Joel 3

3:1 For, behold, in those days*, and in that time*, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

These terms are somewhat inconclusive as to their application when Joel pronounces this prophecy. This is very reminiscent of the “in the day” that was quoted to Adam in the Garden. We dont exactly know when but we know its coming. The beauty of His-tory is that we have the eventual event recorded.

The Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom took place in stages, with the capital city of Samaria falling in 722 BCE. This event marked the end of the Kingdom of Israel as an independent political entity. The Assyrians deported many of the Israelites from the northern kingdom to other parts of the Assyrian Empire, effectively scattering them and integrating them into other cultures. This event is recorded in the biblical books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

This is why God states He is bringing again the captivity of the Israelites; they did not learn the first time.

2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

Jehoshaphat = “Jehovah has judged”

3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

For the people of “the nations” the act of “casting lots” was a method used to make decisions or determine outcomes in situations where there was uncertainty or multiple options. The practice involved using objects, such as stones or sticks, or even drawing straws, and assigning different outcomes or options to each object. Then, one of these objects would be randomly selected or “cast,” and the outcome associated with that object would be accepted as the decision or result. Casting lots was seen as a way to seek divine guidance or intervention, as the outcome was believed to be ultimately determined by gods.

4 Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? [treatment, i.e. an act (of good or ill)] and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;

Both cities are Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast. Tyre or Tyrus = “a rock” / Sidon = “hunting” / Palestine = “land of sojourners” Tyre was strategically located on the Mediterranean coast, making it a vital center for maritime trade in the ancient world. It established colonies and trading posts across the Mediterranean. The city was renowned for its production of purple dye extracted from the murex shellfish. This dye was highly valued in the ancient world and became associated with royalty and luxury. Notably, it resisted a prolonged siege by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BCE, as well as a famous siege by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. It was known for its temples dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart and later to the Greek god Heracles.

• Isaiah 23:1 “The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.”

5 Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:

The destruction of Solomon’s Temple, also known as the First Temple, occurred in 586 BCE. This event was part of the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem under King Nebuchadnezzar II. After a siege, Nebuchadnezzar’s forces breached the walls of Jerusalem, destroyed the city, including Solomon’s Temple, and exiled many of its inhabitants to Babylon.

6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:

8 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 people far off: for the Lord hath spoken it.

The fall of the Second Temple in 70 AD was a significant event in Jewish history with profound consequences for the people of Israel. After the Roman siege of Jerusalem led to the destruction of the Temple, many Jews were killed, and others were taken captive or dispersed throughout the Roman Empire as slaves or refugees.

• Jeremiah 49:36 “I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven; I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where Elam’s exiles do not go.”
• Luke 1:16 “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.”
• Luke 4:16-21 “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.””
• Zechariah 12:10-11 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”

9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

10 Beat your plowshares (hoe or shovel) into swords and your pruninghooks (shears) into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

• Luke 3:4-6 “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Matthew 24:29-31 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

I want you to pay very close attention to this statement. It states clearly that we are living on what was intended to be Heaven! Our abode with God! The sin that has dominated this plane/existence has been divided from the plane/existence of God due to this sin. The division of the wheat from the tares will take place during the Great Tribulation…

• Matthew 13:27-30 “So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
• Luke 3:16-17 “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”

13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

• Revelation 14:14-20 “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

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 the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:”
• Psalm 47:5 “God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.”

17 So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.

• Genesis 1:7-8 “And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
• Proverbs 10:30 “The righteous shall never be removed: and the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.”
• Matthew 24:40-41 “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

The sickening side of the rapture doctrine is that it deceives “even the elect”. The thought of leaving this corrupted earth is the answer when the truth is that God wants to redeem this earth! It is just “cleaning house” to God. …. think about this…. this is HIS house and we have made a wreck of it! Ever do that as a teenager? Having a couple friends over turns into a house party. Dad walks through the door and BOOM! People scatter and discipline ensues!

• Revelation 21:1-3 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”