The Valley of Decision

The Valley of Decision

Joel 3:1-16

The theme of the book of Joel is The Day of the Lord. We see that Day referenced throughout the book. We see it in 1:15, 2:1, 2:11, 2:31, & 3:14. Joel describes this day as a day of destruction, darkness, gloominess, great, & terrible. He asks, “Who can endure it?” In chapter three we see The Day of the Lord described in greater detail. This isn’t just the final chapter of Joel’s book; it is the final chapter of history.

It is a sobering portion of Scripture. When we read it, we should be moved to fear and reverence before the Lord. There are reasons you don’t hear much preaching from the minor prophets. First, it’s difficult to study them. A preacher must wrestle with these passages. He must dig deep to understand them, and he must be careful in how he presents them. Second, the prophets often preached on judgment and hell. Many preachers today don’t want to preach on those subjects.

I am glad the Lord has included these things in His Word. It is by the grace of God that Joel chapter three is shared with us. I’ll share with you why. Because God has revealed to us what will happen when God finishes with this world, we are able to prepare ourselves. We are able to look at history backwards. We know what will happen on the day of the Lord. Because we know what will happen, we know what to expect. Because we know what to expect we can prepare ourselves. That’s good news.

If I told you what was going to be on the test tomorrow, wouldn’t you appreciate that? You’d have no excuse to fail. Listen friend, I’m going to share with you this morning what will happen on the Day of the Lord. I’m going to tell you what will happen in the Valley of Decision. For that reason, no one in this room will have an excuse if when that day comes, they are unprepared. That’s how good God is! He tells us upfront what will happen. This morning let’s look at four things that will happen on the Day of the Lord in the Valley of Decision.

1. God will repay those who have mistreated His people (1-3).

A. There is no salvation of God’s people without the destruction of God’s enemies.

In verse 1 you see the phrase “in those says”. That refers to the time of tribulation and restoration we saw in chapter two. God is going to restore this world back to Himself, Christ will rule from Jerusalem and the people of God will have unprecedented peace. The restoration of Judah is a sign to the rest of the world that judgment is coming.

There have been many attempts to exterminate the Jewish nation. The Assyrians destroyed the Southern Kingdom in 721 BC. The Babylonians destroyed the Northern kingdom in 586 BC. When we come to the New Testament, we see the Greeks ruling over the Jewish people. Following that for many years the Jews were a people without a nation. The maniac Hitler tortured and killed millions of Jews. In1948 the nation of Israel resurfaced as its own independent state. Many people believed that was a sign that the end of the world was near. I’m not so sure about that. But what it does prove is that God continues to restore a nation that many have tried to remove from the face of the earth. The restoration of that nation should be a reminder to everyone that one day Christ will rule this earth from a throne in Jerusalem. In order to that Christ will defeat all His enemies.

Look at verse two. God says He will gather all the nations who scattered His people and divided up His land. He will take them to the valley of Jehoshaphat. That literally means “YHWH is Judge”. God will take these nations who mistreated His people and stole His land and He will judge them himself. If God doesn’t judge them, they will do it again. He has warned the nations. He has been patient with the nations. They continue to commit the same sins over and over. He must judge them so that His people can have peace.

B. The attack on God’s people was an attack on God Himself.

Do you remember when Jesus asked Saul of tarsus “Why are you persecuting Me?” Saul was persecuting Christians. Because Christians belong to Christ, Paul was persecuting Christ too. When these ungodly nations were doing ungodly things to what belonged to God, they were attacking God Himself.

Notice God says it was:

My people (2)

My heritage (2)

My land (2)

My silver & gold (5)

My treasures (5)

Zechariah 2:8 says

for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

When someone harms one who belongs to God its as if that person has stuck their finger into the very eye of God. This is not just true for the Jewish audience Joel was writing to. It’s true for all who belong to Christ. This truth should enable us to turn the other cheek. It should enable us to forgive our enemies. It should enable us to pray for those who use us. Those who attack that which belongs to god have no idea of the trouble they are getting themselves into.

C. God’s people had been treated in unspeakable ways.

Look at verse three. They were sold into slavery. There were so many Jewish salves that people were gambling for them. They weren’t selling for very much at all.

