(REFLECTIONS ON Joel 3:1-21)

The Lord brought judgment upon Israel through the hand of surrounding nations. However, let’s not mistake this to mean that Israel is now “owned” by these nations.

God used these nations to teach His people a lesson, but this was never a “forever” judgment. The lesson for Israel was to learn through their brokenness their need for God’s grace and mercy. Yes, sometimes we don’t recognize our need for grace until our self-sufficiency has been broken.

Don’t we often say that we need to “break” bad habits? Why do we have that saying? Because many times we need to first be broken in order to be rebuilt.

We see in today’s Scripture that the Lord will gather all the nations and He will enter into judgment with them on behalf of Israel.

Yes, this isn’t a “forever” judgment, and these nations don’t “own” Israel. These nations, Assyria, Babylon, etc. treated Israel as if they were theirs to sell and trade in slavery, but the image of the Lord roaring like a lion will bring these nations to their knees, and will be a call to Israel that their Savior has come.

16 The Lord roars from Zion
And utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth tremble.
But the Lord is a refuge for His people
And a stronghold to the sons of Israel.

Then Israel will know that “I AM” the Lord your God.

Does it sometimes feel like our lives are sold out to the world, to people, our work, our bosses, the company we work for? The Lord is reminding us today, that no one “owns” us “forever,” but we are the Lord’s and He is ours.

Yes, we live life in this world, and temporarily experience the pressures of the world upon us, but the Lord will deliver, the Lord will judge, and His grace and mercy will be there in our brokenness once again.

Brothers and sisters, what do we hear when the Lord roars? Do we hear judgment coming, or salvation coming? When the Lord roars, let us hear salvation, that He is coming soon, and turn our hearts to Him.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Joel 3