Joel 1-3 Joy Withered? Obedience Required
Psalm 107:1-43 The Savior who Satisfies
Ps 107:1 “Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his hesed/loyal covenantal love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary, 3 And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in. 5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 6 Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses, 7 He led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in. 8 Let them praise Yahweh for his hesed/loyal covenantal love, for his wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, 11 because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High. 12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was none to help. 13 Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds in sunder. 15 Let them praise Yahweh for his hesed/loyal covenantal love, for his wonderful works to the children of men! 16 For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.
17 Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities. 18 Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death. 19 Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses. 20 He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves. 21 Let them praise Yahweh for his hesed/loyal covenantal love, for his wonderful works to the children of men! 22 Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters 27...are at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress. 29 He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still. 30 Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven. 31 Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works for the children of men! 32 Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground, 34 and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it. 35 He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs. 36 There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in, 37 sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase. 38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn’t allow their livestock to decrease. 39 Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow. 40 He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste. 41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock. 42 The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths. 43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses hesed/loyal covenantal love of Yahweh.
Observations: 107:1-9 God's goodness and hesed are again praised by the redeemed, because He not only saves them when they call to Him, but He satisfies their longings with good.
107:10-22 Sinners and fools don't experience God's hesed because they are not loyal to Him. However, when things get bad enough, they repent and call out to Him. Then, He not only saves, but breaks the bonds of their own making, and heals them of their stupidity.
107:23-32 Storm-tossed sailors call out to God and He saves them, and they exalt Him with their praise.
107:33-43 Anyone experiencing God's judgment, for their wicked contempt of His word, can repent and call to God who relents, and restores. The upright experience His hesed and goodness, while the wicked don't.
Application: God doesn't just save from sin, but His hesed delivers and heals those who call out to Him.
Prayer: Praise You God, for Your hesed, that goes beyond my needs to even fulfilling my desires, so I can fulfill Your purpose for me, of exalting Your name. Amen.
Proverbs 24:30-34 A Little Laziness Leads to A Large Loss
Pr 24:30 I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31 Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction: 33 a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; 34 so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man."
Observations: 24:30-34 See the Saga of the Sorry Sluggard on Truthbase.net or in TOYL. This section not only warns against the self-deception that leads to disaster, it also illustrates the process of observation and interpretation in Bible Study. Observing the effect and cause relationship, or consequences of ones actions, leads the author to formulate a principle which can be applied to one's life. The vineyard lacked the preventative maintenance (weeding) and protection (wall) which would enable it to bear fruit. Seeing the consequences of a “little” neglect, which led to destructive, sudden and unexpected poverty, one should embrace the principle encapsulated in the title above, and the application below. A man who had understanding will exercise diligence in one's personal and spiritual life to ensure fruitfulness.
Application: How are you diligently tending your spiritual garden so that it yields fruit? You snooze; you lose.
Prayer: Lord, help me clearly see the potential consequences of my actions and take the steps to bring about the outcomes You desire. Amen.
Joel and Obadiah - Double (or triple) your prophets in one post! My second year into doing Bible study, I surveyed the Minor Prophets, developing a synthesis of the chapters keying off the letters of the author's name (an acrostic). I still remember them over thirty years later. Joel was: Joy Withered; Obedience Required; Eschatology; Lock Stock and Barrel Restoration.
(Hosea was: Harlotry; Offenses; Separation; Exhortation to Repentance; Acceptance).
Obadiah (Oh Bad Edom) has only one chapter denouncing Edom for how they acted toward Israel, and the most likely setting is 2Chronicles 21, which makes him a contemporary of Joel.
The second chapter of Joel is the background to Peter's speech at Pentecost (Acts 2), and Paul's argument in Romans 10. It also summarizes Moses' view of God's glory/character, and encapsulates God's dealings with His people (He relents when we repent), and describes the essence of repentance. Don't miss it.
You can have fun doing Bible study, but if you want enduring joy, learn some of the lessons from Joel. There will be a sermon outline on the topic in a couple of weeks, in which a theme will be “Joy comes from choosing what is best.” You can see this more clearly in the Book of Philippians, but it surfaces in Joel as well. Happy studying, and joyful living!
Joel 1 Joy Withered
1:1 The Word of Yahweh that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you elders, and listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation. 4 What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten. 5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness. 7 He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.
