Monday, August 10, 2020

Joel -Prophet of the Latter Rain SERIES: The Resurrection of the Dead

Chapter III.

"Verse 1: "In those days, and in that time, [In what days, and in what time? — The time brought to view in the preceding verses
(Joel 2:30-32), when "the sun shall be turned into dark­ness . . . before the great and the ter­rible day of the Lord come."] when I shall bring again the captivity of Ju­dah and Jerusalem." All those who under the new covenant belong to Ju­dah and Jerusalem. (See Heb. 8: 8.)

Verse 2: "I will also gather all na­tions, . . . and will plead with them there for My people and for My heri­tage Israel." This proves that when God speaks of Judah and Israel, He re­fers to " His people." To " bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem," is to raise up in these last days His elect from the greatest of all captivi­ties,— the grave. Therefore:
a. The mighty voice of the Lord sounds forth. Joel 3: 16.
b. Those in the graves hear His voice. John 5: 28.
c. "The heavens and the earth shall shake" (Joel 3: 16), whereby the graves are opened.
d. The reapers go forth to the har­vest, which "is the end of the world. . . . The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend." Matt. 13:39, 41.
"And will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat."
a. Into that valley, by the brook Kedron, Asa (1 Kings 15: 13), Heze­kiah (2 Chron. 30: 14), Josiah (2 Kings 26: 6, 12), brought and burned the idols of Judah.
b. Through that valley they dragged Jesus to judgment and crucifixion. On the farther side stood the Mount of Olives, from which He ascended, and where the angels proclaimed His re­turn from heaven. Acts 1: 11.
c. In that valley, when Edom, Moab, and Ammon assembled to cast God's people out, God turned their swords, every one against his fellows, and none escaped. 2 Chron. 20: 22-25. Then, on the fourth day, God's people assembled there, and called it "Berachah,"— the valley of blessing.
d. Joel sees these scenes re-enacted on a grand scale, before the end of the world. All the nations of the world, to the last impenitent and unregenerated, and united under Antichrist, planning to sever God's people from His wor­ship and to disperse them. Their mo­tive is religious hatred.
e. In that valley God will plead with these nations for His people. Terrible will be that pleading.
It was terrible on Pharaoh and his host, on the antediluvian world filled with vio­lence, on Sodom and Gomorrah, on the four world empires. But now, in the time of Antichrist, the tribulation shall be without precedent. Dan. 12: 1."
B.G.Wilkinson/1928