“‘For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,’ (Joel 3:1 )—that is, reverse it… when I shall by Cyrus the type bring Judah’s people out of Babylonish captivity, the emblem of a greater and worse captivity. Judah after the flesh as the type, but, according to the mystery of it, Judah signifieth the whole remnant or residue of those God will save.”(Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) — In contrast, “‘I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.’ (Joel 3:2). Some fifty years before Joel prophesied the kingdom of Judah had been menaced by an imposing confederacy of hostile tribes…. A national fast was proclaimed, and after it Jehoshaphat engaged and completely routed the enemy in a valley in the wilderness of Tekoa. (See 2 Chronicles 20) The victory was an occasion of immense exultation, and seems to supply the imagery with which Joel describes the day of the Lord. The name of Jehoshaphat was at some period given to the Kedron Valley, but it is here used rather in its grammatical meaning as the scene of the Divine judgment, the words signifying “the valley where Jehovah judgeth.” (C. J. Ellicott)
“‘They have cast lots for my people.’ These enemies of the Jews took them captive: "‘And have given a boy for a harlot’— By this is meant, that they exchanged, or gave away, Jewish boys, instead of money, for harlots. ‘And sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.’ (Joel 3:3) — For a draught of wine, as it were; that is, at a very vile and low rate. These instances are mentioned, to signify the contempt in which these enemies of the Jews held the worshippers of the true God; they parted with them, when they had taken them captives, upon the vilest terms, as setting little or no value upon them. In Mingrelia, according to Sir John Chardin, they sell captive children for provisions and for wine: see Harmer vol. 2. p. 374.” (Joseph Benson)
“’Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me?”— literally, ‘and also, what are ye to Me?’ [it is implied— "nothing."]
"'But if you retaliate against Me, swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head.' (Joel 3:4) Tyre and Zidon and Philistia— They were allotted to Israel by Joshua, but “’the Zidonians’ are counted among those who ‘oppressed’ Israel, and ‘out of’ whose ‘hand’ God ‘delivered’ him, when he ‘cried’ to God Judges 10:12. The Philistines were the unwearied assailants of Israel in the days of the Judges, and Saul, and David Judges 13:1; 1 Samuel 4; 13; 17; 1 Samuel 23:1; 1 Samuel 30; 1 Samuel 31:1-13; during 40 years Israel was given into the hands of the Philistines, until God delivered them by Samuel at Mizpeh. When David was king of all Israel, the Philistines still acted on the offensive, and lost Gath and her towns to David in an offensive war 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 2 Samuel 8:1; 1 Chronicles 18:1; 2 Samuel 21:18; 2 Samuel 13:9-16. To Jehoshaphat some of them voluntarily paid tribute 2 Chronicles 17:11; but in the reign of Jehoram his son, they, with some Arabians, marauded in Judah, plundering the king's house and slaying all his sons, save the youngest 2 Chronicles 21:16-17; 2 Chronicles 22:1. This is the last event before the time of Joel. They stand among the most inveterate and unprovoked enemies of God's people, and probably as enemies of God also hating the claim of Judah that their God was the One God.” (Albert Barnes)—
“Because you have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My prized possessions.” (Joel 3:5) God's enemies have profaned the holy things of God in His temple.
“Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem you have sold to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise them out of the place to which you have sold them, and will return your retaliation upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off;’ for the LORD has spoken. Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, 'I am strong.' Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD. Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.” (Joel 3:6-12) After the saints are ressurected and enjoying rest in the Holy City, there will be another ressurection. “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.“ (Rev 20:7-9)
“Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow - For their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon will grow dark, And the stars will diminish their brightness. The LORD also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the LORD will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.” (Joel 3:13-17) As John saw in apocalyptic imagery:
“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev 21:27)
“’And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine.' We shall know even as we are known.— ‘the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; a fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD.’—The spiritual fertilising power of the knowledge of the Lord is compared to the life-giving influence of a stream of water, which causes luxuriance to the trees on its banks. This imagery is exemplified by Ezekiel, who traces the course of the waters issuing from under the threshold of the house of the LORD (Ezekiel 47). (Comp. Zechariah 14:8; Revelation 22:1.)— ‘and water the valley of Shittim.’ (Joel 3:18) —Heb., acacias. Shittim, in the land of Moab, is symbolical of the barrenness and sterility of land where there is no water.... — ’Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land.’ (Joel 3:19) Egypt and Edom always excited feelings of abhorrence in the hearts of the Jews. The memory of the exile in Egypt was always fresh and keen; no retrospect of their past history could leave it out of account. And the national detestation of the false and cruel-hearted Idumæan kinsmen is recalled by Obadiah in his prophecy and touching record; as also in Psalms 137, as rendered in the Prayer Book, ‘Remember the children of Edom, O Lord, in the day of Jerusalem, how they said, Down with it, down with it, even to the ground.’” (C. J. Ellicott)
“‘But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.’ (Joel 3:20) Judah shall dwell for ever - Not earthly Judah, nor earthly Jerusalem, for these must come to an end, together with the earth itself, of whose end the prophets well knew. It is then the one people of God, the true Judah, the people who praise God, the Israel, which is indeed Israel. Egypt and Edom and all the enemies of God should come to an end; but His people shall never come to an end. ‘The gates of hell shall not prevail against her.’ The enemy shall not destroy her; time shall not consume her; she shall never decay. The people of God shall abide before Him and through Him here, and shall dwell with Him forever." (Albert Barnes)--" ‘For I will acquit them of the guilt of bloodshed, whom I had not acquitted; for the Lord dwells in Zion.’ (Joel 3:21) O blessed longed-for day, when we shall enter into the city of the saints, 'whose light is the Lamb,' where 'the King is seen in His beauty,' where 'all tears are wiped off from the eyes' of the saints, 'and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor pain, for the former things have passed away Revelation 21:23; Isaiah 33:17; Revelation 21:4. ‘How amiable are Thy tabernacle, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth, yea fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God’ Psalm 84:1-2. " (Albert Barnes)
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