a better view of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very valuable stone, like a stone of crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed;
26 and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
We see the new Jerusalem and
B. There Will Be a Restored Land (3:18-19)
B. There Will Be a Restored Land (3:18-19)
Second, there will be a restored land.
If you have ever wondered what living in Eden was like, this is when we get to experience it. Joel writes:
18 And on that day The mountains will drip with sweet wine, And the hills will flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water; And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord And water the Valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a wasteland, And Edom will become a desolate wilderness, Because of the violence done to the sons of Judah, In whose land they have shed innocent blood.
Eden will be back on earth and in contrast, Egypt will become desolate because of the way they treated Israel.
A new Jerusalem, Eden back on earth and
C. There Will Be a Cleansed People (3:20-21a)
C. There Will Be a Cleansed People (3:20-21a)
Third, there will be a cleansed people.
Joel says the new Jerusalem will be in the new garden of Eden and the people of God will live in this place forever. The people can live there because they have been cleansed.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, And Jerusalem for all generations.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the Lord dwells in Zion.
God also reiterates that He will avenge His people by delivering His judgment against those who persecuted His people.
D. There Will Be a Glorious King (3:21b)
D. There Will Be a Glorious King (3:21b)
And fourth, there will be a glorious king.
As glorious as everything sounds in these last few verses, there is something that is even better.
21 And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the Lord dwells in Zion.
I think what makes Eden such a paradise is the fact that God will also dwell with His people forever. He isn’t just going to have a presence in a tabernacle. He will actually inhabit, dwell with, reside with His people in the new land.
In remembering what we have read and learned from Joel, we should live our lives in light of the ultimate day of the Lord.
Let me close with a word from Dr. Robertson:
Joel has taken the message of the Lord full cycle. Judgement begins with the house of God, starting now in this life. Repentance presents the hope of restoration for God’s people.
Restoration of the years the locust has eaten staggers the imagination, and is exceeded only by the outpouring of God’s Spirit on all flesh. Once the Spirit has been poured out, the way is clear for the arrival of the final Day of Judgement, the last manifestation of the Day of the LORD. On that one day, the wicked will be utterly destroyed and the righteous will stand vindicated for ever in his presence. This message presents great hope for God’s people, while also sending forth a warning to all the nations of the earth, a warning that must be heeded.
An annotated bibliography of selected works on Joel
Let’s pray.
