All right, Joel chapter 3, Joel chapter 3, we left off there, verse 2, 3. Just to pick up there in verse 2, Joel says, I will gather, I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. We talked about the valley of Jehoshaphat last time. That was a battle that Jehoshaphat, King Jehoshaphat had. King of Judah in the Old Testament. God fought for Israel and gave him a great victory. And so that's the same place that there's going to be all the nations that are going to gather against Jerusalem. Zechariah chapter 14 gives you that event as well. And you see the similar wording. It says, Zechariah 14.1, you'll notice the reference to the Day of the Lord. Behold, the Day of the Lord cometh. and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee, for I will gather all nations. That's exactly what he says here in Joel chapter three, verse two, against Jerusalem to battle. So what you have here is the battle of Armageddon, which takes place at the end of the three and a half year period of tribulation. And so that's what's going on here. This is a future battle, a future event. And that'll happen after we're raptured, after there's that time of tribulation. and then the Lord's gonna return, there's gonna be this battle of Armageddon, but that's what he's talking about there in verse two. You'll notice that the purpose of this gathering of the nations is for a battle, but it's also for judgment. Look at verse 12 of Joel 3. It says, let the heathen be awakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. And so if you go to Matthew 25, Notice the reference to where he's going to sit. Where is he going to sit? Well, he's going to sit on the throne of his glory. In Matthew 25, you have a judgment that's talked about here and the Lord's returning. And I don't think I'm going to read the entire passage, but Matthew chapter 25, starting there in verse 31. And notice what it says, when the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit. And where is he gonna sit? Verse 12, we see the reference to sitting there, and to judge. He's gonna sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations. So you see the same reference. Same reference you see in Zechariah 14, same references you're seeing in Joel 3.2 and Joel 3.12. And gonna gather all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And this is what's called the judgment of the nations, because all the nations are gonna be gathered. And then you're going to see what he does in this judgment. It's a works-based judgment. And it's a judgment based on how those individuals that were in those other nations, how they treated the nation of Israel. Now, Joel is going to talk about some of the treatment here in a minute and how the nations treated the nation of Israel. And obviously the sheep are those that cared and took care and did good unto the nation of Israel, unto my people. And the goats are the ones that did not. And it says in verse 35 of Matthew 25, for I was in hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer, this is the sheet. Lord, when saw we thee unhungered and fed thee? Or thirsty and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked and clothed thee? And when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, that's the Jews. And that's the Jewish, that's who's brethren, that's the Lord's brethren. Ye have done it unto me. And he's gonna say the same thing to the goat, but obviously they didn't do that. They failed to do that. They didn't take him in. They didn't feed him when he was hungry, his brethren. And so that's what's happening here. This is the Lord returning. The nations are being gathered in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and they're gonna be judged. Now notice verse 3 We read verse 2 last week 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 And you see what it says there in verse 7 behold I will raise them out of the place whether ye have sold them and will return your recompense upon your own head and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah and they shall sell them to the Sabians, to a people far off for the Lord has spoken it. So what do you have going on here? You have the nations that have taken the Jew and they've sold them into slavery. And the Lord says, I'm gonna recompense you. I'm gonna sell you into slavery. And the tables are gonna be turned. Now, if you go to Revelation 18, you're gonna see this in the tribulation, where you have slavery and stuff like that going on again. I know you have it today and in some other countries, but in the tribulation, apparently it's gonna be far more prevalent. In Revelation chapter 18, verse nine, and the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and live deliciously with her shall bewail her and lament her when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Talking about Babylon. Alas, verse 10, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore. All the profit they had is gonna go away just like that. But notice what it says there in verse 12, the merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and of pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and all fine wood and all manner of vessels of ivory and all manner of vessels of most precious wood and of brass and iron and marble and cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beast and sheep Horses and chariots and slaves and souls of men So you got slaves and men being sold women being sold boys being sold into slavery And that's what you have in the tribulation and God's gonna judge it and we spread that in verse 7a He's gonna turn the tables and they're gonna be sold the Sabians there and we read that in verse 8 That's that's a one from what I understand. That's a reference to Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia So that's Arab people that are gonna be involved in some of this slave trade and the Lord's gonna turn tables on them They're gonna be sold All right, verse four. Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the coast of Palestine? Will you render me a recompense? And if ye recompense me swiftly and speedily, will I return your recompense upon your own head? And we talked about that, the judgment that's gonna come. And God's dealing's not with Tyre and Zidon. He's not gonna, that's not the nation he's blessing. They can try to recompense the Lord, but it's not gonna matter. He's gonna return the recompense upon their own head. Verse five, because you have taken my silver and my gold and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things. Now God considers the possessions that he had given to Israel as his own. And one of the things you read, let's go to a couple of passages of scripture here, go back to Hosea chapter two, Hosea chapter two. So these nations had taken these things And the Lord said, you took them from me. You think you just took them from some people, from a nation, the Israelites, but no, you took them from me. Hosea chapter, what did I have you turn to? Hosea 2.8. Hosea 2.8. It says there, for she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. So who gave them that? Those God did. And God considered it his. Go to Daniel chapter 5. Daniel chapter 5 verse 23. Talk about Belshazzar here. Daniel 5 23. Let me start with verse 22. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thyself, though thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven. and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines had drunk wine in them, and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know, and the God in whose breath thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified? And all these vessels that God, that Belshazzar had taken, that the nations had taken, God considered them his, they're mine, he says in verse five, my silver, my gold, My goodly pleasant things. And there's a great spiritual application you can make. God gives you material blessings and they're His. They're His. They belong to Him. And He's given them to us to steward them, but they're His possessions. They're His goods. And God takes credit for their prosperity. You know what man does? Man takes credit for their wealth. They take credit for their prosperity. They take credit for the things they accomplish in this life. And it's God who gives it to him. God gives him the ability. God gives him the mind, the brain. God gives him the ability to do those things. And God considers them his. And he's taking them back. We read verse 6 where it talks about more of the slavery. The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have you sold unto the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border. We read verse 7 and verse 8 already. Let me pick up there in verse nine. 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. And that's the battle that's gonna take place. Verse 10, beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves and come all ye heathen and gather yourselves together round about Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. And so what do you have? You have two armies there. You got the heathen gathering themselves, assembling themselves together. Now notice how man plays right into God's plan, because God said he was gathering the nations, but they're assembling themselves. And you ever read the Bible and wonder why man doesn't just try to thwart God by, you know, I mean, you have the nation of Israel crucifies their Messiah, which was prophesied in the Old Testament. So God uses and God knows what they're going to do, and so he puts a prophecy in the Bible about what they're gonna do, and they feed right into it. They do exactly what God said they were gonna do. And these men, these nations are gat, assemble yourselves, come together all ye heathen, take your best shot. He says there, let the weak say I'm strong. That's what man says. They're weak in God's eyes, but that's what they think, they're gonna be strong, I'm strong. We'll come against the nation of Israel. We'll come against their God. And the Lord says, go ahead. Go ahead, assemble yourselves. And God's using their own wickedness and their own desire to do it. And he's gathering them together, but they're assembling themselves. And they're playing right into God's hands. They're playing right into God's hands. All this stuff that's happening in Israel and all this stuff that's going on in the United Nations and all the things they've been doing, it's playing right into God's hands. They think they're thwarting God and God's just up there saying, yeah, go ahead, go ahead. You know what, it's all gonna end just the way I said it would. And it will. And so he's telling, go ahead, assemble yourselves, but I'm the one gathering you. But he's using their own desire and their own desire to kill the nation of Israel and get rid of the Jew and telling them to assemble themselves, gather yourselves. He says there in verse 10, let the weak say, I am strong. Another reference on that would be Nahum chapter two, verse 8. Nahum is a... Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum. I had to, it's going to take me a minute to find it. Alright. Nahum chapter 2. Alright, maybe it's Hosea chapter 2. That's not the reference I wanted. We'll try Hosea 2.8 and then we'll I don't think it's... No, we already read Hosea 2.8. All right, that's not a good reference, so let's just skip it. There's another reference where man is claiming that they're strong, but they're actually weak, and that's what they say here in verse 10 of Joel chapter 3. Now, he says there at the end, I mentioned there was two armies, two armies there. You have the heathens and the Gentile nations gathering together against the Lord, against the nation of Israel, but then you also have The Lord's army. You see it there at the end of verse 11? Thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Now, in the Bible, the Lord is gonna return, according to Jude 1.14, with 10,000 of his saints. And he's also coming back with angels. You saw that in Matthew 25.31. And so what you have is you have all these nations assembling themselves in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, surrounding Jerusalem, and the prophet says, okay, Lord, thither cause thy mighty ones to come down. Time for the battle. And the Lord's army, the one in Joel chapter two, the army of the Lord, talked about that before, they're gonna come down, they're gonna fight against the nations here. And it's gonna be a brutal battle. Go to Revelation chapter 14. Let me just keep reading a couple more verses. You can go ahead and turn to Revelation 14, but I want you to get a couple more verses here in Joel chapter three. It says, Joel 3.12, 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. 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. I wanted to read that verse and see some of the similar parallels here in Revelation chapter 14, which is describing the same event. Revelation chapter 14. Pick it up there in verse 14. I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the son of man Having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a what a sharp sickle And we see that there in Joel 3 13 put you in the sickle And another angel verse 15 of Revelation 14 and another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice To him that sat on the cloud thrust in the sickle and reaped for the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. See what it says there in Joel 3.13? For the harvest is ripe. Same language, same event. Verse 16, and he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And then read down in there to verse, 19 and the angel thrust in the sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God and You see the press there in Joel 3 13 and the winepress here in Revelation 14 19 and look at what it says in verse 20 of Revelation 14 and the winepress was trodden without the city and Blood came out of the winepress even unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs So that's the blood shed. Now, where's a bridle on a horse? Isn't that on his mouth? Didn't that go right here? Okay. I'm looking at my kids because they've been taking horse lessons. And so that's what the blood is going to do. That blood of the Battle of Armageddon is going to be so high and so much blood, it's going to come up to the horse's bridles. And that's what Joel is talking about here in this whole event. But you can see the parallels very clearly there with Joel chapter 3 verse 13. All right, so verse 14. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. And that valley of decision is the same valley of Jehoshaphat, same event. Verse 16, I'm sorry, verse 15. The sun and the moon shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Now, I think I read this before. I'll read it again, Matthew chapter 24, where the Lord describes this there as well. In Matthew chapter 24, you'll notice the parallel, and the Lord's describing the same event. Matthew 24, 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. So you can see the sun and the moon darken, stars withdrawing, they're shining. That's what's happening here. Coming to the Lord. Verse 16. 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. you see the Lord is roaring here. I've got a bunch of references on that. Go to just a couple we'll look at about the Lord roaring, Jeremiah chapter 25. Jeremiah 25 says there in verse 30, Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words and saying to them, the Lord shall roar from on high and utter his voice from his holy habitation. He shall mightily roar upon his habitation and shall give a shout as they that tread the grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth. You have a wine press, you have grapes being talked about here in Jeremiah 30, 25, 30, and the Lord is roaring. Hosea 11, verse 10, another reference to that. Hosea 11 10 they shall walk after the Lord talking about Israel He shall roar like a lion when he shall roar then the children shall tremble from the West Now the Lord is roaring Because what is the Bible called the Lord go to Revelation chapter 5? And you're gonna see why the the reference to him roaring Revelation chapter 5 In verse 5, the Bible says this, and one of the elders saith unto me, weep not, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. The root of David hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. So the Lord Jesus Christ is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. And what does a lion do? He roars. And so he's returning and he's coming back in wrath. He's not coming as a lamb. He's coming as a lion. He came the first time as a lamb. He came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. John 1.29. He came the first time as a lamb. He's coming the second time as a lion. And when He comes back, it's