Joel 3:15

Joel 3:15 says, The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.  There will be little doubt that God is at work.  Even the heavenly bodies will be affected.  We are about to have a solar eclipse, and many people worldwide are anxious to see it, but when God darkens the sun and moon in the day of judgment, the lost will not be anxious to see it happening.  Verse sixteen adds, 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.  Since God spoke everything into existence, we should not be surprised that His voice can shake the world.  No matter how many or how powerful the weapons we have may be, they are no match for the simple voice of God.  The second part of the verse tells us that the Lord is the hope of His people.  As followers of Christ, we are God's people, and we can rest assured in that fact.  Even if heaven and earth are shaken, our faith keeps us safe from whatever comes.  We are God's children forever.  Verse seventeen continues, 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.  I believe that God was telling His people in that day and today that when He comes in judgment, there will be no doubt that He is God.  After the judgment, there will be no more hope for salvation, no more strangers will pass through. God will gather those who are His.  It is hard to envision life without the ravages of sin, but in the place that God has prepared for His people, sin will no longer exist.  There will be no division based on nationality or anything else. We will all be brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are now by salvation.  We as followers of Christ should be living with this truth now.  We are not called to live totally in the will of God one day in heaven, but to live under His Lordship now.  I am not sure how we can feel justify hating other people today based on external characteristics and then feel that we will love them in heaven.  We as followers of Christ must live by God's standards today and forever, and that standard is that we love as God loves.

Joel 3:9

Joel 3:9 says, 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:  I believe God is issuing a warning to those who oppose Him.  They need to prepare for war, and even when they bring their best power against Him, it is going to be ineffective.  Anytime we battle against God, no matter if we bring our most powerful weapons, we are going to lose.  I believe that this also tells us that God always warns everyone that if they are attempting to defeat Him that they are fighting a losing battle.  Verse ten adds, Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.  We as followers of Christ are told to beat our swords into plowshares, but here those that oppose God are told just the opposite.  We may have some very powerful weapons in the world today, but they are nothing compared to the power of God.  If a person or a nation is going to war against God, they can use everything at their disposal, but it is not going to be enough to defeat Him.  Verse eleven continues, Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.  Those opposed to God are called on to gather together, but God warns that His mighty ones, His angels, will come down against them.  We know at the second coming of Christ that the angels will be with Him and the powers of this world will be completely defeated.  We also know that since Christ's ascension that His followers have thought that His return was imminent, but all we can be sure of is that it is certain.  We do not have to fight the forces of evil in the world alone, because the Holy Spirit is there to strengthen us for the fight.  Verse twelve states, 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.  There is coming a day of judgment when all the heathen, those that do not believe in Christ as Savior, will be gathered and judged.  Without accepting the gracious gift of forgiveness through Christ, the only verdict can be guilty. Verse thirteen adds, 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.  The harvest was ripe, but it was ripe with wickedness.  We as followers of Christ are told that we are to be busy witnessing, because the harvest is ripe.  Those who are lost in the world today always need to hear the gospel now.  We are to be concerned not with killing them, but instead with converting them.

Verse fourteen continues, Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. There are indeed multitudes and multitudes in the valley of decision today, even if they don't realize it.  It is our responsibility as followers of Christ to make them aware of their need to make a decision to follow Christ also, for the day of the Lord is indeed nearer every day. Whether it be today or a thousand years, for many people it is today. For everyone who dies today, the day of the Lord is indeed here.

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.

Joel 2:27

Joel 2:27 says, And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.  The nation would be restored to one nation, Israel, and they had the premise of God that He would be in their midst.  After they had repented and returned to God, He told them to know that He was in their midst.  We today should know that God is with us if we are His people.  As long as we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, God will be at work in our lives.  Even if we fail to follow God at times, the Holy Spirit still indwells us.  Again, the people of Israel were told they needed to not be ashamed, and neither should we.  Verse twenty-eight adds, And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:  God promised to pour out His spirit on the people of Israel, His people.  As just discussed above, this promise was fulfilled when Christ died for our sins and the Holy Spirit came to indwell all believers in Christ.  The people of Israel were told of the results of this pouring out of God's Spirit on them.  It didn't matter what age or what gender they were.  All would be witnesses to the power of God.  We today need to remember that God does not just work through some of His people, but through all of them.  No one is more important to God than anyone else, especially based on physical things.  The more that we fill our role in God's kingdom and let others fill theirs, the better the gospel will be spread. Verse twenty-nine continues, And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.  Again, God does not discriminate based on social status or gender.  Just because a person is poor in the eyes of the world does not mean that God is not working through them.  Also, it does not mean that if a person is rich then God cannot work through them.  Whatever our social status, though, we must not do as Israel did too often and forget about God. Verse thirty states, And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.  Verse thirty-one adds, The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.  This can be seen as what happened while Christ was on the cross, and it will be what happens when Christ returns.  Since these verses state that these things will happen before the great and terrible day of the Lord to come, we need to realize that for those who are truly God's people, it will be a great day and for those who are not it will be a terrible day. The choice of which it will be is up to each individual.  Verse thirty-two continues, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.  Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.  This once more states the only way to salvation.  We can be certain that for anyone who believes in Christ though faith in His salvation will be delivered.  None are excluded from calling on Christ for salvation.