A small boy could be bought with what it would cost to spend the night with a prostitute. Verse 3 probably means a boy slave was traded to a prostitute for a night with her. That means that in all likelihood that child was sold into prostitution.

A girl was sold for a bottle of wine.

The people of God were being treated like animals or commodities. The depravity of man is on full display here. These children had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. Exodus 21:16 says if a person kidnaps someone and sells them into slavery that person should be put to death. Friend, if you could see the horrible things God sees you would have no problem believing in hell. When men are given the freedom to do as they will they will display unbridled depravity.

2. God will act as Prosecutor & Judge (4-8).

A. He questions the nations (4).

He singles out Tyre, Zidon and the areas of Palestine (Philistia). We may wonder why he singles these nations out. There were more well-known oppressors of God’s people like Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and Persia. The fact that God mentions lesser known oppressors implies that the greater oppressors can certainly expect judgment as well.

He asks these nations what He has done to them. He asks them if they are trying to pay Him back because of some sin He has committed against them. God tells them if they are paying Him back then He too will pay them back swiftly.

To be clear these nations didn’t think they were attacking the God of the universe. They thought they were attacking a people. There is a warning for us here. As we have already mentioned, to attack God’s people is to attack Him. The church of Christ is called His Bride. Any husband knows if you attack his bride you attack Him. The church of God is also called the family of God, or the children of God. Any parent knows that if you attack their child you have attacked them as well. We cannot separate God’s people from God Himself.

Do you remember the parable of the sheep and the goats? On the day of judgment Jesus says:

I was hungry and you would not feed me.

I was thirsty and you would not give me a drink.

I was a stranger and you would not take me in.

I was naked and you would not clothe me.

I was in prison and you would not visit me.

They ask Jesus “When did we do this?”

Jesus responds, “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

B. He charges the nations (5-6).

They have stolen His silver, His gold and His riches. They had taken wealth from the Jewish people. We don’t know exactly what Joel is referring to, but it was normal for nations to loot other conquered nations. The spoils of war were taken by conquering armies.

They have sold Jewish people into slavery. Not only had they sold them into slavery, but they had sold them to people far away. They sold them to Greek slave traders. This made it unlikely that these people would ever be able to return home.

These are serious charges God lays against these nations.

You have stolen my wealth!

You have stolen my people!

You have sold my people into slavery in distant lands!

C. He renders His verdict (7-8).

The punishment will match the crime. To be clear, what we see here is an earthly judgment. There would be earthly consequences for these nations. God says He will do to these nations what they have done to Judah. He will sell their people into slavery in distant lands, to the Sabeans which was in Southern Arabia. These nations were used to dwelling beside the sea. God was going to send them to the middle of the desert.

What goes around comes around. You reap what you sow. The worldwide slave trade is a perfect example of these. Because of greed nations have throughout history engaged in slavery. The benefits of slavery have always been far less than cost of slavery. It cost our nation many lives, and we are still reaping the consequences of it over 150 years later.

As I mentioned earlier, this is an earthly judgment. In a moment we will see eternal judgment. But let’s consider something here.

The earthly discipline we receive should remind us that one day we will stand before God and give account for our actions. We know there are consequences for our actions. We see them in this life. Those earthly consequences should motivate us to be prepare ourselves for the day we stand before God. On that day, God will be the One asking the questions, making the charges and rendering the verdict.

3. God will summon all His enemies (9-13).

A. He tells the nations to prepare themselves.

God calls for all the ungodly nations to meet Him for a battle. The word “prepare” means “sanctify”. It refers to the custom of praying to one’s god and making sacrifices as well. God not only wants these nations to come but He wants them to come with the blessings of their gods. He wants them to come in the power of their gods.

He tells them to gather their mighty men and hurry up and meet Him. This isn’t a good strategy for war. Usually you don’t want the enemy to know when you’re attacking. The element of surprise is an important strategy in warfare. But God isn’t concerned about that. He doesn’t want a single soldier to be asleep or unaware. He wants the world to tell their gods, tell their mighty men and be prepared for what is about to take place. Look at verse 12 and you’ll see that:

“Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat”.

