“Let the nations be roused; let then advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge the nations on every side. 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.” (Joel 3:12-13)
Two days ago in the online edition of Reuters New York a headline read; “Mideast quartet discusses reviving ‘meaningful’ Israel, Palestinian peace talks.” The article went on to say; “The Middle East quartet of mediators – the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations – discussed on Tuesday reviving “meaningful negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians with the aim of a two-state solution. In a statement following their meeting, the quartet said that both Israel and the Palestinians need “to refrain from unilateral actions that make a two-state solution more difficult to achieve.”
It appeared to be the first time since September 2018 that envoys from the four mediators have met. Last month, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he hoped there would be a quartet meeting in coming weeks, now that there was a new president in the White House. The Palestinians want a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with east Jerusalem as its capital – all territory captured by Israel in 1967. Under a failed peace proposal by former U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington would have recognized Jewish settlements in occupied territory as part of Israel.
The new administration of President Joe Biden has said it supports a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and will overturn several decisions made by Trump. It has said it will continue to urge other countries to normalize ties with Israel, but stressed that is not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace. In what is widely seen as one of Trump’s few foreign policy successes, Washington secured agreements late last year by four Arab states – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco – to start normalizing relations with Israel.” (End of article)
According to the Book of Joel Chapter three a time is coming when Jerusalem will be surrounded by foreign armies led by Turkey. Most of them will be Islamic but other nations will be with them. (See-Ezekiel 38:1-7) God Himself will gather the nations into the Valley of Jehoshaphat also called “the Valley of decision” the place where the armies of the nations have decided to oppose God and subjugate His people Israel. Most likely this valley is located in the Kidron Valley originating slightly northeast of the Old City of Jerusalem, which then separates the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives.
We are also told it is the place “where God judges” which is what the word Jehoshaphat means. Jehoshaphat is mentioned because he was the Godly king of Judah who saw the Lord annihilate the Gentile coalition of Ammon, Moab and Mt Seir located in Edom which extended into Saudi Arabia. The kings of these regions ended up fighting each other because the Lord made them do this. (2 Chronicles 20:20-24) What happened then foreshadows what will happen to all of the armies of the nations that attack Jerusalem in the last days. These regions today would be Northern, Central and Southern Jordan extending into Saudi Arabia the enclaves of the militant and hostile Arabs.
Today we see the Abraham Accord that has been established between Israel and four of the Arab league nations but it is a league not of the Lord and in the end will prove to be snare to Israel. You cannot make peace with Islam! As for the Quartet they have been busy trying to bring about a two state solution for many years, something which the militant Arabs want to see established in Israel but an agreement totally unacceptable to Abbas and Co and the Palestinian Authority. The PA really wants the lot!
The Quartet want Israel to go back to their pre-1967 borders which if agreed to by Israel, would make the Israelis totally vulnerable to attacks from missile launchers ensconced on the Golan Heights by Hezbollah. Now even the Chinese Communist Party want to become involved in the so-called ‘peace’ negotiations between Israel and the PA. China of course has its own agenda to be the top economic and military power in the world.
With the elections in Israel still undecided things may become somewhat hazardous for the Israelis if they elect a weak leader or one who will compromise the nation’s security and well-being for the sake of political expediency and who may well end up being “the worthless shepherd.” The prophet Zechariah writes about him actually being raised up by God because of Israel’s spiritually backslidden state. In the end this worthless shepherd will prove to be spiritually deceptive and betray Israel to their enemies. He will not care one iota for the spiritual welfare of the people of Israel. God will curse this man big time!
The Lord says; “For behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will neither care for the lost, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor sustain the healthy, but he will devour the flesh of the choice sheep and tear off their hooves. Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!” (Zechariah 11:16-17)
Israel is at a very insecure place at present and their enemies are watching from the side lines. It is also clear that the Biden Administration will bring America tumbling down as a nation as he seeks to undermine the policies put in place by the Trump Administration regarding Israel’s security. Biden of course is a puppet and the puppet masters are the Democrats. Leading the charge against Donald Trump’s policies on many fronts is Obama and his cronies he has gathered around him who supported his former presidency. Added to this Carmelita Harris, backed by Obama and Co is waiting in the wings to take over the Presidency if the truth be known.
Now when we look at what the prophet Joel writes in Chapter 3:1-3 we see that God gets very angry over those nations that have formerly exiled His people and divided up their land. God calls His people Israel His inheritance, and inheritance that does not include the Gentile nations that are militant against Israel. The nations we are also told in verses 1-3 have abused God’s covenant people and when you look at how the Jewish people have been treated within the nations where they live one can see this ‘abuse.’ Ultimately anti-Semitism and persecution of the Jewish people will drive them back to Israel.
Israel’s problem is that they are still estranged from their Messiah and strangers and aliens to their own covenants of promise. They are still looking to the Egypt of this world for security and not to the God of the Armies of Israel, who alone can give then the ultimate victory over all of their enemies and deliver them out of the hands of all those who hate them.
As we read in Luke’s Gospel concerning Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist who spoke under the power of the Holy Spirit; “Salvation from our enemies, And from the hand of all who hate us; To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.” (Luke 1:71-75)
The rescue is coming for Israel and the power they need through the Holy Spirit to serve Him without fear after He has established holiness and righteousness in the nation. God has not finished with Israel! Far from it! The nations of the world are going to learn this fact the hard way when they see their armies destroyed by the Lord in the valley of Judgement. In that day we are told that there will be multitudes upon multitudes in that Valley of Decision dragged screaming in terror into the winepress of the wrath of God. (Joel 3: 12-13) (Isaiah 63:2-3) (Revelation 14:18-19) (Revelation 19:15)
This will see the return of the Messiah our Lord Jesus and see the heavenly constellations shaken as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem as He descends in the clouds to put His feet once again on the Mount of Olives to proclaim His victory over the surviving nations of the world! In that day the earth and the sky will tremble but the Lord will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel! (Joel 3:14-16) (Zechariah 14:3-5) (Matthew 24:29) (Isaiah 13:9-13; 24:23; 34:2-4) (Revelation 6:12-17) As we read in the Book of proverbs; “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)
When the Messianic Kingdom is established the cry that will resound around the globe will be; “The Lord dwells in Zion!” (Joel 3:21) And so God Himself declares; “Let the nations be roused; let then advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge the nations on every side. 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.” (Joel 3:12-13) It does not pay to mess with Israel for those who mess with Israel mess with God!
