Chapters 1 - 3
Joel is one of the prophets that little is known of him, not
even the years he gave his prophecy.
One thing is known his whole prophecy is centered around the
"day of the Lord" and the context is indeed the last years of
this age. It is a prophecy very much for the end times.
CHAPTER 1
We are to give heed, as God says, has anything like this
EVER happened, pass it on to the generations, as the Lord decides
WHEN all this prophecy will come to pass.
A nation is going to come up on the land of God, the land of
God is the land where His people Israel and Judah will be
dwelling. It is a strong and mighty nation, teeth like a lion,
and cheek teeth like a great lion. He will lay God's land (vine)
desolate, make the bark of the fig tree clean, the branches
stripped to whiteness. People are to lament like a virgin does
for the husband she will not marry. The worship of God (even if
only an outward form) is to be cut off, the priests (even if false
ones) will mourn. The field of crops is wasted, the land
mourneth; the wine is dried up, the oil languishes (verses 1-10).
It is all symbols of God's people and land being DESTROYED!!
More lament and devastation is to come. People, even the
ministers (false though they be) are to howl, for religion as
the children of Israel have known it will STOP! The Lord says you
better call for a FAST and cry out to Him. FOR....
FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD IS AT HAND, AND AS A DESTRUCTION
FROM THE ALMIGHTY SHALL IT COME (verses 11-15).
The "day of the Lord" is mentioned in dozens of prophecies
in the books of the prophets of the Old Testament. It is a time
of sorrow for the fields and beasts of the earth, the pastures
will be dried up, the sheep will have only desolation. The trees
are burnt up; the rivers of water are dried up, and the fires
have devoured the pastures (verses 16-20).
It is the DAY OF THE LORD. IT IS THE END OF CHAPTER 6 AND
THE BEGINNING OF THE 7TH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION!!
CHAPTER 2
The sound of the TRUMPET is to be blown, the DAY OF THE LORD
COMES!
A day of DARKNESS and GLOOMINESS, a day of CLOUDS and THICK
DARKNESS. A GREAT PEOPLE, AND STRONG, NEVER THE LIKE, AND NEVER
THE LIKE AGAIN, MANY GENERATIONS.
A fire devours before them——-
and behind them is a flame. The land may be as the garden of Eden
before them but left behind them is desolation, as a wilderness,
nothing escapes from them.
THE APPEARANCE OF THEM IS AS HORSES AND HORSEMEN, RUNNING
AND GALLOPING (verses 1-4).
This is the 6th TRUMPET of Revelation chapter 9:13-19. It is
the army of the EAST, from the other side of the river Euphrates,
prepared for an hour, a day, a month, a year, to KILL A THIRD
PART OF MEN, that are alive to this point in time. It is AFTER
the GREAT TRIBULATION that has been on the earth for 2 years or so,
AFTER only ONE in TEN Israelites are left alive on earth. They
are the HORSEMEN of Revelation 9:13-19.
This is the ARMY of the EAST, of Russia, India, Japan, and
especially of CHINA, a people of many generations and a people
BUILT UP AND PREPARED for such an HOUR AND DAY AND YEAR!
This will be the time when as in the SECOND WORLD WAR,
GERMANY EUROPE, THE BEAST BABYLON MYSTERY RELIGION POWER OF THE
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE OF EUROPE WILL ATTACK RUSSIA AND CHINA (the 5th
Trumpet of Revelation 9), AND RUSSIA WITH CHINA AND OTHERS WILL
COUNTER-ATTACK. THE POWER TO THE EAST WILL DESOLATE EUROPE, MAKE
IT LIKE A WILDERNESS, KILL ONE THIRD OF MEN ON EARTH!!
WE ARE IN THE DAY OF THE LORD, PROBABLY THE LAST ONE YEAR OF
THIS AGE BEFORE JESUS RETURNS.
IT WILL BE THE TIME AS JESUS SAID THAT IF IT WAS NOT ***CUT
SHORT*** ***NO FLESH WOULD BE SAVED ALIVE*** (Mat.24:22).
