Joe 3:1-16 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Joel 3:1-16: 3:1-16 Joel here foretold divine judgment on the nations, particularly those that had oppressed God’s people.

Summary for Joel 3:1-16: 3:1-16 ^a Joel here foretold divine judgment on the nations, particularly those that had oppressed God’s people.
Summary for Joel 3:2-3: 3:2-3 ^b The Lord would assemble the armies of the world (literally all the nations) in the valley of Jehoshaphat. This valley was not connected with King Jehoshaphat of Judah (1 Kgs 22:41 ^c); rather, this description, which means “the valley where the Lord judges,” identifies the site as the place where God would render his decision (see Joel 3:14 ^d) regarding the fate of the nations.

• The sins of the nations include exiling God’s covenant people and victimizing helpless boys and girls in an inhuman slave trade (cp. Ezek 27:13 ^e; Rev 18:13 ^f).
Summary for Joel 3:4-6: 3:4-6 ^g The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon and the cities of Philistia were guilty of looting the precious treasures of Jerusalem and selling its people as slaves to the Greeks (see Amos 1:6 ^h, 9 ⁱ).
Summary for Joel 3:7-8: 3:7-8 ^j The people of Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia had enslaved Israelites, so the Lord would punish them by selling their sons and daughters into slavery.
3:9 ^k The nations are mockingly called to a futile war against the Lord that would end in their destruction and judgment.
3:10 ^l Hammer your plowshares into swords: Deliberately reversing an image from Isa 2:4 ^m and Mic 4:3 ⁿ, Joel ordered the nations to mobilize every resource for the forthcoming battle. Even those unfit for war, the weaklings, must become soldiers.
3:12 ^o The battle would take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat (see study note on 3:2-3), where the Lord would pronounce judgment on them all.
3:13 ^p God would defeat the nations like a sickle that mows down stalks of grain and like workers who tread grapes in the winepress (see Isa 63:2-3 ^q; Rev 14:14-20 ^r).
3:14 ^s Thousands upon thousands (literally roaring, roaring; or crowds, crowds): The repetition of the Hebrew word captures the chaotic noise made by an immense crowd.

• valley of decision: The name of the valley is changed (cp. 3:2-3 ^t, 12 ^u) because now the Lord’s judgment had been decided.
3:16 ^v The Lord’s voice, like that of a lion, would roar from Zion, shaking heaven and earth and terrifying sinners (see Amos 1:2 ^w). Yet this same ferocious lion is also a refuge for his people.