Title: Valley of Determination/Joel 3:1-21
Content 4. Valley of Decision
Joel 3:1-21
“I, the LORD, will cry out of Zion, and cry out in Jerusalem; But I, the LORD, will be a refuge for my people and a stronghold for the children of Israel” (3:16).
There must be a moment when everyone makes a decision before God.
The message that runs deep throughout the book of Joel is that God's judgment will eventually come.
This is often referred to as the end.
The three truths included in the eschatology are that Jesus will return, that the dead will be resurrected at the same time that Jesus returns, and that the final judgment will be made.
1. Judgment against the Gentiles
“There I will judge them, because I have scattered Israel among the nations and divided my land” (3:2b).
When God restores Judah, he judges Israel's enemies.
The reason they are judged is for the offense of attacking God's people and dividing God's land.
You are asking them the responsibility of division because they criticized God's people to bring them down, testified falsely, cursed my people, and eventually acted as Satan to cause them to fall and betray God.
The emphasis in verses 1-6 is ‘my people’ and ‘my land’.
Those who confess that they are creatures are God's people who believe in God the Creator.
Since they were sinners before God and were saved, those who confess God the Redeemer are God's people.
It is salvation that Christ paid for and gave his life for.
It is not a cheap salvation.
God has done what we cannot buy with our money and that we cannot do with our efforts.
The purpose of our salvation is, as the Apostle Paul said in Titus 2:14, “He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify us, that we might become a people zealous for good works. That is, to make them zealous for the good work that serves God.
The really good thing is to believe in God.
The greatest of all sins is the sin of unbelief.
Peter said in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “We were not redeemed with perishing things, like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
Our salvation is not in gold or silver.
It is the precious blood of Christ.
Who can buy the blood of Christ, and who dare claim that the blood shed for me is mine.
And the grace that God has redeemed us is because of God's love.
God is love. Therefore, without redeeming us with that love, we could not endure.
No matter how much we think about it, we have no choice but to say that it has nothing to do with you and me, but God is patient and patient, and He is patient even today.
Even though the ax is at the root of the tree, God does not pick up the ax and continues to send warnings, waiting for his return.
The ‘land of God’ refers to the holy church where God’s people reside.
Dividing the church, destroying the church, and harassing the church are subject to Hanami's terrible judgment.
Just as a slave is released from bondage, God's people are those who are set free from the bondage of sin and set free.
There must be the thrill of salvation, the true joy of salvation, and thanks.
Do not criticize or attack others.
In particular, attacking God's people and bearing false witness in order to overthrow them are subject to God's judgment.
Among them, slandering and accusing the servant of the Lord is a challenge to the authority of God who established him.
Even if we fall, betray, and fall, God has called us to be his people, so let's live in this world proudly.
2. Challenge to the nations
“Prepare for battle, encourage the mighty, and let all the warriors draw near and come up” (3:9b).
In order to save his people, God sends a challenge to the nations and declares war.
The nations will unite and form an unprecedented alliance and compete with me.
But there are some ironies here.
first. “Strike a hammer for a sword, and a sickle for a spear” (3:10).
Moisturizer and sickle are agricultural implements. This is what you need at harvest time.
Gather all the farming tools, make weapons, and come to me with them and fight them once.
If you look at Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, you see the reversed words.
He told them to make plowshares by beating the sword, and the spear to make a sickle.
This marks the arrival of an era of peace.
However, in this chapter, the era of peace will change and the era of war will come.
Verse 13 says, “Use the sickle, for the grain is ripe.”
It's turned into a weapon, but where's the scythe? It's a contradiction.
It is said that the grain is ripe, but there is no sickle, so it is the bread of the picture.
Second, “Come and tread on it, for the winepress is full and the wine jars overflow.”
In verse 12, the God who said that I will judge the nations, said to tread the winepress, which is also contradictory.
It means that even if the wine is overflowing, there is no one to drink it, so it is useless.
The grain is ripe, but there is no sickle, and the wine is overflowing, but there will be no rejoicing because all have gone to the battlefield.
At the second coming of Christ, brides must run out to meet the bridegroom, but you are like those who hid their necks like pheasants to cover me, O living, to cover me.
The content of God's challenge field is not war, but judgment.
God ends with judgment.
Remember the zeal of God who waits patiently.
Let's remember the rigidity of God who presents a challenge.
There is only one of two things: to fight back or surrender.
It is not about using all agricultural equipment to make weapons and surpassing God.
So that the grape juice of ripe grains does not become the bread of the picture or useless, so that we can enjoy the time when we should really enjoy it, let's not hesitate any longer and admit our defeat honestly before God.
Do not straighten your neck.
The joyful obedient joins in the joy.
3. The urgency of judgment
“The day of the LORD is near in the valley of judgment” (3:14b).
God is present and judgment begins.
Albert Schweitzer, a doctor and musician and theologian, expressed how urgent God's judgment was, and when the small needle and the large needle overlap, at 12 o'clock the weight goes to hit the ball and makes a sound.
That is the urgency of the situation when the Lord returns.
It's time to make a quick decision, as the end of the long run is fast approaching.
This is not the time to hesitate.
‘See you tomorrow. Slowly later’ I can’t do that.
If you don't do your best now, you can't promise tomorrow.
4. It will be a refuge
“But the LORD will be a refuge for my people, and a holy place for the children of Israel” (3:16b).
Even in the midst of judgment against the nations, God does not forget the comfort of his people.
It will be a refuge, a fortress.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1).
Joel concludes with a promise to God's people who have been trampled underfoot.
Even the most unproductive little mountains will flow with wine and be supplied with water like an eternal spring.
Even the valley of Siddim, which is famous for its dry land, will flow and become fertile soil.
While Egypt and Edom, the adversaries who committed violence, become a wasteland, Judah and Jerusalem will live in good soil forever.
You will be washed clean with the blood shed during persecution.
The shedding of blood will return to the enemy, and there will be only eternal praise for Judah.
This is not a time to pass leisurely.
This is not the time to accumulate sins in your heart.
God's rod of discipline is not more than ten miles away.
It's close to my head.
Let us promptly vomit out what is unworthy before God. let's throw it away
Let's make a decision, but let's make the decision to stand on God's side.
Let's do our best now, so let's stay away from anger later.
ㅘAll the comfort that God has promised will be mine.