Good Morning Friends,
“I will gather all nations and bring them
down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against
them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people
among the nations and divided up my land. -- 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, O 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. -- ‘Then you will know that I, the LORD your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will
foreigners invade her.’” (Joel 3:2; 9-12; 17)
God used other nations to discipline His
people. But even though they were God’s tool of discipline for Israel, their wickedness
toward Israel will still not go unpunished. Judgment will come upon the nations
who despised and mistreated God’s people.
God is patient and He does not want any to
perish. He withholds judgment for years, sometimes for generations, even for
millennia. But that does not mean that judgment will never come. As surely as
God fulfilled the prophecies concerning the coming of His salvation, He will
also fulfill the prophesies concerning the coming of His judgment.
The nations will be brought into the valley
of decision. It will be war. But the outcome is
already known. They will be fighting against
God and God will certainly prevail. In the end, all will know that God lives
and all will know that He reigns.
The people of the world have often abused
God’s people -- both Israel and the church. It seems as though God sits idly by
allowing His people to suffer. But not so, God is patiently waiting until it is
time for judgment. Then justice will prevail. All who have abused His people
will be brought before His court of decision and God’s people will be
vindicated.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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