Let's turn to the prophet where we have stopped last week, the prophet Yoel. I want to read today the last chapter. It's chapter 3 in the English. It is chapter 4 in the Hebrew Tanach. The third chapter of Yoel deals with the final judgment and the restoration of Israel into the Messianic kingdom. Let me read those verses, twenty-one verses, and we'll see how far we can get through them. Let's begin in reading verse 1. For behold, in those days, and in that time when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and I will bring them down into the valley of Yehoshaphat.

Yehoshaphat in Hebrew. And I will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land, and they have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine that they might drink. Yeh. Yeh. And what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coast of the Philistine? Will ye render me a recompense, or will ye retaliate against me? And if ye recompense me, or retaliate against me, swiftly and speedily will I return your retaliation upon your own head. Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things, the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and I will return your recompense, or your retaliation upon your own head. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabean, or Leshvaim, to a people far off, for the Lord had spoken it. Proclaim ye among the Gentiles, prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plough shields into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears, let the weak say I am strong. "Assemble yourselves, and come all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about, thither, cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.

Let the heathen be waken, and come up to the valley of Yehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down, for the press is full, the vats overflow, and the wickedness is great. Multitude, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through hell any more. And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters. And a fountain shall come forth, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a decimate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

For I will cleanse their blood that have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. Joel concludes his message to the nation of Israel with the statement, for the Lord shall dwell in Zion. Beautiful, beautiful ending to this book. Now, beloved, chapter 3 is the last chapter, of course, of the book of Yoel. And of course, chapter 3, as I said to you, is actually chapter 4 in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, in the Hebrew scriptures. But in the English, they have taken these last verses of chapter 3, and they made out of it one chapter. The verses that we have read, actually, last time. Well, we began today with chapter 3 in verse 1, as we have it here in the English scripture.

Now, I want to mention to you, by way of introduction here to this passage, that up to now, really we have covered the climax of the regeneration of the nation of Israel. Israel had been redeemed. Israel had been saved. Israel had been restored to God. In fact, if you remember, the last couple of verses of chapter 2 says, actually, verse 32. It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, or shall be delivered. For in the Mount of Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

Last time, when I was mentioning the last verse of chapter 2, some have approached me to desire to understand these two words here, where it says, whomsoever shall call, and whom the Lord shall call. And if you remember, I said to you in the last meeting together, that there is the sovereignty of God, and the responsibility of men, in the history of Israel, as well as in the present day. There is the sovereignty of God, and there is the responsibility of men. Somebody made it kind of very interesting, and he said, like when you're riding a train, or when you're standing upon a train track, you see two tracks continue on straight, side by side.

As long as this is close to you, you can see the two tracks side by side. But as you look far away, these two tracks seem to meet somewhere and continue on as one straight line. Well, this is exactly what we understand from the Bible with regards to the sovereignty of God, election, God choosing us before the foundation of the world, and the responsibility of men. This is the human responsibility to the call of God. We don't necessarily always understand everything, but the Bible is clearly teaching these two lines of truth. It is applied to the church in this present time, to people in this present time, and obviously from this verse and other verses, it's applied to the nation of Israel.

God had chosen, God had brought them to himself, and yet at the same time, Israel was responsible to confess and to repent. This is a wonderful truth to understand, and I think if we get a hold of it, it will help us in our spiritual life. Well, now we begin with chapter 3. Chapter 3, can I go over the ground that we have covered, but give us some additional information. In fact, chapter 3, the title of chapter 3 can be titled this way. The Final Judgment of the Gentile Nations, and the Introduction to the Kingdom of Messiah, or the Messian Kingdom. These two points are being brought about in this chapter.

Number 1, the Judgment of the Gentile Nations, and number 2, the Introduction, or the Kingdom of the Messiah, which is going to be mentioned here in this chapter. Well, we begin, first of all, by looking at the first 8 verses. The first 8 verses really gives us the time, the place, and the basis upon which God will judge the nations. Let me repeat that, the time of the judgment, the place where the judgment is going to take place, and the basis upon which God is going to judge the nations of the world. Look what we read. Look what we read. First of all, the judgment itself will be after Israel's restoration.

You see, because we have already covered verse 28 to 32, where God is going to pour out the Spirit of God upon the nation of Israel, and all the flesh of the Jewish people are going to be newborn as a nation that will be born from above. He will pour out His Spirit upon the nation, the nation will finally accept the Messiah, and just before the beginning of the millennial age, there is a time and there are events which must occur. One of these events is the judgment of the nations. So, it tells us now, first of all, in verse 1, it says, "For behold," verse 1, "in those days and in that time," what time?

