Joel 3:10-21

Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble. (Joel 3:14-16)

The day of the Lord is near. This is the day.

Or, at least, this can be the day.

This can be the day when we choose to open ourselves to God, to strip away our defenses, and to allow our vulnerabilities to be known by others and sacrificed to God.

The Hebrew translated above as near can me close in time, place, or relationship.

When we invite God into relationship surely we will hear a roar and thunder as God accepts our invitation.

Joel 3:9-17

Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining. (Joel 3:14-15)

We are each and all in the valley of decision.

The Hebrew translated as decision is חָרוּץ or charuwts (sounds very similar to carrot).

This is to be diligent, sharp, to separate one from the other.

It can also mean to maim or mutilate.

Without God, our decisions are likely to mangle. With God our decisions can bring helpful clarity.

Joel 2:28-3:8

Then afterward,
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days I will pour out my spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

Joel joins prophets across the ages in anticipating resolution, judgment, and redemption.

We anticipate -- hope for -- an end-time, even as we claim in believe in a God beyond time.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus taught us the kingdom of heaven is at hand, close by, ready for us to grasp.

The reign of God is almost certainly less a matter of time and space and much more a matter of experience here and now.

And my people shall never again
be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the
midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your
God and that there is no other.
And my people shall never again
be put to shame. (Joel: 2:26-27)

To read this after the Holocaust is, perhaps, less reassuring than was once
the case.

But it was also read after the destruction of the second Temple.

The prophecy may originally have been preached to give meaning to the
Babylonian captivity.

We can quibble over "shame" and assert not every failure is cause for shame.
But in the context of whole prophecy this would, I think, be ignoring Joel's clear meaning.

There is purpose beyond earthly pride. There is joy beyond earthly success.
There is a kingdom beyond our current existence.

Joel 2:12-19

Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
“Where is their God?” ’
Then the Lord became jealous for his land,
and had pity on his people. (Joel 2:17-18)

Christians understand that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we have encountered the fulfillment of God's intention.

We are spared not because we weep and grovel and neither to preempt the mockery of unbelievers.

We are redeemed through the love of God symbolized in the self-sacrifice of Jesus.

Joel 1:15-2:11

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near—
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread upon the mountains
a great and powerful army comes;
their like has never been from of old,
nor will be again after them in ages to come.(Joel 1:1-2)

A long drought is followed by a huge wildfire.

We perceive God's judgment in the terrible turn of nature.

It may well be a judgment we deserve, but it is wrong to see God's specific intent in the unfolding of natural events.

God creates. God frees. God is in relationship with all of creation.

But rain and fire are no more directed by God than you or me.

Joel 1: 1-13

What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten,
and what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten. (Joel 1:4)

I know a God of abundance and believe in a theology of abundance.

But we also know plague, earthquake, fire, and flood.

We have each experienced a cloud of locusts descending, darkening our days, and eating away all that on which we have long worked.

I know a God of new beginnings, of resurrection, and renewal.

But even Jesus spent three days in hell, why should I be surprised to find myself there for a time.