Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Joel 3:15-21
The Final Showdown (Joel 3:15).
Joel closes his prophecy by declaring what YHWH will do for His people as by His mighty roar, and by portentous signs, He demonstrates to the world His watch over them. As a result all will know that Judah and Jerusalem are under His protection and therefore not to be touched. This will be because they have become so holy that no foreigner can be allowed to come among them. Their enemies, on the other hand, will be left a desolation (as Judah had been after the locust invasion, and possibly as a result of YHWH's judgment), whilst in contrast Judah will become well-watered and fruitful, having not only fully recovered from the locusts, but also having become a land flowing with wine, milk, and rivers, as well as being provided with a God-given spring which will come directly from the house of YHWH (and will therefore not be dependent on rain).
As so often with these descriptions of the final consummation what is described is other-worldly. This does not have in mind a so-called millennium (here southern neighbours are desolate while Judah and Jerusalem are so holy that no foreigner can enter Jerusalem, which is in total contrast to Zechariah 14:16 where foreigners will flock to Jerusalem and the flourishing of the nations depends on their attendance at the Feast of Tabernacle). Rather YHWH's people have become perfect, and the spring coming out of the house of YHWH is clearly not of this world. It is a continual miracle. Meanwhile Judah's existence is guaranteed for ever. It is quite clear that the everlasting kingdom is in mind.
Analysis of Joel 3:15.
a The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining, and YHWH will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will shake, but YHWH will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel (Joel 3:15).
b So will you know that I am YHWH your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain, then will Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no foreigners pass through her any more. (Joel 3:17).
c And it will come about in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a spring will come forth from the house of YHWH, and will water the valley of Shittim (Joel 3:18).
b Egypt will be a desolation, and Edom will be a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land (Joel 3:19).
a But Judah will abide for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. and I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed, because YHWH dwells in Zion (Joel 3:20).
Note that in ‘a' YHWH will roar from Zion, and will be a refuge to His people, and in the parallel YHWH will dwell in Zion and will enable Judah and Jerusalem to abide for ever. In ‘b' no foreigners will pass through Jerusalem any more, and in the parallel we learn what will happen to foreigners in order to prevent that. Centrally in ‘c' Judah will flourish and be exceedingly fruitful.
‘The sun and the moon are darkened,
And the stars withdraw their shining.
And YHWH will roar from Zion,
And utter his voice from Jerusalem,
And the heavens and the earth will shake,
But YHWH will be a refuge to his people,
And a stronghold to the children of Israel.'
Presumably as a consequence of YHWH's judgment there will be portents in the heavens, the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will withdraw their shining, just as they had during the plague of locusts (Joel 2:31). There it had indicated the displeasure of YHWH. Here it is evidence that God is directly at work on behalf of His people against their enemies. There were many ways in which the sun could be darkened, by the smoke resulting from the despoiling of the countryside by an invader, as a result of volcanic action, clouds of locusts in the sky, a heavy storm, a sirocco, etc. It may also here include the thought that the gods of the nations, represented by sun, moon and stars, had been nullified. Now there was only YHWH for the world to look to. Incidentally this is possibly the first such description of such phenomena, on which the other prophets would later expand, although consider Judges 10:12 where Joshua's command to the sun and moon was to be ‘silent' or ‘still', and Exodus 14:19 where the Egyptian army were prevented from catching up with the fleeing Israelites by cloud and fire.
Meanwhile YHWH will roar from Zion (compare Amos 1:2; Hosea 11:10) and speak from Jerusalem, and will do it so powerfully that the heavens and the earth will shake (compare Haggai 2:21; Exodus 19:18), a clear testimony to YHWH's presence. His word will go forth to accomplish His purpose. And meanwhile YHWH will be a refuge to His people, a stronghold to the children of Israel. He will be dwelling among them permanently and no longer be angry with them because they will have become a faithful people.
‘So shall you know that I am YHWH your God,
Dwelling in Zion my holy mountain,
Then will Jerusalem be holy,
And there shall no foreigners pass through her any more.'
There will be no more separation between YHWH and Judah. Judah will have full confidence that YHWH is their God, dwelling among them in His holy mountain, Zion. The result will be that Jerusalem will be ‘holy', set apart wholly to YHWH. And this will be so much so, that no foreigners will be allowed to enter. This does not simply mean that no foreign conquerors will come, but that Jerusalem is so ‘holy to YHWH' that only those within the covenant and ritually clean will be allowed to enter, in the same way as previously men could not enter the Tabernacle area unless they were ritually clean. Compare the vivid picture in Isaiah 4:2. Compare also the words of Revelation 21:27, ‘nothing unclean shall enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination (idolatry) or deceit, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life'. This is clearly a picture of the everlasting kingdom where YHWH will continually be with His people (Revelation 21:22; Revelation 22:4).
