For behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall turn again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
Joel's final chapter opens with a time marker. God names a coming day when He will reverse the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. Older translations read "turn again the captivity," and the writers below use that wording. Two questions follow. When are "those days"? And what captivity does God still have to turn back?
The opening words fix a time near the end of history. That time has its own character, and it comes before the age of blessing.
In Joel 3 the Spirit sets out the circumstances of the last days in more detail. These are the days when God would bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. This period comes before the time of peace and blessing, when the curse will be taken away completely. It is the judgment of the nations. That judgment is needed to defend God's rights over His oppressed people. It also shows the nations what He is in His government of the earth.
The natural objection is that Judah did come home from Babylon long ago. One writer answers that the return recorded in history never matched what the prophets promised.
The captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is no real difficulty. In a certain sense the Jews have never yet come back to the land in the way the prophets give them ground to expect. They are still suffering the results of being led captive over and over again, and in that sense they still count as captives... God dates the captivity from the day they were carried away from Palestine and scattered through all lands — first by the Babylonians, then by the Romans. They may do well for themselves in the lands of the Gentiles... But their captivity turns back only when God restores them by His power and mercy, and that has not yet happened.
The verse names Judah and Jerusalem, not the whole nation. That narrowing is deliberate, and it does not shut anyone out.
Clearly this cannot yet have happened, for the captivity of His people is not yet ended. They are still scattered in the great dispersion among the nations of the earth. The day when God brings back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is still future. Joel does not name Israel, the ten tribes, here, but the prophecy includes them; they too will come back. He names only Judah because he addressed his prophecy to Judah and Jerusalem.
There is a reason the promise centres on that one city.
Before the full blessing of His people, God must take up His direct government of them again, in the same place where He had given it up. He takes possession once more of the seat of that government — a seat He had chosen Himself.
The little word "when" carries weight. What God does for His city sets the date for what He does with the nations. The same order shows up elsewhere in the prophets.
Notice that in both Joel and Zechariah the restoring and comfort of the Land depend on a first restoring of Judah and Jerusalem... Deliverance is in Mount Zion and Jerusalem. So the prophet says that in those days, when God brings back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem — the first thing — He will then gather all nations and plead with them. Psalm 126 keeps the same order: "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion."
God does not gather the nations at random. He gives His reason, and it reaches back to how they treated a people He calls His own.
The time in view is the one when the Lord will bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem. God declares that at that time He will also gather all nations. His purpose in gathering them is to plead with them for Israel, His people and His heritage, whom they have oppressed so cruelly.
God takes these wrongs personally. He "recounts all the grievances of His people as done to Himself" (J. N. Darby).
For all the judgment that follows, the chapter begins as good news for the people addressed.
Joel 3 opens with words of comfort and consolation for the Israel of the future... So the reader will see how well the voices of the prophets agree with the song of Moses. Both of them set out and establish the great truth of Israel's future restoration, supremacy and glory — fully, clearly and beyond dispute.
- When — "those days" are the last days, the stretch that comes before the time of peace when the curse is lifted.
- Whose — the restoring named here belongs to Judah and Jerusalem. The ten tribes are not the subject here, but the promise still includes them.
- What — the captivity in view still runs. God counts it from the scattering by Babylon and Rome, and only His power ends it.
- Then — the restoring of Judah and Jerusalem comes first; the gathering of the nations follows from it.
- Why — God pleads with the nations for a people He calls His heritage, treating their grievances as done to Himself.
I will also gather all the nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people and mine inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and they have parted my land;
Joel 3 promises that God will restore Judah and Jerusalem. In the same breath He summons the nations to one valley to answer for what they did to His people and His land. Two questions follow. When does this happen, and where is this valley?
The verse is chained to the clause before it — this judgment falls at the moment God brings back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem. One writer treats that clause as a dating device, and draws a plain conclusion from the state of the Jewish people today:
The first verse tells us when Jehovah will do what He announces in the next two verses. It will be in those days, in that time, when God brings back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. So this cannot have happened yet, because the captivity of His people is not yet over. They are still scattered in the great dispersion among the nations of the earth... One day the heavens will be silent no longer. Jehovah in His power will begin to fulfil His promises, and their captivity will end. That will mean judgment for the nations.
The name of the valley says what happens there:
Here God also names the place where this great judgment of the nations will happen. It will be in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Translated, the word means "Jehovah judges."
But where is it? One writer looks close to Jerusalem, and wonders whether the ground itself still has to be made:
We must look for the valley of Jehoshaphat close to Jerusalem. Most people place it in the Kidron valley, east of the city. It may not exist yet... When the Lord appears, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in that day. The Mount of Olives will then split down the middle, forming a very great valley (Zech. 14:4). This great valley may be the valley where the Lord judges the nations.
Notice how often God says "My" here — My people, My heritage, My land. Two charges follow: they scattered His people and carved up His land. The case is about His own rights:
This is the judgment of the nations. It is needed to vindicate the rights of God over His oppressed people, and to show the nations what He is in His government of the earth... There He will plead in His power with all the nations that dispute His rights. He shows Himself among His people, dwelling with them, and maintaining their rights as belonging to Himself. Israel is His inheritance... There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered, and for His land, which they had divided up.
God is not a distant judge here. He dwells in the middle of this people:
From the moment God is in Israel, He identifies Himself with His people. So He treats the nations as they treated Israel. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," says the King. The moment they touch Israel, they touch the apple of His eye.
The sentence fits the crime. Each nation gets back what it handed out:
But in that day God will judge the nations, all nations, as nations, here in this world. So the prophecy describes the insults they had heaped on Israel, and Jehovah declares that He will pay them back. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves. These nations wronged and insulted Israel, not only under the law, but right up to the end, after Christianity came. In God's eyes it is right that they should receive what they gave to the Jews.
The same standard runs through the prophets and into the Gospels:
The great sin of the nations, the Gentile world-powers, is the sin against Israel. God's prophets say this again and again. The judgment of the nations that our Lord describes in Matthew 25 rests on the same ground: how they treated the Jew.
The word "nations" fixes what kind of judgment this is. It is not the scene where the dead stand before the throne:
This passage speaks of the judgment of the living, as every passage on that judgment does. It refers to the time when Jehovah will bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, and will plead with the nations there for His people. (Joel 3:1-2.)
- Timing — this judgment comes when God brings back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. They are still scattered, so the day is still ahead.
- Place — a valley near Jerusalem named "Jehovah judges." It may be the valley made when the Mount of Olives splits at His appearing.
- Ownership — God calls them My people, My heritage, My land. The trial defends His rights, not just Israel's.
