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From EnduringWord.com's commentary on this passage, Joel 3:14-17:
"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 grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. “So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. Then Jerusalem shall be holy, and no aliens shall ever pass through her again.”
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! Joel looks out upon the Valley of Jehoshaphat at the Battle of Armageddon, and sees multitudes facing their eternal fate - truly, it is a valley of decision, and those who fight against the Lord and His Messiah are in the wrong place in the valley of decision, ultimately fulfilled at the Battle of Armageddon.
The idea of the “Valley of Decision” has been used in countless evangelistic meetings to show people that they stand in the “Valley of Decision,” and must decide for or against Jesus. Joel’s context is exactly the opposite. Man does indeed stand in the valley of decision, but it is God who does the deciding, not man. It is a valley of judgment - and we should decide for Jesus right now so we never stand in this valley of decision.
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My pastor gave a great message last Sunday on the Via Dolorosa (the "way of suffering" that Christ walked to Golgotha)....one of the points he made that he felt God was trying to show us is that judgment is coming. Jesus said:
"As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’ For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" ~ Luke 26:26-31
Some seem to live as if there is no day of judgment for this earth, like life will just keep on flowing until they die and then...poof!...nothing. I beg to differ. And so does God.
People say, "If God is a God of love, why does He send people to hell?" They haven't read the book...they just don't understand that He never sends anyone to hell...they go there willingly, on their own. Adam was the first, infusing in our spiritual DNA the sin that separates us from God...we are fallen, and our actions condemn us daily. God's holy law demands justice for sin...that payment is death. God's holiness demands righteousness in His presence...that requires spiritual cleansing. God's love demands a solution to our desperate, dire condition...that requires a Savior. Jesus is the final solution. And genuine faith in Him is the decision of all decisions for us.
" God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” ~ John 3:17-21
We don't like to talk much about God's judgment, but it is real. And people need to hear about Jesus and His love, so they have an opportunity to choose...to be by the Lord's side, or stand with the multitudes in the valley of decision on that "great day".
I challenge all of us to be ready and willing to give a witness for the Lord...today and every day. Someone in your path is ripe for the harvest...and the Lord will use you to be an agent for the gospel. Be glad to be in His service! You have the good news of Jesus Christ -- be bold and be glad!
Love,
Joelene
2 comments:
Yeah, judgment is something we don't like to think about. I'm reading a book from a friend with another opinion on God-one that disagrees with the bible, arguing that if God is love, then He can't punish because that is hateful. And God is not both love and hate. I think my friend and I have some interesting discussions ahead of us.
Yes, I believe you do. I appreciate that you are willing to dialogue with those that don't ascribe to God's word as we do. What would be hateful of God is to let us simply take the punishment for our sins and never lift a finger to help. That would be hateful. But this follows the assumption that we are sinful, something your friend may not understand or accept. Thanks so much for sharing, and may God bless you richly in dialoguing with your friend.
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