Joel 3

Hey, hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. This morning we are going to be at Joel chapter 3. Joel chapter 3. We've talked about the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, and turning to him. So, let's see what Joel has to say to us today. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing it is to get to read your word. God, it is a really is a blessing. We have it in a language we can understand. Uh it's we thank you for preserving your word and we thank you for giving us people who have studied long and late hours and become experts in the ancient languages and in the Hebrew here to be able to translate and give it to us in in good translations. Lord, we have so many translations and and so much access to your word and we thank you for that. We pray that your spirit would please help us now to take it seriously, to read it, to understand it, and to and that your spirit would apply it to our lives and help us to live it out. We pray in Jesus's name. Amen. Here we go. Joel chapter 3. For behold, in those days, and at that time, again, that's talking about the day of the Lord, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have also divided up my land. They have cast lots for my people, have given a boy as a payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine that they may drink. Indeed, what have you done? What have you to do with me, oh Ty and Siden, and all the coast of Felistia? Will you retaliate against me? But if you retaliate against me swiftly and speedily, I will return your retaliation upon your own head because you have taken my silver and my gold. You have carried into my into your temples my prized possessions. Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem have s have sold you have sold to the Greeks that you may remove them far from their borders. All right. So now it's interesting because he's not just saying that it's the day of the Lord coming to judge the Israelites who can turn to the Lord, but now he's talking to the gentile neighbors, the goim around them who have turned from the not just turned from the Lord, but taken the Lord's people as captive and and he's bring them back from Babylon. He's bring people back to Jerusalem, to Judah, and he's going to judge those who sold them into slavery, who dispersed his people amongst the Greeks. He says in verse 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. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sebans, to a people far off. For the Lord has spoken. Right? So he says the roles are going to get reversed here. Instead of you conquering them, they're going to conquer you. 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. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, "I am strong. Assemble and come all you nations and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, oh Lord. Right? So he's saying that this day of the Lord where he's coming, he's bring them up. There's been a role reversal here and he says, "Let the mighty men arise." But then notice he he's calling people. He's calling the mighty men of war. There's a draw near. Let them come up. And then what does he do with these mighty men of war? He tells them, "Take your war instruments, repurpose them to farm. Take your pruning hooks or sorry, be your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears." He's saying make them the opposite. Make make your farming weapons into weapons of war. Let the weak say I am strong. Gather the assemble. All the all the nations, all the gather all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, oh Lord. Let the nations be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. This is again this picture of God's judgment. This treading of the wine press is is judging them like somebody stomping on grapes. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will go dark and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and the earth will shake. But the Lord will be a shelter for his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Right? this this imagery of the sun going dark and the stars uh diminishing in brightness. God's God's speaking out with a great voice. So you shall know that I am Yhovah your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy and no aliens shall ever pass through her again. And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water. A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord, and water from the valley of Acacius. this and that's going to become this blessing of milk flowing of clean water that people are going to be cared for and there's going to be new wine hearts are going to be made glad and there's safety and drink and refreshment Egypt shall be a desolation right Egypt with this enemy that Israel is always trying to either be at war with protect themselves from or somehow not get conquered by them. He says Egypt's going to be a desolation. Edom a desolate wilderness, right? Again, there's a judgment that we had just talked about before with in Jeremiah with Edom going to be judged because of violence against the people of Judah. for they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall abide forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed whom I had not acquitted. For the Lord dwells in Zion. This is what the Lord is doing. He's bringing about his judgment day and he's he's he's bringing back righteousness. He's caring for his people. He's watching over them. He's he's doing what is right. But here's the interesting thing, right? When when you think about what all this is talking about with with the day of the Lord and God's judging the nations and bringing about the good of his people, I think about all this imagery, and I think this imagery is true in in a real literary sense and and historically someday it is going to come to pass. But I want to I want to just say I think in some ways I want to think and believe that some of this was pointing to that day in which Jesus died when the sun stopped giving its brightness and it became like night and there was an earthquake and even the graves were opened up and people rose from the dead and in the temple the curtain was torn in I think we've entered into the judgment days. I I I think there really is a sense in which God is doing things today. God really is bringing about closer and closer to that great day of the Lord. I think this is what Jesus was talking about why there's going to be wars and rumors of wars. There's going to be famines. There's going to be uh there's going to be all these calamities. We ought to be ready, right? Cuz the day of the Lord could come. And yet, we ought not to be spooked constantly by everything coming around the corner because we know he's going to come. We know these things are going to happen. But yet, we know that the wine press for our judgment has already happened and we can have peace because Jesus died on that cross for us. Our sin was paid. It is finished. So, let's go ahead and pray. Father, we pray that you would please let us not rejoice singing the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, acting as if it's not a big or consequential thing. Lord, you're going to judge. And for those who are outside of Jesus, God, we pray that you would please put a heavy burden on our hearts that they're walking the way that leads unto destruction. Father, please don't let us be callous or hard-hearted or cold to that. But Lord, at the same time, we pray that we might have comfort and assurance knowing that you have paid the ultimate price that you are God, the prince of peace, has brought about the peace that should reign in our hearts because you've hidden us in Jesus Christ. And so, Father, please let us walk in your ways. Let us trust you always. Thank you for your good gifts in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may you walk in the joy of Jesus. May you love the Lord your God all your life with all your heart. For he has loved you. And you, if you are part of his Israel, by faith will live forever. I'll see you next time. Bye.