Joel 3:1

Joel 3:1 says, For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,  This was a promise of God to His people in the time of Joel, but it is also a promise to us today as followers of Christ.  No matter how scattered or persecuted we may be, God will gather us to Himself and set us free from captivity.  No matter what is going on in the world today, and there are plenty of disturbing things going on, we need not despair, because God has insured our everlasting destiny.  We will be with God forever if we are His indeed.  Verse two adds, 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. God assured His people in that day that they would be restored and their enemies called to account.  God said that He would gather His enemies and plead with them.  I believe that this means that no matter how bad a person may be, as long as they are alive there is hope of redemption.  God's choice is never deserved punishment but free mercy through Christ for all people.  We are called to proclaim God's message of forgiveness through Christ to all people, even those who may hate and try to destroy us.  Verse three continues, 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.  Not only had other nations enslaved God's people so that they might work for them, but they had enslaved them to serve as a source of pleasure. We hear of human trafficking today and know how terrible it is, but it is nothing new.  Those who defeat other nations often abuse those who are defeated in very degrading ways, often just to send a message to the rest of the world.  Even within a nation, those who are in power often abuse people who do not follow their gods.  If the day comes that this is true for us, if we are totally under the power of a repressive group, we must not lose faith in God.  We know the ultimate outcome.  God will indeed one day deliver all His people. Verse four states, 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;  I believe that God was telling those that were not His people, those that do not know Him as a personal God, that He could not be bought.  We may attempt to buy God's good will with material possessions, but He will not accept them if we are not following His will for our lives.  Verse five adds, Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:  Those that God was talking to could offer Him nothing that they hadn't taken from Him.  We need to remember that everything belongs to God to start with, so what can we hope to offer Him to obtain His forgiveness?  All one can give is their life through acceptance of Christ.  Verse six continues, 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. Those who opposed God had sold His people into slavery.  There are many places in the world today where those in power enslave God's people, and we can be certain that God knows this and is still with those that are His.  Verse seven says, Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:  Those who had enslaved God's people may have felt secure in their strength and that they could buy God's favor, but God promised a coming judgment.  We need to simply stay faithful to God today and know that He will one day deal with those who do not follow Him and will likewise raise up those who do. Verse eight adds, 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.  This was a declaration of defeat to those who had enslaved the people of Judah, God's chosen people.  It concludes by saying God has spoken it. There is nothing more certain than what God has spoken.  We never have to doubt His word being fulfilled.  We have His promise that those that are His followers through faith in Christ will be His forever.