Joel Chapter 3
Judgment in the Valley of Decision
A. A warning to the nations
1. (Joel 3:1-3) A promise to bring back scattered and mistreated Israel
“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
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.
And they have cast lots for My people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”
a. For, behold, in those days, and in that time: This phrase connects directly back to the prophetic timeframe introduced earlier in Joel, the same period connected with “It shall come to pass afterward” from Joel 2:28. The last days are not limited to a short span before the rapture or the Second Coming. Biblically, the “last days” began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2 and encompass the entire Church Age. Since Pentecost, the world has been living at the edge of prophetic fulfillment, walking parallel to the end of the age, awaiting the moment when Christ will intervene in history once again.
b. When I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem: This has a twofold fulfillment. In a partial sense, it was seen when Judah returned from Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. However, the ultimate fulfillment is future and national, when God fully restores Israel in the end times. This restoration looks toward the moment when Israel recognizes her Messiah and cries out, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” as Jesus declared in Matthew 23:39, and when “all Israel shall be saved”, as Paul teaches in Romans 11:26-27.
c. I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat: This refers to the final gathering of the Gentile nations in rebellion against God, culminating in what Revelation 16:12-16 calls Armageddon. The name Jehoshaphat means “The LORD judges”, and while no literal valley by that name exists in Israel today, the term represents the place where God will summon the nations to judgment. This is not man judging God, but God judging man and the nations for their rebellion. Joel writes at a time when God judged Israel through locusts, and many Israelites may have wondered why the wicked nations seemed untouched. Here, God answers clearly: the nations will not escape His judgment.
d. And will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage Israel: The word “plead” does not suggest God begging but God judging, holding court against the nations. His primary accusation is that they have scattered His people, divided His land, and treated His covenant nation with contempt. God takes personally the way Israel is treated, and this extends to His Church. When His people are mocked, enslaved, abused, or scattered, He remembers and will repay.
e. They have cast lots for My people: This declares how cheap the nations considered God’s people to be. They gambled for them like property, trading boys to pay for prostitutes and selling girls for wine. This shows a culture intoxicated with cruelty, sin, and profit. When human life is treated as cheap, it is a wickedness before God. How much more offensive it is when it is the people of God who are despised and sold. The Lord declares that He has witnessed every injustice and will avenge it without fail.
2. (Joel 3:4-8) God warns the nations that He will retaliate against those who have mistreated His people
“Yea, and what have ye to do with Me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render Me a recompence? and if ye recompense Me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head;
Because ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My goodly pleasant things:
The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.
Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head:
And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken.”
a. Yea, and what have ye to do with Me… will ye render Me a recompence?: God now directly confronts the coastal nations of Tyre, Sidon, and the Philistines (Palestine). His question is both rhetorical and judicial. These nations had no covenant with God, no submission to Him, and yet they dared to set themselves against His people. By persecuting Israel, God says they were actually attempting to retaliate against Him. Any act against His covenant people is treated as an act of war against the Lord Himself. If they insist on fighting Him, then “swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head.” God promises to give them back exactly what they gave, measure for measure, without delay.
b. Because ye have taken My silver and My gold: The judgment has reasons. These nations looted the treasures of God’s land and Temple, calling them their own, even placing God’s holy items into their pagan temples. Worse than theft of material wealth was the trafficking of God’s people. “The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians.” They treated God’s covenant people as merchandise, exiling them far from their homeland for profit and convenience. This was not only cruelty; it was contempt for God's chosen nation.
c. Behold, I will raise them… and will return your recompence upon your own head: God declares that He will reverse their actions. The Israelites they sold will be redeemed. They thought they removed them permanently, but God will gather them from the nations. The evil they did will fall upon them. The judgment fits their crime—they sold God’s people, so God says their own sons and daughters will be sold into captivity. They will be sold to the Sabeans, a distant people known for trade and commerce. In other words, those who commodified Israel will themselves become a commodity. And this is not a possibility; it is sealed by the words “for the LORD hath spoken.”