This army from the East will come with like the noise of
chariots, the noise of a flame of fire devouring all before it.
They will be a strong people SET IN BATTLE ARRAY. If you've seen
the marching of the war machine of Russia and China you know the
picture. Their discipline is without rank, they move and march
along like robots. None will be able to stop them; they shall run
and climb and move like a well drilled machine. The earth will
QUAKE before them; the heavens will TREMBLE; the sun and moon
shall be dark, the stars shall not shine.
The Lord shall UTTER HIS VOICE with them; they will do His
bidding, FOR ....THE DAY OF THE LORD IS GREAT, AND VERY TERRIBLE,
WHO CAN WITHSTAND IT? (verses 5-11).
There is no people on earth that HAVE BEEN PREPARING THEIR
WAR MACHINE LIKE RUSSIA AND CHINA.
GOD WILL USE IT TO PUNISH AND DESTROY THE RESURRECTED HOLY
ROMAN EMPIRE OF EUROPE!!
God calls out that people should TURN with all their hearts
and minds, with weeping and fasting, that they should TURN to the
Lord, FOR God is good, and gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and He can change His mind about allowing
and bringing evil on the earth.
To God's children of Israel, to Judah, they are to blow a
TRUMPET in Zion, call for a fast, call all the people, the elders
and the babies sucking at the breast, even the brides and grooms;
let the ministers of religion WEEP, let them cry our, "SPARE THY
PEOPLE, O LORD, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the
heathen should rule over them, whereby they would laugh at them
and mockingly say, 'Where is your God now?'" (verses 12-17).
The prophecy in verses 12-17 MOVES BACK to BEFORE the Great
Tribulation comes to earth and to Israel and Judah. We have God
telling us to REPENT - TO TURN FROM OUR SINS - SO DESTRUCTION
WILL NOT HAVE TO COME UPON US IN PUNISHMENT!
This we have seen time and time again in the books of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
But we know this TURNING of the people of Jacob is VERY
UNLIKELY, so they will go into CAPTIVITY.
Then .... God will after enough punishment and after the
people of Israel and Judah have come WEEPING to Him with a humble
and repentant heart, God will DELIVER THEM!
"I will send you——-
corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied; I will no
longer make you a reproach among the heathen. But I will REMOVE
far off from you the NORTHERN army, and will drive him into a
barren and desolate land, his face towards the east sea (the dead
sea) and hind part towards the uttermost sea (the Mediterranean
sea); his stink will come up (in death), because he has done
great things (against the Most High) " (verses 18-20).
During the day of the Lord, by the end of it, the NORTHERN
ARMY of EUROPE (with the man beast and the false prophet) will be
DESTROYED out of the Holy Land. Jesus will return and the battle
of Armageddon will put an end to the Babylon Mystery Religion
power of Europe in the Holy Land; Israel and Judah will be
GATHERED from out of the countries they have found themselves
scattered in, and shall be brought back to the Promised Land
where they will be BLESSED AND HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD. This is
the theme of all the prophets.
"Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do
great things. Be not afraid you beasts of the field: for the
pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears fruit
... Be you glad, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord
your God: for He gives you the former rain moderately ... the
former rain and the latter rain ... the floors shall be full of
wheat, and the vats overflowing with wine and oil. And I will
restore to you the years that the locust has eaten ... the great
army which I sent among you. 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 ashamed.
And you 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" (verses 21-27).
Can it be said that ANY part of Israel can never be ashamed?
I think not! Sin is still among us, very much so in Israel and
Judah. Can it be said that Israel and/or Judah KNOW that God is
in their midst? I THINK NOT! Most of Israel and Judah do not even
think about God per se, they are becoming more SECULAR each and
every day and month and year. The Northern army of the Europe
Beast Babylon will be driven away from Jerusalem and the Holy
Land at this time, when all this prophecy is fulfilled.