- Identification — what the nations did to Israel, they did to Him. Christ judges the nations by the same standard in Matthew 25.
- Recompense — what the nations dealt out, they receive. This is a reckoning with living nations, not the judgment of the dead.
and they have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, and have drunk [it].
God's case against the nations reads like a list of receipts: prisoners drawn by lot, a boy swapped for a prostitute, a girl sold to buy a drink. The Judge here is not neutral, for the people sold at auction are His own.
The valley where this happens has a name, and the name says what happens there:
Israel is His inheritance. The name "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah." There, in judgment, He takes up His case with the nations on behalf of His people, whom they had scattered, and of His land, which they had divided up.
Where that valley lies is not certain. One writer links it to what happens on the Mount of Olives:
We must look for the valley of Jehoshaphat close to Jerusalem. Most people place it in the Kidron valley, east of the city. It may not exist yet... When the Lord appears, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in that day. The Mount of Olives will then split in two, and a very great valley will open up (Zech. 14:4). This great valley may be the valley where the Lord judges the nations.
The lot, the boy, the girl were not distant threats when Joel spoke, and the crime did not stop with his century:
In Joel's day this wickedness was known in part: casting lots for His people, and selling boys and girls. The Philistines had done it, and so had Tyre and Sidon. But these words came true during the Babylonian captivity, and in the great scattering that the Roman Empire caused. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, the very thing the prophet spoke of happened... Jews were sold for a price as small as a measure of barley, and thousands were disposed of that way. And what else could we add from the history of the centuries: the cruel and terrible persecutions God's heritage suffered, the thousands and tens of thousands killed, tortured, abused and sold as slaves.
Some of these traders had once been Israel's allies:
The Phoenicians, that is, the people of Tyre and Sidon, were allies of Judah in the days of David and Solomon. Later they became its enemies. They too were guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Greeks. Joel predicts that they also will be punished for this crime.
Notice whose voice speaks in the verse. The nations cast lots for "my people." That one word "my" decides everything that follows:
He counts every wrong done to His people as done to Himself. And through them, in judgment, the same evils will be paid back to the nations that inflicted them.
So how a nation treated this people becomes the decisive question at its trial:
The great sin of the nations, the Gentile world-powers, is their sin against Israel. God's prophets say this again and again. The judgment of the nations that our Lord speaks of in Matthew 25 also rests on how they treated the Jew.
The sentence matches the crime. The traders become the traded:
But the nations, all nations, are to be judged as nations in this world in that day. So the prophet lists the insults they had heaped on Israel, and Jehovah declares that He will pay them back. He holds to righteous retribution. What they made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves. In God's eyes it is right that the nations which wronged and insulted Israel should receive what they had given to the Jews. They did it under the law, and they kept doing it to the last, even after Christianity came.
The chapter does not stop at punishment. It ends with the two parties in the auction swapping places:
And now we reach Joel 3. The Lord comes to pay back what is owed... Now, with the end in view, things are changed. The last are first. The captive is the one who takes the spoil. Israel is the head, and not the tail.
- Charge. In the valley of Jehoshaphat God brings two counts against the nations: they scattered His people and divided up His land. The slave-trading in this verse is the evidence.
- Owner. The lots fell on "my people." God counts every wrong done to them as a wrong done to Himself.
- Reach. No one nation or century owns this crime. The Philistines did it, then Tyre and Sidon, then Babylon and Rome, and persecutors for centuries after.
- Recompense. God holds to righteous retribution. What the nations made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves.
- Reversal. At the end the traffic runs backwards. The captive takes the spoil, and Israel is the head and not the tail.
Yea also, what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the districts of Philistia? Will ye render me a recompence? But if ye recompense me, swiftly [and] speedily will I bring your recompence upon your own head;
Joel 3 is God's case against the nations that wronged His people. Here He names three neighbours, and asks whether they really have a score to settle with Him.
The chapter is God's own case, argued about His people and His land. One writer sums up how He frames the charges against Tyre, Sidon and Philistia:
He recounts all the grievances of His people as done to Himself. Through them He would pay the same evils back in judgment on the nations that inflicted them.
Two things explain the "payment back": stolen temple wealth and trafficked children. One summary of the case against Sidon lists both:
The Lord says of Sidon, together with Tyre, that they had taken His gold and silver and His precious things and carried them into their heathen temples, and had also sold the children of Judah to the Greeks, to remove them far from their own border.
Notice the pronouns. The silver, the gold and the treasures are His. The captives are His people. Robbing Judah was robbing God.
These were not distant strangers. Tyre and Sidon had once been friends of Israel's kings:
The Phoenicians, that is, the people of Tyre and Sidon, who in the days of David and Solomon were allies, had in later times become the enemies of Judah. They too had been guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Greeks. Joel predicts that they also will be punished for this crime. That prediction came true in the time of Uzziah, 811–759 B.C. This proves that Joel must have prophesied before the days of Uzziah.
So part of this verse already has an answer in history.
The third party named is a narrow strip of coast, not a whole country. One study of the Hebrew word marks its limits:
The Hebrew word, Pelesheth, occurs only four times. It did not refer to the whole land of Canaan, the way the name Palestine is used today. It covered only part of the Mediterranean coast, occupied by the Philistines. In Joel 3:4, Tyre and Sidon are not included in the term.
Another writer notes when Scripture uses that name:
These people owned only a very small strip of the land of Canaan. Yet the land has taken its name from them, for Palestine means the land of the Philistines. But Scripture only gives the land this name when it foretells judgment on it.
This is measured repayment, not random violence. And it waits for a day still to come:
In that day God will judge all the nations as nations in this world. So this passage lists the insults they had done to Israel, and the Lord declares that He will return their recompense. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves. In God's eyes it is right that they should receive what they gave to the Jews. These nations wronged and insulted Israel not only under the law, but right to the end, after Christianity. "I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away."
The whole exchange is turned around. The traffickers' children now go to Judah:
And now we reach Joel 3. The Lord comes with a recompense. Now, as the end is in view, things are changed. The last are first. The captive is the spoiler. Israel is the head and not the tail.
The cities warned here were not written off forever. Long after Joel, the Lord Himself walked their coasts and compared them with the towns that saw His miracles:
The Lord visited the borders of Tyre. He declared that if the mighty works done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented.
- Personal. God takes wrongs done to His people as wrongs done to Himself. So He asks whether Tyre and Sidon have any claim on Him.
- Itemised. The charges are exact. They carried His silver, gold and precious things into pagan temples. They sold Judah's children to buyers far away.
