The Valley of Decision Joel 3 Ep. #124

Joel 3 The Valley of Decision

Today my friends well wrap up our study of the Book of Joel - the second guy accounted for among the 12 Minor Prophets. In Chapter Two we studied God’s call to repentance and His offer of refreshment and restoration. As a reminder of what God can do for us, let’s begin our study of Chapter Three with a reflective moment on Joel 2:25-26

25. ““So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.

26. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.”

Chapter Three continues with good news, sort of. If you’re on God’s side, things will go well for you. If you’re in the enemies army, it will be a bad time, no nit just bad, it will be the worst time ever - your past and your present decisions will reflected in God’s decision about where you will spend eternity.

Let’s begin our study with the first 13 verses of Joel Chapter Three.

““For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,

2. I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat ; (yᵊhôšāp̄āṭ, yeh-ho-shaw-fawt', "Jehovah has judged") And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, (Valley of Judgement.)

My heritage Israel, (yiśrā'ēl, yis-raw-ale', "God prevails") Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.

3. They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

4. “Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;

5. Because you have taken My silver and My gold, And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.

6. Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem You have sold to the Greeks, That you may remove them far from their borders.

7. “Behold, I will raise them Out of the place to which you have sold them, And will return your retaliation upon your own head.

8. I will sell your sons and your daughters Into the hand of the people of Judah, And they will sell them to the Sabeans, To a people far off; For the Lord has spoken.”

9. Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, Let all the men of war draw near, Let them come up.

10. Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’ ” (This is the attitude of non-God fearing people. They have perception of their own strength in the flesh against the power of God.)

11. Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.

12. “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

13. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow— For their wickedness is great.”” (The harvest here is God’s vengeance on His enemies. No one in opposition to God will escape bearing tread upon in His winepress of wrath.)

Joel 3:1-13 NKJV

Before we move on to verse 14, let’s hang out for a minute on Verse 10, “let the weak say, ‘I am strong’”. Often as Christians we like to think of this concept while viewing it through the lens of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 where the Apostle Paul writes that the Lord said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul adds, "For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Let’s read the full verse in the AMPC,

“But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!

10. So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).”

Sheer self-will, determination, self-confidence, and belief in oneself is no match against the judgement of God.

“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision (judgment)! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision [when judgment is executed]. [Zech 14:1-9]”

Joel 3:14 AMP

Valley of Decision

Decision: ḥārûṣ, (khaw-roots) = sharp-pointed, sharp, diligent, strict decision, decision, trench, moat, ditch, a trench (as dug), gold (as mined), a threshing-sledge (having sharp teeth); (figuratively) determination; also eager:—decision, diligent, (fine) gold, pointed things, sharp, threshing instrument, wall.

15. “The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will cease their shining.

16. The Lord will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will shake. But the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites.

17. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who dwells in Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be holy, and foreigners will never overrun it again.

18. In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will flow with water, and a spring will issue from the Lord’s house, watering the Valley of Acacias. (A place between victory and defeat; the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. A place of launching; Joshua led the Israelites into battles against Jericho and the Philistines. It was also a place where Moabite women tempted the Israelites into sexual sin and idol worship. When God’s moisture pours down from His holy mountain, it will be the waters of grace and forgiveness for those who follow Christ.)

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

20. But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21. I will pardon their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, for the Lord dwells in Zion.”

Joel 3:14-21 HCSB

Zion: ṣîyôn, (tsee-yone) = parched place, another name for Jerusalem.

From several root words meaning: a monumental or guiding pillar:—sign, title, waymark.

Jerusalem = "teaching of peace"

Why would God have His city named as a “parched place?”

Applying the meaning of the word, “parched,” to a person means they are at the extreme end of thirst. Their throat, mouth, and lips are dry as a desert They feel an intense need for water.

Spiritually parched people are thirsting for the Living Water and more apt to pursue God. Here’s God’s Word on thirst:

“But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again — ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.””

John 4:14 HCSB

“Now on the final and most important day of the Feast, Jesus stood, and He cried in a loud voice, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.”

John 7:37-38 AMPC

That my friends wraps up our study of Joel and I hope it leaves you thirsty. Next up on our trip through the Minor Prophets is the Book of Amos. He uses poetry to expose religious leaders guilty of hypocrisy, social injustice while causing distress and anxiety to the poor.

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