The WHOLE CONTEXT of this section of Joel is AFTER the Great
Tribulation, AFTER the day of the Lord, when Israel and Judah,
God's people of Jacob, will have God (via the person of Christ)
in their midst!
The next verses also prove the point of time when all this
will take place.
HEAVENLY SIGNS BEFORE THE DAY OF THE LORD
The SPIRIT of God is to be POURED OUT on the children of
Israel, all 13 tribes. People will be INSPIRED! The Spirit of God
will be upon ALL flesh within Israel. There will be "WONDERS in
heaven and in the earth, blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. The
sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon into blood——
BEFORE——
the GREAT AND THE TERRIBLE DAY OF THE LORD COMES. 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 has said, and in the remnant whom the
Lord shall call" (verses 28-32).
Yes, this had a fulfilment in Acts 2. But the CONTEXT of
this prophecy is ALSO for a TIME YET TO COME, THE TIME OF THE
LAST FEW YEARS OF THIS AGE, AND WHEN JESUS WILL COME AND DWELL IN
THE MIDST OF ISRAEL IN JERUSALEM.
Prophecy OFTEN has a DOUBLE fulfilment and often the LAST
fulfilment is GREATER than the first one. It was a spectacular
fulfilment in Acts 2. But the context of Joel 2:18-32 will be a
LARGER fulfilment than it was in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2.
These HEAVENLY SIGNS are in the OLIVET prophecy of Christ
(Mat.24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:11). The heavenly signs are in
the 6th chapter of Revelation. Putting all prophetic Scriptures
together we see it is (1) The Great Tribulation (2) the Heavenly
Signs (3) The Day of the Lord (4) The Return of Christ (5) The
Resurrection of the Saints (6) The Battle of Armageddon (7) The
Delivering of Israel/Judah/Jerusalem from the Gentiles.
This 1 to 7 outline of prophecy I have expounded upon in
detail in MANY studies on my Website.
CHAPTER 3
"For behold, IN THOSE DAYS, AND IN THAT TIME, WHEN I SHALL BRING
AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH AND JERUSALEM. I will 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. They have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for
a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink" (verses
1-3).
The pleading God will do is not with words, but with POWER
AND MIGHT! With BATTLE! The word Jehoshaphat means "judgment of
Jehovah." It is the battle of Armageddon!!
The peoples of the area of Tyre and Zidon, up on the coast
from Jerusalem, will help destroy the children of Judah as the
Great Tribulation comes on the Holy Land, when the king of the
North has marched into Jerusalem to destroy the city and kill and
scatter the Jews of the Promised Land. God will bring back His
people and will use them to return recompense on this area of the
Middle East. The sons and daughters of those people of that area
will become the servants of Judah (verses 4-8).
As the saying goes "What goes around will come around" and
so it will be for many nations when all is finished.
The Last Mighty Battle
"Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; PREPARE WAR, WAKE UP THE
MIGHTY MEN, LET ALL THE MEN OF WAR DRAW NEAR; LET THEM COME. Beat
your ploughshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears:
let the weak say I am strong. ASSEMBLE YOURSELVES, AND COME all
you heathen, AND GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER ROUND ABOUT ... Let
the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:
FOR THERE WILL I SIT TO JUDGE ALL THE HEATHEN" (verses 9-12).
The Pictorial Encyclopedia says, "Jehoshaphat, valley of,
meaning God shall judge, or Jehovah has judged. A valley adjacent
to the city of Jerusalem on the E, long regarded as the place of
the judging of the nations (Joel 3:2,12). It is also referred to
as the 'valley of decision' (Joel 3:14). Zechariah 14:2 is
commonly taken as a reference to this place, now known as the
Valley of the Kidron...."
Yes, it is not hard to put a few Scriptures together.
Revelation 11:15-19; 14:14-20; 16:12-21; Zech.14:1-15; with this
section of Joel) and find the picture given to us. The nations
and their armies will come and gather at the plain of Megiddon, a
valley runs from there (about 70 miles NW of Jerusalem) down past
the city of Jerusalem, south into the ancient land of Edom. These
armies will try to fight Christ at His return with the saints
(just resurrected). The blood of destruction will flow from
Armageddon plain down to ancient Edom (see Isaiah 63:1 with
Revelation 14:19-20).
