The Ultimate Day of the Lord

Joel 2 is a fascinating chapter. In the previous post, we explored how the three-legged experience of the Christian is unpacked: Repent, Believe, and Receive. But there are three more intriguing verses at the end of the chapter as well.

Joel 2:30–32 (ESV) “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

On the heels of announcing what Peter described as fulfilled in Pentecost, there is another stage of God's working among men mentioned here that we have yet to experience. Joel declares an ultimate day of the Lord where the cosmic realities will quake, the moon will turn from white to blood, the sun, known always to give light, will become its exact opposite - darkness. And these signs will precede a day that will determine the realities of all who have ever lived. 

The text includes both Olivet Discourse and Revelation imagery:
Matthew 24:30 (ESV) Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Revelation 6:12 (ESV) When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood

It will also be a time for judgment upon the nations. Look at Joel 3:
Joel 3:1–3 (ESV) “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat is a play on the king's name, which means "the Lord judges." And later in the chapter, Joel also refers to it as the valley of decision. 
Joel 3:14 (ESV) Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

The decision will be made by the ultimate judge of all the Earth. The pride of men will be brought low, and the humbled will be exalted. Joel illustrates this final judgment with the announcement of judgment upon the oppressing nations in his day: Tyre and Sidon.

Joel 3:4 (ESV) “What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily.
Joel 3:6–8 (ESV) You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will return your payment on your own head. 8 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 nation far away, for the LORD has spoken.”

Then the Lord announces war on the nations, referring here to what Revelation calls the battle of Armageddon.
Joel 3:9 (ESV) Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.

Yet, as God distinguishes the proud from the humbled, we must ask, who are the humbled? His people who have been made right by the work of Christ accomplished at the cross, and know they are not worthy in themselves. Joel offers them a great promise. 
Joel 3:16 (ESV) The LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel.

The book ends with promises of a new reality where God dwells among them and blesses them. 
Joel 3:17 (ESV) “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.
Joel 3:20–21 (ESV) But Judah shall be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem to all generations. 21 I will avenge their blood, blood I have not avenged, for the LORD dwells in Zion.”

Joel has, in a brief declaration, unpacked the cosmic calendar of the Lord. He has come to avenge those who sin against Him and save those who surrender to Him. 

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