- Named. All three are neighbours. Two were old allies of David and Solomon. The third is a thin coastal strip, and Scripture names it when it foretells judgment.
- Returned. The payback fits the crime. What they made Israel suffer, they suffer. The captive becomes the spoiler, and the sellers are sold.
- Yet open. The Lord Himself later walked those coasts. He said they would have repented if they had seen what Chorazin and Bethsaida saw.
because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my beautiful pleasant things,
This verse sits inside a courtroom scene, where God charges Tyre and Sidon with looting what belonged to Him. Why does He call a robbed nation's treasure "my silver and my gold," and what will He do about it?
The place of this trial has a name, and the name says what happens there.
In Joel 3 the Spirit describes the last days in more detail. These are the days when God would bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. It is the judgment of the nations, a judgment needed to vindicate the rights of God towards His oppressed people... Israel is His inheritance. The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah." There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered. He pleads for His land, which they had divided.
The stolen goods were Judah's. God speaks of them as His own because of how He keeps the account.
He recounts all the grievances of His people as done to Himself. By the same means those same evils would be repaid in judgment on the nations that inflicted them.
The charge has two halves: what they did with the treasure, and what they did with the people.
Jehovah says of Sidon, together with Tyre, that they had taken His gold and silver and pleasant things and carried them into their pagan temples. They had also sold the children of Judah to the Greeks, to move them far away from their border.
Where the ESV has "rich treasures," older translations read "pleasant things." The plunder did not simply get spent — it ended up in the temples of other gods.
These cities had not always been enemies of Israel.
The Phoenicians, that is, those of Tyre and Sidon, who in the days of David and Solomon were allies, had in later times become the enemies of Judah. They too had been guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Greeks. Joel predicts that they also will be punished for this crime — a prediction fulfilled in the time of Uzziah.
The judgment falls on the nations as nations, and it follows a fixed rule.
But the nations, all nations, will be judged as nations in this world in that day. So the prophet describes the various insults they had done to Israel, and Jehovah declares that He will repay them. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves.
One writer sees the same habit at work today.
The same thing happens in our day. Men who have never entered the kingdom of God by being born again belong to it in name only, and they are now its accepted leaders and teachers. They have tacked the name of Christ onto their own philosophical fables. They have taken the good and pleasant things of our holy faith and attached them to man as he is in his fallen nature. They act as though there were no need for regeneration and redemption, and a new creation in Christ Jesus.
English and Hebrew Bibles divide Joel differently. In a Hebrew Bible, chapter 3 verse 5 lands on a promise of rescue instead.
I turn again to this chapter, that is, Joel 2 (in Hebrew, chapter 3, in part)... Verses 30-32 (in Hebrew, chapter 3:3-5) come before the great and terrible day, and there is deliverance for those who call, and whom Jehovah will call.
- Theft. Tyre and Sidon carried off Judah's gold and silver and put it in their own temples. They also sold the people themselves to the Greeks.
- Ownership. God counts every wrong done to His people as done to Himself, so their treasure is His treasure.
- Betrayal. These cities were allies under David and Solomon. Later they sold Jewish prisoners to the Greeks.
- Reckoning. In the valley of Jehoshaphat — "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah" — He pleads for His scattered people and His divided land. What they made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves.
- Warning. The same habit lives on wherever men take the good and pleasant things of faith and attach them to fallen human nature.
and the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the children of the Greeks, that ye might remove them far from their border.
Tyre and Sidon carried God's gold and silver into their pagan temples. Then they sold His people into slavery far across the sea, and two questions follow: who bought them, and why does God gather all nations to judgment over one old slave sale?
The charge covers a double theft: God's treasures first, then God's people. One reference work sets it out:
The Lord says of Zidon, together with Tyre, that they had taken His gold and silver and pleasant things, and carried them into their pagan temples. They had also sold the children of Judah to the Greeks, to remove them far from their border. Joel 3:4-8.
The same work names who these buyers were:
The sons of Javan are the Greeks. Tyre and Sidon had sold the children of Israel to them. Joel 3:6.
What makes the crime worse is who committed it:
The Phoenicians — that is, the people of Tyre and Sidon — were allies in the days of David and Solomon. In later times they became the enemies of Judah. They too had been guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Greeks. Joel predicts that they also shall be punished for this crime — a prediction fulfilled in the time of Uzziah, B.C. 811-759.
Some critics use the mention of Greeks to date Joel's book very late. One commentator answers them:
Critics also object to an early date because chapter 3:6 mentions the Greeks. But an inscription of Sargon (about 710 B.C.) mentions the Greeks too, and the far older Amarna letters mention a Greek as well.
God speaks here as the injured party. One writer sums up the whole section in a sentence:
He recounts all the grievances of His people as done to Himself. Through them the same evils will come back in judgment on the nations that inflicted them.
This is why God judges the nations at all. It holds true even when He used those same nations to punish Israel:
From the moment God is in Israel He identifies Himself with His people. So He treats the nations according to how they treated Israel. "As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," says the King. The moment they touch Israel, they touch the apple of His eye… In all these chapters we see the nations judged by God because they trampled on His people, though He also used them to punish His people.
God's judgment matches the crime. One writer draws out the rule behind it:
But God will judge the nations, all nations, as nations in this world on that day. So the passage lists the insults they had done to Israel, and the Lord declares that He will pay them back. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves. In God's eyes it is right that these nations should receive what they gave to the Jews. They wronged and insulted Israel under the law, and kept doing it to the last, after Christianity came.
The Phoenician slave sales were only the start. One writer traces the same crime on a far larger scale:
In Joel's day people knew this wickedness only in part — casting lots for His people, and selling boys and girls. The Philistines had done this, as well as Tyre and Sidon. But these words came true during the Babylonian captivity, and in the great scattering that the Roman Empire brought about. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, the very thing the prophet spoke of happened… Jews were sold for a price as small as a measure of barley. Thousands were sold off in this way.
- Sold far. Tyre and Sidon took God's gold and silver, then sold Judah's people to the Greeks — far enough away that they could not come home.
- Sold by friends. Allies in the days of David and Solomon became Judah's enemies. God punished them for this very crime in Uzziah's reign.
- Sold His own. God lists their injuries to His people as injuries to Himself; to touch Israel is to touch the apple of His eye.
- Sold again. The measure comes back: what they made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves, when God judges all nations.
- Still selling. Babylon, then Rome after A.D. 70, repeated the traffic on a vast scale — which is why the account is not closed but kept for the day of judgment.
Behold, I will raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will bring your recompence upon your own head.
