Thursday - Joel 3 - Multitudes in the Valley of Decision

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ELL, we just started Joel, and now we are done. Just 3 chapters in this prophecy. As we have already seen, Joel's focus was lifted beyond the circumstances of his own day, all the way to the very end of time. In this chapter, he speaks of the multitudes who will be "in the valley of decision" when Christ returns (Joel 3:14). Now, the assumption might be that these multitudes have a decision to make, but that will not be the case. They will have already made their decisions. The decision maker in this valley will be Jehovah (Joel 3:12). It will be a valley of judgment. In fact, this valley is also called the valley of Jehoshaphat in Joel 3:2 & 12. The name Jehoshaphat means "Jehovah has judged." So, it will be Jehovah who will be making decisions in this great valley on judgment day; the day when the nations are judged (Joel 3:2). The nations of this world, including the ones that God has used to discipline Israel, will ultimately have to answer to God for their actions, decisions and policies.

Obviously, it will be a very serious time. It will be a time of war (Joel 3:9).  The advice given by Jehovah to the nations will be, "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears..." (Joel 3:10). They will need every bit of strength they can muster if they intend to resist the God of heaven. The implication is that they will be gross underdogs. Figuratively speaking, they will be outsmarted, outmanned, outgunned and outdone. This assembly of the heathen will certainly not be for the distribution of candy and cola (Joel 3:11-12). The harvest of Revelation 14 is surely the same as the harvest of Joel 3:13. So, while the judgment of Israel will have ended, the judgment of the nations will have just begun in earnest.