God's Zeal to Release Blessing - Bible Verse Handbook

Session 8 God's Zeal to Release Blessing (Joel 2:18-27)

18Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. 19The LORD will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. 20But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea and his back toward the western sea; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things.” 21Fear not, O land; Be glad and rejoice, For the LORD has done marvelous things! 22Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. 25“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. 27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.”   (Joel 2:18-27)

I. THE GREAT TRANSITION IN THE BOOK OF JOEL

D. Joel describes God's salvation and deliverance for Israel.

10  “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord ,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me. (Isa. 43:10)

What is written of Israel's salvation in the Scriptures is for our example

11  Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (1 Cor. 10:11)

II. GOD'S ZEAL FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL: MANIFESTING HIS SOVEREIGNTY

18Then the LORD will be zealous for His land and pity [have compassion on] His people.  (Joel 2:18)

C. God's zeal for the land of Israel is a new idea to many Gentile believers.

14Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal.”   (Zech. 1:14)

2“I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her.”
(Zech. 8:2)

D. The land of Israel is important to God.

4  And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Making a very large valley;
Half of the mountain shall move toward the north
And half of it toward the south.

16  And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (Zech. 14:4, 16)

It is the city of the great King.

35“Jerusalem…is the city of the great King.”   (Mt. 5:35)

13For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place. (Ps. 132:13)

E. Israel is the “center” of the earth where three continents join. Europe, Asia, and Africa meet at this strategic place. Civilization itself was born and came forth from this region.

5Thus says the Lord GOD: “This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst [center; NIV, NASB] of the nations and the countries all around her.”   (Ezek. 5:5)

F. Satan also wants to rule Israel.

39  for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord !' (Mt. 23:39)

Before Christ came, Satan tried to destroy the nation to prevent the birth of the Messiah

1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2  Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

3  And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4  His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5  She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iro And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Rev. 12:1-5)

III. GOD'S COMPASSION MANIFESTED IN HEALING THE LAND

19The LORD will answer and say to His people, “…I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.”   (Joel 2:19)

B. From God's point of view, Israel stretches from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates River (Gen. 15)

C. Throughout her history, Israel has known many droughts and much barrenness of the land.

3  For the Lord will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord ;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. (Isa. 51:3)

1The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad…the desert shall…blossom as the rose; 2it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice…The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it.   (Isa. 35:1-2)

3For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD… (Isa. 51:3)

IV. POLITICAL AND MILITARY BLESSING

19“I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. But I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land…His stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things.”   (Joel 2:19, 20)

•  God promises to give Israel political and military victory over all her enemies.

17At that time [in the millennial kingdom] Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem.   (Jer. 3:17)

C. All nations will stand against Israel

2  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.

12  “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 3:2, 12)

3  And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. (Zech. 12:3)

2  For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
(Zech. 14:2)

8  “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord ,
“Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy. (Zeph. 3:8)

1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2  “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God : “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4  I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6  Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you. (Ezek. 38:1-6)

Satan will gather a great army to destroy Israel

13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14  For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (Rev. 16:13-14)

19  And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (Rev. 19:19)

E. Joel highlighted an important detail of the end-time drama that God would remove the northern army from Israel by driving them into a barren and desolate land.

20“I will remove far from you the northern army, and will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, with his face toward the eastern sea  [Dead Sea]  and his back toward the western sea  [Mediterranean Sea]; his stench will come up, and his foul odor will rise, because he has done monstrous things.”   (Joel 2:20)

F. Joel prophesied that the Babylonian army would come from the north in his own day; now he is speaking of the Antichrist's army that will come against Israel from the north at the end of the age. (Ezek. 38-39)

H. Israel will not have an army at this time, as a result of the Antichrist establishing a peace treaty with Israel and other Middle Eastern nations

27  Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.” (Dan. 9:27)

10  ‘Thus says the Lord God : “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11  You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates'— 12  to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13  Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?' ”

14  “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God : “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? 15  Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 16  You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” 17  Thus says the Lord God : “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them? (Ezek. 38:10-16)

I. The Antichrist will do monstrous things to Israel. Jesus will defeat him and his army so completely that the stench of his dead army will arise

20  “But I will remove far from you the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land,
With his face toward the eastern sea
And his back toward the western sea;
His stench will come up,
And his foul odor will rise,
Because he has done monstrous things.” (Joel 2:20)

This will happen literally. Ezekiel prophesied that it would take Israel seven months to bury the multitudes of the slain soldiers from all the nations who come against them

12For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them…
  (Ezek. 39:12)

2For the indignation of the LORD is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. 3Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses…  (Isa. 34:2-3)

V. BE GLAD AND REJOICE!

21Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done marvelous things!   (Joel 2:21)

B. God called Israel, as a barren woman, to sing for joy ahead of time, before she bears her children

“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord . (Isa. 54:1)

D. The Lord even speaks to the beasts of the field about the renewal He will bring at His coming.

22Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; for the open pastures are springing up, and the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their strength.  (Joel 2:22)

•  There will be severe famines during the Great Tribulation

5  When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.”

7  When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8  So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6:5-8)

F. The Scripture emphasizes two different emotions in the end times: fear and gladness.

26“…men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.”   (Lk. 21:26)

14They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; for the majesty of the LORD… 16From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: “Glory to the righteous!” (Isa. 24:14-16)

H. God's people are to be glad and rejoice in the Lord because He will faithfully give them rain.

23Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you—the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.   (Joel 2:23)

J. The Lord requires that Israel ask for rain in this age and in the age to come (Zech. 10:1).

1Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone. (Zech. 10:1)

K. The Lord promises to restore to Israel the years that the swarming locust has eaten.

25“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. 26You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. 27Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” (Joel 2:25-27)

L. He will give Israel double for all that was lost in her sin

2“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.”   (Isa. 40:2)

M. In the Millennium, God will do wondrous things for His people

26  You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;
And My people shall never be put to shame. (Joel 2:26)

This is in contrast to the Antichrist who will do monstrous things against them

20  “But I will remove far from you the northern army, a nd will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, w ith his face toward the eastern sea a nd his back toward the western sea;
His stench will come up, a nd his foul odor will rise, b ecause he has done monstrous things.” (Joel 2:20)

N. God's marvelous actions will cause the nations to know that He is the Lord

27  Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel:
I am the Lord your God
And there is no other.
My people shall never be put to shame. (Joel 2:27)

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