Joel 3:7, commentary and pictures

God will lift His people out of the distant places where their enemies sold them and turn the evildoers' own recompense back upon their own heads, when He judges the gathered nations in the last day, shaking the earth to punish the nations and to be the hope and strength of Israel. That gathering and deliverance of Israel and the pouring out of His Spirit upon the living saints occur together just before the resurrection of the just at the commencement of the day of the Lord, embracing all the living saints in every nation with a remnant of literal Israel delivered at Jerusalem. Their deliverance from captivity vindicates the righteousness of God as a universal principle of the last-day judgment. The chapter belongs to the time of the end, when the awakening of the nations and their preparations for war show the harvest is ripe and Christ's return is near, calling the multitudes to a decisive choice and answering claims of peace and safety. Its closing scene is the final strife among the nations leading to Armageddon, when the allied powers gather against Jerusalem in the Valley of Jehoshaphat and God smites them, so their apparent triumph is brief and gives way to the coming of the King of Kings.

Restoration and Judgment Setting

Behold, the promise is that God will raise up Judah, His people, out of the distant places to which their enemies sold them, and will turn the recompense of those oppressors back upon their own heads. This takes place in the setting of the Lord's judgment upon the gathered nations in the last day, when God judges the nations and the earth is shaken. That day of the Lord brings judgment upon the nations and at the same time hope and strength to Israel through the restoration and deliverance of God's people.

The prophecy through chapter 3 verse 17 is fulfilled at the commencement of the day of the Lord and before the thousand years, at the resurrection of the just. The gathering and deliverance of Israel, called God's people and My people, and the pouring out of God's Spirit upon the living saints occur at one and the same time just prior to the resurrection of the just and embrace all the living saints of every name. Many of the remnant of literal Israel will be gathered and delivered in Jerusalem in Asia at the battle of the great day of the Lord, while at the same time all the Israel of God in every nation will be delivered and receive the Spirit of God. Afterward they will be redeemed out of their nations together with all the righteous dead at the second appearing of Christ. So the ancient bringing of God's people out of the place where they were sold and the repaying of those who sold them expresses universal principles for the last-day judgment, in which God's people are delivered from captivity and their deliverance vindicates God's righteousness.

Last-Day Fulfillment and Warning

The prophecy to which the verse belongs shows that the last days have come and that the return of Christ is near. It belongs to the time of the end, when preparations for war and the awakening of the nations are signs that the harvest is ripe and the end is near. The chapter is an announcement to the world in the days now lived, calling all to prepare for war and bringing the multitudes to a decisive choice before the great judgment day. It is an international summons to prepare for war, with every nation responding, and it stands against claims of peace and safety in the perilous last days.

Its truth is demonstrated by the military developments of the time, including increasingly powerful and difficult-to-detect warships, applying it to the era preceding Armageddon and the destruction of the world. It is being remarkably fulfilled in the present state of the nations. Jerusalem and the surrounding country will face the final attack of the nations just before Christ comes. 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 Turkish territory.

There three allied powers will gather in war against the Turk: apostate Protestantism led by the United States, the papacy led by the ten kingdoms of Europe, and paganism led by the nations of the East. They will even lay siege to Jerusalem, but to no avail, for in the hour of their apparent victory the Turk will come to his end with none to help him and God will smite the gathered nations, returning their recompense upon their own heads, so that their triumph will be brief. The chapter foretells strife, unrest and preparation for war among the nations, leading to the great war of Armageddon and the coming of the King of Kings. The verse stands as part of the prophecy of the battle in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, associated with the final plague and the day of the Lord, in the chapter's closing scene depicting Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.

The passage from the verse through verse 22 proves that Isaiah 2:3 was not fulfilled at Pentecost. The verse means that God will raise up those who were sold out of the place where they were sold and will return the sellers' recompense upon their own heads. This recompense is part of the war and trouble God announces in Joel 3:9-10, opposite to the saying about beating swords into plowshares, and follows His forsaking of His people for preaching smooth peace when war is coming. The chapter does not promise coming earthly peace but warns that the day of the Lord is approaching and will come suddenly as a thief in the night. Religious teachers misapply present facts and the watchmen sleep and sound the alarm feebly because they ignore prophecy, while the prophecy calls every person to feel the burden of the world's condition and to decide who is on the Lord's side.