For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
In those days and in that time means the last days, the last generation before the Lord comes, when Jerusalem faces its final attack and God turns the captivity of His people into deliverance. The bringing again of Judah and Jerusalem looks beyond ancient Israel to the last-day vindication of God's righteousness and the ending of sin at the arrival of the day of Jehovah. That restoration sets the scene for God to plead against the nations for scattering Israel, mistreating His people, and dividing His land, gathering them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for judgment. Its fulfillment follows the latter rain of the Spirit with prophecy, dreams, and visions, and comes at the beginning of the great and terrible day of the Lord, before the thousand years and the resurrection of the just. The verse therefore sounds a trumpet alarm that the day of the Lord is near, now remarkably fulfilling in worldwide strife, vast preparation for war, and the final gathering that culminates in Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
Time and Restoration
The phrases in those days and in that time mark the last days of earth's history, the last generation before the coming of the Lord, the present days, and the time just before Christ comes when Jerusalem and the nearby country will face the final attack of the nations. They belong to the day of the Lord and the scenes of judgment, a time of calamities and distresses when God gathers all nations to plead with them for His people Israel, and to a chapter that speaks of the last day, the earth's terrible shaking, and the Lord's coming to judgment. The setting is a call to prepare for war, with the world reaching a decisive state involving the multitudes of earth, followed by the great judgment day. It is prophetic evidence that the world is in the last days and that Christ's coming is near, including signs in the political world that precede the second advent and are fulfilling with particular force in the present age, with warning that the church's alliance with the world will lead to renewed union of church and state and persecution of those who obey God.
The bringing again of the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is placed at the time God gathers the nations for judgment, when the day of the Lord brings judgment on the nations and relief to His people. It points beyond ancient Israel to the last-day deliverance of God's people, when their captivity is turned into the joys of deliverance as the day of Jehovah arrives, when sin ends and God's righteousness is vindicated. That restoration of His people sets the scene for His case against the nations that scattered Israel, mistreated His people, and divided His land. Together with the next verse it describes God bringing the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat to answer for scattering His people and dividing His land, which is the same final gathering of nations for battle associated with the sixth plague.
The valley of Jehoshaphat named in the following verse recalls the victory King Jehoshaphat led in the wilderness of Tekoah, a striking triumph over Israel's enemies. The calamities of the prophecy's local setting and its local events and conditions serve as a type and illustration of greater calamities near the great day of the Lord and the final time of war and trouble on earth that will precede the great day of Jehovah. The prophecy also urges God's people to fast and pray to avert calamity.
Judgment of the Nations
The bringing again of the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem marks the time when God gathers the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat for judgment and the great battle. The turning of that captivity is the last-day deliverance of God's people, when the day of the Lord brings judgment upon the nations and relief to His own. That gathering draws a large portion of all nations to Jerusalem for a decisive battle near the day of the Lord and before Christ's second coming and the end of the world. The restoration sets the scene for God's case against the nations for scattering Israel, mistreating His people, and dividing His land. The valley of Jehoshaphat recalls the striking triumph led by King Jehoshaphat in the wilderness of Tekoah over Israel's enemies. This gathering for battle is the same final gathering associated with the sixth plague.
There the Lord comes down to judge and destroy the wicked, and He becomes the hope and relief of His people. The nations prepare for war, are gathered to the valley, and are there judged. Their destruction belongs to the prophecy of the final overthrow accomplished when Christ comes in His kingdom.
Its fulfillment follows the latter rain of God's Spirit with prophecy, dreams, and visions, and comes at the beginning of the great and terrible day of the Lord when the remnant is delivered. It stands at the beginning of the day of the Lord, before the thousand years and the resurrection of the just. At that time many of literal Israel are gathered and delivered in Jerusalem at the battle of the great day, while God also gathers and delivers His people among all nations and pours out His Spirit on the living saints. Those righteous living are afterward redeemed from their nations, together with the righteous dead, at Christ's second appearing. The great battle at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat falls under the last plague and the events immediately preceding Christ's coming, with the voice of God and the battle of the great day occurring at the same time as the destruction of the wicked at His appearing.
Warning Signs and Armageddon
Joel 3:1 sounds a trumpet alarm that the day of the Lord is near, declaring that God warns the world of what is coming rather than leaving it ignorant of its nearness. It belongs to prophecies foretelling world-wide messages of warning and reform to prepare people for Christ's second coming.