What days? Well, the time of the tribulation period, the time of the days when all these events occur, and the war against the people of Israel, the final war, the Armageddon or Armageddon War. At that time, it says, "When I shall bring again the captivity of Judah in Jerusalem," at the time where I'm going to bring the nation of Israel back, "I'm going to restore the people, my people, the people of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem." At that time, at that time, the judgment is going to come, the judgment of the Gentile nations. It says in verse 2 now, "I will also gather all nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Yeroshaphat." In Hebrew, "Vali Amek," Yeroshaphat is a name of a person, but the name of this person, "Yehoshaphat," or "Jehoshaphat," means "Jehovah will judge." So, he is saying here in verse 2a, "The judgment will be in a place called the valley of Yeroshaphat." By the way, the valley of Yeroshaphat is really a certain section of the Kidron Valley.

If you would go and you will visit Israel today, you will see Mount Moriah, and you will go down from Mount Moriah to the valley, this is the Kidron Valley, and you're going to go up to Mount Olis. In fact, if somebody has a strong throw, you can throw a stone from one side to the other. It's not a huge area. The valley of the Kidron Valley began there by Mount Skopas, where it's meeting with Mount Moriah and Mount Olis, and it continued all the way down. This valley continued to the location that we know today, like to the Dead Sea area. That's called the Valley of Kidron.

But the little section by the city of David there, all the way there, or in between Mount Olis and the city of David, there, this area, this valley, called the valley of Yeroshaphat. Here we learn in this verse 2a that the judgment will take place at the valley which is called the Valley of Yeroshaphat. Interesting, there is no accident in the Hebrew scripture when God gives a name, when God give a name to location, or when God give a name to a boy, a Jewish boy, or a Jewish girl, the names have a meaning. Well here, the valley, really if you can say it in English, the valley of the judgment of the Lord.

Or the valley where the Lord is judging or will judge. Yeroshaphat, Yeroshaphat, Yeroshaphat is judged. The valley of the judgment of God. And so what we read here, I will gather all nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Yeroshaphat. And listen, it says in verse 2b and 3, what is the reason for this judgment? Why will God bring the nations to this? What is the reason that he's going to judge them? This is in verse 2b and 3. What is the reason? It says there, I will plead with them for my people and for my heritage Israel. Who, listen to this in verse 2 and 3, whom they have scattered among the nations, they have parted my land, they have cast lots for my people, they have given a boy for a harlot, and they have sold a girl for wine, the day my drink.

Now let me tell you what is going to happen in the tribulation period. You see, the reason for this judgment, really here, is how did the Gentile nations have treated the people of Israel, the Jewish people, in the tribulation period? That's the reason for this judgment. Do you know, beloved, that the climax of the hatred for our people, the Jewish people, the climax was not at a time when Hitler had been here, was not at a time when we had all kind of persecutions, the Russians, the Tsars, the Spanish Inquisition, and all this, what happened to the people of Israel, the climax of the, we call it anti-Semitism, will be in the tribulation period.

The world, under the headship of the counterfeit Messiah, the Antichrist, going to hate our people, the Jewish people, to such an extent that they desire to completely destroy the nation. In the middle of the tribulation, we read in the Revelation 12, Satan going to be cast down on earth. And what somebody said, all hell will break loose. When Satan is cast down, the one who is the prince and the power of the air, he's going to cast down on earth. He knows that his time is short. And you know what he's going to do? He's going to persecute our people, the Jewish people. The pressure and the hatred will be so tremendous that at the end of the tribulation period, God says, I have to deal with the nations of this world, how they have treated the Jewish people, the people of Israel in the tribulation period.

And so what's going to happen? He will gather them to the place called En-Neki-Roshaphat, the valley of Yeroshaphat, and he's going to plead with the nations concerning his heritage, Israel. Do you know what they are going to be doing in the tribulation period to the people of Israel? Five things we read here in verse 2b and 3. Five things. Number one, do you think the people of Israel is going to still remain in the land? You know, what's going to happen today? The condition that exists in Israel today is not going to stay forever the same. There are still going to be an additional scattering of the people of Israel.