Joel speaks here to Tyre, Sidon and Philistia, who had sold Judah's sons and daughters as slaves. God answers that He will bring the sold ones back, and turn the traders' own trade on their heads.
These traders had once been Israel's friends. One writer sets out what they became, what they did, and when the sentence first fell:
The Phoenicians — those of Tyre and Sidon — were allies in the days of David and Solomon. In later times they became the enemies of Judah. They too had been guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Greeks. Joel predicts that they too will be punished for this crime — a prediction fulfilled in the time of Uzziah, between 811 and 759 B.C.
The threat is not Judah's against her traders. God Himself says I will stir them up and I will return:
He recounts all the grievances of His people as done to Himself. By their means the same evils would fall back in judgment on the nations that inflicted them.
The verse moves in two steps, and the order matters. God stirs up the sold ones first. Then the payment falls on the sellers, and the two sides change places:
And now we reach Joel 3. The Lord comes with a recompense... Now, as the end comes into view, things change. The last are first. The captive is the spoiler. Israel is the head, and not the tail.
"Your own head" is not vague anger. The payment is cut to the exact shape of the crime:
But God will judge the nations, all nations, as such in this world in that day. So the passage lists the various insults they had done to Israel, and Jehovah declares that He will return their recompense. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves. In God's eyes it is righteous that these nations should receive what they had given to the Jews. They wronged and insulted Israel not only in the time of the law, but right up to the end, after Christianity came.
The chapter names a place for this reckoning, and the name itself carries the point:
This is the judgment of the nations. That judgment is needed to defend God's rights concerning His oppressed people, and to show the nations what He is in His government of the earth... The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah." There He judges. He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered, and for His land, which they had divided up.
The selling Joel names did not stop with Tyre and Sidon. One writer traces the same wrong through the centuries and says the record is not closed:
Joel's own day had seen only part of the wickedness described here: casting lots for His people, and selling boys and girls. The Philistines had done this, as well as Tyre and Sidon. But these words came true during the Babylonian captivity, and in the great scattering that the Roman Empire brought about... And what else could we add from the history of centuries? God's heritage suffered cruel and terrible persecutions. Thousands and tens of thousands were massacred, tortured, outraged and sold as slaves... And that history is not yet finished.
- Crime. Tyre and Sidon, once allies of Israel, turned enemy and sold Jewish prisoners to the Greeks; Philistia shared in the same wrong.
- Claim. God counts the wrongs done to His people as wrongs done to Himself. So He, not Judah, answers for them.
- Court. He settles the case in the valley whose name means the judgment or sceptre of Jehovah. There He pleads for His scattered people and His divided land.
- Rescue. He stirs up the sold ones first. The order flips: the last are first, and the captive becomes the spoiler.
- Recompense. Then the payment lands on the sellers' own heads. What they made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves.
And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off for Jehovah hath spoken.
Joel 3:8 is God's sentence on Tyre, Sidon and Philistia. They had trafficked His people. Now they are the ones put up for sale. The verse raises two questions: when does this happen, and why does God answer a crime by mirroring it?
This announcement belongs to a chapter about one fixed future moment. One writer sets out what that moment is for, and what the name of the place means:
In Joel 3 the Spirit sets out the circumstances of the last days in more detail. These are the days when God would bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. This period comes before the time of peace and blessing, when nothing of the curse will remain. It is the judgment of the nations. That judgment is needed to defend God's rights concerning His oppressed people, and to show the nations what He is in His government of the earth... The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah." There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered. He pleads for His land, which they had divided.
Notice who the offended party is in this verse: God says I will sell. The same writer explains why God treats the injury as His own, and why Judah does the repaying:
He recounts all the grievances of His people as done to Himself. Through His people the same evils would be repaid in judgment on the nations that inflicted them.
This principle runs wider than one prophecy. Another writer traces it through the prophets and into the teaching of Jesus:
The great sin of the nations, the Gentile world-powers, is the sin against Israel. God's prophets mention this again and again. The basis of the judgment of the nations which our Lord speaks of in Matthew 25 is likewise the treatment of the Jew.
The sale in verse 8 answers a specific charge. The offence of Tyre and Sidon had two parts: what they took from God, and what they did with His people:
The LORD says of Sidon, together with Tyre, that they had taken His gold and silver and valuable things and carried them into their pagan temples. They had also sold the children of Judah to the Greeks, to move them far from their own border.
They had sent Judah's children to distant buyers. Now God turns the same distance against them. A Bible dictionary gathers what is known about the Sabeans:
Some of them were raiders who carried off the oxen and donkeys of Job. In Isaiah 45:14 they were travelling merchants. Joel 3:8 pictures them as a people "far off," to whom Judah will sell their enemies.
Why this exact punishment? One writer states the standard God keeps, and how far down history it reaches:
The prophecy describes the various insults they had done to Israel, and the LORD declares that He will pay them back. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves. In God's eyes it is right that these nations should receive what they gave to the Jews. They wronged and insulted Israel not only under the law, but right up to the last, after Christianity.
Commentators differ on how much of this has already happened. One points to old friends who turned into enemies, and to a punishment that fell long ago:
The Phoenicians — those of Tyre and Sidon — were the allies of Judah in the days of David and Solomon. In later times they became her enemies. They too had been guilty of selling Jewish prisoners to the Greeks. Joel predicts that they also will be punished for this crime — a prediction fulfilled in the time of Uzziah.
The same writer traces the selling of God's people far beyond Joel's own day:
In Joel's day such wickedness as described here — casting lots for His people and selling boys and girls — was known only in part. The Philistines had done this, as well as Tyre and Sidon. But these words came true during the Babylonian captivity, and in the great scattering the Roman Empire brought about. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 the very thing the prophet spoke of happened. Over 100,000 were taken prisoner. According to Josephus, those under seventeen years of age were publicly sold.
- Crime. Tyre, Sidon and Philistia carried God's treasures into pagan temples. Then they sold Judah's children far from home.
- Claim. God counts every grievance done to His people as done to Himself — which is why He, not Judah, says "I will sell."
- Court. God settles the account in the valley of Jehoshaphat — a name that means the judgment or sceptre of the LORD. There He pleads for His scattered people and His divided land.
- Reversal. The sentence matches the deed. What they made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves — sold far away, by the hands of the people they once trafficked.
- Certainty. The LORD has spoken it. The pattern has already appeared in history. The final reckoning clears the ground for the promised peace and blessing.
Proclaim this among the nations prepare war, arouse the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.
A call goes out to the nations to arm themselves. God Himself issues it. Who is really mustering these armies? Where do they go, and what is the case against them?
The words read like a war recruiter's speech. But the speaker is the One the armies will march against.