The prophecy finds remarkable fulfillment in the present state of the nations, not in peace but in strife, unrest, and vast preparation for war as the approaching day of the Lord draws on. The development of increasingly powerful weapons of war is evidence that what was foretold for these times is being fulfilled. What is foretold includes the turning of agricultural tools into weapons and the summoning of mighty men, a sign that the harvest is ripe and the end is near, for the harvest is the end of the world when the earth's fruitage is gathered. A great international announcement to prepare for war has gone forth, and every nation, small and great, is answering it, a prophetic picture standing in contrast to the nations' peace movement. While watchmen sleep and the alarm is but feebly sounded, that day comes as a thief in the night, pressing the question of who is on the Lord's side.
That spirit of war is the spirit of the devil, aroused and nourished by spirits of demons working miracles and going forth to the kings of the earth to prepare them for the great war of Armageddon. The repeated prophecy of worldwide war followed by the coming of the King of kings proves men utterly unworthy to rule the world and that Christ, whose right it is, shall reign. Even while this gathering for war goes forward, the gospel of peace still goes to the nations, a peace built in righteousness, the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, giving a peace unlike what the world gives.
The final battle of God's judgment lies in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in territory adjacent to Jerusalem. There the nations gather and lay siege to Jerusalem in their war against the Turk, yet their siege comes to nothing, for when they appear to have won God smites them and their triumph is brief.
This gathering takes place in the time when Judah and Jerusalem are brought back from captivity, when God brings the nations down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat to answer for scattering His people and dividing His land. It is the same final gathering of the nations for battle associated with the sixth plague. It is connected with the great battle at Jerusalem, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, during the last plague and the events immediately preceding Christ's coming. The closing scene of Joel's prophecy culminates in Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
The prophecy stands as evidence that the world is in the last days and that Christ's coming is near. Its local events and conditions serve as illustrations of calamities that will precede the great day of Jehovah and the final time of war and trouble on earth, and it urges God's people to fast and pray to avert calamity. The backsliding of the church and its alliance and union with the world will lead to renewed union of church and state and to persecution of those who obey God.
In those days and in that time means the last days, the last generation before the Lord comes, when Jerusalem faces its final attack and God turns the captivity of His people into deliverance. The bringing again of Judah and Jerusalem looks beyond ancient Israel to the last-day vindication of God's righteousness and the ending of sin at the arrival of the day of Jehovah. That restoration sets the scene for God to plead against the nations for scattering Israel, mistreating His people, and dividing His land, gathering them to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for judgment. Its fulfillment follows the latter rain of the Spirit with prophecy, dreams, and visions, and comes at the beginning of the great and terrible day of the Lord, before the thousand years and the resurrection of the just. The verse therefore sounds a trumpet alarm that the day of the Lord is near, now remarkably fulfilling in worldwide strife, vast preparation for war, and the final gathering that culminates in Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
Time and Restoration
The phrases in those days and in that time mark the last days of earth's history, the last generation before the coming of the Lord, the present days, and the time just before Christ comes when Jerusalem and the nearby country will face the final attack of the nations. They belong to the day of the Lord and the scenes of judgment, a time of calamities and distresses when God gathers all nations to plead with them for His people Israel, and to a chapter that speaks of the last day, the earth's terrible shaking, and the Lord's coming to judgment. The setting is a call to prepare for war, with the world reaching a decisive state involving the multitudes of earth, followed by the great judgment day. It is prophetic evidence that the world is in the last days and that Christ's coming is near, including signs in the political world that precede the second advent and are fulfilling with particular force in the present age, with warning that the church's alliance with the world will lead to renewed union of church and state and persecution of those who obey God.
The bringing again of the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem is placed at the time God gathers the nations for judgment, when the day of the Lord brings judgment on the nations and relief to His people. It points beyond ancient Israel to the last-day deliverance of God's people, when their captivity is turned into the joys of deliverance as the day of Jehovah arrives, when sin ends and God's righteousness is vindicated. That restoration of His people sets the scene for His case against the nations that scattered Israel, mistreated His people, and divided His land. Together with the next verse it describes God bringing the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat to answer for scattering His people and dividing His land, which is the same final gathering of nations for battle associated with the sixth plague.