8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth! 9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house. The priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn. 10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes. 11 Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished. 12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men. 13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
14 Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry to Yahweh. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty. 16 Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered. 18 How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19 Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field. 20 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Observations: 1:1-19 Joy has withered and gladness has gone, from the land and the temple. A destructive locust plague had invaded the land, and it prefigures impending destruction from the Lord (cf. 2:25). In fact everything gets destroyed in the Day of the Almighty's destruction. Joel calls for national mourning, and crying out to God. Commentators debate when the prophecy was delivered and to what period it refers. It's placement early in the canon of Scriptures, and lack of mention of a king might point to the early reign of the boy-king Josiah (2Chron 21-22) when the Book of the Law had not yet been found. The Day of the Almighty's judgment, as described, is yet future (see chapter 2), but destructions of lesser magnitude would be coming on the nation for ignoring God (see Israel's history).
Application: We can't enjoy God's blessings while being improperly related to Him; all we can experience while disobeying is His discipline, which is scary.
Prayer: God, may I live daily in the fullness of joy found in Your presence, so that even in the midst of a disaster, I can experience the peace and pleasure that comes from knowing You.
Joel 2 Repentance Required
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations. 3 A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them. 4 Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale. 7 They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course. 8 Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and don’t break ranks. 9 They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves. 10 The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?
12 "Yet even now," says Yahweh, "turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." 13 Tear/Rend your heart, and not your garments, and repent/turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in hesed/loyal covenantal love, and relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may repent and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. 16 Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her room. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, "Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’"
18 Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people. 19 Yahweh answered his people, "Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. 20 But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things. 21 Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things. 22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23 "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed. 27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.
28 "It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. 29 And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 32 It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
Observations: 2:1-11 Joel describes the calamitous and catastrophic destruction of the Day of the Lord, when His armies (of angels) will destroy everything and everyone in their path. The are described metaphorically. The fire and darkness and unprecedented level of destruction match the Tribulation period of the Book of Revelation.
2:12-17 Using the same call to repentance as chapter 1, Joel summons the people to rend their heart, and not their garments. Outward displays of ripping robes and fasting are no substitute from ripping the callous of self-will off our hearts, and turning from our sin to God. When we repent, God relents from sending promised judgment, or mitigates it if it is already in place. If you paid attention to the Major Prophets and the Historical Books, you frequently saw this theme. God's repentance is rooted in His character and hesed/loyal covenantal love, which He revealed to Moses (Ex 34).
2:18-27 This section contains a chiasm, highlighted the joy in the Lord's deliverance:
19 A. Restoration of land and removal of reproach
20 B. Invasion from north reversed
21-24 C. Joy
25 b' Invasion of locusts reversed
26 a' Restoration of crops and removal of reproach permanently (incl. v 27)
20 B. Invasion from north reversed
21-24 C. Joy
25 b' Invasion of locusts reversed
26 a' Restoration of crops and removal of reproach permanently (incl. v 27)
God responds to the repentant prayers of His people. He promises to restore the years lost to the locust, and bless. Verse 20 refers to the removal of a vast “northern army” that will be driven back into two seas by the Lord's action. This appears to be a future event, that did not occur in Joel's day, nor in the time of the Babylonian captivity. God frequently warned of judgment coming from the north (cf Dan 11:40; Ezek 38 and Rev 20 Magog, at different times). God drives back this army from Zion/Jerusalem, so it can't be Babylon nor Assyria.
2:28-32 The last verses of the chapter describe what God will do after all of the above, after He turns back the army from the north, and restores the blessing to the land. Then He will pour out His Spirit on all, according to the New Covenant promises (Jer 31:31). There will be incredible changes in the environment in the Day of the Lord, which have not yet happened. In the Tribulation, those of Israel who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Peter used this passage in Act 2, to move his audience from what was happening (Spirit poured out) to what he wanted them to do (call upon the name of the Lord and be saved). The intervening events have not yet happened.
Application: Our best option for joy (particularly when being disciplined for our sin) is to repent and call to the God who graciously relents when we repent.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thanks for graciously accepting back those who wholeheartedly repent of their sin, and blessing them; may I have a heart that is so sensitive to You, that I respond at the slightest reproof of Your Spirit.
