The Book Of Joel. Day 12, The Nations Judged, Part Two

We continue on with our segment of Chapter 3 which is titled "The Nations Judged". We have already learned throughout our study of the Old Testament that the use of the term "the nations" is always a term that refers to Gentile people, not to the people of Israel. In yesterday's text we found the Lord promising to avenge His people Israel against all the nations that ever had or ever would mistreat them. The judging of the nations that is mentioned in the book of Joel primarily looks toward the final day of judgment but this prophecy began being fulfilled every time the Lord judged nations in the past that persecuted the Jewish people.

We talked about how the Assyrian Empire, which conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, was itself conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Neo-Babylonian Empire, which conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, was conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire. Another example is the ancient Roman Empire, under whose iron control we found the Jewish people in the New Testament, for that empire also fell. An even more modern example we could use is the defeat of Nazi Germany. Germany is still a nation in our day but the Nazi regime of that era, which so horrifically persecuted the Jewish people, was crushed. 

There are some tribes and nations mentioned in the Bible that no longer appear to exist in the modern world. This doesn't necessarily mean the people were entirely wiped out. Some were simply dispersed throughout the world by conquerors and were absorbed into other cultures. However, there are some specific tribes and nations in the Bible that the Lord said would be heard of no more and in those cases we don't know whether anyone survived and whether any of their descendants exist anywhere. 

In Joel 3 we will find the Lord naming some particular nations that are going to come under judgment. Some will remain unnamed, especially the nations of the end times when the final battle on earth takes place. Today's text begins with the Lord saying this: "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." (Joel 3:4) Remember yesterday when we talked about the Israelites being the apple of the Lord's eye? Whoever persecutes them is persecuting the Lord; therefore He says to the nations mentioned in verse 3, "Why are you attacking Me?" Attacking His people is the same as attacking Him. Hating His people is the same as hating Him. 

In yesterday's text we talked about the way the Assyrians conquered and deported the people of the northern kingdom of Israel and about the way the Neo-Babylonians conquered and deported the people of the southern kingdom of Judah. In Joel's day none of this has yet taken place but the people of Tyre and Sidon and Philistia have been making themselves the enemies of the Lord's people Israel ever since He brought the Israelites into the promised land. You'll recall that the Philistines attacked Israel time and time again during the era of King David and his predecessor, King Saul. David and Saul won a number of victories against the Philistines. The Philistines were eventually conquered and basically destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Tyre and Sidon were often more of a spiritual enemy of Israel than a military enemy. You'll recall that Jezebel, the wife of an Israelite king, was from that region and that Baal worship became the state-sponsored religion of Israel during her time as queen and for some time afterwards. Tyre was conquered and mostly destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon but later, during the era of the Greek Empire, Alexander the Great laid siege to what remained of Tyre and completed the destruction of it. Sidon was first conquered during the Persian Empire and later by by Alexander the Great after he conquered the Persian Empire. 

This continues the theme we've been studying, which is the rising and falling of the great nations of history. Assyria conquered the ancient Babylonian Empire along with several other nations, including the northern kingdom of Israel, but the Neo-Babylonian Empire arose and conquered Assyria and also Judah. The Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire which was later conquered by the Greek Empire which was later conquered by the Roman Empire. We will be taking a very in-depth look at all these ancient empires when we reach the book of Daniel.

But for now we find the Lord predicting the doom of Philistia, Tyre, and Sidon. We find him bringing charges against these nations for their crimes against His people Israel. Not all of these crimes had been committed in Joel's day. The Philistines had plagued Israel time and time again prior to Joel's day, to be sure, but some of the sins listed here are sins that have not yet occurred. The Lord, who knows all things, can speak of future events as if they have already taken place, so He speaks of crimes that haven't yet been committed and He talks about empires that have not yet arisen. But He is letting His people know that He intends to avenge all the wrongs that ever have been or ever will be done to them. They will end up in many foreign countries due to the crimes of these other nations and He is talking about all of these deportations as if they have already occurred when He says things like this: "For you took My silver and My gold and carried off My finest treasures to your temples. You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland." (Joel 3:5-6)

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah are still standing in Joel's day. The temple is still intact and its treasures have not been carried off. But the Lord knows Israel and Judah will fall and that the valuable articles of the temple will be carried off to foreign lands. He knows that the people will be carried off to foreign lands. He speaks of these things as if they have already happened. He's going to allow Israel and Judah to be conquered because of how far the people will fall into idolatry. But He won't allow the cruelty of those conquering nations to go unpunished. He won't allow the God-rejecting lifestyle of those conquering nations to go unpunished. A number of these nations had a reputation all over the world for their heinous crimes against humanity. Just the name of some of these kingdoms invoked terror upon everyone who heard them mentioned. Their day is coming. He allowed His people to undergo discipline for a set amount of time to correct their idolatry but it's a different story for these other nations. Those empires will be cast down, never to rise again, whereas Israel is a sovereign nation in the world today.