In such a strain of solemn irony does God challenge His adversaries to the battle. He calls on them to summon all their forces, and to muster all their strength.
The muster has a destination, given a few verses later: the valley of Jehoshaphat. The name itself tells you what will happen there.
This part of Joel details the last days, when God brings back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem. That time comes before the age of peace and blessing, when the curse is taken away completely. It is the judgment of the nations, needed to vindicate God's rights over His oppressed people… Before their full blessing, God must take up His direct government of them again, in the same place where He gave it up. There He will plead in His power with all the nations that dispute His rights. He will show Himself among His people, and act as One dwelling with them, upholding their rights, because they belong to Him. Israel is His inheritance. The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah." There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered, and for His land, which they had divided.
The proclamation follows a long list of wrongs done to Israel in the earlier verses. The summons is the answer to that record.
But the nations, all nations, are to be judged as such in this world in that day. So the passage lists the insults they had done to Israel, and the Lord declares that He will pay them back. He holds to righteous retribution. What they caused Israel to suffer, they must suffer themselves… So the call goes out among the nations: let them muster all their forces and escape their fate if they can.
Verse 9 turns farming tools into weapons — the opposite direction from the world's hope of disarmament. One writer sees in this the collapse of every human plan for improving the world, and then the far greater force that answers the nations' "mighty men."
Before that day comes, the utter failure of charitable and other schemes for improving the world will be plain… They must soon answer the prophet's ironical call to consecrate for war and stir up the mighty men… The call goes up for the Lord's mighty ones to come down there, to meet the world in its might. Those legions of angels are surely in the mind of the Spirit — the ones the Lord Jesus refused for Himself. In that day there will be, so to speak, a pitched battle between the powers of God and the powers of evil. No one can doubt the result.
Another writer notes what the nations must leave behind.
The nations receive a call to prepare for war. They are all to assemble. They are to wake up, leave their peaceful work, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Who echoes this call on earth? One writer points to the powers behind the coming world alliance.
The dragon (the devil), the beast, and the false prophet form a terrible trinity of evil. Revelation 16:13-14 brings them together in one purpose: war. The present League of Nations, which is a mere shadow, is for peace; the real League of Nations, when it appears, will be for war. The evil spirits that come out of the mouths of these three are deceptive and inflammatory words and teachings. And in forming and spreading them, Antichrist will take the lead.
The nations come armed and confident. The prophecy answers with a sickle and a winepress.
But however great the pride of the men of war, it was, after all, the judgment of God — the sickle of God reaping the earth. His press would be full and His vats would overflow, for the wickedness was great… What multitudes in that day would learn the cost of their contempt for the word of grace! They would learn the cost of their pride too — the pride that raised them up in rebellion against the Lord of hosts. All governmental order, its grandeur and its power, would disappear before the judgment of God.
- Proclamation. God Himself sends the call to arms among the nations. It is irony — a challenge to His enemies, not approval of their war.
- Provocation. The case is retribution: what the nations did to His people and His land, they must receive back on their own heads.
- Place. The muster ends in the valley of Jehoshaphat. The name means the judgment or sceptre of the Lord, so the place announces the verdict.
- Power. His mighty ones answer their mighty men — the legions of angels the Lord once refused for Himself. That battle's outcome is never in doubt.
- Press. Every human scheme for peace fails. Then the sickle and the winepress sweep away all human grandeur before God.
Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-knives into spears; let the weak say, I am strong.
Joel 3 shows God gathering all nations into the valley of Jehoshaphat. Verse 10 belongs to a call to arms — but who gives the order, and why would God tell the world to beat its farm tools into weapons?
One writer hears the order as God daring His enemies to test their strength against Him.
In solemn irony God challenges His enemies to the battle. He calls on them to summon all their forces, and to muster all their strength.
A plowshare is the blade that cuts the furrow; a pruning hook is the curved knife used on vines. Here both are hammered into weapons. One writer points to the day when the change runs the other way.
Today nations turn their plowshares into swords. Some day they will do the opposite, and change their swords into plowshares. Righteousness and peace will surely kiss each other. Creation's curse and birth pains will end.
So the world does not disarm little by little before the day of the Lord. One writer says the drift runs the other way.
Peace will not come before the day of Jehovah. Instead, the world will see a gathering for war on a scale it has never seen yet. The desire to do great things, impatience of obligations, and lust of conquest and military glory will soon give men such a taste for war that no restraint will be enough to hold them back. Restraint will be harder still, because jealousy of each other will have led them to pile up vast stores for military use.
The same writer traces war past treaties and peace campaigns to its root in man himself.
Meanwhile, every effort of peace movements is at best a pleasant illusion, at worst an unbelieving confidence in man, and always ignorance of God's word... Wars certainly have their roots in the passions and desires of man. To escape the bad fruit, you must first make the tree good.
God tells the weakest man to call himself a warrior. Every human scheme for improving the world must answer the same call — and then a different army comes down.
Before that day comes, the utter failure of charitable and other schemes for improving the world will be plain... They must soon answer the prophet's ironical call: "wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up"... "Bring Your mighty ones down there" to meet the world in its might. For in that day there will be, so to speak, a pitched battle between the powers of God and those of evil. No one can doubt how it ends.
The nations arm and march to a valley. Its name settles the outcome before the fighting starts.
This is the judgment of the nations. That judgment must happen, to vindicate God's rights concerning His oppressed people, and to show the nations what He is in His government of the earth... The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah." There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered, and for His land, which they had divided.
- Speaker — The order to forge weapons is God's challenge to His enemies. He speaks "in solemn irony," calling them to muster all their strength.
- Reversal — Today nations "turn their plowshares into swords." In that day they will "change their swords into plowshares."
- Reason — Human effort will not bring peace. "Wars have their roots in the passions and desires of man," so the tree must be made good first.
- Mismatch — Both sides answer a summons. Man wakes his mighty men; God brings down His mighty ones, and no one can doubt how it ends.
- Verdict — The armies gather in the valley of Jehoshaphat, "the judgment of Jehovah." There God pleads with the nations for His scattered people and His divided land.
Haste ye and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together. Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah.
God calls the nations to hurry, crowd together, and bring every fighter they have. Then another voice asks the LORD to send down His own warriors.
Chapter 3 is about God's judgment of the nations. The name of the valley where they gather carries the whole point.
This is the judgment of the nations. The judgment is needed to uphold God's rights concerning His oppressed people, and to show the nations what He is in His government of the earth... The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah." There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered; and for His land, which they had divided.