Joel 3 Payback and Prosperity
9 Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors 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.’ 11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together." Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh. 12 "Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great." 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 16 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel. 17 "So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.
18 It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house of Yahweh, and will water the valley of Shittim. 19 Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.
Observations: 3:1-8 God will gather the nations in the valley of Jehoshaphat (literally, “Yahweh Judges”) and judge them for their treatment of Israel, justly repaying them.
3:9-17 When God gathers the nations for judgment He will be in Jerusalem, protecting His people , so they will know beyond any doubt that He is Yahweh. The sun and moon and stars darkening are Tribulation times, which end with Jerusalem being permanently holy, a condition not yet realized.
3:18-21 The blessedness of the nation sounds like Millennial times. The water flowing from the house/Temple of God matches Ezekiel's Temple (47:1). The everlasting habitation of Judah and Jerusalem would have ended at AD 70 when the Temple was destroyed, so this is a yet future promise.
Application: Just because judgment or prosperity takes a while to occur, it doesn't mean that God has forgotten His promises; He just has a more perfect timetable than we do.
Prayer: Faithful God, I trust that all You have promised will come into being, both in my life and for Your people; don't let me doubt or cease to fully trust You.
Obadiah 1 We'll Reap What We Sow
10 For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever. 11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them. 12 But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress. 13 Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity. 14 Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head. 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so will all the nations drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been.
Observations: 1:1-9 God has Obadiah read the riot act to Edom for their pride. The Edomites were the descendents of Esau, Jacob's brother, and perpetual enemies to Jacob/Israel's descendents. They dwelt in a physically secure location (Petra, see picture), had wise alliances, and mighty men. All would fail them. Their devastation would be catastrophic.
1:10-16 The chiastic center of the prophecy is in verses 15-16. The chart reflects the center. In the day of Yahweh's judgment, both Edom and the nations will be justly paid back according to what they have done. Anything less would be unjust. Edom not only failed to help their brother Judah, but joined in destroying him.
1:17-21 God will restore Israel's fortunes. On either side of the center (15-16), Israel's devastation (10-14) is balanced by her restoration in the land and over Edom (17-18, though the “section” is skimpy and might be only verse 17). The outermost sections describe God's destruction upon Edom through Israel. Edom was restored after the Babylonian captivity, but defeated around 125 BC by John Hyrcanus and the Maccabees (who compelled them to be circumcised, according to Josephus), and they were ruled by judges from Jerusalem. The nation was essentially destroyed in AD 70, when the Roman General Titus destroyed the temple and surrounding nations. The book ends with the promise that Yahweh will rule over the land.
Application: Since we'll always reap what we sow, don't sow anything (thoughts, attitudes, emotions, actions, habits, etc) that you don't want to reap a lot of in return.
Galatians 6:7 Don't be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Prayer: God don't let me be deceived into thinking that there are no consequences for my actions, but may I respond and faithfully act in ways that please You, so I will reap Your pleasure.
Digging Deeper
God in a nutshell: God sends judgment upon those who don't do His will in righteousness and act unjustly towards others. He particularly judges pride, and brings down those who try to ensure their own security independent of Him. His punishment is proportional to the offense. He also promises to bless those who respond to His gracious invitation to repent wholeheartedly. He has a day of judgment planned the likes of which the world has never seen (despite the horrors of world wars and genocide). God has revealed Himself to be gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in hesed/loyal covenantal love, and who relents from sending calamity. He relents based upon our repentance, and even blesses those He had judged. In the future, He will bless Israel in the land as promised.
Us in a nutshell: We will reap the consequences of our actions. The two ways to avoid massive pain are: #1 to do what is right in His sight (knowing He is going to judge) and do what will reap His blessing; and #2 to turn from sin and to God with all our heart in wholehearted repentance when we do sin, and then follow #1.
Where to Go for More:
Truthbase.net
Joel complete text
Joel 1
1:1 The Word of Yahweh that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. 2 Hear this, you elders, And listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this ever happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell your children about it, and have your children tell their children, and their children, another generation. 4 What the swarming locust has left, the great locust has eaten. What the great locust has left, the grasshopper has eaten. What the grasshopper has left, the caterpillar has eaten. 5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation has come up on my land, strong, and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a lioness. 7 He has laid my vine waste, and stripped my fig tree. He has stripped its bark, and thrown it away. Its branches are made white.