It says here in verse 2b, whom they have scattered among the nations. Do you know what's going to happen? They are going to scatter the nations here, as he says here in verses 1 and 2, are going to scatter the Jewish people among the heathen, among the nations of the world. Number two, they are going to parted my land. They took the land that became, they usurped the land that was known as God called my land. This land is mine. They are going to part the land. In other words, they are going to take over that which belonged to God, my land, which he had entrusted and given it to the people of Israel.

They are going to part the land. They take it over. But then notice what they are going to do. It says in verse 3, they have cast lots for my people. The people of Israel, they are going to cast lots. They are going to say, well, let's cast lots. Who are going to get who and who are going to do to the other Jewish people, to the other person from among the people of Israel. They are going to cast lots, as it says in verse 3, for my people. And you know what else they are going to do? It says in verse 3, they have given a boy for Harlot.

You know what they are going to do? They want to take a Harlot. They are going to cast a boy. Here, take this boy, the Jewish boy, as long as you are going to give me a Harlot. And then it says in verse 3 at the end, they are going to sell a girl for wine that they might be drinking. So what they are going to do? They are going to take a little girl and they are going to give it. And they are going to get some alcohol so they can get drunk. They are going to take a boy and they are going to sell him in order that they can get Harlot.

They are going to scatter the people of Israel. They are going to cast lots for them. And eventually, they are going to part the land and take it over for themselves. God says, you know what? There is coming a day when I am going to gather all these nations who have treated my people in such a way. And I am going to judge them for the way that they have treated the people of Israel. He called them, by the way here, my heritage. You see, Israel is the heritage of God. Israel is the nation that God has called to be his heritage. Now notice, in verses 4, 5, and 6, look what we read in those verses, the wrongs of the nations.

It says in verse 4, Yeah, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre and Sidon and all the coast of the Philistine? Will ye render me recompense or retaliate against me? And if ye retaliate against me swiftly and speedily, I will return your retaliation upon your own head. Verse 5, Because ye have taken my silver and my gold and have carried it into your temples, my goodly pleasant things. The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their borders. And you know, isn't it true? Historically, when you think about how many times the people of Israel have been carried.

They have been carried to Assyria. They have been carried to Babylon. They have been carried and carried and carried everywhere. They have been scattered. They have been carried. Well, what God is saying, they have took all the possessions, the gold and the silver. And instead of leaving it where did it want, they took it away. And they brought it to their own temple. The goodly pleasant things that really belong to the Lord. That is the reason where God is going to bring them into the final judgment. Remember in our verse, in our chapter 3, it's beginning verse 1. For behold, in those days and in that time, he's looking to the future.

And all the things that have happened over the years are going to be built up until the climax, the time where God is going to judge this world. Because of the way that they have treated his people, the people of Israel. All the wrongs that they have done, we can see them in verse 2b, 3, 4, 5, and 6. All these verses shows us how they have treated the things of God and the people of God, the people of Israel. And eventually, notice in verse 7 and 8, look at the punishment that is going to come from the Lord. It says, "Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them.

And I will return your recompense upon your own head. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah. And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, or Leshvaim in Hebrew, to a people far off. For the Lord had spoken that." Now, how do we know about this event that it's going to be a future day? We know it, of course, from verse 1, "In those days and in that time when Israel shall be brought back, he is going to bring the captivity of Israel, the captivity of Judah, the captivity of Jerusalem." Well, look at the history of Israel up till today.

Up till today, Israel is still haven't been brought out of captivity. Even though we have about 6 million of our own people, Jewish people in the land of Israel, the vast majority of the Jewish people are still scattered all over the world. Since 1948, when Israel became a nation, you can still see that Israel had not enjoyed a day of peace since 1948. In fact, today, even though they have given up Gaza and they are going to give up some more portion of the land of Israel, still you will see that it doesn't speak about these days as yet, because those days that God is speaking about in verse 1 and 2 are days when Israel no longer are captive to the nations around.

They are free. They are under the kingship of the Messiah. So it's speaking to us about the future day. But you can see it even more clearly from the Bible as you please turn with me to Matthew 25 and let's see what Yeshua, the Messiah, said concerning these days. Look at this. Matthew 25. Here is the Lord, the Messiah, speaking in verse 31 to the end of the chapter. And he is speaking about the future. And look what he is saying. He is speaking, of course, to his disciples who wanted to know about the future events. And he says, it says in verse 31, When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.

