God Will Judge the Nations
Study note
God declares that He will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. Then He will gather all the nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for judgment. The name Jehoshaphat means 'the LORD judges.' God charges the nations with scattering His people and dividing up His land. They even treated Israelite children as objects to trade for immoral pleasures.
1 "When those days come and that time arrives, I will turn things around for Judah and Jerusalem." For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 "I will also bring all the nations together and march them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my people, my special possession Israel. They scattered my people among the nations and carved up my land." 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.
3 "They gambled over my people, trading a boy for a prostitute and selling a girl for a cup of wine." 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.
A Warning to Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia
Study note
God singles out three regions that harmed Israel: Tyre and Sidon (coastal cities in modern-day Lebanon) and the coast of Philistia (roughly modern-day Gaza). These nations had stolen Israel's gold and silver, looted their treasures, and sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves to the Greeks. God warns that He will bring the same punishment back on their own heads.
4 "And what exactly do you have against me, Tyre, Sidon, and all you Philistine regions? Are you trying to get even with me? If so, I will turn your revenge right back on your own heads — fast." 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? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
5 "You stole my silver and gold and hauled my priceless treasures into your own temples." Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:
6 "You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks just to get them as far from their homeland as you could." 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 "But watch — I am about to bring them back from wherever you sold them. And whatever you did to them, I will do right back to you." Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
8 "I will let the people of Judah sell your sons and daughters to the Sabeans — a nation far, far away. The LORD has spoken." 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.
Prepare for the Final Battle
Study note
In a dramatic reversal of Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, where swords are beaten into plowshares, Joel tells the nations to beat their plowshares into swords. God is summoning every nation to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for final judgment. The harvest and winepress imagery shows that the nations' wickedness is fully ripe. Multitudes fill the valley as the Day of the LORD arrives.
9 Shout this announcement to the nations: Get ready for war! Call up your best soldiers! Every warrior, step forward and march to battle! 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 Hammer your farming plows into swords and your pruning tools into spears. Even the weakest person should say, "I am a mighty warrior!" Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Hurry up — all you surrounding nations, come together and gather in one place. LORD, send your mighty warriors down to meet them there! 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 nations wake up and march to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, because I will sit there as judge over all of them." 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.
13 Start harvesting — the crop is ripe and ready! Come and stomp the grapes — the winepress is overflowing with the wickedness of the nations. 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.
14 Enormous crowds pack the valley of decision! The Day of the LORD is almost here — there in the valley of decision. 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 go dark, and the stars will stop shining. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
God Dwells with His People Forever
Study note
The book ends with a beautiful picture of hope. Though the LORD roars from Zion in judgment, He is a shelter and fortress for His people. Jerusalem will be holy and set apart. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, and a fountain will flow from the LORD's temple. Egypt and Edom, longtime enemies of Israel, will be judged for shedding innocent blood. But Judah and Jerusalem will stand forever, with God dwelling among them.
16 The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem. The sky and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a safe place for his people — a fortress for the children of Israel. 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.
17 "Then you will know without any doubt that I am the LORD your God, living on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy ground, and foreign armies will never march through it again." 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 On that day, sweet wine will drip from the mountains, and milk will flow from the hills. Every dry stream in Judah will run with fresh water, and a spring will bubble up from the LORD's house and water the Valley of Shittim. 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 of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a barren waste. Edom will be an empty desert. They attacked Judah's people. They spilled innocent blood in the land. 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 will be lived in forever. Jerusalem will be home to people for all time to come. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will forgive them and avenge the innocent blood that has not yet been avenged. The LORD makes his home in Zion. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.