d. Will ye render Me a recompence? Judgment is the most straightforward and logical aspect of God’s dealings with mankind. Grace and mercy are not logical by human standards—salvation by grace through faith defies human reasoning. That sinners should be made sons of God and seated in heavenly places is divine mercy beyond logic. But judgment is perfectly rational—those who reject God, despise His people, and refuse His mercy will receive exactly what they deserve. God says in effect, “If you refuse the mercy of Heaven, you will face the justice of earth.”
e. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah: This is divine reversal. They sold God’s people; now their own will be sold. They dehumanized; now they will be treated as they treated others. History proves the certainty of such judgment. The Roman emperors who persecuted Christians met horrific ends: Nero forced into suicide, Domitian stabbed by his own soldiers, Trajan dying diseased, Severus dying in misery, Maximus slaughtered with his son, Decius dying in exile, Valerian captured and whipped to death by Persia, Aurelian murdered by his own men, Diocletian poisoned himself, Maximinus hanged himself. God sees every blow against His people and avenge it. As Trapp wrote, “Ye cannot tread on the least toe of Christ’s mystical body, but the Head cries out from heaven, Why hurt ye Me?” This was exactly what Saul of Tarsus learned when Jesus appeared and said, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” (Acts 9:4).
B. A proclamation to the nations
1. (Joel 3:9-13) Gathering the nations for a war of judgment
“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:
Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
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.
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.”
God now calls upon the nations—not to repent, but to come and face Him in judgment. This is not an invitation to salvation but a summons to war. He commands, “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men.” The nations are told to gather every soldier, every warrior, every weapon in their possession. In irony, God even tells them to beat plowshares into swords and pruninghooks into spears, the exact reversal of the peace promised in the millennial kingdom. Instead of turning swords into plowshares like in Isaiah 2:4, this is preparation for divine judgment. Let even the weakest try to muster courage and say, “I am strong,” though it will not help them. Positive thinking, military pride, or human strength is useless when man sets himself against God.
The Lord then calls, “Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen.” This is the gathering described in Revelation 16:12-16, the Battle of Armageddon, when demonic spirits gather kings of the earth to war against Christ. God also calls for His own mighty ones to descend—this likely refers to the armies of heaven who return with Christ (Revelation 19:14). The nations are brought to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, meaning “The LORD judges.” This valley is not primarily a geographic landmark but a prophetic courtroom where God will sit as Judge over all surrounding nations.
The Lord declares, “For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.” While the armies of the world rage, God is seated. He is not threatened, not anxious, but enthroned in absolute authority. Psalm 2 describes this scene clearly: “Why do the heathen rage… He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.” Humanity’s rebellion is insanity when directed against the sovereign King of creation.
Then the language shifts to agricultural judgment: “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.” Just as grain is cut down when fully mature, so the sin of the nations has reached its fullness. The Lord says, “The press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” This mirrors Revelation 14:14-20, where the Son of Man thrusts His sharp sickle into the earth, and the winepress of God’s wrath is trodden until blood flows. Sin has filled the cup of judgment to the brim, and God now pours it out without mixture.
This section shows the terrifying reality of divine judgment. The nations think they are preparing for battle, but they are walking into a tribunal. They believe they are going to war against Israel, yet they are going to war against the Lamb—and no weapon formed against Him shall prosper. The world prepares for its greatest war, but God prepares for His final judgment.
2. (Joel 3:14-17) The Day of the LORD in the valley of decision
“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
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.
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.”
Joel now sees the moment of final judgment in vivid detail. He cries, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision.” This is not an invitation for sinners to decide for Christ as is often preached in evangelistic sermons. In Joel’s context, this is not man making a decision for God; this is God making His decision about man. The “valley of decision” is the same as the Valley of Jehoshaphat — the valley where the LORD judges. It is filled with multitudes, countless armies gathered against the Lord at Armageddon, and they stand on the brink of eternal judgment. Man had his time to choose; here, the time is over. The day of grace gives way to the day of the Lord.