And before him shall be gathered all nations. And he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divide his sheep. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand. And the goats on the left. And he says this. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand. Come, come ye blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.

I was in prison and you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer. And they say, Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed thee, thirsty and gave thee to drink? When saw we thee a stranger and we took thee in, or naked and we clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came to thee? The king shall answer and he say unto them. Verily I say unto you. Listen to this. Inasmuch as ye have done this unto one of the least of my brethren. Ye have done it unto me. The brethren here, in verse 40, are his brethren, the nation of Israel, the Jewish people.

And he's saying to them, Inasmuch as ye have done this unto the least of my brethren, you have done this unto me. Listen to verse 41. Listen to verse 41. Then shall he say unto the ones on the left. He will say, depart from me. Ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and the angels. For I was hungry and he gave me no food. I was thirsty and he gave me no drink. I was a stranger and he took me not in. I was naked and he clothed me not. I was sick and in prison and he visited me not. Then shall they also answer the Lord.

When saw we thee hungry and thirsty and stranger and naked, sick and in prison. And we did not minister unto thee. Then shall he answer them. And he said. Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these. Ye did it not unto me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment. But the righteous into life eternal. Beloved. When the Lord Yeshua the Messiah is speaking in Matthew 25. Is the same one who is speaking in Yoel chapter 3. Yoel is the Lord Jehovah speaking. Matthew chapter 25 is the Messiah speaking. The very same person. While the God of Israel of Joel chapter 3 is speaking of a future day.

The Messiah Yeshua. The Messiah of Israel also speaking about yet a further future day. And he was going to sit. And all the nations will gather. At the end of the tribulation. Before the beginning of the millennial age. All representatives from all the nations of the world will gather. And he is going to sit as a judge. He is going to sit as it says here. The son of man. As a man. He is going to come in his glory. And all his angels going to come with him. And he shall sit upon the throne of his glory. He is going to sit as the judge.

This judgment called the judgment of the nation. There are various judgments in the Bible. We have the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of the Messiah. We have the great white throne judgment. And we have the judgment of the Gentiles. The judgment of every judgment must be distinguished. The judgment seat of the Messiah. That we have in 2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 10. This has to do with us. Believers. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. That every one of us receive either a reward or a loss. For whatever we have done in our lives. From the time that we became believers in the Lord Yeshua.

That's the judgment seat of the Messiah. That's going to happen before the millennial age will begin. Then we have the great white throne judgment. That's the end of the millennial age. Where God is going to raise all the dead. The unbelievers. And he's going to judge them again in the person of the Messiah. He's going to judge them and to cast them into eternal separation from God. That is the great white throne judgment. And no believers will ever be there. Only unbelievers. Going to stand before the judge. The Lord Jesus himself. And he's going to judge them. Only that spirit, soul and body going to be cast into the lake of fire.

That is Revelation chapter 20. But here beloved. It is the judgment of the nations that will remain at the end of the tribulation. How they have treated the people. The brethren. The people of God. The believers. The Jewish people. In the tribulation period. And they are going to gather like sheep and goats. The sheep on the right side. The goats on the left. And they are going to stand before the judge. And he is going to tell them. As we read here in these verses. He is going to tell them. He says. He is speaking to them. And he says to them. I was hungry. And you gave me food.

I was thirsty. And you gave me drink. I was stranger. And you took me in. And you know beloved. Just read the history of the Jewish people in the Holocaust. They were running to and fro. A strangers trying to find some protection from people around them. Many did not let them come in. Many have turned many sheep from many countries. Did not even allow them to come in. But there were many who gave them. Who endangered their lives. To protect them. And it was strange. He said. You took me in. I was naked. And you clothed me. I was sick. And you visited me. And I was in prison.

And you came in unto me. And they are going to ask him. He said. The righteousness of the Lord. He said. When did we do this to you? When we fed you when you were hungry. And we gave you to drink when you were thirsty. When did we gave you clothes when you were naked. And when we took you in. When you were stranger. And you know what he said to them? In verse 40. The king will answer. And he will say to those nations. Individuals of the nation. You are going to tell them for as much. As you have done this unto the least of my brethren.

You have done this unto me. The way that you have treated my brethren. You have done it unto me. How important to understand. And you know what? This speaking of course. The brethren here. Has to do with the nation of Israel. At the end of the tribulation. But you know beloved. Sometime. We as believers today. This present day. People don't realize. That the way that they treat the Christians. The true believers. They will have to give an account. One day. Of how they have treated the people of God. If they give them a cup of water. In the name of the Lord. To the least of the brethren.

