Joel 3:4
Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
God calls Tyre and Sidon and the coasts of Philistia to account for invading Judah, plundering its wealth and treasures, scattering Israel and dividing His land, and selling His people to the Greeks. He warns that if they try to render Him a recompense, He will swiftly and speedily return their recompense upon their own head. The charge belongs to His last-day controversy with the nations He gathers for judgment, when He pleads for His scattered people and restores them, with the final battle placed in the Valley of Jehoshaphat at Jerusalem in connection with Armageddon and the second coming of Christ. It is a worldwide summons to prepare for war, to which every nation is responding by turning agricultural tools into weapons and by present strife, military buildup and powerful warships, showing the harvest is ripe and the end is near. What happened anciently expresses universal principles, bringing multitudes to decision before the great judgment day and pointing to the final judgment of the last days.
Historical Meaning and Recompense
Joel 3:4 is addressed to Tyre and Sidon and all the coasts of Palestine or Philistia as peoples held accountable by God for their treatment of Judah and Jerusalem, placing them among the nations brought into His judgment. Their taking of Israel's treasures and selling of Judah's children is met by God's swift return of the harm upon themselves. The warning belongs to God's gathering of the nations, His case against those who scattered Israel and divided His land, and His promise to restore His people.
Their wrong against God was invading Judah, taking its wealth and treasures, scattering Israel and dividing His land, and selling Judah's children and people to the Greeks. Tyre, Sidon, and the coastal peoples of Palestine had thus wronged God by their invasion and plunder and enslavement of His people. God warns that if they render Him a recompense, swiftly and speedily He will return their recompense upon their own head, repaying nations for hostility toward Him and His people. Any attempt to repay God is answered with swift requital upon the offenders themselves.
The history of Israel in this prophecy also illustrates principles with wider application beyond itself. Its ancient events express universal principles and point to the final judgment of the last days. The prophecy of judgment on the nations is therefore one that belongs to the last days.
Last-Day Judgment and War
Joel 3:4 belongs to a prophecy of judgment upon the nations in the last days, concerning the last day, the shaking of the earth, and the Lord's coming to judgment. In that prophecy God repays the nations for hostility toward Him and His people, and the chapter stands as part of the prophetic picture of the last days when the church's union with the world leads to persecution of those who obey God. Its fulfillment begins at the commencement of the day of the Lord, before the thousand years and the resurrection of the just. Its setting is the gathering and deliverance of God's people, together with the outpouring of the Spirit on the living saints just before the resurrection.
The surrounding passage is God's gathering of the nations, His case against those who scattered Israel and divided His land, and His promise to restore His people. It is presented as a literal day of judgment associated with the Lord's coming. The final battle of that judgment is placed in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, in territory adjacent to Jerusalem. It is fought at Jerusalem during the last plague as part of the events ushering in the day of the Lord, and Joel 3 closes the scene with Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
Jerusalem and the surrounding country will bear the brunt of the nations' final attack just before Christ comes. The nations besiege Jerusalem in their war against the Turk, but their attack fails, and when they appear to have won God strikes them so that their triumph is brief. The prophecy is a great international announcement calling the world to prepare for war, to which every nation is responding. The awakening of the nations for war, with agricultural tools turned into weapons, is a sign that the harvest is ripe and that the end and final gathering of earth's harvest are near.
It foretells the present strife, unrest, and worldwide military buildup. The spirit of war is the spirit of the devil, aroused and nourished by miracle-working spirits of demons going to the kings of the earth to prepare them for the great war of Armageddon. That worldwide war will be followed by the coming of the King of Kings, when men have shown utter unworthiness to rule and He whose right it is takes His reign, while meanwhile the Gospel of peace in Jesus Christ goes to the nations. The development of powerful, destructive warships and the preparations for war and conflicts of the present age, including political signs preceding the second advent, are evidence of its relevance and remarkable fulfillment in the present state of the nations. They are fulfilled with unmistakable force and point to the days in which we live and the approaching day of the Lord.
It describes multitudes brought to a decision before the great judgment day. Current religious unity is not a sign of coming peace but a misapplication of facts by teachers who ignore prophecy. The terrible day comes as a thief in the night because watchmen sleep and the alarm is feebly sounded, pressing who is on the Lord's side, and in the last days the church's union with the world leads to persecution of those who obey God.