Joel 2:19

Joel 2:19 says, Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:  God promised Judah that if they returned to Him He would meet their needs.  The first thing He would do was hear them. If we are rebelling against God, until we come to Him in repentance, He will not hear us.  We cannot make demands on God for restoration if we do not first come to Him in true repentance.  When we do come in repentance, God will hear us, restore us, and meet our needs.  When God provides for our needs, we must be satisfied with His provisions.  Verse twenty adds, But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.  After promising that He would restore their crops, in other words that their daily needs would be met, then God promised His people that the armies that oppressed them would be totally destroyed.  We today have the same assurance that our needs will be met and that ultimately all those that stand in opposition to God will be destroyed.  We must therefore put our trust, not in the things of this world, but in God alone.  Verse twenty-one continues, Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. This is a great promise to the people in that day and to the followers of Christ today.  We do not have to live in fear, no matter how bad things may seem in the world.  This states that the Lord would do great things, and we know that through Christ He did. Verse twenty-two states, Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength.  The people would be restored, but so would the land.  God created everything and pronounced it good, and when His people are following Him, they can rest assured that as long as they follow His will, everything will ultimately be restored to the state that God created it in.  There will be a new heaven and a new earth.  Verse twenty-three adds, Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.  Verse twenty-four continues, And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.  Verse twenty-five says, And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.   Verse twenty-six adds, And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. These verses are just a continuation of the promise that God was going to restore and bless His people when they returned to Him.  We today have that same promise, and just as God told them, we need never be ashamed to declare Him to the world.

Joel 2:11

Joel 2:11 says, And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? While God's people were looking to powerful armies for their protection, God was using an army of insects to destroy all their works.  God does not need the strongest and most powerful people to accomplish His will.  He has everything in the universe at His disposal.  Verse twelve adds, Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:  Here, we are told why this judgment was coming to Judah.  God was calling on His people to return to Him.  The destruction was not due to God's anger, but instead due to His love for His people.  Material things had come between God and Judah, and God was removing the material things.  If we are God's today, we can be certain that anything that comes between God and us will ultimately be totally destroyed.  Verse thirteen continues, And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.  Outward signs of repentance without any real remorse were not enough.  The people of Judah were told to rend their hearts, to be truly heartbroken because of their sins. We today, if we are outside of the will of God, should be heartbroken. Our gracious God waits in mercy to restore us.  God does not desire that people be destroyed but that they be reconciled to Him.  We need to understand that destruction, or everlasting separation from God, is our choice and not God's.  Verse fourteen states, Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?  Even with destruction all around, there was no assurance that the people of Judah would repent and begin to truly worship God again.  Verse fifteen adds, Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:  The people of Judah were called on to loudly and publicly worship God.  They were to fast and have a solemn assembly.  When we are not following God's will, we need to return to God publicly and let the world know that we have.  Verse sixteen continues, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.  This is a continuation of the call for God's people to gather together and worship Him. Nothing could be more important.  This is still the case today.  We, as God's people, must put Him first and let the world know that we do. Verse seventeen says, Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?  This is addressed to the religious leaders.  The religious leaders were called on to be broken hearted for allowing the world to dishonor God because of the rebellion of His people, especially the religious leaders.  Those who serve God today need to be just as broken hearted if we bring dishonor to God.  Verse eighteen adds, Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.  God awaits to restore us, if we return to Him in true repentance.

Joel 2:4

Joel 2:4 says, The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.  The coming locusts and caterpillars were going to look like an invading army.  When God's judgment comes, there can be little doubt that it is His work.  Insects do not just suddenly grow this large.  Matthew Henry points out that extraordinary judgments of God are very rare, since He chooses to show mercy whenever possible.  Still, when people refuse to accept God's mercy, they can be certain of His judgment.  The next few verses continue to speak of the power of the devastating swarm. Verse five adds, Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.  Verse six continues, Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.  Verse seven states, They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:  Verse eight adds, Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.  Verse nine continues, They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.  Verse ten concludes, The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:  What Joel was telling the people of Judah was that the devastation was to be complete, and they would be powerless to stop it.  God doesn't need armies to destroy those who rebel against Him, nor will any army be strong enough to protect us against His wrath. When Judah sought peace and security in the things of this world instead of in God, God used the simple things of this world to remind them that He has control of everything in the world.  We might ask if that is the case why God doesn't just destroy all evil and cause everyone to follow Him.  The answer once again is free will.  God wants people to follow Him through a willing faith.  He promises us that He will be with us through all trials and tribulations, but also allows us to choose to ignore following His leadership.  When devastation comes, it is not because of God's desire to punish people, but because of their refusal to accept His forgiveness through faith.