Joel 4

Preface

The explanation of this prophesy requires a preface. That is, I did not suddenly arrive at this interpretation, but rather it comes out of a background that needs to be viewed.

Joseph Smith related in the 1820's of a vision he received as a child. In this vision he was read "the second chapter of Joel from the twenty-eighth to the last verse." He was also told that these events were to shortly be fulfilled. I read these, and continued onto the end of the book. While I didn't care to research the second and third chapters, the fourth chapter referred to what is I considered common knowledge, and this is what I decided to write this paper about.

Interpretation

This is the way that I read Joel, chapter 4. Most of the events can easily be looked up on Internet, or elsewhere. I will not give references because the events are all common knowledge to me. (The scriptures are quoted from the New American Bible.)

1 Yes, in those days, and at that time, when I would restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will assemble all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, And I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of my people and my inheritance, Israel; Because they have scattered them among the nations, and divided my land.

This happened around 1947-49. That is, the Lord assembled all nations (in the United Nations) [I have to admit that there are nations not included in the United Nations but most significant nations are. It may also be significant that the the United Nations was first announced to the World from Church Headquarters - Community of Christ - in Independence, Missouri]. At that time, all the nations sent representatives to Israel to decide what to do about the "Jewish Problem."

According to the information given in Wikipedia, the valley of Jehoshaphat, while not an identifiable name, is associated with a valley outside Jerusalem. This association, however, was not made until the fourth century after Christ, and so can be questioned. It may be that the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" refers to the Jordan valley, in other words, all of Israel and Jordan. This is the place that the United Nations sent representatives to judge the nation of Israel, that is, the Jews.

The judgment was to recreate the nation of Israel. It is important to note that "judgment" here is not God entering into judgment, but rather God in connections all the nations, and the judgment is a judgment of Israel.

3 Over my people they have cast lots; they gave a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for the wine they drank.

4 Moreover, what are you to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Would you take vengeance upon me by some action? But if you do take action against me, swiftly, speedily, I will return your deed upon your own head.

As soon as Israel was created, all the Arab nations around Israel attacked. They were all defeated, such that the borders of what is now Israel is not what the United Nations set up, but rather, what the Israels could defend. I've seen references to the fact that the "West Bank" exists because Jordan entered into an early peace with Israel, and only the Gaza strip is land that Egypt was able to hold onto. After the war in 1956, Israel occupied these territories. When the war ended, Israel returned these lands to Jordan and Egypt, who occupied these lands (there were no "Palestinians" until the middle 1960's). Therefore, in 1967, Israel occupied these lands again, and this time they did not return the land, and such it is today.

5 You took my silver and my gold, and brought my precious treasures into your temples!

6 You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own country!

Read "Exodus," the story by Leon Uris. This refers to the exile of the Jews who tried to get into Israel in the 1940's to the Greek Islands in order to keep them out of Israel. I really doubt that the British, who ran the camps, read this scripture.

7 See, I will rouse them from the place into which you have sold them, and I will return your deed upon your own head.

8 I will sell your sons and your daughters to the people of Judah, who shall sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far off. Indeed, the LORD has spoken.

9 Declare this among the nations: proclaim a war, rouse the warriors to arms! Let all the soldiers report and march!

10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak man say, "I am a warrior!"

11 Hasten and come, all you neighboring peoples, assemble there! (Bring down, O Lord, your warriors!)

12 Let the nations bestir themselves and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit in judgment upon all the neighboring nations.

Most of the scholars I've seen that place any interpretation on these scriptures look at this one as the main point - that God will judge the nations in Israel. This, however, only refers to the neighboring nations, who were judged in the war of Israeli independence, just as stated.

13 Apply the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; Come and tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for great is their malice.

14 Crowd upon crowd in the valley of decision; For near is the day of the LORD in the valley of decision.

15 Sun and moon are darkened, and the stars withhold their brightness.

16 The LORD roars from Zion, and from Jerusalem raises his voice; The heavens and the earth quake, but the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the men of Israel.

17 Then shall you know that I, the LORD, am your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain; Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall pass through her no more.

18 And then, on that day, the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk; And the channels of Judah shall flow with water: A fountain shall issue from the house of the LORD, to water the Valley of Shittim.

All references to Israel before the Jews took over refer to it as a desert. Once the Jews took over, they made it a garden. That is, the population of what is now Israel was quite low - probably less than one million people before Israel, and now there are several million people in Jerusalem alone.

19 Egypt shall be a waste, and Edom a desert waste, Because of violence done to the people of Judah, because they shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem for all generations.

21 I will avenge their blood, and not leave it unpunished. The LORD dwells in Zion.

Conclusion

Therefore, this scripture was pretty much literally fulfilled in the 1940's. The nation of Israel was created pretty much in the way the scripture says. All nations were brought to Israel to judge the Jews. This judgment was a joint action between God and the nations. The Jews were held in Greece, exactly as stated. Once the nation was created, the nations around were judged by God and by Israel, and found wanting. Their people are kept in camps, just as the Jews were. I've heard people compare the plight of the Palestinians now to that of the Jews before Israel.