Joel 3:1-17 says:
1 “For behold, in those days and at that time,
When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will also gather all nations,
And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
And I will enter into judgment with them there
On account of My people, My heritage Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
They have also divided up My land.
3 They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
4 “ Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me?
But if you retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;
5 Because you have taken My silver and My gold,
And have carried into your temples My prized possessions.
6 Also the people of Judah and the people of Jerusalem
You have sold to the Greeks,
That you may remove them far from their borders.
7 “ Behold, I will raise them
Out of the place to which you have sold them,
And will return your retaliation upon 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,[a]
To a people far off;
For the LORD has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
“ Prepare for war!
Wake up the mighty men,
Let all the men of war draw near,
Let them come up.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”
11 Assemble and come, all you nations,
And gather together all around.
Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O LORD.
12 “ Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down;
For the winepress is full,
The vats overflow—
For their wickedness is great.”
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
And the stars will diminish their brightness.
16 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.
17 “ 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.”
If you look at verses 2 and 3, the Lord says that He will judge the nations on account of His people, the Jews, and how the world treated them.
Compare this to Matthew 25:31-46 which says:
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him,[d] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The Bible makes it clear that in God's eyes, there are two groups of people in the world, there are Jews and there are Gentiles. The Jews were His chosen people and He said that He will bless those that bless His people and He will curse those who curse His people. Romans tells us that when the Jews as a whole rejected Jesus, their Messiah, salvation was opened up to the Gentiles creating a new separation among the Gentiles (non-Jews). Now there was the Church (Gentiles who repented and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior) and the Christ rejecting Gentiles. These two are referenced here in Matthew 25 as the Sheep and the Goats but there is a third group mentioned as well. Jesus mentions His brethren in verse 40 speaking of the Jewish people.
Liberal Christians and non-Christians love to use this chapter to claim that good works can allow you to find favor with God and get you into Heaven based on how you treat people but that is not what is being said here at all. Jesus said that the Sheep would inherit the Kingdom which was prepared for them at the foundation of the world, speaking of His divine election and saving grace. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation comes solely by God's grace through our faith in Jesus Christ and not of our own works. Therefore, this passage cannot be claiming that we can earn our way into favor by doing good works for others. Jesus does, however, go on to say that the Sheep did do good things for Him to which the respond, "When?" They did good works to the Lord by treating His brethren with kindness. The Jewish people are never grouped with the nations of the world in the Bible. They are always distinguished as the Lord's people when the nations of the world are referenced. Here, the nations of the world are being judged and when you connect Joel 3 with Matthew 25, it makes sense that the brethren the Lord is speaking about refers to the Jewish people.
The Jewish people have been treated worse than any group of people in the history of the world. They have been tortured, enslaved, kicked out of their land, and hated by more nations than any other group of people. The fact that they even exist still as a people and have their own country back should be proof enough for anyone that God exists. The Lord proclaims here in Joel 3 that the Jews are His people and the land of Israel is His land.
According to Romans, as Christians, we are not to speak out against the natural branch of the olive tree (the Jews) because they were cut off due to their unbelief partly so that we, the wild branch, could be grafted in and attain salvation that was otherwise intended solely for God's people. Paul clearly tells us that our salvation has nothing to do with us but God's grace and if we boast against the Jews for the rejection of Jesus, we too can be cut off. God has a plan for the Jews and they will soon realize that Jesus was their Messiah and the whole nation of Israel will be saved and restored into the olive tree whose root is Jesus Christ. The judgment spoken of here will separate the Sheep from the Goats and the Lord will see how we treated His people.
We cannot earn God's favor by going out and doing good things for people. That doesn't mean we should help people who are in need. If we have received God's grace, our natural tendency should be to help others out but what's more important is how we view and treat God's chosen people.
The Jewish people are not perfect by any means, just like Christians are not perfect by any means. We are all human and therefore all sinners. But, do you believe God is done with the Jews? Do you believe they have no right to their land? Do you believe they are the bad guys in the struggle in the Middle East? Or, do you pray for them that they might recognize their Messiah and turn to Him? Do you pray for their protection from those who want to wipe them out?
0 comments:
Post a Comment