Joel emphasizes that the day of the LORD is near. This is the climax of history, the moment when God directly intervenes in human affairs. Just as described earlier in Joel 2:30-31, the signs in the heavens appear: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. When the Creator steps into judgment, creation itself trembles. Nature reflects the seriousness of this hour — light is withdrawn as darkness covers a world that has rejected the Light of the World.
Then the scene shifts to Zion, the seat of divine authority. “The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem.” Like a lion asserting its rightful dominion, the Lord roars from His throne. This is fulfilled when Jesus returns and speaks a word that destroys His enemies (Revelation 19:15). His voice shakes not only the nations but the heavens and the earth. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Yet in this terrifying moment, God provides comfort to His own. “But the LORD will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” For the world, His voice means judgment; for Israel and the redeemed, His voice means protection. When all else collapses, the Lord Himself becomes a refuge, a fortress, a shelter.
The result of this judgment is restoration. “So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.” God will physically dwell among His people once again. This looks ahead to the millennial reign of Christ when He sits on David’s throne in Jerusalem. The city will be transformed — “then shall Jerusalem be holy.” No more defilement from pagan nations, no invading armies, no idolatry, no oppression. “There shall no strangers pass through her any more.” Foreign invaders and corrupt influences will be removed. The city will belong wholly to the Lord and His redeemed people.
This passage captures the dual nature of the Day of the LORD — terror for the rebellious, refuge for the redeemed. The same roaring voice that crushes the nations comforts Israel. The same valley where God judges His enemies becomes the place where He proves His faithfulness to His covenant. The decision made in the valley is not man’s decision for God but God’s decision about man. Today is the day of salvation; that day will be the day of judgment.
3. (Joel 3:18-21) Blessing on God’s people, desolation for the nations
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.”
After judgment comes restoration. God now reveals what follows the Day of the LORD: abundance, peace, and His visible presence among His people. The prophet says, “the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk.” These are images of overflowing prosperity. The land that had suffered drought, locusts, famine, and war in Joel 1 is now transformed into a land of complete provision. The brooks and rivers of Judah will run full. This is not symbolic only; it corresponds with the physical restoration of the earth under the reign of Christ in the Millennium.
“A fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” This fountain refers to the supernatural river described in Ezekiel 47, flowing from the millennial Temple, bringing healing wherever it goes, even reviving the Dead Sea. Zechariah 14:8 confirms this river will flow toward both the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea. The Valley of Shittim, also called the Valley of Acacias, was a place tied to both Israel’s failure and faith. It was from Shittim that Israel fell into sin with Moabite women and idolatry (Numbers 25:1-3), yet it was also from Shittim that Israel launched in faith to conquer Jericho (Joshua 3:1). When water from the house of the LORD reaches even Shittim, it shows that God's grace flows over places of both shame and victory, cleansing all.
In contrast to Israel’s blessing, “Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness.” These two nations represent the enemies of God’s people. Egypt is symbolic of bondage, Edom of relentless hostility toward Israel. They will face devastation “for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood.” While the nations are judged, God’s covenant people are restored.
Joel then gives one of the greatest promises in all prophecy: “But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.” This means Israel will be permanently restored, never again scattered or uprooted. Her covenant relationship with God will never be broken again. The Lord further says, “For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed.” God will pardon their sins, remove their guilt, and purify their record. What He once withheld, He now grants in full forgiveness.
The prophecy ends with the most important statement of all: “For the LORD dwelleth in Zion.” This is the highest blessing. The land is fruitful, the people are restored, enemies are gone—but the greatest blessing is that God Himself is there. This points to the presence of Christ in Jerusalem during the Millennium and ultimately looks forward to the eternal state when “the tabernacle of God is with men.” Ezekiel ends with this same truth when he names the future city Jehovah Shammah — The LORD is there (Ezekiel 48:35). Joel describes it simply: The LORD dwelleth in Zion.