The call to arm and assemble sounds like a war cry from the nations. God is the speaker. And by the last line of the verse, someone else takes over.
God challenges His adversaries to the battle in a tone of solemn irony. He calls on them to summon all their forces, and to muster all their strength... In the last clause of the verse it is the prophet who speaks, asking Jehovah to step in and judge the assembled armies. And He does not turn a deaf ear to the appeal.
The verse ends by turning from the nations to the LORD, and the contrast is deliberate — each side calls up its own strength.
And if the Gentiles are to awaken all their mighty men for the day of God, God on His part will cause His mighty ones to come down (v. 11).
Who are these warriors? Commentators point to God's angelic hosts, who come down before the Lord Himself appears.
Verses 9-16. This is a prophecy showing what comes before the judgment of these nations. The judgment hosts of the Lord, the angels, come down first. Then He appears in all His majesty, while the sun and moon go dark.
William Kelly names the same hosts, and points to help the Lord Jesus once refused:
The Spirit surely has in mind those legions of angels which the Lord Jesus declined for Himself. "Bring down Your warriors" — to meet the world in its might. For in that day there will be, so to speak, a pitched battle between the powers of God and those of evil. No one can doubt the result.
"Gather yourselves there" names a place on a map, not a symbol. That detail rules out one common reading.
He invites the nations to that valley of Jehoshaphat, where the living are destined to meet a judgment they will never forget. The "valley of Jehoshaphat" is a literal place in the land of Israel. This again disproves the idea of a resurrection scene. The solemnities of the great white throne describe such a scene, not figures taken from the sickle or the winepress. Those figures belong only to the Son of Man's dealing with nations... In this place the gathered Gentiles shall find their graves. There is not a single thing man prides himself on that will not come into the dust of death.
This gathering is not an isolated scene in prophecy.
Throughout the prophetic Word we read of great nations joined in alliance. They will oppose God and His purposes when this age closes... Judgment then falls upon these opposing nations. This judgment appears as reaping and treading the winepress, the same as in Revelation 14:14-20.
The chapter does not end with the armies. The same coming has another side.
Though this intervention was the judgment of the rebellious, the One who intervened, Jehovah, would be the hope of His people. He Himself would be the strength of the children of Israel. And so they would know Him as Jehovah their God, dwelling in Zion, His holy mountain.
- Summons. God gives the order to arm and assemble. It is a challenge to His enemies, spoken in solemn irony: bring every force you have.
- Site. They gather in a literal valley in Israel. Its name means the judgment of Jehovah, and there He pleads with the nations for His scattered people and His divided land.
- Descent. The nations wake their mighty men; God brings down His own. The prophet asks for them, and commentators name them as the angel hosts, who come before He appears in majesty.
- Sentence. The outcome is settled before the battle starts. Scripture pictures it as reaping and treading the winepress, and every human boast ends in the dust of death.
- Shelter. One act, two outcomes. The intervention that judges the rebellious makes Jehovah the hope and strength of His people.
Let the nations rouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
The last chapter of Joel gathers the world's armies to one place, and the summons comes from God Himself. The name of the meeting place is itself the answer: commentators read "Jehoshaphat" as a statement about who judges.
This valley appears nowhere else in the Bible. Its name explains the scene.
This is mentioned only in Joel 3:2, 12, as a place where God will judge the nations for how they treated His people, at the time He brings Judah into blessing. The name means "Jehovah is judge." Some take it as a symbolic name for the place where God will judge. Joel 3:14 speaks of "the valley of decision," which is also linked with God's judgments.
The setting is not only a battlefield. It is the seat of a government God had once stepped back from and now takes up again.
Before His people can have full blessing, God must take up His direct government of them again. He must do it in the same place where He gave it up. He must take possession once more of the seat of that government — a seat He chose Himself. There He will plead in His power with all the nations that dispute His rights... The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah."
God tells the nations to arm and come up. He is daring them.
They must soon answer the prophet's ironic call: "Prepare for war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up"... "Assemble yourselves, and come, all you nations, and gather yourselves together from round about: cause your mighty ones to come down there, O Jehovah." No doubt the Spirit has in mind those legions of angels that the Lord Jesus refused for Himself... For in that day there will be, so to speak, a pitched battle between the powers of God and the powers of evil. No one can doubt the result.
Verse 12 says God will judge — the earlier verses say why. The wrongs listed are wrongs done to Israel, and God treats them as done to Himself.
He lists all the wrongs done to His people as wrongs done to Himself. Through them He would repay in judgment the very same evils on the nations that inflicted them.
The sentence matches the crime measure for measure.
All the nations are to be judged as nations in this world in that day. He holds to righteous retribution. What they made Israel suffer, they must suffer themselves. In God's eyes it is right that they should receive what they gave to the Jews — the nations that wronged and insulted Israel not only during the time of the law, but right up to the end, after Christianity came.
"There I will sit to judge" pictures a court in session on earth. Kelly argues from the imagery that those on trial are alive.
He invites them to that valley of Jehoshaphat, where the living are set to meet a judgment they will never forget. The "valley of Jehoshaphat" is a literal place in the land of Israel. This again disproves the idea that it is a resurrection scene. That kind of scene appears in the solemn setting of the great white throne. It does not appear in images taken from the sickle or the winepress. Those images belong only to the Son of Man's dealing with nations.
Commentators differ on where this valley is. One reading looks for a valley that does not yet exist.
We should look for the valley of Jehoshaphat close to Jerusalem. Most writers place it in the Kidron valley, east of Jerusalem. It may not exist yet... When the Lord appears His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives in that day. The Mount of Olives will then split down the middle, and this will form a very great valley (Zech. 14:4). This great valley may be the valley where the Lord judges the nations.
The judgment is not the end of the story.
This intervention meant judgment on the rebellious. Yet the One who stepped in, Jehovah, would be the hope of His people — Himself the strength of the children of Israel... Jerusalem would be holy. Strangers would no longer pass through it, defiling it as their prey... We see that this is effective and sovereign grace.
- Name — "Jehoshaphat" means Jehovah judges. The gathering place already names the Judge.
- Summons — the call to arm and come up is God's challenge, not the nations' idea. The outcome is not in doubt.
- Ground — God judges the nations for what they did to His people. He counts it as done to Himself, and repays it in the same measure.
- Session — "there I will sit" is a court on earth over living nations. The great white throne is where the dead stand.
- Result — the sentence on the nations clears the ground for Jerusalem's holiness and Israel's blessing.
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe come, get you down, for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Joel has called the nations to gather in the valley of Jehoshaphat, and now a voice orders the reaping to begin. The sickle and the full winepress raise three questions: whose hand reaps, why the crop counts as ripe, and what follows the treading.