"PUT IN THE SICKLE, FOR THE HARVEST IS COME (see Revelation
14:15); get you down for the press is full, the vats overflowing;
for the wickedness is GREAT (see Mat.24:3,12). Multitude,
multitude in the valley of threshing (margin): for THE DAY OF THE
LORD IS NEAR IN THE VALLEY OF THRESHING. The sun and the moon
shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining"
(verses 13-15).
The HEAVENLY SIGNS again! The time line is indeed the DAY OF
THE LORD.
True Joel does not go into the DETAIL of it all. The
book of Revelation does that! We have the HEAVENLY SIGNS -
Revelation 6:12 - the day of God's great WRATH - Revelation 6:17 -
the blowing of the 7 TRUMPETS - Revelation 8:1 - The 7th Trumpet
and the coming of Christ - Revelation 11:15; 14:14-20; 19:11-16 -
The battle of Armageddon at the 7th Trumpet.
The Heavenly Signs introduce the "day of the Lord" - the day
of the Lord ends with the battle we see here depicted in Joel
chapter 3, and passages of Revelation.
The time of Joel 3 covers about ONE YEAR! The book of
Revelation gives us the DETAIL, Joel does not, he just covers the
HIGH-LIGHTS of the overall day of the Lord.
"The Lord also shall ROAR OUT OF ZION, and utter His voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall SHAKE: (the book
of Revelation amplified all this), but the Lord will be the hope
of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel" (verse
16).
It is all what we have seen over and over again in Isaiah,
Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. The children of Israel and Judah are in a
state of CAPTIVITY TO THEIR ENEMIES when Christ comes back to
earth. The Middle East and the Holy Land is the FOCUS of the
world. The Beast Babylon power of Europe, with the man beast and
the false prophet, have moved their headquarters to Jerusalem.
The kings of the East have taken some of the nations in the
Middle East. They also have a presence in that area of the world.
Jesus COMES, the saints are resurrected, they meet Him in the
clouds; the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place——-
they all start their descent down to Jerusalem. The armies
of the Beast power and armies from the East side of
Euphrates (Russia, China etc.) having battled it out over their
respective lands (Revelation 9) NOW join forces to fight what
they probably will be told by the false prophet is the anti-
christ. They will gather at the plain of Megiddon. Jesus will
FIGHT as told in Zechariah 14. He will ROAR out of Zion. Utter
His voice from Jerusalem - shake the heavens and the earth - will
win the battle. He will be the strength of Israel and Judah. They
shall be SET FREE from their enemies, they shall RETURN to the
Holy Land and Jerusalem.
God proclaims:
"So shall you KNOW that I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD ***DWELLING IN
ZION*** my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy and there
shall no strangers (unconverted Gentiles) pass through her any
more. And it shall come to pass IN THAT DAY (that time period)
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.
Egypt shall be a desolation (we have seen how in Daniel 11:40-45)
and Edom (modern Turkey) shall be a desolate wilderness, for the
violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed
innocent blood in their land" (I've told you and shown you that
when Israel is gathered out of the nations they will come back
across Turkey and lay punishment on them for the evil they did
when Judah - the Jews, fled north at the start of the Great
Tribulation. It is all in the book of Obediah when we get to it).
BUT JUDAH shall abide (margin) for ever, and Jerusalem from
generation to generation. FOR I will CLEANSE their blood that I
have not cleansed: for the LORD DWELLS IN ZION!!" (verses 17-21).
It is the TIME OF THE END OF THIS AGE. This is a prophecy
for THE DAY OF THE LORD, the RETURN of the Messiah Christ, the
battle of Armageddon, the restoration of Israel and Judah and
Jerusalem.
So it is written and so shall it come to pass!
Keith Hunt
......................
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