Joel 3 reminds me of a company where I once
worked. There was a young man hired that seemed to have none of the
normal skillsets, or aptitude. He was not particularly handsome or
charismatic, yet top management took a very keen interest in him. He
advanced quickly, without any real success. It was not until more
than a year later that I learned he was the great-grandson of the
company founder and namesake. He was being groomed to sit on the
Board of Directors. Many of us that did not know his relationship to
the president probably panicked recalling how we treated him. In
Genesis 12, God made a promise to Abraham, the father of the Hebrew
people. The last part of the blessing says, “I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you“.
The blessing of the earth was fulfilled in Christ the Messiah. But
in the last days, upon His return, all the nations will be judged
based on how they treated God’s Children. The chapter begins, “At
that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I
will gather all nations… I will put them on trial
for what they did
to
My inheritance,
My people Israel“.
Throughout the world’s history the Jewish people have been
persecuted and blamed for every problem and plague, “they
scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land“.
And yet they still survive as a people and continue to return to the
Land today.
While
there will be a final judgment, I believe there is clear evidence
that nations have been judged real-time, “I
will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have
done“. He includes a few of
the mistreatments, “For you
took My silver and My gold… You sold the people of Judah and
Jerusalem… send them far from their homeland“.
Each time, God protected them and returned them “to
rouse them out of the places to which you sold them“.
Followers of Christ should certainly understand that God will
continue to bless nations that bless Israel. Do you?
God seemingly mocks man’s attempts at
fighting against Him, “Prepare
for war! Rouse
the warriors! Beat
your plowshares into swords… let them advance into the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every
side“. He calls it “the
valley of decision” because in
that place and at that time God will judge the eternal fate of all.
God Himself will judge all of His creation including the fallen
angels, “the earth and the
heavens will tremble“. But
Joel’s focus in on the Hebrew people, “the
Lord will be a refuge for His people… Jerusalem will be holy; never
again will foreigners invade her“.
Today we live in a fallen world of corruption, disease and sin; this
is the day of Man. After the Day of the Lord, “the
mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all
the ravines of Judah will run with water“.
Israel will be filed with the peace of God, “Judah
will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations“.
He makes another statement that every nation should consider, “Shall
I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.”
Joel ends the book similarly to many of the prophets. He states
emphatically, “The Lord dwells
in Zion!” What are we to do
as individuals? In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus told a parable about
this judgment as individuals are divided. “The
King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the
least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me’“.
Can you love the unlovely? One day they may be sitting on the Board
as the King’s kid.