The nations arrive armed and confident, but the reaping puts the outcome in another hand. One writer traces the sickle, the press and the overflowing vats back to God Himself.
But however great the pride of the men of war, it was, after all, the judgment of God — the sickle of God reaping the earth. His press should be full, His vats should overflow; for the iniquity was great. In Revelation the harvest is not the same as the vintage. The first is the judgment that separates the good from the wicked, and the wicked from the good; the second is the carrying out of vengeance. Here, I think, the two together give the general idea of the judgment being carried out, though the symbol of the winepress is the stronger one.
The winepress adds something the harvest does not. Another writer links this moment to Isaiah 63, where one day carries two names.
The winepress of God's wrath shows overwhelming judgment falling on what is so wholly evil that no distinction needs to be made. It is remarkable that Joel 3:13, which predicts the harvest, also predicts the winepress judgment. It is of this terrible moment that Isaiah 63:1-6 speaks also. Verse 4 of that passage calls it "the day of vengeance," but it also calls it "the year of My redeemed." The total crushing of the enemies will mean a final redemption of the godly. The same thing happened at the Red Sea, when God redeemed Israel and crushed the Egyptians.
The verse gives a reason for the order: the crop is ripe and the vats overflow. That ripeness has a history behind it.
The treading of the winepress, or the carrying out of God's judgment, speaks of corruption that came first or of the ripening of the vine of the earth. If the Lord in judgment has to tread the winepress, the winepress has first to be filled.
That delay has a purpose. It leaves the verse standing as a question for the reader today.
God is full of goodness and patience. He only strikes when iniquity has come to the full. He still seeks souls while it is still the acceptable day, the day of salvation. No one knows the day "when He shall rise for the spoil." But who will say the harvest is not ripening for the sickle? Who will say the grapes of the vine of the earth are not filling up for the day of His wrath?
Joel names the place twice in this chapter, and both names carry meaning.
The valley of Jehoshaphat appears only in Joel 3:2 and 12, as the place where God will judge the nations for their treatment of His people, at the time He brings Judah into blessing. The name means "Jehovah is judge," and some take it as a symbol for the place where God will judge. In Joel 3:14 occurs "the valley of decision," which is also connected with God's judgements.
This reaping has a set time and a set aim. Both are tied to one people.
The time is the coming of the day of the Lord, when He judges the nations and restores Israel. Here, therefore, we see Israel to be the centre of His purposes, Jerusalem the centre of His interests, Zion the centre of His government. The nations that have long oppressed them are gathered for judgment. The power and glory of Jehovah appear on the side of His chosen people, and go out from His chosen city.
The reaping is not the last word in the chapter. What follows the treading is fruitfulness.
This intervention meant judgment for the rebellious. But the One who stepped in, Jehovah, would be the hope of His people — Himself the strength of the children of Israel... there should be abundant blessing on the land of His people; wine should flow down from their mountains, and milk from their hills.
- Ripening — God does not cut the crop early. He strikes only when wickedness has come to the full, and He still seeks souls while the day of salvation lasts.
- Reaping — however loud the gathered armies, the sickle is God's. The harvest separates; the winepress crushes what is wholly evil.
- Place — the valley bears the name "Jehovah is judge," and Joel also calls it "the valley of decision." The ground names its own Judge.
- Purpose — God deals with the nations for their treatment of His people. Israel stands at the centre of His purposes, Zion at the centre of His government.
- Result — the day that treads the winepress is also the year of His redeemed. Judgment ends with Jehovah as the hope of His people, and the land flowing with blessing.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Jehovah is at hand in the valley of decision.
Joel's last chapter gives one piece of ground two names. It is the valley of Jehoshaphat, where God judges, and the valley of decision, where the crowds gather. So whose decision is settled there, and whose day is near?
What the nations did to God's people brings them here. Each name for the valley tells them what to expect.
The nations have oppressed God's people in many ways, and sold them as slaves. God will pay them back on their own heads. They are called to arm themselves, to bring all their mighty men, and to come to the valley of Jehoshaphat. That is the valley of judgment, and there God will deal with them. In the valley of decision (or threshing) they will be cut to pieces.
Is this valley only a picture, or a place on the map? One writer holds to the place, and says it rules out one kind of judgment.
He invites them to that valley of Jehoshaphat, where the living will meet a judgment they can never forget. The "valley of Jehoshaphat" is a real place in the land of Israel. That again disproves the idea of a resurrection scene, which belongs to the solemn judgment of the great white throne.
Who stands in the valley? Not the dead, raised for judgment. These are living nations, busy with their own plans. That also fixes when this scene happens.
What follows makes it plain that only the living are judged here — the wicked nations of the earth. God pours out judgment on them while they think of nothing more than a campaign or politics... Still, this is not "the end" of 1 Corinthians 15:24. It is the close of the age, of this present evil age. After it comes the glorious world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Revelation 11), and the fulfilment of most of the prophecies, when the earth is blessed under His reign.
God has a case against these nations. The valley is where He settles it.
This is the judgment of the nations. It is needed to make good God's rights over His oppressed people, and to show the nations what He is in His government of the earth... The word "Jehoshaphat" means "the judgment, or the sceptre, of Jehovah or Jah." There, in judgment, He pleads with the nations for His people, whom they had scattered, and for His land, which they had divided.
The armies think they chose their moment. The sickle and the winepress in the verse before say otherwise.
However great the pride of the men of war, it was, after all, the judgment of God — the sickle of God reaping the earth. His press would be full, His vats would overflow, for the wickedness was great... What multitudes in that day would learn what comes of despising the word of grace, and of the pride that raised them up in rebellion against Jehovah of hosts! All the order of human government, with its grandeur and its power, would disappear before the judgment of God.
Verse 13 gives two farming pictures, not one thing said twice. One separates; the other only crushes.
In Revelation 14:14–20 God's judgments appear in two pictures: the harvest, which separates, and the vintage, which spares no one. Joel 3:13 points to both.
The verse says twice that the day is near. That day ends the massed armies. For a small group who trust God, it means rescue.
"Men rose up" — all the power of man was there. Their mighty ones were roused and came down with their weapons to the valley of Jehoshaphat. But the Lord was there too, with His own mighty ones, whom He had brought down. It was multitudes — multitudes, but in "the valley of decision," and the day of the Lord near... Here is the escape of the remnant whose hope was in "the name of the Lord."
- Gathered. The nations arm themselves and march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. They think it is their campaign. It is God's summons to judgment.
- Named. Jehoshaphat means the judgment of the Lord. The other name, decision, also reads as threshing — where the crowds are cut to pieces.