B. He tells the nations to arm themselves (10).

After mentioning the mighty warriors in verse nine, he mentioned the weak men in verse ten. These men probably didn’t know how to fight and didn’t even have weapons. They were likely just farmers. But god knows these nations need all the help they can get. So, the Lord tells them to enlist even the weak in the army. Because they don’t have weapons, they are to turn their farming tools into weapons. God tells them to grab a hoe, grab a shovel and come down to fight.

You probably recognize this language because it’s a reversal of what Isaiah 2:4 says regarding the return of Christ. When Christ returns His people will turn their weapons into farming tools because peace will fill the earth. Before Christ returns the enemies of God should turn their farming tools into weapons to be prepared for the war they will have with God.

There is some sarcasm in verse ten as well. If you could picture this army of farmers holding up their shovels and hoes you could understand the sarcasm better. God says once these weak men assemble themselves before Him, they should shout “We are strong!”

The truth is not even the mighty soldiers are strong before God.

C. God tells them to assemble themselves (11).

You can’t help but think of Psalm 2 when you read this. Psalm 2:1-4 says:

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

I think it’s interesting that God waits until everyone is there. He isn’t threatened at all.

God has given them warning the battle is coming.

God has allowed them to call on their gods.

God has encouraged them to recruit more soldiers and create new weapons.

God has let them talk- “We are strong!”

God has waited until they all arrive.

All of this speaks to the power of our great God. God isn’t intimidated. God is never afraid. All the world powers could aim all the world’s weapons at God simultaneously and He would not be the least bit afraid. There is no kryptonite for Our God. There is no weakness in Him. It is not possible for Him to be harmed, much less killed.

4. God will roar as a lion (13-16).

A. The Lord’s roar (16).

In verse 16 we see the Lord roaring out of Jerusalem. Christ is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. He came the first time as a lamb. He will return as a lion. The roar of a lion immediately puts fear into the heart of its prey.

He roars to get our attention.

He roars because He is angry.

He roars because He is about to judge.

The roar is symbolic of the word of Christ. The Bible says when Christ returns a sword shall proceed out of His mouth. In other words, He will simply speak judgment on His enemies.

Revelation 19:15 says

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

The weak enemies of God are shouting “We are strong!” and over their shouts comes the roar of Christ, silencing the nations.

B. The Lord’s harvest (13).

Ironically, the Lord uses a farming tool for His judgment. He says to put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

What is the harvest? The harvest is the judgment of God upon the earth. The fact that it is ripe means that the sinfulness of mankind has reached the capacity to which God will endure. The press is full, it’s overflowing because their wickedness is great.

Jesus used harvest language to describe the judgment of the world in Matthew 13.

Jesus said

The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God will have enough of this sinful world one day. When He does, He will summon the world before Himself and it will be harvesttime.

C. The Lord’s decision (14).

Joel calls the place of God’s judgment on the world the valley of decision. Don’t misunderstand what he is saying. Some think this means it’s time for people to make a decision for the Lord. That’s not what Joel means at all. The decision has already been made. This is God’s decision to judge the world, not man’s decision to follow the Lord. When Christ returns it’s too late for anyone to make a decision. When Christ returns your eternity is set.

I want you to look at verse 16. When Christ returns the heaven and earth will shake. They will tremble. This symbolizes the fear people will have of Him. But if you look at the second half of verse 16 it says “but the Lord will be the hope of His people...”

If we are born again, we have nothing to fear when Christ roars. His roar not only communicates judgment on His enemies, but it also communicates protection for His people. The lion is our lamb. He took the punishment for our sins on the cross. He lived for us, He died for us, He rose again for us. He has drawn us to Himself and we have placed our faith in Him. Because of that we have nothing to fear on the day God decides to judge this world.

What about you friend? Are you saved? There is no reason for you not to be prepared for this day. We have been told what will happen.

God will repay those who have mistreated His people. Join His people! Be born into the family of God!

God will act as prosecutor and judge. You know what He requires. He requires faith and repentance.

God will summon all of His enemies. Become a friend of God through faith in Christ!

God will roar as a lion. Make sure you are behind Him as His own and not before Him as His enemy.