HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1171
JOEL 3
page 801
Come, tread the grapes,
for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
with the wickedness of these people.”
These will be among the survivors
whom the Lord has called.
Judgment against Enemy Nations
1*“At the time of those events,” says
the Lord,
“when I restore the prosperity of Judah
and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather the armies of the world
into the valley of Jehoshaphat.*
There I will judge them
for harming my people, my special
possession,
for scattering my people among the nations,
and for dividing up my land.
3 They threw dice* to decide which of my
people
would be their slaves.
They traded boys to obtain prostitutes
and sold girls for enough wine to get
drunk.
3
4 “What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to
take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out!
I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done. 5 You have taken my silver
and gold and all my precious treasures, and
have carried them off to your pagan temples.
6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,* so they could take them far
from their homeland.
7 “But I will bring them back from all the places
to which you sold them, and I will pay you back
for everything you have done. 8 I will sell your
sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and
they will sell them to the people of Arabia,* a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
14
15
16
Blessings for God’s People
17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord
your God,
live in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy forever,
and foreign armies will never conquer
her again.
18 In that day the mountains will drip with
sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
Water will fill the streambeds of Judah,
and a fountain will burst forth from the
Lord’s Temple,
watering the arid valley of acacias.*
19 But Egypt will become a wasteland
and Edom will become a wilderness,
because they attacked the people of Judah
and killed innocent people in their land.
20
21
9
10
11
Say to the nations far and wide:
“Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
Let all your fighting men advance for
the attack.
Hammer your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.
Gather together in the valley.”
And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!
12
13
“Let the nations be called to arms.
Let them march to the valley of
Jehoshaphat.
There I, the Lord, will sit
to pronounce judgment on them all.
Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.*
3:1 Verses 3:1-21 are numbered 4:1-21 in Hebrew text.
3:2 Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges.” 3:3 Hebrew They
cast lots. 3:6 Hebrew to the peoples of Javan. 3:8 Hebrew
to the Sabeans. 3:13 Greek version reads for the harvest time
has come. Compare Mark 4:29. 3:18 Hebrew valley of Shittim.
3:21 Hebrew Zion.
Thousands upon thousands are waiting in
the valley of decision.
There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.
The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a strong fortress for the people of Israel.
“But Judah will be filled with people forever,
and Jerusalem will endure through all
generations.
I will pardon my people’s crimes,
which I have not yet pardoned;
and I, the Lord, will make my home
in Jerusalem* with my people.”
• Forgiveness
JOE L 2:32
Why would God want to forgive people
who have spent a lifetime denying him
and hurting him? Why doesn’t he just
zap them? In our humanity, we say that
certain people don’t deserve forgiveness.
In his sovereignty and perfect love, God
says, “I love and forgive those who, to
others, appear unsalvageable.” This is just
one of the ways in which God’s thoughts
are beyond our own. His mercy is so
overwhelming that it can seem unreasonable to us. Are you willing to let God’s
mercy do as it wishes—with anyone?