- Charged. They scattered His people and divided His land. There He pleads with them for what is His.
- Threshed. Verse 13 gives two tools: a harvest that separates and a winepress that only crushes. Verse 14 shows the multitudes standing in the crop.
- Delivered. The same day that ends the armies is escape for those whose hope is in the name of the Lord.
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Joel's last chapter gathers the nations to face the judgment of God. At that moment the lights of heaven fail. What does the darkness mean? Is it a physical wonder, a picture of falling powers, or both? And what happens once the light is gone?
This darkness falls on nations still alive on the earth. One commentator marks off what the scene is not, and when it happens.
Only the living are judged here — the wicked nations of the earth. God pours out His judgment on them while they think of nothing more than a campaign or politics. What follows makes it plain: this is not a rising from the dead to be judged according to their works... Still, it is not "the end" of 1 Cor. 15:24, but the close of this present evil age. The glorious world-kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ follows it... At the judgment of the dead Jehovah will not roar out of Zion as He does here, and He will not dwell there and make Jerusalem holy. For earth and heaven will have fled away.
God formed the sun, moon and stars to give light. Here they give none, and the settled order of the heavens breaks off.
The sun, the moon and the stars will then be in darkness. They will not be in the light they were formed for, the light that once filled them. The heavens and the earth will be shaken too, instead of keeping the even, steady course in which they had made their rounds for thousands of years. All of it bears witness to the terrors of that day.
Commentators differ on how to read the darkened heavens. Some take the words at face value: signs in the sky, with the Lord appearing in glory among them. One of them traces the prophecy from a past locust plague to a far greater day ahead.
Joel is one of the earliest prophets. He announces a great locust judgment that came on the people of Israel and on the land. Yet his prophecy points to the great future fulfilment in the "Yom Jehovah," the Day of the Lord... This verse gives the physical signs. The verses that follow show that the Lord will appear in His Glory in the middle of these wonders in the heavens.
Others read the sun in such prophecies as a symbol of rule. A list of Bible symbols gives it that way, and names this verse among its examples.
Sun. — The supreme ruling power. (Isa. 13:9-10; Ezek. 32:7; Joel 3:15.)
The darkness is not the last word. The judgment that falls on the nations is the same event that settles God's people.
God first speaks of the nations at the time when His people return from captivity (v. 1-15), and of the judgments carried out on the Gentiles. In the later verses He speaks of the Jews. Jerusalem is to be holy; Jehovah will dwell in Zion; He will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. This will be their case when the judgment of God falls upon the nations.
The darkness has a purpose. It clears the ground for what comes next.
For the end has come. Judgment is to clear the scene, and then glory is to fill it. The Lord is to dwell in Zion, and Judah and Jerusalem are to be at rest and in safety... and the earth itself is to be a quiet dwelling place.
- Judged. God judges the living here — the wicked nations of the earth — at the close of this present evil age. This is not the dead raised to be judged by their works.
- Darkened. Sun, moon and stars hold back the light they were formed to give. Their steady course of thousands of years breaks off, and bears witness to that day.
- Disputed. Commentators differ on the picture. Some read physical signs in the sky as the Lord appears in glory. Others read the sun as a symbol of the supreme ruling power.
- Answered. Jehovah roars out of Zion and dwells there. The same judgment that ends the nations makes Him the hope and strength of His people.
- Filled. Judgment clears the scene so that glory can fill it: the Lord dwelling in Zion, Jerusalem holy, and the earth at rest.
And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake and Jehovah will be a shelter for his people, and the refuge of the children of Israel.
Joel's final chapter ends with the nations massed for battle. God answers with a sound that shakes creation. One voice does two opposite things at once: it makes heaven and earth tremble, and it shelters a people.
This verse is the climax of a summons. God calls the nations to a valley whose name is already a verdict.
In this last chapter the prophecy looks on to the time of full blessing and glory. But first it shows us how God prepares the world for it by His sweeping judgment on the nations. Zion is the place that judgment goes out from. God summons the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat ("Jehovah judges"). We see them in their multitudes in the valley of threshing. Then the Lord roars out of Zion and the very heavens shake at the sound.
One commentator sets this moment apart from the Lord's call to His own to meet Him in the air. The place here is Jerusalem on earth, and the sound is a lion's roar against enemies.
But here the picture is so different that it must mean a completely different time. This is the Jerusalem on earth, not the heavenly one. This is not the Lord's shout calling His own to meet Him in the air. It is His lion-like roar against His enemies on earth. He is dwelling in Zion, His holy mountain, so that the holiness of Jerusalem is no longer a mockery but a blessed reality.
Some read every scene of shaking as the final judgment at the end of all things. The details of this verse rule that out — God is still roaring out of Zion, and He is still dwelling there.
What follows makes it plain that the ones judged here are the living only — the wicked nations of the earth, judged by an outpouring of divine judgment while they think of nothing more than a campaign or politics. This is not a rising from the dead to be judged according to their works… At the judgment of the dead Jehovah will not roar out of Zion as He does here, and He will not be dwelling there, making Jerusalem holy. For earth and heaven will have fled away.
Behind the noise is an act of government. The same act that judges the rebels gives God's people their confidence.
But Jehovah Himself would take back the reins of government on earth and make His voice heard from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth would tremble when He stepped in. And though His stepping in meant judgment on the rebellious, the One who stepped in, Jehovah, would be the hope of His people — Himself the strength of the children of Israel. So they would know Him as Jehovah their God, dwelling in Zion, His holy mountain… We see that this is effectual and sovereign grace.
The ESV calls God "a refuge" and "a stronghold" here. Older translations say "the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." The idea behind the words is a place you run to when everything else is falling apart.
But for His people He has something very different in store. He is their hope, or their "place of repair," their "harbour," in that day.
Joel's closing words become the opening words of Amos. There the same roar has a different target.
Amos opens where Joel ends… But how solemn it is that Jehovah utters His voice from the very centre of His worship and government — not to comfort and guide, but to denounce. And He denounces not strangers and enemies, but His own people!
- One voice. God speaks from Zion. That one sound shakes heaven and earth and shelters His people. The verse turns on the word "but."
- Roar. The image is a lion's roar: judgment aimed at enemies on earth, not the shout that calls His own to meet Him in the air.
- Living, not dead. God is still dwelling in Zion when this happens. So this cannot be the final judgment, when heaven and earth have fled.
- Refuge. The promise is a harbour and a fortress — a place to run to while everything around is being shaken.
- Warning. Amos opens with Joel's closing line. There the same roar denounces God's own people.