Joe 3:9-14 | KingComments | STEP | The pagan nations are called upon to prepare for war, because war is declared. Once more the LORD mobilizes the pagan nations. One more time they may indulge their hatred of Jerusalem. At least that is what the nations feel with this call. In the past the LORD did this to discipline His people if they had deviated from Him. But now He calls the nations for the purpose of judging them. Thus the call to war is in reality a call to their own destruction. That is why the call has something of secret irony. After all, this time the nations, with their great number and brute force, will only serve to make God’s triumph even more glorious. His triumph will shine when they will be ruined just before Jerusalem ( ). We see the same in Ezekiel 38-39, where the nations are preparing to go to battle against the LORD without realizing that the LORD is pulling them after Himself ( ). He does so in the same way as a peasant holds a bull in check and pulls it along on a ring through its nose.

‏ Joel 3:9-14

Prepare a War

The pagan nations are called upon to prepare for war, because war is declared. Once more the LORD mobilizes the pagan nations. One more time they may indulge their hatred of Jerusalem. At least that is what the nations feel with this call. In the past the LORD did this to discipline His people if they had deviated from Him. But now He calls the nations for the purpose of judging them. Thus the call to war is in reality a call to their own destruction.

That is why the call has something of secret irony. After all, this time the nations, with their great number and brute force, will only serve to make God’s triumph even more glorious. His triumph will shine when they will be ruined just before Jerusalem (Mic 4:11-13). We see the same in Ezekiel 38-39, where the nations are preparing to go to battle against the LORD without realizing that the LORD is pulling them after Himself (Eze 38:4a). He does so in the same way as a peasant holds a bull in check and pulls it along on a ring through its nose.

Everything Used for the War

The peoples are called to a total war. Nothing else should be important anymore. The normal work is laid down and the tools they use must be converted into war tools (cf. Isa 2:4; Mic 4:3). We can compare this with what happened in the Second World War (1939-1945). At that time, utensils of various metals, especially copper, also had to be handed in for the manufacture of ammunition and other war weapons.

In the final battle for Jerusalem, all available time and materials will be used to bring the final blow to the city. Also the moral will be boosted. Everybody gets the impression that he is a man of steel, a hero, who is able to fight for a certain victory. Even the weakling, who usually avoids fighting, has to let himself be carried away by the enthusiasm of war psychosis. He will pull himself together and say: “I am a mighty man”, and then take part in the war.

God’s Mighty Ones

This verse contains two calls addressed to two different addresses. The first part of the verse is an additional exhortation to the nations to get ready and come to the place where God wants them. According to Joel 3:2 ; 12 this is in the valley of Jehoshaphat.

The second part of the verse seems to be a call from the prophet to God. When the prophet thus in spirit sees the enemies gathered just before Jerusalem, he cries out to the LORD that now the time has come to destroy with His mighty men that whole multitude of enemies. After all, God also has His mighty men. He can bring them down like this. With “Your mighty ones” angels are meant. To bring them down means that they come from heaven. Angels are called “mighty in strength” (Psa 103:20).

The Lord as Judge

Considering the contents of the previous verses, we would expect that now the battle starts. But that’s not the case. Suddenly the image goes back to that of a legal process, as announced in Joel 3:2. There the LORD is more the Prosecutor, while here, amidst all the agitation of the nations, the image looms up of the majestic rest of the judgment seat on which the LORD sits. In their march, the gathered pagan peoples walk the Judge in His arms. His verdict is what we read in Joel 3:13.

The Wine Harvest

No matter how great the arrogance of the people who think they are strong, in the end there is the judgment of God. The sickle of God will mow the earth. The picture we see here is reminiscent of the wheat harvest and the wine harvest we read about in Revelation 14 (Rev 14:14-20). There is, also spiritually, a distinction between the two. The wheat harvest means above all judgment that separates the good from the evil. The wine harvest is the exercise of vengeance. The second, the wine harvest, is what we are dealing with here.

The description “and the wine press was trodden outside the city” (Rev 14:20) corresponds to what Joel says. “The city” is the city of Jerusalem. Angels are involved in the harvest (Mt 13:41). Just as the ripe corn is cut off by the scythe of the mowers and the grapes are trampled on by the feet in the wine press, so the nations will be exterminated by the mighty men of God.

The Valley of Decision

“The valley of decision” is where the final verdict, that is, the extermination of the peoples, will be carried out. With that the day of the LORD has come. That day does not imply doom for His people, but gives deliverance from their enemies and the blessing of the LORD.