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“In those days and at that time,
    when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
² I will gather all nations
    and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will put them on trial
    for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel,
because they scattered my people among the nations
    and divided up my land.
³ They cast lots for my people
    and traded boys for prostitutes;
    they sold girls for wine to drink.

⁴ “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. ⁵ For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. ⁶ You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

⁷ “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. ⁸ I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
    Prepare for war!
Rouse the warriors!
    Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.
¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords
    and your pruning hooks into spears.
Let the weakling say,
    “I am strong!”
¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations from every side,
    and assemble there.

Bring down your warriors, Lord!

¹² “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.
¹³ Swing the sickle,
    for the harvest is ripe.
Come, trample the grapes,
    for the winepress is full
    and the vats overflow—
so great is their wickedness!”

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 be darkened,
    and the stars no longer shine.
¹⁶ The Lord will roar from Zion
    and thunder from Jerusalem;
    the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
    a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Joel chapter 3 describes a future day of judgment for ”all nations.” They will be gathered into ”the valley of decision” (14). This is about God’s decision on them, not their decision on Him. On that great day of assize, when the peoples are in the dock, a major factor will be, ‘How did they treat Israel?’

The whole idea of judgment has become unfashionable (and certainly diluted) in many parts of the church. But you would have to disembowel the Bible in order to remove the doctrine. In the face of this great and fearful reality, we are comforted by the word ”But” in verse 16, and what comes after it. The good news of the gospel is that all who trust in the Lord will find a refuge in Him. He is the only place of safety.

Someone said God is not an Employer looking for employees. He is an Eagle looking for people to taker refuge under His wings.

¹⁴⁵ I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord,
    and I will obey your decrees.
¹⁴⁶ I call out to you; save me
    and I will keep your statutes.
¹⁴⁷ I rise before dawn and cry for help;
    I have put my hope in your word.
¹⁴⁸ My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
    that I may meditate on your promises.
¹⁴⁹ Hear my voice in accordance with your love;
    preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.
¹⁵⁰ Those who devise wicked schemes are near,
    but they are far from your law.
¹⁵¹ Yet you are near, Lord,
    and all your commands are true.
¹⁵² Long ago I learned from your statutes
    that you established them to last forever.

There is a spiritual intensity about this section of Psalm 119.

It’s been pointed out that it corresponds to the two halves of James 4:8. Verses 145 -148 could be entitled, ”Come near to God”; while verses 149-152 could bear the title, ”and he will come near to you.”

In ‘the Ruthless elimination of hurry’ John Mark Comer wrote: ‘If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.’ Jesus rose to pray in the early morning; what about us? Jesus sometimes prayed in the night hours; what about us? Jesus prayed earnestly; what about us? Jesus prayed in accordance with the Scriptures; what about us?

PRAYER: Lord God, please pour upon us the Spirit of prayer. Enable us to pray like Jesus.

Thought: ‘The church’s underground atheism in our time is that we will busy ourselves with almost anything except prayer.’ Tyler Staton in ‘Praying like monks, Living like fools.’

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

It might be possible to read Hebrews 4 and feel a little discouraged, when we consider how possible it is to fall short of fully entering into our inheritance in Christ. But although there is a clear warning running throughout this chapter, this is balanced with great encouragements. We can ‘keep on keeping on.’ How? We should:

• Submit to the scalpel (12,13): As God’s Word exposes sin, it will be painful. But if we surrender to the work of the loving Divine Surgeon we will be able to maintain (or regain) spiritual health. As the Bible exposes dark areas of our interior world let’s be quick to repent. Keep ‘short accounts’ with God;
• Hold firmly to the faith (14): In a day when many professing believers are edging towards the shifting sands of liberal theology (and some have already pitched their tents there), determine to stay on ‘the Rock’. It is our only place of safety. On the stormy days to come, the sandy foundation will prove hopelessly inadequate;
• Cling to our Priest (15): to Jesus the ”great high priest”. He is fully conversant with our human experience – including our temptations. The only thing He doesn’t share, thankfully, is our experience of sin. If He did, He wouldn’t be able to act for us in Heaven. But as the sinless One He totally meets our needs – and He can empathise like no other;
• Come boldly to the Throne (16): Whatever the need, there is help from on High.

PRAYER: Lord God, help me to avail myself of all the resources I have in you to live this Christian life.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I often think about the words attributed to Spurgeon: ‘You need no more defend the Bible than you do a lion. Just let it out of its cage!

