Joel 3:2

Joel 3:2

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

a. NLT: I will gather the armies of the world, into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land.

b. NIV: I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel, because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

c. YLT: Then I have gathered all the nations, And caused them to go down unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, And I have been judged with them there, Concerning My people and Mine inheritance -- Israel, Whom they scattered among nations, And My land they have apportioned.

d. Amplified Bible:  I will gather all nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and there will I deal with and execute judgment upon them for [their treatment of] My people and of My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and [because] they have divided My land.

e. Septuagint [There are four chapters in the Septuagint. Joel 3:2 in our Bible is Joel 4:2 in the Septuagint.] I will also gather all the Gentiles, and bring them down to the valley of Josaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and my heritage Israel, who have been dispersed among the Gentiles; and [these Gentiles] have divided my land,

f. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets: [There are four chapters in the Jewish translation of Joel. Joel 3:2 in our Bible is Joel 4:2 in the Jewish translation.] I will gather all of the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and I will contend with them there concerning My people and My possession, Israel, that they dispersed among the nations, and they divided My land.

1. “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat…”

a. I will also gather [6908 * qabats] [Strong: a primitive root; to grasp, i.e. collect:--assemble (selves), gather (bring) (together, selves together, up), heap, resort, X surely, take up.]

b. all nations [1471 * gowy] [Strong: apparently from the same root as 1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:--Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

c. will bring them down [3381 * yarad] [Strong: a primitive root; to descend (literally, to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively, to fall); causatively, to bring down (in all the above applications); -X abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come(-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go(-ing) down(-ward), hang down, X indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.]

d. into the valley [6010 * ‘emeq] [Strong: from 6009; a vale (i.e. broad depression):--dale, vale, valley (often used as a part of proper names).]

e. Jehoshaphat [3092 * ] [Strong:  from 3068 and 8199; Jehovah-judged; Jehoshaphat, the name of six Israelites; also of a valley near Jerusalem:--Jehoshaphat.]

1). This is the battle of Armageddon that will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. It is mentioned further in verses 9-17.

a). Joel 3:9-17 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

2). A comparative passage speaking of the “sickle” and the harvesting of the earth given in Revelation.

a). Revelation 14:17-20 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

(1) This information has caused me to look at Armageddon in a totally different light. There has never been anything approaching the amount of blood letting that will occur during this battle. In Revelation 14:20 it says, “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and the blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” Harper’s Bible Dictionary says a Biblical furlong is 1/10 of a mile, hence 160 miles. The New American Standard Version gives 200 miles as the distance. Saints, that is a lot of blood. It is a river of blood 5 or 6 feet deep and anywhere between 160 and 200 miles long. Though these figures sound incredible, a passage in Zechariah 14:12 encourages me to believe it to be literal. “And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem, there flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” The Hebrew word for “consume” is ‘naqaq’ and it means “to melt, to flow, to consume away, to dissolve”. There will be hundreds of millions of soldiers gathered for battle against Jerusalem. The multitude will be so great it appears to stretch from Megiddo almost 60 miles to the north, down to Jerusalem. How much blood would there be if the flesh and blood of all those soldiers melted off their bones?

2. “…and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel…”

a. and will plead [8199 * shaphat] [Strong:  a primitive root; to judge, i.e. pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication, to vindicate or punish; by extenssion, to govern; passively, to litigate (literally or figuratively):--+ avenge, X that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge(-ment), X needs, plead, reason, rule.] [Gesenius: to judge, govern, vindicate, punish.]

1). This is the same Hebrew word used with punishment.

a). Isaiah 66:15, 16 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

b. with them there for my people [5971 * ‘am] [Strong: from 6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:--folk, men, nation, people.

c. for my heritage [5159 * nachalah] [Strong:  from 5157 (in its usual sense); properly, something inherited, i.e. (abstractly) occupancy, or (concretely) an heirloom; generally an estate, patrimony or portion:--heritage, to inherit, inheritance, possession.]

d. Israel [3478 * Yisra’el] [Strong: from 8280 and 410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: --Israel.]

1). Zechariah gives us a graphic picture of this battle, which is the battle of Armageddon at the Second Coming of Christ.

3. “…whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.”

a. scattered [6340 * Pazar][Strong: a primitive root; to scatter, whether in enmity or bounty:--disperse, scatter (abroad).]

b. among the nations [1471 * gowy] [Strong: apparently from the same root as 1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:--Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

c. parted [2505 * chalaq][Strong: a primitive root; to be smooth (figuratively); by implication (as smooth stones were used for lots) to apportion or separate:--deal, distribute, divide, flatter, give, (have, im-)part(-ner), take away a portion, receive, separate self, (be) smooth(-er).

d. land [776 * ‘erets][Strong: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.

1). Because He is in Covenant with Israel, He considers the land He gave to Israel, His land. Almighty God is furious with the dividing up of His land and giving it to the heathen, Hamas, the Palestinians, or the Syrians. [See Blog notes on Zephaniah 3:8, January 16, 2012.] The LORD is not only jealous over His land, but he considers these nations as evil.

a). Ezekiel 36:5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

b). Jeremiah 12:14 Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them.

2). An interesting twist to this is beginning to be studied in the Christian community that focuses on Bible prophecy. A passage in Zechariah is being looked at through contemporary events.

a). Zechariah 1:18-21 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.

Zechariah 1:19 And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

Zechariah 1:20 And the Lord shewed me four carpenters.

Zechariah 1:21 Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

3). Students of Bible prophecy are identifying these four horns as the international quartet of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, there goal being to cause Israel to give up Judah and Samaria (the West Bank) and give in to pressure  who are demanding that Israel return to its pre-1967 borders.

a).  The Roadmap for Peace, developed by the United States, in cooperation with Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations (the Quartet), was presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority on April 30. The plan is a performance-based, goal-driven plan, with clear phases, timelines, and benchmarks. It involves reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, and humanitarian fields. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Ongoing good-faith efforts by both Israelis and Palestinians are required to implement the Roadmap. The pace of progress will grow solely out of their performance. The United States, other members of the Quartet, and regional Arab leaders will work to support and facilitate the process. They also will meet regularly to evaluate the parties’ performance in implementing the plan. http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/22520.htm

b). "The Roadmap represents a starting point toward achieving the vision of two states, a secure State of Israel and a viable, peaceful, democratic Palestine.
It is a framework for progress towards lasting peace and security in the Middle East..." -President George W. Bush http://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/22520.htm