Joel 3:6
The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
The Grecians are the people of Greece, called Javan in Hebrew usage, to whom Tyre, Sidon and the Philistine territories sold the children of Judah and Jerusalem in order to remove them far from their homeland and border. That sale stands among God's charges against the nations for scattering Israel, dividing His land and oppressing His people, for which He promises judgment, repayment and restoration of His people. The injustice points beyond ancient wrong to the last-day deliverance of God's people at the commencement of the day of the Lord and before the thousand years, when gathering, deliverance and the pouring out of God's Spirit happen at one and the same time for all living saints. Its foretelling of strife, unrest and preparation for war is now seen in the war fever of the nations, vast spending on battleships in time of peace and the turning of agricultural tools into weapons, proving these political signs are forerunners of the second advent and that the end is near. The final battle of that judgment will be fought at Jerusalem in the Valley of Jehoshaphat in territory adjacent to the city, when Jerusalem and the surrounding country will bear the brunt of the nations' final attack just before Christ comes, but their triumph will be brief for God will smite the nations.
Words and Ancient Wrong
The term rendered Grecians denotes the people of Greece, who are also called Javan in Hebrew usage. Tyre, Sidon, and the territories of the Philistines sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the Greeks, carrying them away in order to remove them far from their homeland and border. That selling records Tyre's participation with the Philistines in the invasion of Judah during the time of Jehoram.
Greece was brought upon Israel as a heavier affliction when lighter afflictions failed to reform them, following rough handling by Media-Persia. Removed far from their native land, often treated as slaves and scattered widely over the earth by the wide conquests of Greece, the Jews were led to remember the prosperity of the days when they walked in God's commandments.
Judgment and Last-Day Warning
The selling of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks to carry them far from their homeland stands among God's charges against Tyre, Sidon and the Philistine territories for scattering Israel, dividing His land, and oppressing His people, for which He promises judgment, repayment, and restoration of His people. That injustice points beyond ancient Israel to the last-day deliverance of God's people. It belongs to events fulfilled in the commencement of the day of the Lord and before the thousand years at the resurrection of the just, when gathering, deliverance, and pouring out of God's Spirit happen at one and the same time for all living saints of every name just prior to the resurrection of the just. Many of the remnant of literal Israel will then be gathered and delivered in Jerusalem in Asia at the battle of the great day, while at the same time all the Israel of God in every nation will be delivered and receive the Spirit, afterward to be redeemed from their nations with all the righteous dead at Christ's second appearing.
The final battle of God's judgment on the nations will be fought at Jerusalem, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat in territory adjacent to the city, about fifty miles south of the Armageddon gathering within the Turk's domain. It takes place under the last plague, and Jerusalem and the surrounding country will bear the brunt of the nations' final attack just before Christ comes. The confederated nations gathered in war against the Turk will even lay siege to Jerusalem, but it will be of no avail, for in the hour of their apparent victory, when the Turk comes to his end and none helps him, God will smite the nations and their triumph will be brief. The chapter speaks of the last day, the earth's terrible shaking, and the Lord's coming to judgment. Its local conditions serve as illustrations of calamities preceding the great day of Jehovah and the final time of war and trouble.
The prophecy points to the present days, calls the world to prepare for war, and describes the decision facing earth's multitudes before the great judgment day. It is pictured as a great international announcement calling nations to prepare for war, to which every nation is responding. Its foretelling of strife, unrest, and preparation for war is now seen in the war fever of the nations and vast spending on battleships in time of peace. Its truth is demonstrated by the development of increasingly destructive weapons and warships in the present times. The preparations for war and the turning of agricultural tools into weapons, with the ripe harvest about to be reaped from the earth, are signs that the end is near. These signs in the political world are forerunners of the second advent, being fulfilled in the present age with unmistakable force.
The prophecy of Joel 3 about the nations is remarkably fulfilled in the present state of the nations, proving that expectations of peace are a misapplication of facts and that the day of the Lord is approaching while watchmen sleep and the alarm is feebly sounded. The spirit of war behind this preparation 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 world-wide war of Armageddon. That world-wide war will be followed by the coming of the King of Kings after men have demonstrated their utter unfitness to rule the world, so that He whose right it is shall reign. While this gathering goes forward, the Gospel of peace built in the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ still goes to the nations, giving a peace not as the world gives. Joel 3 also belongs to the predictions of world-wide messages of warning and reform that prepare people for Christ's second coming.
In the last days the church's backsliding and union with the world will lead to persecution of those who obey God. The Lord forsakes His people because they preach smooth things of peace when war and trouble are coming. The church in the last days claims the law goes forth from Zion and proclaims that nations shall beat swords into plowshares and learn war no more, while the Lord commands the opposite to prepare war and beat plowshares into swords. Therefore the word about the law going out of Zion cannot mean the gospel preached on the day of Pentecost, for the Lord would not forsake His people for preaching the gospel then.