Apparently Martin Luther said, ”The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

Our text reads like this in ‘The Message:

 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.

It is by believing and obeying this Word that we fully enter into our inheritance in Christ.

PRAYER: Lord help me to never neglect your Word

4 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.³ Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. ⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I have to admit that this is not the easiest passage to unpick, and I spent some time last evening reading a number of commentaries to try to get an understanding of what is going on here. The consensus seems to be along these lines:

There is a rest for the people of God hereafter, but it starts here and now; and just like a whole generation of Israelites in the past, we too could fail to enter into it because of unbelief and disobedience. Everything hangs on our on-going response to God’s living, active, heart-probing Word. Faith and obedience are spiritual twins! Note the irony that entering into this rest of faith demands diligence (11); the effort involved concerns the Word of God.

Matthew Henry’s wise words remain relevant centuries after he first wrote them:

‘The word is preached to us that we may profit by it…There have been in all ages a great many unprofitable hearers. Those who are not gainers by hearing are great losers. That which is at the bottom of our unprofitableness is our unbelief. If the hearers have not faith in their souls to mix with the word, they will be never the better for it. This faith must mingle with every word, and be in act and exercise while we are hearing.’

 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.

One translation says the message was not mixed with faith.

Jesus had important things to say about the responsibility on those of us who hear. The seed of the Word, when sown, does not always fall into responsive ‘soil’.

In Luke 8:18 He says,

Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘Spend time daily reading the Word and meditating on it, always applying its truths to your heart. One day you will give account to God for what you have done with His Word, so be faithful.’ (‘With the Word’, p.815).

PRAYER: Lord grant that I should not fail to enter everything you have for me because of unbelief. I pray that my heart will be ‘good soil’, where your Word is mixed with faith and translated into obedience.

Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

Just one further thought on God being among His people:

Doctor J. Sidlow Baxter, in volume 6 of ‘Explore the Book’ (p.45), refers to Acts 5;12-16, and says that the early church had been given the power both to attract and repel:

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

He writes:

‘That holy band had the power to create fear…Most people today think that the only power needed by the churches is the power to attract. They are wrong. The local church needs also the power to repel – to repel the hypocritical fraterniser, the worldly compromiser, the intriguing insinuator. Oh, the curse of the ”mixed multitude” in our churches, whose appetite is for the leeks and garlics of Egypt! In that first church the Spirit-charged atmosphere was was life to holiness and death to pretence.’

²⁸ “And afterward,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams,
    your young men will see visions.
²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens
    and on the earth,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
³² And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
    there will be deliverance,
    as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
    whom the Lord calls.

This great prophecy was fulfilled, at least in part, on the Day of Pentecost.

It is encouraging to see that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will affect all types, and all ages. Everyone can have meaningful work to do, ministries to fulfil, under the inspiration of God’s Spirit. The very notion of outpouring points to plenty, generosity and abundance. God gives over and above the level of our asking and expectation.

The Acts 2 version of this story was read out in our church recently, and we were encouraged to meditate on it, and think, ‘Is there a word or phrase that jumps out and catches my attention?’ For me, it was primarily this line:

”And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved…’

Perhaps there is someone on your mind today for whom you want to pray this very thing – that they will call on Jesus’ Name for salvation?

Surely he has done great things!
²¹     Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
    be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
²²     Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
    for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
    the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
²³ Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
²⁴ The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵ “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm—
my great army that I sent among you.
²⁶ You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
    and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed.
²⁷ Then you will know that I am in Israel,
    that I am the Lord your God,
    and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed.

“Nothing in or of this world measures up to the simple pleasure of experiencing the presence of God.” ~ Aiden Wilson Tozer.

A chapter that begins with threat – a dark cloud hanging over the nation – culminates in glorious sunshine. The hinge point is somewhere in the middle where God’s people genuinely get right with Him and seek His face. Then He generously and abundantly pours out His blessing. Of all the wonderful blessings catalogued, surely the greatest is in verse 27: The knowledge of the Lord’s presence in the midst of His people.

The apostle Paul writes about a scenario where God’s Spirit is so powerfully at work in the church, and unbelievers come in and ‘…fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” ‘ (1 Cor.14:25).

“If the presence of God is in the church, the church will draw the world in. If the presence of God is not in the church, the world will draw the church out.” ~ Charles Grandison Finney