Joe 3:1 | KingComments | STEP | This chapter gives a complete picture of the events of the last days. First the LORD will deliver His people from their enemies. In a way only God can do, He will bring the enemies together and make them appear together before His judgment seat. He will ensure that every crime committed by Israel’s enemies against His people will receive just retribution ( ). While the enemies are judged, the LORD will be a hiding place for His people. They will live safely with Him ( ). After the exercise of punishment of the nations there will come a time of abundant blessing for Israel ( ). The center from which all blessing comes is the LORD Who will dwell on Zion ( ). This also ensures that the blessing will continue. Over the centuries, Judah and Jerusalem have been trampled, languished and exterminated. Time and again other peoples have taken possession of them. Since May 14, 1948, the state of Israel has arisen, but the pressure of the nations is great and so is their dependence on the United States. It is not yet a people that expects it from the LORD. It still relies on its own strength and the strength of its allies. This acting according to their own insight and the increased pressure will lead them to accept the Antichrist, who comes in his own name and presents himself as Messiah ( ). They will place their hopes in him. The deliverance is expected from him. However, it will be in vain. The nations will go to Jerusalem and besiege the city. The situation becomes totally hopeless, especially for the faithful. The faithful will be threatened in that “time of Jacob’s distress” ( ) by enemies from outside and also by their apostate contemporaries who are following the antichrist. But then the Lord Jesus will come from heaven to set them free. With His appearance, the final turning point in the history of Judah and Jerusalem has arrived. The turn in the fate of Judah and Jerusalem is brought when the need is greatest. After that the time of peace and blessing immediately begins. The following verses show what the LORD is going to do to make that time dawn. The captivity of Judah and Jerusalem and the scattering of the ten tribes still continues. The captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is understood to mean that although there is a state of their own, they are not really free. They are hand and foot tied to the support of the United States, and good relations with the European Union are also essential. Although the Israel of the ten tribes is not mentioned here, they too will share in the results of the Lord Jesus’ actions. They too will be brought back to the land.

‏ Joel 3:1

Introduction

This chapter gives a complete picture of the events of the last days. First the LORD will deliver His people from their enemies. In a way only God can do, He will bring the enemies together and make them appear together before His judgment seat. He will ensure that every crime committed by Israel’s enemies against His people will receive just retribution (Joel 3:1-16).

While the enemies are judged, the LORD will be a hiding place for His people. They will live safely with Him (Joel 3:16b-17). After the exercise of punishment of the nations there will come a time of abundant blessing for Israel (Joel 3:18-20). The center from which all blessing comes is the LORD Who will dwell on Zion (Joel 3:21). This also ensures that the blessing will continue.

The Fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem Restored

Over the centuries, Judah and Jerusalem have been trampled, languished and exterminated. Time and again other peoples have taken possession of them. Since May 14, 1948, the state of Israel has arisen, but the pressure of the nations is great and so is their dependence on the United States. It is not yet a people that expects it from the LORD. It still relies on its own strength and the strength of its allies.

This acting according to their own insight and the increased pressure will lead them to accept the Antichrist, who comes in his own name and presents himself as Messiah (Jn 5:43b). They will place their hopes in him. The deliverance is expected from him. However, it will be in vain. The nations will go to Jerusalem and besiege the city. The situation becomes totally hopeless, especially for the faithful. The faithful will be threatened in that “time of Jacob’s distress” (Jer 30:7) by enemies from outside and also by their apostate contemporaries who are following the antichrist.

But then the Lord Jesus will come from heaven to set them free. With His appearance, the final turning point in the history of Judah and Jerusalem has arrived. The turn in the fate of Judah and Jerusalem is brought when the need is greatest. After that the time of peace and blessing immediately begins. The following verses show what the LORD is going to do to make that time dawn.

The captivity of Judah and Jerusalem and the scattering of the ten tribes still continues. The captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is understood to mean that although there is a state of their own, they are not really free. They are hand and foot tied to the support of the United States, and good relations with the European Union are also essential. Although the Israel of the ten tribes is not mentioned here, they too will share in the results of the Lord Jesus’ actions. They too will be brought back to the land.