Joel had warned the Israelites – and us – of the coming day of the Lord. This devotion looks at his final words about preparing for God’s judgment and how He provides for us.
Nuggets
- We prepare for Judgment Day by growing in God’s favor.
- God will provide for His children after the desolation of judgment.
Devotions in The Days According to Joel series
Joel’s book isn’t very long, so he was laser focused to warn us about the coming day of the Lord. He truly wanted us to be prepared for it.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Consecrate for War
“Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir 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 a warrior.’ Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord. Let the nations stir themselves up 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. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel” (Jl. 3: 9-16 ESV)
We prepare for Judgment Day by growing in God’s favor.
It is interesting. The English Standard Version translates it consecrate. The King James Version translate it prepare.
Excell told us why we need to prepare. He wrote, “Great armies are arrayed against God. They are bold in atheism. They are cunning in sin. They are malicious in temper.”
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Joel told us how we should prepare. “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, ‘I am a warrior’” (Jl. 3: 10 ESV).
I know that isn’t what we are used to hearing. We are more used to what Isaiah said. “… and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks …” (Isa. 2: 4 ESV).
The switch is brought about by sin. Sin destroys the peace and brings war and chaos.
For the last battle, Excell said that principles of good will be adapted to promote evil. Jesus’ words will be twisted to promote Satan’s evil.
Think about it. Hasn’t that already started?
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (Jn. 13: 34 ESV).
But worldview people have twisted that to say, “What difference does it make as to who we love?”
It does make a difference because worldview people use it to disobey God. That leads to destruction.
But sin has limits. (I know. It doesn’t feel like it.)
Let’s think about it a minute. God is in control of the plans for our lives (Jer. 29: 11), not Satan. He knows how and when we are going to face trials (I Pet. 5: 9).
Satan had to ask God for Job (Job. 1: 6-12) and Peter (Lk. 22: 31-34). Even the demons obey Him. “And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him’” (Mk. 1: 27 ESV).
One day, God will have had enough. He will have reached His limit. Judgment Day will be here.
No one but God knows when that will be. Even Jesus said He didn’t know (Mt. 24: 36).
What has to happen so that can happen.
- God’s patience with sin has to reach its limits.
- All who are going to be saved will be saved.
- His disciples will have grown to where they should be on the Sanctification Road.
For what are we aiming? Our goal is to be morally mature in God’s character. That is what perfection is all about. When we reach maturity, we are ripe for the harvest.
Now, it looks like Joel said that Judgment Day would occur in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. According to Diggle, he was basing this on tradition. Jesus never put a place on it any more than He put a time to it.
It doesn’t matter. Diggle told us what matters. He wrote,
“The blessed are deciding their own blessedness when they cultivate holiness of character, and the cursed are deciding their own doom when they are forgetting God and living in sin. The valley of decision is the valley which each man treads in the road of life. It is here and now.”
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Don’t miss that. The time to decide is this minute.
When we do decide to submit to God, we receive hope. “… But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel” (Jl. 3: 16 ESV).
God’s refuge is where we go for fixing. Jackson told us why we can only go to Him. He wrote, “He alone combines the knowledge, the ability, and the will which are needful.
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We’ve got to decide now because this decision brings us new life. It makes us new creations.
Glossary
Did you see what the last verse said? Jesus is our stronghold. He is our strength.
If we would only put as much work into increasing our spiritual strength as we do our physical strength!
So, what is spiritual strength? It is a mature mind, focused on God and possessing His knowledge. It is a firm faith that will obey Him.
No, we aren’t there yet. We are still navigating the Sanctification Road.
The Glorious Future
“So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it. ‘And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the streambeds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord and water the Valley of Shittim. ‘Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the Lord dwells in Zion’” (Jl. 3: 17-21 ESV)
God will provide for His children after the desolation of judgment.
After all the devastation done by the locus attack and the abject terror that will accompany the day of the Lord, what follows will be considered the golden age. Look at the prosperity we will be enjoying.
- Sinners (aka strangers) won’t be present.
- Wine, milk, and water will be abundant.
- Enemies will have been conquered.
- This prosperity will go on forever.
- God will be living with us.
Excell applied this to moral influences. Sin won’t be present, so we will be pure. Think of how refreshing that will be after the stain of sin. That will foster joy.
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This moral goodness will be present for all eternity.
That happens only after we have been purified. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (I Cor. 15: 51-53 ESV).
Remember, this is a spiritual cleansing. God isn’t concerned about this body being eternal. He has a new one for His children.
What God is concerned about is our witness for Him. We need to be like Him in order to give non-believers an accurate picture of Who He is. We have to show how He saves us and provides for us.
Making the Connections
“Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision” (Jl. 3: 14 ESV)
Joel said that we have to make a decision. We have to make this decision before Judgment Day gets here.
MacEwen argued that Joel was deeply depressed when he penned these words. I can see this.
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Think back about what all Joel has told the Israelites. He has seen their indecision — I would even call it indifference.
The whole purpose of the book is to warn the Israelites as to what is coming — and they aren’t going to like it.
But Joel gives them much hope. They can escape Judgment Day — if they obey Gods.
How do we obey God? No, it isn’t just being a moral person.
We have to to admit that mankind was separated from God after the original sin, making us sinners; believe Jesus paid the penalty for those sins to become our Savior and Redeemer; confess God as Sovereign God; and demonstrate that commitment by submitting to living our lives following His laws and commandments confessing God as Sovereign Lord.
Don’t think that this valley of decision is going to be at the start of Judgment Day. Look closely at the Scriptures.
“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 11-15 ESV).
Nowhere in there does it say God is going to ask us, “Well, what is your final decision?” The decision is made in this life.
Decision time is now.
How Do We Apply This?
- Don’t let sin capture us.
- Don’t be swayed by Satan’s moral evil — what may look moral isn’t.
- Remember, God will triumph in the end.
- Navigate the Sanctification Road.
- Realize while we are growing closer to what God wants us to be that we, in reality, are unworthy and guilty.
- Grow in trust of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
- Decide right now to accept Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer.
- Renounce our sin.
- Decide to associate with like-minded believers instead of sinful non-believers.
- Be encouraged by the prosperity that is coming after judgment for God’s children.
- Show worldview people what a moral heart should look like.
- Take God’s story of redemption to the world.
- Unite in prayer to witness to the world.
Resource
Father God. You have provided a way that mankind can be redeemed when we submit ourselves to You and ask Your forgiveness. Unfortunately, Lord, we still continue to sin. You judge us in this life. More importantly, You will judge those who do not submit to You in the day of the Lord. We submit our lives to You. Help us to grow more like You. Amen.
What do you think?
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