Joel 3

The Nations Judged

1 “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.^[a]There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

3 They cast lots for my people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.

4 “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.

5 For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.^[b]

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

7 “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.

8 I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The LORD has spoken.

9 Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.

10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”

11 Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, LORD!

12 “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!”

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.

16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s People

17 “Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.

18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the LORD’s house and will water the valley of acacias.^[c]

19 But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.

20 Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.

21 Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.” The LORD dwells in Zion!

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Joel 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

God's judgments in the latter days. (1-8) The extent of these judgments. (9-17) The blessings the church shall enjoy. (18-21)

Verses 1-8 The restoration of the Jews, and the final victory of true religion over all opposers, appear to be here foretold. The contempt and scorn with which the Jews have often been treated as a people, and the little value set upon them, are noticed. None ever hardened his heart against God or his church, and prospered long.

Verses 9-17 Here is a challenge to all the enemies of God's people. There is no escaping God's judgments; hardened sinners, in that day of wrath, shall be cut off from all comfort and joy. Most of the prophets foretell the same final victory of the church of God over all that oppose it. To the wicked it will be a terrible day, but to the righteous it will be a joyful day. What cause have those who possess an interest in Christ, to glory in their Strength and their Redeemer! The acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will be a day of remarkable vengeance to others: let every one that is out of Christ awake, and flee from the wrath to come.

Verses 18-21 There shall be abundant Divine influences, and the gospel will spread speedily into the remotest corners of the earth. These events are predicted under significant emblems; there is a day coming, when every thing amiss shall be amended. The fountain of this plenty is in the house of God, whence the streams take rise. Christ is this Fountain; his sufferings, merit, and grace, cleanse, refresh, and make fruitful. Gospel grace, flowing from Christ, shall reach to the Gentile world, to the most remote regions, and make them abound in fruits of righteousness; and from the house of the Lord above, from his heavenly temple, flows all the good we daily taste, and hope to enjoy eternally.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 61

1. S Deuteronomy 30:3; S Jeremiah 16:15; S Ezekiel 38:8; Zephaniah 3:20
2. Jeremiah 40:5
3. Zephaniah 3:8
4. ver 12; S Isaiah 22:1
5. S Isaiah 13:9; S Jeremiah 2:35; S Ezekiel 36:5
6. S Genesis 11:4; S Leviticus 26:33
7. S Job 6:27; S Ezekiel 24:6
8. Joel 1:5; Amos 2:6
9. S Genesis 10:15; S Matthew 11:21
10. S Psalms 87:4; Isaiah 14:29-31; Jeremiah 47:1-7
11. S Leviticus 26:28; S Isaiah 34:8; S Ezekiel 25:15-17; Zechariah 9:5-7
12. S 1 Kings 15:18; S 2 Chronicles 21:16-17
13. Ezekiel 27:13; Zechariah 9:13
14. S Isaiah 43:5-6; Jeremiah 23:8
15. S Isaiah 66:6
16. Isaiah 60:14
17. Isaiah 14:2
18. S Genesis 10:7; S 2 Chronicles 9:1
19. S Isaiah 23:1; S Jeremiah 30:16
20. S Isaiah 8:9
21. Jeremiah 46:4
22. Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3
23. S Numbers 25:7
24. Zechariah 12:8
25. S Joshua 1:6
26. Ezekiel 38:15-16; Zephaniah 3:8
27. S Isaiah 13:3
28. S ver 2
29. S Psalms 82:1; S Isaiah 2:4
30. Mark 4:29
31. S Isaiah 17:5; S Hosea 6:11; Matthew 13:39; Revelation 14:15-19
32. S Jeremiah 25:30
33. S Judges 6:11; S Revelation 14:20
34. Isaiah 13:4
35. S Isaiah 22:1
36. Isaiah 34:2-8; S Joel 1:15; S Zephaniah 1:7
37. S Isaiah 2:4; S Ezekiel 36:5
38. S Job 9:7; S Ezekiel 32:7
39. S Isaiah 42:13
40. Amos 1:2
41. S Judges 5:4; S Isaiah 14:16; S Ezekiel 38:19
42. S Psalms 46:1; S Isaiah 25:4; Zechariah 12:8
43. S 2 Samuel 22:3; Jeremiah 16:19; Zechariah 9:12
44. S Exodus 6:7
45. S Joel 2:27
46. S Psalms 74:2; S Isaiah 4:3
47. Psalms 2:6; S Isaiah 2:2; S Ezekiel 17:22
48. S Jeremiah 31:40
49. S Isaiah 52:1; S Ezekiel 44:9; Zechariah 9:8
50. S Joel 2:24
51. Exodus 3:8; S Song of Songs 5:1
52. S Isaiah 30:25; Isaiah 35:6; S Isaiah 44:3
53. Revelation 22:1-2
54. S Numbers 25:1; S Isaiah 25:6; S Jeremiah 31:12; S Ezekiel 47:1; Amos 9:13
55. S Isaiah 19:1
56. S Isaiah 11:14; S Isaiah 34:11
57. S Jeremiah 51:35; Obadiah 1:10
58. S Ezra 9:12; Amos 9:15
59. S Isaiah 1:15
60. S Ezekiel 36:25
61. S Psalms 74:2; Isaiah 59:20; S Ezekiel 48:35; Zechariah 8:3

Footnotes 3

[a]. "Jehoshaphat" means "the " Lord"judges" ; also in verse 12.
[b]. Or "palaces"
[c]. Or "Valley of Shittim"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JOEL 3

This chapter, which some make the fourth, contains a prophecy of God's judgments on all the antichristian nations at the time of the Jews' conversion, and the reasons of them, Joe 3:1-3; a threatening of Tyre and Zidon, by way of retaliation, for carrying the riches of the Jews into their temples, and selling their persons to the Greeks, Joe 3:4-8; an alarm to prepare for the battle of Armageddon, or the destruction that shall be made in the valley of Jehoshaphat, Joe 3:9-15; and after that an account of the happy state of the church of Christ, their safety and security, plenty, prosperity, and purity, to the end of the world, Joe 3:16-21.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible