Tyndale Open Study NotesJoel 3

In the distant future, God will restore his people's spiritual lives. He will give his Spirit to all who respond to him with faith. He will judge the peoples and nations that refuse to recognize his authority.

Here, Joel spoke about God’s coming judgment on the nations, especially those that had oppressed God’s people.

• The Lord would gather the armies of the world (literally all the nations) in the valley of Jehoshaphat. This valley is not related to King Jehoshaphat of Judah (1 Kings 22:41). Instead, it means “the valley where the Lord judges.” It is the place where God would decide the fate of the nations (see Joel 3:14).

• The sins of the nations included driving God’s covenant people into exile. They also included abusing helpless boys and girls by selling them as slaves (compare Ezekiel 27:13; Revelation 18:13).

The Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, along with the cities of Philistia, were guilty of stealing valuable treasures from Jerusalem. They also sold the people of Jerusalem as slaves to the Greeks (see Amos 1:6, 9).

The people of Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia had enslaved Israelites, so the Lord would punish them by selling their sons and daughters into slavery.

The nations are called to fight against the Lord, but the call is meant to show how useless their war would be. Their rebellion would end in destruction and judgment.

Beat your plowshares into swords: This command deliberately reverses the picture of peace found in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3. Instead of laying down weapons, the nations were told to prepare for war.

Joel ordered them to gather every possible resource for the coming battle. Even those who were weak and not fit for war were told to become soldiers.

The battle will occur in the valley of Jehoshaphat (see study note on Joel 3:2–3), where the Lord will judge everyone.

God would defeat the nations completely. He would judge them like a sickle that cuts down grain at harvest time. He would also judge them like workers who crush grapes in a winepress until nothing remains (see Isaiah 63:2–3; Revelation 14:14–20).

• Multitudes, multitudes: The repetition of the Hebrew word captures the chaotic noise made by a huge crowd.

• valley of decision: The name of the valley is changed because the Lord has now decided to judge the nations (see Joel 3:2–3, 12).

The Lord’s voice would sound like the roar of a lion. It would come from Zion and shake heaven and earth. This roar would terrify those who oppose God (see Amos 1:2). Yet the same Lord, strong like a lion, would also be a place of safety for his people.

Then you will know: God’s ultimate purpose is for his people to know him and to share in his holy character. They must learn that he is the only God and that he rules over all creation from Zion, his holy mountain (see also Joel 2:27). True security now and hope for the future come from God's presence.

Blessings will come from the Lord's powerful presence in Zion (see also Ezekiel 47:1–12; Amos 9:13). There will be an abundance of sweet wine and milk. The temple, God's dwelling on earth, will be the source of a spring that will always water the dry land (see Zechariah 14:8; Revelation 22:1–2).

Even as Judah is restored, her ancient enemies Egypt and Edom would face God’s judgment for the harm they had done to his people.

The end of Joel’s prophecy is the opposite of its beginning. In Joel 1:1–20, Judah’s future seemed uncertain. Plague and drought, signs of divine judgment, threatened Judah’s survival. Now Joel concludes with the divine promise that Judah and Jerusalem will last through all generations. God's people in every era find security in the hope that his kingdom will rule over heaven and earth (see also Isaiah 9:6–7; Daniel 2:44; 7:13–14).