“The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”
~ Joel 3:16
Hi James and Ellen,
Are you Joels? The name Joel means Yahweh or Jehovah is God. Joel was quiet possibly one of God’s prophet spokesmen during the time that Joash was king over the Israelite people groups guys and gals who were living in the land area of Judah. Joel scribed a three chapter missive that is now the second minor prophet book. God tasked Joel to preach a clear, concise and uncompromising message of repentance to His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people groups guys and gals. Joel used a massive locust swarm that in a very short time stripped everything bare that was green in the land that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . to set the scene for an imminent invasion in the land area of Judah by an enemy army. Joel used what voracious locusts did when the ravenous locusts stripped bare the land area of Judah of all vegetation and the ensuing famine as a comparison to what God’s specially chosen guys and gals faced or would face when the impending invasion took place or takes place in the land area of Judah. What God’s specially chosen guys and gals had to endure when the locusts did their thing that would be followed by a severe drought or famine could not be compared – per Joel, to the coming day of the Lord. The coming day of the Lord would be a horrifying time for the people groups of guys and gals who lived in countries that neighbored the land area that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . who purposefully and oppressively harassed God’s specially chosen guys and gals as they tried to live their lives in the land area that He gave to them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . Joel 3 zeros in on what God was planning to do during His coming day of judgment to the guys and gals who would be living in Phoenicia, Philistia, Egypt and Edom. It may be that what Joel scribed has already taken place but . . . your grandpaa though thinks that the day of the Lord is still to happen. Verse 16 tells what the coming day of the Lord will be like, “The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.” Joel concludes his short missive with a salutation to victory and to hope.
Joel’s message from God is for God’s specially chosen guys and gals who had spent time or who would spend time suffering through being hounded by guys from Phoenicia, Philistia, Egypt and Edom. Joel’s missive is about a time when God would have these four countries meet their demise in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. That pending time would be known as the day of the Lord. The Valley of Jehoshaphat is also known as the valley of decision. God’s ultimate judgment was or will be inflicted on the guys and gals who are living in the counties that are or have been hostile and mean to God’s specially chosen guys and gals. The Valley of Jehoshaphat or the valley of decision is located a short distance east of the city of Jerusalem. Because Palestinian guys and gals are now the occupiers of the land area that is located east of the city of Jerusalem – which may include the Valley of Jehoshaphat, on to the Jordon River, your grandpaa believes that this end time piece is now in place for a showdown between Israelite and Palestinian people groups soldiers in this valley. Palestinian people group guys mostly originated from the former Philistia land area and Saudi Arabia. The former Philistia land area is where the Gaza Strip is located – which is another source of irritation between the Israelite and Palestinian people groups guys and gals. The land area that once made up Edom was swallowed up by Saudi Arabia. Tyre and Sidon are cities that are located in the land area of Lebanon. Lebanon was once Phoenicia. Egypt and Israel now have a common border. There is animosity today among Palestinian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Saudi Arabian guys and gals against Israelite people groups guys and gals that is ethnicity generated. It makes sense to your grandpaa that the day of the Lord that Joel mentions in his missive – even though other countries have already raised havoc over time on every country that was mentioned by Joel in his final chapter, that God – as God the Spirit, breathed on Joel a message to God’s specially chosen guys and gals that includes a vindication battle that they will win against the hostile countries that took their kids and sold them to other countries. The day of the Lord will always be remembered because it will be a day that God fought.
You can be Joels. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are pulling being Joels. Your grandmaa and grandpaa were minding their own business when God interrupted their lives’ routines with a call to minister cross-culturally. Your grandmaa and grandpaa had a decision to make – either be obedient to the voice of God – as God the Spirit, and go to where God – as God the Spirit, might lead them or continue doing what they were doing. It would have been easy for your grandmaa and grandpaa to say no to God – as God the Spirit, asking them to leave family and friends, an affirming church family and a secure job to go to Bible School and on to a missionary vocation. Your grandmaa and grandpaa has God – as God the Father, blessing them in amazing ways with lives that He choreographed to have all kinds of experiential learning times. The constantly morphing circumstances that your grandmaa and grandpaa are learning from experientially are now enabling your grandmaa and grandpaa to help other guys and gals through the preprogrammed struggles and adversities that God – as God the Father, is continually and brusquely unfolding in their lives. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are praying that your ears will be open to hear and that you will respond by saying yes to the voice of God – as God the Spirit, asking you to pull Joels as ambassadors for Him on planet Earth.
Joel 3 (572)