Thursday, December 1, 2016

AN INDICTMENT OF THE NATIONS



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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 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. They cast lots for My people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.”

“Now what have you against Me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me for something I have done? If you are paying Me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. For you took My silver and My gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.”

“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.

“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!”

“Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow—so great is their wickedness!”

“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 be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble.”

Joel 3:1-16a

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the final chapter of Joel opens up, we find an ominous message for those who opposed the Israelites, a pronounced indictment of their enemy nations. But before we get into that message, it’s important to set the stage for these verses.

Keep in mind that before the enemy nations faced God’s judgment, the Israelites had made themselves enemies of God through their sinful actions. You’ll recall that they willingly and willfully chose to worship false gods and idols, turning their backs on the God of creation, the God who had rescued and delivered their ancestors over and over again, the God who had commanded them to have no other gods before Him. Despite this blatant disrespect, we know God tried to get His people to turn back to Him, not quick on the trigger finger of judgment. He sent prophets many times with words of warning for the Israelites but they decided to continue in their wickedness so God was left with no choice other than to take action.

And so He sent punishment in the form of powerful armies from the north, the Assyrians which attacked the northern kingdom of Israel, and the Babylonians who assaulted the southern kingdom of Judah. When the onslaught was over, the blessed promised land God had led His people to inhabit was looted and left in smoldering ruin, desolate and uninhabitable. Of course, it wasn’t as if the land needed lived in anyhow because the people were hauled off into exile for seventy years. It was a long time to be displaced and oppressed in a foreign land but God knew it was the right mechanism to get His people’s attention and draw them back to Him with the right devotion and commitment in their hearts.

Now we know God had promised His people that He would restore them in their homeland once their judgment had ended. And that’s exactly what he did because He always keeps His promises. God empowered the Persian Empire to overthrow the Babylonians and one of the first acts that the new ruling king, Cyrus, performed was to permit the Israelites to return home to rebuild their nation, their homes, their lives, and their relationship with Him. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah detail this happening.

So the people of God returned home but note that they would be far from established for some time as it takes a lot of time and effort to rebuild a nation and fortify it against any opposition that might rise up. How would they be protected during this time? How would God ensure that His people would not be attacked again by an enemy nation?

We now go to the opening verses of Joel, Chapter 3 for the answers. There we will see that after God had dealt with His people, He turned His judgment focus on their adversaries. Look again at these words here:

“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 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. They cast lots for My people and traded boys for prostitutes; they sold girls for wine to drink.”

“Now what have you against Me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying Me for something I have done? If you are paying Me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. For you took My silver and My gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.”

“See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.

“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!” Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!”

“Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow—so great is their wickedness!”

“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 be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble.”  Joel 3:1-16a

You see, the Israelites would have plenty of time to get things back in order once back home because the other nations would be gathered together before God after He restored the fortunes back to Judah and Jerusalem. Those nations would be put on trial for all they did to the Israelites, the people God referred to as His inheritance.

So what did the nations do exactly?

God spells out His indictment against them, presenting the following charges:

1. Scattering the Israelites among themselves.

2. Dividing up God’s land, a land they had no entitlement to.

3. Casting lots for God’s people.

4. Trading boys for prostitutes.

5. Selling girls for wine to drink.

It was a pretty heinous list of atrocities committed, atrocities God would not tolerate.

So what nations were involved in committing these atrocities?

God doesn’t give us an all inclusive list but He does specifically call out Tyre, Sidon, and the regions of Philistia, adding the following accusations against them:

1. “You took My silver and My gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples.”

2. “You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.”

It was quite a list of condemnations levied by God against Israel’s enemies who God would gather “in the valley of decision” for His day of judgment where the “sun and moon will be darkened,” “the stars no longer shine,” and the “earth and the heavens” tremble, the day when the Lord would “roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem.” On that day, the Lord promised to return onto the heads of the enemies of His people the same things that they had done to the Israelites which included selling the sons and daughters of the enemy nations “to the people of Judah” who would in turn “sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.”

And so it was after the Israelites were allowed to return home. God turned His attention to the enemy nations and they all got to taste His judgment as He brought them to trial for the sins they had committed against Israel and Judah. In the end, no one got away with anything; every nation, including Israel and Judah, answered to God and paid the price for their transgressions.

Friends, the same principle applies to our world today as God’s creation and its people have evolved and expanded. There may be many more inhabited nations than what existed during Joel’s day but God’s expectation that every country will be faithful and obedient to His will and way, worshiping Him and Him alone remains the same and it always will.

So how does our world size up when assessed against God’s standard for righteousness?

I’m afraid that if God chose to again bring His judgment on the nations, He would have no shortage of indictments to bring and thus there would be no reason to doubt why His punishment came because the nations would only have themselves to blame in the end translation. My prayer is that we will experience a world-wide awakening and an associated spiritual revival where every tongue would confess their sins, repent, and return to the only Lord who can forgive them, the only Lord who can save them.

Won’t you please join me in this prayer?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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