8 Mourn like a virgin dressed in sackcloth for the husband of her youth! 9 The meal offering and the drink offering are cut off from Yahweh’s house. The priests, Yahweh’s ministers, mourn. 10 The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes. 11 Be confounded, you farmers! Wail, you vineyard keepers; for the wheat and for the barley; for the harvest of the field has perished. 12 The vine has dried up, and the fig tree withered; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all of the trees of the field are withered; for joy has withered away from the sons of men. 13 Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priests! Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come, lie all night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God, for the meal offering and the drink offering are withheld from your God’s house.
14 Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land, to the house of Yahweh, your God, and cry to Yahweh. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty. 16 Isn’t the food cut off before our eyes; joy and gladness from the house of our God? 17 The seeds rot under their clods. The granaries are laid desolate. The barns are broken down, for the grain has withered. 18 How the animals groan! The herds of livestock are perplexed, because they have no pasture. Yes, the flocks of sheep are made desolate. 19 Yahweh, I cry to you, For the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame has burned all the trees of the field. 20 Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, And the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Joel 2
2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations. 3 A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them. 4 Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale. 7 They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don’t swerve off course. 8 Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defences, and don’t break ranks. 9 They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves. 10 The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 Yahweh thunders his voice before his army; for his forces are very great; for he is strong who obeys his command; for the day of Yahweh is great and very awesome, and who can endure it?
12 "Yet even now," says Yahweh, "turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning." 13 Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to Yahweh, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God. 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion! Sanctify a fast. Call a solemn assembly. 16 Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth from his room, and the bride out of her room. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, "Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’"
18 Then Yahweh was jealous for his land, And had pity on his people. 19 Yahweh answered his people, "Behold, I will send you grain, new wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations. 20 But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise." Surely he has done great things. 21 Land, don’t be afraid. Be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things. 22 Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field; for the pastures of the wilderness spring up, for the tree bears its fruit. The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23 "Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before. 24 The threshing floors will be full of wheat, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. 25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you. 26 You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed. 27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Yahweh, your God, and there is no one else; and my people will never again be disappointed.
28 "It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. 29 And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. 32 It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
Joel 3
3:1 "For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a prostitute, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink. 4 "Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head. 5 Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my finest treasures into your temples, 6 and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem to the sons of the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your repayment on your own head; 8 and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba, to a faraway nation, for Yahweh has spoken it."
9 Proclaim this among the nations: "Prepare for war! Stir up the mighty men. Let all the warriors 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.’ 11 Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together." Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh. 12 "Let the nations arouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great." 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 16 Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel. 17 "So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.
18 It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will come forth from the house of Yahweh, and will water the valley of Shittim. 19 Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. 20 But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. 21 I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed: for Yahweh dwells in Zion.
Obadiah 1
1:1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom. We have heard news from Yahweh, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let’s rise up against her in battle. 2 Behold, I have made you small among the nations. You are greatly despised. 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high, who says in his heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ 4 Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there," says Yahweh. 5 "If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes? 6 How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out! 7 All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him." 8 "Won’t I in that day," says Yahweh, "destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mountain of Esau? 9 Your mighty men, Teman, will be dismayed, to the end that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
10 For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be cut off forever. 11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots for Jerusalem, even you were like one of them. 12 But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress. 13 Don’t enter into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity. Don’t look down on their affliction in the day of their calamity, neither seize their wealth on the day of their calamity. 14 Don’t stand in the crossroads to cut off those of his who escape. Don’t deliver up those of his who remain in the day of distress. 15 For the day of Yahweh is near all the nations! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head. 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so will all the nations drink continually. Yes, they will drink, swallow down, and will be as though they had not been.
17 But in Mount Zion, there will be those who escape, and it will be holy. The house of Jacob will possess their possessions. 18 The house of Jacob will be a fire, the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble. They will burn among them, and devour them. There will not be any remaining to the house of Esau." Indeed, Yahweh has spoken. 19 Those of the South will possess the mountain of Esau, and those of the lowland, the Philistines. They will possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria. Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20 The captives of this army of the children of Israel, who are among the Canaanites, will possess even to Zarephath; and the captives of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the Negev. 21 Saviours will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh’s.
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