They have done that as unto the Lord. You remember when the apostle Paul. We call him Shaul. Before he became a believer. When he was persecuted. The Jewish believers. The Lord from heaven told him. Remember when he said to him. Shaul, Shaul. Why persecutest thou me? The Lord was in heaven. But the people whom he persecuted. Were the Jewish believers. Who believed in the Messiah. And accepted him. They were the Hebrew Christian. Of first century. The way they have treated. The people of God. That's how the Lord is going to judge them. In the judgment of the nations. In Matthew 25. And in Joel chapter 3. But then there is the other side.

The other side is. The one on the left. The one on the left. He says in verse 41. All the way to verse 46. He says. You depart from me. To an everlasting fire. Prepared notice by the way. I took a note of this. That the everlasting. Judgment of fire. Was never prepared for men. Never. No one needed to go there. It was prepared for the devil. And for his angels. But there are millions of men. Who are going to be spending there. Eternity. Because they. Have rejected. The offer of God. The hell. The everlasting. Judgment. The everlasting fire. Was never prepared for man. God. Does not find pleasure.

In the death. Of the human race. But the devil. The devil. Satan. And his angels. Are the ones. To whom. Lake of fire. The fire. Judgment. Was prepared for. For. He says to them. I was hungry. And you. Did not give me food. I was thirsty. And you did not give me drink. I was a stranger. And you did not take me in. I was naked. And you didn't close me. I was sick. And I was in prison. And you didn't visit me. And they are going to tell him. Lord. How come. That we have not done it unto you. And when is it Lord.

Then shall they say. Lord. When did we saw you hungry. When did we saw you thirsty. Or strange. Or naked. When is it. That we didn't do it unto you. He shall say. He says. He is going to answer to them. And he will say. Verily. I say unto you. Inasmuch. As you did. It. Not. To one. Listen. Of. The least of these. Ye did. It. Not. Unto. Me. You see. Beloved. When the tribulation period. Is going to be here on earth. The antichrist. Is going to have full sway here. He is going to influence the nations of the world. And you see. The safest place.

They will think. Will be. I will follow the antichrist. I can buy. And I can sell. And I can continue life on. I will follow. That's what men. That's what the nations will say. I don't need to follow God. I will be safe. I will be protected. Ah. They will find out. That this protection is only for a season. Because a judgment is going to come. And God is going to judge the remaining nations at the end of the tribulation. As the sheep and the goats. Those that belong to the Lord. Those that have acted in a way that is pleasing to God. Are the ones that are going to enter into the messianic kingdom.

And the other ones as it says. Will go away into everlasting punishment. You know. Just the same like there is everlasting life. There is also everlasting punishment. Just the same like the believer. Because of the grace of God through Yeshua. The Messiah. Forgiveness that we receive. Everlasting life. We are going to be blessed forever. The un-regenerated one. Going to have what it says here. Ever-lasting punishment. From a holy and a righteous God. And so Joel said in these verses. Verses 1 to 8. The time. After Israel is going to be accepting the Messiah. Recognizing the Messiah. Recognizing the Messiah. The place. The valley of your Shafat. And the basis.

Why he is going to judge them. Is on a basis of how they have treated his brethren. The people of Israel. He says that. I will gather those nations. And I will bring them down to the valley of your Shafat. And I will plead with them. There for my people. And whom they have scattered. And whom they have parted the land. Cast lots for my people. Given boy for Harlot. Sold a girl for wine. That they might have a drink. And so beloved. This is the first eight verses. Speaks about the place. And the basis. For the judgment. The judgment of the nations. Now from verse 9 on.

Verse 9 to 17. Here is now. How is it going to happen? Here is the call. God's call. Or the call to the nations. To come down for the judgment. Here is the call. Look at this verse 9 to 11. Here is the description. Of the coming of the Gentile armies. How it is going to happen. Look how it is going to happen. First of all. Verses 9, 10, and 11. Here is the description. It says in verse 9. Proclaim ye among the Gentiles. Prepare war. Wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plow shields into swords. And your pruning hooks into spears.