The valley of Jehoshaphat named in the following verse recalls the victory King Jehoshaphat led in the wilderness of Tekoah, a striking triumph over Israel's enemies. The calamities of the prophecy's local setting and its local events and conditions serve as a type and illustration of greater calamities near the great day of the Lord and the final time of war and trouble on earth that will precede the great day of Jehovah. The prophecy also urges God's people to fast and pray to avert calamity.
Judgment of the Nations
The bringing again of the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem marks the time when God gathers the nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat for judgment and the great battle. The turning of that captivity is the last-day deliverance of God's people, when the day of the Lord brings judgment upon the nations and relief to His own. That gathering draws a large portion of all nations to Jerusalem for a decisive battle near the day of the Lord and before Christ's second coming and the end of the world. The restoration sets the scene for God's case against the nations for scattering Israel, mistreating His people, and dividing His land. The valley of Jehoshaphat recalls the striking triumph led by King Jehoshaphat in the wilderness of Tekoah over Israel's enemies. This gathering for battle is the same final gathering associated with the sixth plague.
There the Lord comes down to judge and destroy the wicked, and He becomes the hope and relief of His people. The nations prepare for war, are gathered to the valley, and are there judged. Their destruction belongs to the prophecy of the final overthrow accomplished when Christ comes in His kingdom.
Its fulfillment follows the latter rain of God's Spirit with prophecy, dreams, and visions, and comes at the beginning of the great and terrible day of the Lord when the remnant is delivered. It stands at the beginning of the day of the Lord, before the thousand years and the resurrection of the just. At that time many of literal Israel are gathered and delivered in Jerusalem at the battle of the great day, while God also gathers and delivers His people among all nations and pours out His Spirit on the living saints. Those righteous living are afterward redeemed from their nations, together with the righteous dead, at Christ's second appearing. The great battle at Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat falls under the last plague and the events immediately preceding Christ's coming, with the voice of God and the battle of the great day occurring at the same time as the destruction of the wicked at His appearing.
Warning Signs and Armageddon
Joel 3:1 sounds a trumpet alarm that the day of the Lord is near, declaring that God warns the world of what is coming rather than leaving it ignorant of its nearness. It belongs to prophecies foretelling world-wide messages of warning and reform to prepare people for Christ's second coming.
The prophecy finds remarkable fulfillment in the present state of the nations, not in peace but in strife, unrest, and vast preparation for war as the approaching day of the Lord draws on. The development of increasingly powerful weapons of war is evidence that what was foretold for these times is being fulfilled. What is foretold includes the turning of agricultural tools into weapons and the summoning of mighty men, a sign that the harvest is ripe and the end is near, for the harvest is the end of the world when the earth's fruitage is gathered. A great international announcement to prepare for war has gone forth, and every nation, small and great, is answering it, a prophetic picture standing in contrast to the nations' peace movement. While watchmen sleep and the alarm is but feebly sounded, that day comes as a thief in the night, pressing the question of who is on the Lord's side.
That spirit of war is the spirit of the devil, aroused and nourished by spirits of demons working miracles and going forth to the kings of the earth to prepare them for the great war of Armageddon. The repeated prophecy of worldwide war followed by the coming of the King of kings proves men utterly unworthy to rule the world and that Christ, whose right it is, shall reign. Even while this gathering for war goes forward, the gospel of peace still goes to the nations, a peace built in righteousness, the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, giving a peace unlike what the world gives.
The final battle of God's judgment lies in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in territory adjacent to Jerusalem. There the nations gather and lay siege to Jerusalem in their war against the Turk, yet their siege comes to nothing, for when they appear to have won God smites them and their triumph is brief.
This gathering takes place in the time when Judah and Jerusalem are brought back from captivity, when God brings the nations down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat to answer for scattering His people and dividing His land. It is the same final gathering of the nations for battle associated with the sixth plague. It is connected with the great battle at Jerusalem, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, during the last plague and the events immediately preceding Christ's coming. The closing scene of Joel's prophecy culminates in Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
The prophecy stands as evidence that the world is in the last days and that Christ's coming is near. Its local events and conditions serve as illustrations of calamities that will precede the great day of Jehovah and the final time of war and trouble on earth, and it urges God's people to fast and pray to avert calamity. The backsliding of the church and its alliance and union with the world will lead to renewed union of church and state and to persecution of those who obey God.