over for man. And He's coming in judgment. He's coming in anger. He's coming in wrath. Notice what it says there in Joel chapter 3. Let me get back there. It says in Joel 3, talks about their wickedness, verse 13. Put you 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. And the Lord's roaring because of the wickedness of the people and the sin of the nations. And so that's why the sickle's getting put in here. And that's why he's roaring, because of the wickedness of the people. But the Lord we read that verse 16 the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel It's always been the case and that's a great spiritual application for any man in any time that the God is your hope That's it The Lord is your hope you're not your hope the United Nations isn't your hope politicians not your hope God is your strength God is your hope and I was I was talking to that young man yesterday at at the Park Meadows Area there and man every time I get to share the gospel with someone. I think man, what a great message What a great message of just of simple simplicity and hope you can know and He was he was just hungry. He was just soaking it all up and What a great man wouldn't you what if the gospel was you know, well like, you know the Church of Christ Well, if you can believe and be baptized that you can you can repent and you can kind of maintain good works I mean, what kind of good news is that? You'd never know if you were saved. You'd never know. But what a great message, and the Lord is the hope. And this obviously doctrinal context here obviously is the nation of Israel, but a great spiritual application for us today. Verse 17, 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 anymore. That's when you're gonna have a holiness and that's when you're gonna have righteousness when Jesus Christ comes to this earth and dwells in Zion and sits on a throne in Jerusalem and that's when you're gonna have holiness and righteousness and peace on earth not before and And you got a great picture of this in several passages in the Bible go to Zechariah 14 Zechariah 14 In verse 21, it says there, yea, I'll give you a minute to get there, I hear pages turning. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts, and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them and see therein, and in that day thou shalt be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Holiness will reign. Another reference on that is Isaiah 35.8, where the Lord's prophesying about this stuff. Isaiah 35, 8, And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean now shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those, the wayfaring man, the fool shall not err therein. It's going to be a holy place. No strangers are going to pass through it. We read that there in Isaiah 35. And it shall, verse 18, 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. Now that's just talking about the restoration of the land. And we read back in Joel chapter two, you got the former rain and the latter rain. They're all coming down at one time and the land is gonna be restored. It's gonna bear much fruit, new wine, milk, rivers shall flow with waters. And I'm not gonna go into all that tonight, but the earth is gonna experience a restoration because of the blessings that God puts upon this earth in the millennium. And there's gonna be a great blessing on this land because of Israel. You can see it. I have a couple of references here. One is Amos chapter 9 talking about the restoration of the land. Joel 9.13, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, him that sow a seed, and the mountain shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt. And a lot of references in the Old Testament, as you read through the Old Testament, you'll pick up a lot of millennial type references where God's talking about the blessings on the land. It's talking about that day when the land will be restored and Israel will be in their kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ will be ruling and reigning in Jerusalem. Verse 19, 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. Verse 20, but Judah shall dwell forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation. And that was the promise that God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The land that God promised to them was given to them as an eternal possession. And I gave you the references on that several weeks back, but he gave it to them as an eternal possession. They're gonna dwell forever there. They're gonna dwell forever there. And then he closes the book there in verse 21, in a great place. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. So you have the end of the book of Joel, and it's a picture of the true prophecy of the restoration of Israel, them dwelling in the land, the Lord Jesus Christ ruling on a throne, and he says he's gonna cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed. It's gonna be cleansed. And let me read one more verse to you over here in Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. Talks about that time there where Paul talks here in Romans 11 about Israel being cut off. But he says there in Romans 11, 26, and so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall come out of Sion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. Talking about being cleansed here. So that ends the book of Joel, with the nation of Israel in their land, cleansed from their sin, saved, turning back to God, with Jesus Christ ruling and reigning on a throne in Jerusalem. And that's how Joel ends the book. So we'll start next time on...