Let the weak say I am strong. Assemble yourself. And come all ye heathen. And gather yourselves together round about. To thither. Come the mighty ones to come down. Lord. You see what we have here. We have a proclamation. A call for the nations to come. You see. The nations. Sometime the nation thinks that they do things on their own merit. But it is God who is going to bring about the nations to come down to this valley. They are going to gather. And God is going to rule them to bring them down to make their judgment possible happen. You know what he is saying to them in these verses.

In verse 9 he says. Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles. Prepare war. This is like a holy war. Wake up ye mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. And notice how they are going to do it so fast. And they are going to be so happy to do so. Because in verse 10. They are doing things backwards. What they are doing. In this particular time. As they are coming down to what we call the Armageddon. The final war. They are going to beat their plowshields into sword. The pruning roots. They are going to make them spills. In other words. They are using instruments that should be used for the farm.

For work. They are going to use these and turn them into instruments of war. This is exactly the opposite of what is going to happen in the millennial age. In the millennial age exactly the opposite will happen. Instead of turning the plowshields into swords. And the pruning hooks into spills. In the millennial age exactly the opposite will happen. All the swords going to be turned into plowshields. All the spills are going to turn into pruning hooks. They are going to use all the instruments that have been used in the war. They are going to use it now for blessings. For growth. In the millennial age.

Just turn to Isaiah for a moment. Chapter 2. I'll show you this. In Isaiah chapter 2. There will be a tremendous difference between what's happening in Joel 3 verse 10. And Isaiah chapter 2. And Isaiah chapter 2. Right in the beginning there. Isaiah chapter 2. Verse 1 to 4. Isaiah 2 verses 1 to 4. The word of Isaiah. The word of Isaiah the son of Ammots. Which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days. Again he's speaking about the last days. That the mountains of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. And shall be exalted about the hills. And all the nations shall flow into it.

Many people shall go and say come. Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. To the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us of his ways. And we will walk in his path. For out of Zion shall go forth the law. And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Notice verse 4. And he shall judge among the nations. And shall rebuke many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares. And their spears into pulling hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. Beloved you see the difference. Joel chapter 3 and verse 9, 10 and 11 takes us to the final war that will lead to the judgment of the nations.

Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 to 4 introduces us to the messianic age. On the one hand when they prepare for war. They take the plowshares and they turn it into swords. But it's going to be the opposite completely towards the messianic kingdom. The swords are going to turn into plowshares. And you know God as it says in Isaiah chapter 2. God will judge among the nations. Nations shall not lift up sword against the nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. What a wonderful day is awaiting in that messianic kingdom. The kingdom where the Messiah Yeshua will reign. Israel is established in the land. And the nations will finally come to a time of bliss in the messianic age.

But here in our chapter. There is a description of the coming nations. The gentile army headed up by the antichrist. Coming against the people of Israel like we have in Revelation chapter 16. And they are beating the plowshares into sword. And the pruning hooks into spear. Ready to fight against the nation of Israel. Well, in verses 12 and 13. God is going to gather them into this judgment. It says now in verse 12. Let the heathen be waken and come to the valley of Yeroshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle. For the harvest is ripe. Come get you down.

For the press is full. The vets overflow. For the wickedness is great. Again, you see, he is bringing us to what we just read in Matthew chapter 25. God said, I will judge all the nations round about. God is going to sit as a judge. We know it from Matthew 25 that it is the Messiah himself. He is going to sit in Amek, Yeroshaphat. In the valley of Yeroshaphat. And he is going to judge the nations. There is a biblical expression here in verse 13. Put ye in the sickle. For the harvest is ripe. And the press is full. These two expressions that we have here. With the sickle.

This is the reaping of the grain. And with the press. This is the treading down of the grapes. You know how they will tread down the grapes. They will step upon them. And will step upon them. And will step upon them. Until there will be the juice will come out. The same thing when it comes to the sickle. Putting it in harvest time. They are reaping the grain. There will be judgment upon judgment. That God is going to pour upon the nations. That are going to gather against the city of Jerusalem. And so that's what we have in verses 9 to 13. The descriptions of the coming Gentile army.

Headed by the Antichrist. And God. The way God is going to gather them. And the judgment will occur. Judgment that God will pour upon those nations. Now quickly. In verses 14 to 17. We have the actual judgment itself. Look at the actual judgment. It says first of all in verse 14 to 16a. Here is the fearful judgment of the Lord upon the nations. "Multitudes in the valley of decision." For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened. The stars shall withdraw, hair shining. The Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem. Then the heavens and the earth shall shake.