There was, of course, a preliminary fulfilment when YHWH descended on the temple mount in fire and wind and filled the infant church which was gathered there. From then on His people would be YHWH's temple and dwelling place. As Paul put it, ‘we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, “I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people, --- and will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and My daughters”, says the Lord Almighty' (2 Corinthians 6:16), this in accordance with Jesus' promise in John 14:23.
‘And it will come about in that day,
That the mountains will drop down sweet wine,
And the hills will flow with milk,
And all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters,
And a spring will come forth from the house of YHWH,
And will water the valley of Shittim.
The consequence of YHWH's continual dwelling among them will be that the vineyards on the mountains will flourish (compare Amos 9:13), their herds and flocks on their hillsides will produce an abundance of milk (the Promised land was to be a land of milk and honey), and all their rivers will continually flow with water, making them as fruitful as Egypt. The picture is one of Paradise restored, a new Eden (compare Revelation 22:1). But above all else will be the fact that from the house of YHWH will flow a permanent spring, as YHWH guarantees direct provision for His people, similar to but far better and more permanent than the water that came from the rocks in the wilderness. His people will find permanent satisfaction for their thirst from Him. They will not hunger any more, nor will they thirst any more, an idea taken up in Revelation 21:3. It is the result of the fact that ‘the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them --.' The picture is taken up by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 47.
‘And will water the valley of Shittim or Acacias.' Acacias often grew in very arid places, and the idea is probably that even a valley which had never known water would now continually be fed with water.
‘Egypt will be a desolation,
And Edom will be a desolate wilderness,
For the violence done to the children of Judah,
Because they have shed innocent blood in their land.
Egypt and Edom are selected because they above all had proved themselves to be Judah's enemy. Egypt had enslaved Israel in Egypt and had thereby been responsible for many thousands of deaths of innocent people, including the infant boys who had been slaughtered, and as the largest nation in the area they were the most to be feared. They were the one nation that Judah could never hope to finally win against. Furthermore Shishak's invasion of Israel had taken place possibly a hundred or so years before, and had cause a further large numbers of deaths. Thus as far as they knew there was always a constant fear of further invasion from Egypt.
Edom were their brother tribe and yet had refused to allow Israel to pass through their territory when they were approaching Canaan (Numbers 20:14). Furthermore they were organisers of the slave trade (Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9) which no doubt resulted in many deaths as a result of the slave-gathering raids, and meant that many Israelites were transported to places from which there was no return by ransom. The practising of this trade demonstrated the hatred of Edom against Judah. To make matters worse on the death of Solomon Hadad of Edom had organised guerilla warfare against Israel/Judah (1 Kings 11:14 ff.), and following that Edom had warred with Judah in the time of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 8:22), as a result of having broken away from Judah's control (having thus reneged on a solemn treaty), which probably meant that they were still seen as rebels and traitors, with the reciprocal hatred which that engendered. They probably still harassed Judean caravans using the trade route to the port of Ezion-geber.
The two together, who were a continual threat to Judah's southern borders, (Judah had Israel to the north) thus symbolised all nations who shed the blood of Judeans in raids and warfare, being the ones who had most recently done so and were an ever present threat. And it was because of their shedding of ‘innocent blood', i.e. the blood of those not acting in warfare, including women and children, that they would now be especially punished by YHWH.
‘But Judah will abide for ever,
And Jerusalem from generation to generation.
And I will cleanse their blood, that I have not cleansed,
Because YHWH continually dwells in Zion.'
In contrast with the desolation of Egypt and Edom would be the fact that Judah and Jerusalem would be established for ever, and would receive cleansing for their own blood guilt which had not yet been cleansed. There were no sacrifices available for blood guilt, for it was a capital crime. Thus cleansing demanded deeper repentance than for everyday sins. But Judah and Jerusalem would have the assurance of such cleansing, and we know that the reason for this would be the cross. And it would be because YHWH dwelt continually in Zion that they would have full cleansing from all sin. Thus the book ends with the assurance that one day God would make provision for all sin, even the most heinous.
Some translate the MT as, ‘And shall I leave their bloodshed unpunished? I will not, as surely as YHWH has His home in Zion,' thus ending the book on the motive of revenge against Egypt and Edom.