You notice this? The word for "multitudes" is the Hebrew word "hamonim". It's an expression that when you look far away. And you see a multitude. You see "hamon anashim". Many people. Many individuals you see from far off. They are gathering together. And here we see that the multitudes that will gather. Now you and I cannot even imagine that. Multitudes will gather. Where they are going to gather? Where they are going to come to? To the same valley. But it's called here the valley of decision. Here is the decision. Will occur. Here God is going to judge them. And God is going to, as we have it in Matthew 25, the sheep and the goats.

And here in this valley of decision. That the multitude will gather. The valley that we call it the valley of Yeroshaphat. And once again we find out in scripture. That the sun and the moon shall be darkened. You remember chapter 2 verse 28? And all the way 28 to 32 we also saw. That the heavens and the earth and the blood and the fire and the sun. Shall be dark if you give no light. Well, when we read chapter 2. It was before the beginning of the tribulation. By the time we read chapter 3. It is the end of the tribulation. We have here more than once in the tribulation. In a period of time when there will be darkness upon the face of this earth.

So he says here the sun and the moon shall be darkened. The stars shall withdraw her shining. The Lord shall roar out of Zion. And utter his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth shall shake. Beloved, again I am thinking about the roar. The roar is like a lion. You know what we read about the Lord Jesus the Messiah in Revelation chapter 5? The lion of the tribe of Judah. On the one hand he is the lamb. In meekness he came in his first coming. But this time he is acting as the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is going to roar, as it says here, out of Zion.

Remember, the text has to do with the nation of Israel. The text has to do with the people of God, the people of Israel at the end of the tribulation. He is going to roar out of Zion. And we will utter his voice from the city which is called Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, is going to come in power and authority over this earth. And everything is going to shake when he is going to roar. And finally, we have here in verses 16b and 17, what's going to happen to Israel? On the other side, Israel, they will have protection and blessing. It says in verse 16b, But the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel.

So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through hell any more. No more strangers coming in, running down the land, taking the people of Israel captive. God gathered them again, coming back to the land. Another nation coming, scattered women again. It's no longer going to happen. The Bible tells us that the strangers will no longer pass through in those days. That Jerusalem shall dwell safely, then shall Jerusalem also be holy. I want to tell you, again, it's dealing with a future day because you go to Jerusalem today and you will see that Jerusalem is not holy.

The only time that Jerusalem will be holy is when Jerusalem and Israel and our people as a nation accepting the Messiah and his reigning and ruling out of Zion. Finally, Jerusalem will be holy. Not today. As yet, we are longing. We are waiting for this final day. Well, the closing. Joel concludes his message to the nation of Israel with the statement in verse 18. "And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and the fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land." Verse 20 and 21. "But Judah shall abide forever, Jerusalem from generation to generation, for I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion." You see, that's the final day when there will be the blessing to the nation of Israel under the Messianic Kingdom. You notice, by the way, that now, many times we read in the scripture about a land flowing with milk and honey. Milk and honey. You read it when Israel came out of Egypt, you go into a land flowing with milk and honey.

When they got into the land, well, there was flowing with milk and honey, but it never had flown with milk and honey. The way it will flow, the way it will flow, it will be flourishing under the Messiah, the reign of the king, of the Messiah. It says here, "The new wine will come down, will drop down, and the rivers of Judah shall flow water, milk will be there from the hills, will flow, milk will come, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord." You know what, the house of the Lord speaks about the final temple, what we call the millennial temple that we read in Ezekiel chapter 40 to 48.

That's when the Messiah will actually reign from the city of Jerusalem and the temple will be rebuilt. That is not the temple of Solomon. That is not the temple of Zubavel. That is not the temple of the Antichrist. This temple is the messianic temple headed up by the Messiah, Jesus Himself. Out of the house of the Lord shall fountain shall come forth. Out of the house of the Lord and the house of the fountain will flow and meet everywhere, every valley, there will be blessing for the nation of Israel and the nations of the world. And the last verse close with this, I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord will dwell in Zion.

God will literally, in the person of the Messiah, will dwell in Zion, in Zion, in Jerusalem. Like we have in Isaiah 4, and like we have in Ezekiel chapter 48. What a day that will be. A blessed day that we all can look forward for them. Well, with this, beloved, we conclude the prophet Joel. You have a whole chapter here in one message. But thank God for the future that is coming for the people of Israel. Can we say amen to that? Amen.